How To Use Calorie Cycling To Lose Weight
HOW TO USE CALORIE CYCLING TO AVOID GAINING WEIGHT
Written by Jonathan Fletcher
Frozen pizza was a main staple in our diet for the first 5 years of our marriage.
We were Digorno people.
We even had this special pizza cooking machine that spun the pizza around right there on the countertop so we could watch it cook.
The “pizza rotator”
We’d spin that pizza, set up our TV trays, fire up an episode of Survivor, and polish that bad boy off that night.
I should mention that we didn’t know anything about nutrition back then, and pizza was just a small part of our overall “less than nutritious” diet.
I shudder to think about how many calories we were eating those nights. But in reality, we didn’t even know what a calorie was back then.
Fast forward 15 years, and now we DO understand nutrition, and we understand how we can have pizza without it leading to gaining weight.
One of the easiest ways to still include your favorite foods in your diet without derailing your progress is through calorie cycling. That’s just a fancy way to say that you don’t have to eat the same number of calories every day. Some days can be higher, and some can be lower.
Let’s look at some real-life examples.
I know that to maintain my current body weight I need to eat around 2000 calories per day over the course of the week. Some days can be higher, and some can be lower, but the weekly average is what’s important. If you want to learn how to calculate how many calories your body needs to maintain your weight, check out THIS article.
Let’s get real about Pizza. It’s delicious, but it has a crap-ton of calories in it.
A slice of hand-tossed pepperoni pizza from a large pie has about 300 calories give or take. And if I’m going to have pizza, it’s going to be tough for me to have 1 piece. I’m probably going to have 3 which is about 900 calories.
Let’s say Blakley and I want to go out for pizza this Saturday night.
Here are two “calorie cycling” strategies that I can use to have that pizza and not gain weight.
Strategy 1 - The Big Dinner
Sunday through Friday:
Eat normally at ~2000/cal per day
Saturday (pizza day):
Eat the following:
Breakfast: 6 egg whites + 10 Strawberries (140 calories)
Mid Morning Snack: Protein Shake (120 calories)
Lunch: 3 oz chicken + 4 cups spinach + 2 dill pickles + Bolthouse greek yogurt dressing (265 calories)
Snack: Epic bar + bowl of watermelon (160 calories)
I’m only at 685 calories so far for the day.
That leaves 1,315 for our pizza date.
I could have 4 pieces of pizza (310x4 = 1240) and still be under my calorie goal for the day. I’d probably have 3 pieces and a 🍺 though If I’m being honest.
See how I did that?
Even if you’re not counting calories this strategy can be a game-changer.
Just prioritize low-calorie, lean protein, fruit, and veggies earlier in the day keeping portions smaller, and you’re good to go.
Ok, let’s talk about another strategy some people like better.
Strategy 2 - The Long Play
Sunday through Friday:
Eat about 1900 calories per day.
Saturday:
Eat normally until dinner, have that pizza, and eat 2600 calories total that day.
***Notice that with both of these strategies require you to know what you’re eating throughout the week vs. just winging it.***
To be successful in weight loss you have to find a sustainable approach. If you can’t adhere to it over the long term you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Use strategies like this to help yourself stay consistent while still enjoying the foods that you love. If you love pizza, plan for it.
We wouldn’t be doing you any favors if we encouraged you to abuse these techniques.
Save less nutritious foods for special occasions, and fill 90% of your diet with whole, unprocessed foods if you want to look and feel your best.
If you’re curious how many calories you should be eating to reach your goals, download our FREE calculator to help you set your calories and macronutrients for fat loss or lean bulking HERE.
If you’d like to talk about 1 on 1 nutrition coaching, reach out HERE today!
