How To Use Calorie Cycling for Weight Loss

Have you ever started a diet and noticed that you are hungrier on some days than others? Maybe days you workout you feel like you can’t eat enough, but days away from the gym you have no problem hitting your calories. Or maybe you wish you could eat more on the weekends, when you know you’re going to hang out with friends and family? What you need is some flexibility in your diet. And that is where calorie cycling for weight loss comes in.

There’s no reason you can’t save some calories for brews with the boys over the weekend, or have more calories on days you workout and less on rest days. Calorie cycling can give you this flexibility, and allow you to create a plan that works with your lifestyle.

In this article, I’ll teach you exactly what calorie cycling is, how to use it, and how to make it work for YOU and your goals. Let’s dig in!  

What is calorie cycling for weight loss?

Calorie cycling for weight loss is simply having some days that are higher calories than others, while still maintaining a calorie deficit.

For example, let’s say that you read my article on how many calories you need, and your daily calorie deficit is 1,800 calories.

It doesn’t really matter if you are in a calorie deficit every day. It matters that you are in a weekly calorie deficit.

If you multiply 1,800 calories x 7 days, you get 12,600 calories per week.

This means that you can have some days that are above 1,800 calories, and some days that are below 1,800 as long as at the end of the week you still end up at 12,600 calories.

Who is calorie cycling good for?

Calorie cycling can be a great option for anybody looking to lose weight.

It’s not a specific diet, and it won’t give you better or worse results than if you ate the same amount of calories every day.

What it can do is make it easier to stay in a calorie deficit, which will help you be more consistent.

If you’re constantly going over your calories and not seeing progress, it might be time to give calorie cycling a try!

Workout warrior calorie cycling

If having good workouts is important to you, or you tend to be hungrier on days you workout, this method of calorie cycling for weight loss is for you.

Let’s say you weight train four days per week, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Those days would be higher calories to help fuel your workouts and keep you feeling full.

You can also try having more carbs on workout days to see if you feel better and have more energy. When you’re in a calorie deficit, you’ll probably feel more sluggish than usual. Some extra carbs on a workout day can help you push through whatever training you have planned for that day.

Weekend warrior calorie cycling

The weekend warrior method of calorie cycling is for you if you’re looking for the most flexibility you can on weekends. If you’re more social and your weekends are packed with meeting friends for dinner and drinks, then saving calories for the weekend is a great method of calorie cycling.

Unplanned calorie cycling

This method can be great if you have a hectic schedule throughout the week. Maybe you travel a lot for work, or you work odd hours, or maybe you just get hungrier on certain days for no apparent reason.

With this method of calorie cycling, you can base how many calories you eat per day on your schedule or your hunger level. The key is to make sure you’re in an overall calorie deficit by the end of the week.

Do what works for YOU

My awesome friend Allie lost over 12 pounds in 8 weeks using calorie cycling.

Allie came to me looking to lose weight and gain some muscle definition. She strength trained 4 days per week and and ate in a caloric deficit.

On workout days, she ate more carbs to help fuel her workouts. She ate lower carb and higher fat on rest days so she could eat the things she enjoyed, like eggs and avocados.

When I dieted down from 205 pounds to 180 pounds, I ate pretty much the same way Monday through Friday.

I would make food to bring to work, and I didn’t mind eating the same thing every day.

On Saturday and Sunday though, I wanted to be able to eat a higher calorie dinner with my fiancé. 

If we were meeting up with friends to eat somewhere, I knew that restaurant food tends to have more calories than food you’d make at home. Even if we were just staying in, I wanted to be able to fit in foods like burgers and fries without going over my calories.

Instead of eating normally all day, I would skip breakfast and just have a coffee. I wouldn’t eat until about noon, when I would have a high protein lunch. I would save a lot of my calories for later in the day, when I knew I would want them.

This worked great for me, because I’m usually not that hungry in the morning anyway. It allowed me to save some calories to fit foods that I liked into my diet and still lose weight. 

You have to think about what is going to work best for you.

If you love breakfast and wake up very hungry, the method I just described probably won’t work for you!

There is no wrong way to set up your calorie cycling, as long as you are in a weekly calorie deficit you will lose weight.

Wrapping up

Calorie cycling can be a great way to break up the monotony of a straight calorie deficit, but it’s certainly not necessary to lose weight.

If the thought of keeping track of changing calories stresses you out, you can get the same results by eating in a straight deficit all week.

However, with a little planning beforehand, calorie cycling can help you stay consistent by allowing you to save some calories for the weekend or even just days where you know you’ll  want to eat more.