Have you heard of calorie cycling? The zig-zag diet? The basic idea is that every few days you boost or drop your calories so that your body doesn't get used to a reduced calorie intake and slow down your metabolism to compensate for the reduction. I have actually been doing this for a while, just not on purpose. So now, I am going to try the technique more purposefully. There is a great little overview and calculator to help you figure out your own caloric needs here.
It makes a lot of sense to me. The last two days have been very low cal days so today I bump it up(around 1450) and tomorrow I drop it down(1150-1250). I'm very curious to see how my body responds. I really think this may be the key to help me get to goal....
But what do you think? Gimmicky? Silly? Smart? I think it's worth a try. I'm counting calories anyway. We'll see. I'll keep you posted one way or another.
3 comments:
I think it is a good idea. Our bodies are amazing things...and do VERY well at "adapting". So, if we eat 1400 calories every day for a long time...then our bodies get totally used to that...expect that...and might even stop losing weight because they sort of re-sets to that level.
Changing it up is good...keeps the body guessing! In the hard core Paleo Eating world...they even mix in some 24 and 36 hour fasts. Not sure I'd advocate that...but I think they do it for the same sort of reasons.
Ditto with exercise. If we only run.....our bodies start to get more and more efficient at running and we do not burn as many calories as we once did nor is it as good for our heart as it once was. That article I posted about the HIIT a few days ago (high intensity interval training) went into details about that. It was quite interesting. I have definitely changed up my exercise this past couple months to make sure I do a wide variety of things. And...strangely enough..it has helped my running. (no...I am NOT as fast as you yet....you speed demon!)
Sorry..I am TOTALLY long winded today because I am putting off studying for a couple more exams I need to take today. :) Oops!
I totally think it's worth a try. Like you said, it's something that you're basically already doing-you're just taking a closer look.
Here's to the long haul!
I have actually experimented a bit with this and I actually have gotten good results from it! Go for it!
The first comment mentioned fasting. I think that is also a big help. I just do 24 hours (no more than once a month) but I think it kind of cleanses out all the crap.
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