With a traditional diet, you determine how many calories you can consume per day and then plan your meals so that your total calorie count is close to that number. At approxlorie Cyclingalternate the number of calories you eat each day, taking less one time and more the next time.
Although this is a relatively new approach, people likely adopted similar eating habits thousands of years ago because food was not available in the same quantities every day. Depending on the season and hunting success, there were times when it was scarce and others when it was plentiful.
However, to understand why a Calorie CyclingTo be effective, you need to know how the human metabolism works and why conventional diets are massively unsuccessful in the long term.
How metabolism adapts to conventional diets
Many studies point to the metabolic adaptations and psychological factors that contribute to long-term failurego on a diet. Diet-related adjustments indicate that your body perceives it as a potentially dangerous condition. Centuries ago, a period of low calorie consumption could have been equated with starvation or illness. To survive, the brain sends various signals to the body to conserve energy. This occurs through numerous biological changes, collectively referred to as metabolic adaptations. These negative adjustments include:
- A decline in testosterone:Testosterone is a key hormone that can drop to low levels while dieting.
- Reducing sleep energy consumption:This decrease is also known as adaptive thermogenesis and is sometimes referred to as “fasting mode.”
- A decrease in thyroid hormones:This hormone plays a key role in metabolism. During a diet, his salary often drops.
- Reducing physical activity:Physical activity typically decreases while dieting and can be a key factor in obesity and becoming overweight again.
- Increase in cortisol: This stress hormonecan cause many health problems and play a role in fat accumulation if its levels are constantly elevated.
- Leptin reduction:This important hunger hormone signals to the brain that you are full and should stop eating.
- Increase ghrelin:Ghrelin is produced in the digestive tract and signals to the brain that you are hungry.
These adjustments are the opposite of what you need for successful long-term weight loss.
Your hormones are working against you
Your body is doing everything it can to slow weight loss, conserve energy, and even gain weight back after dieting. Changes in weight-reducing hormones play an important role. Like a seesaw, leptin reduces hunger and ghrelin increases it.
In a 6-month 2002 study, ghrelin levels increased by 24% with a 17% diet-induced weight loss. The researchers note that this is consistent with the notion that ghrelin plays a role in long-term regulation of body weight. In a 1997 study, leptin levels fell by more than 70% when participants lost 21% of their body weight.
This is one of the biggest potential benefits of Calorie Cycling, as periods of higher calorie intake can decrease ghrelin and increase leptin.
Conclusion:Dieting can lead to an increase in the hunger hormone ghrelin and a decrease in the satiety hormone leptin. Approxlorie Cyclingcan help by reducing these negative hormonal adjustments.
Proponents of Calorie Cyclingargue that regularly changing calorie intake prevents the body from getting used to certain amounts. This againmaintains your metabolismhigh, which also leads to weight loss.
How to implement cyclic calorie distribution:There are no definitive rules for implementing the calorie cycle. Some people prefer higher calorie days per week - for example 5 low calorie days and 2 high calorie days. Others want to do a set low calorie program for 2-4 weeks before adding slightly longer 5-7 day high calorie periods. However, in this case, if you notice physical effects such as a decrease in energy, sleep or sex drive, consider adding a period of more calories.
Here is a typical cyclic calorie plan for a person who wants to consume an average of 2000 calories per day:
2000 calories on Monday, 1600 on Tuesday, 2400 on Wednesday, 2000 on Thursday, 1700 on Friday, 2300 on Saturday and 2000 on Sunday. Others are characterized by extreme fluctuations in calories - for example, 2000 one day, 800 the next, 1800 the day after, and so on. It's best to listen to your body.
Conclusion:Follow a diet that you enjoy and can stick to, then simply add higher-calorie meals at regular intervals depending on how your body responds and what results you get.
Combine calorie cycling with exercise
Since exercise plays an important role in health and weight loss, it makes sense to adjust your calorie intake to your activity level. Different exercise requirements can drastically change your daily calorie needs. That's why it's advisable to plan the longest, most intense workouts on high-calorie days. On the other hand, save the lighter workouts for the low-calorie days. This allows you to lose fat over time while still maximizing your performance.
Conclusion:Plan your high-calorie days and strength training sessions around intense training blocks, and fit low-calorie periods around training sessions that are less intense or have a lower priority.
