Stay lean and be able to keep it:
Most of you will need to use calorie cycling to not aid in your fat loss but also to be able to live guilt free! This quick guide that will allow you to live in the real world and still be able to stay lean all year long! But keep in mind this is an outline only and customisation may be needed!
What is calorie cycling?
Calorie cycling is the idea of eating less on some days and strategically eating more on other days. This is great for mental focus as there is a reward and a little break from a restriction. Notice I said restriction not starvation! We calorie cycle because we are always surrounded by food and cannot realistically be on a diet 24/7! We also calorie cycle because we do not want the body to adapt to a lower amount of food. A little extra every 4 days will ensure that this lower adaption isn’t done and also help you boost your metabolism somewhat from a restriction. Also keep in mind that everyone has a different bodyweight and fat set point. This means the body is comfortable for some people to walk around with a six pack abs due to their genetics with less ill affect’s. These affects can be: low sex drive, moody, boost in hunger signs, low energy, hormones out of joint, feeling cold due to a lower body temperature and metabolism. These are a few signs that will indicate that you may have pushed it a bit too far for your body! These signs also appear just before you add a re-feed day which I cover later.
Do not worry about exact calorie amounts:
The reason is because the body’s metabolic rate and maintenance levels; are a moving target. What you do today in terms of activity will be different tomorrow. So we cannot ever get an exact number. Yes you may lose ‘slower’ but you must understand your body will fight you the lower you go! You must think long term because not only did you not put the weight over night but the body must get used to being at a lower weight so it is able to get used to it. This has got to be a life style, something can be done forever if not you will rebound easily and doing low calories will make your body fight you even more. What would have been easy to lose will become harder the next time because the body will know what you did. The body adapts do not ever do anything drastic or you will pay for it! And do not do the same thing day in day out forever either. Calorie cycling is like taking one step back and then being able to leap 3 steps forward. On the day you eat more you will remain the same body fat levels because it is only a slight increase in calories. So you do not have to fear putting fat on! The scale will go up because we are introducing more food but this isn’t fat weight it is water and food weight! Weigh yourself a maximum once a week, but to be honest it is best to use the mirror and see how clothes fit. Because the weighing scale doesn’t tell you the difference in water, muscle etc. Now we can all ‘lose’ weight off the scale but that doesn’t always mean you are losing fat! So just relax and measure if you’re going to every 2-4 weeks and use the mirror and how clothes fit as your main guide!
Keep in mind always:
The bodies’ set points are levels your body will be comfortable at. Keep this in mind, because fighting it will destroy your health, body, emotionally and mentally! The bodies’ main job is survival it doesn’t care about being “low body fat”! And please ignore all the photo-shopped drug using pictures your see out there of ‘idols’. You must compare you to you not anyone else! Or you will forever be miserable! Athletes and movie stars have to use drugs to get their bodies to do things in short amount of time frames and to enhance their abilities. Normal people do not get paid to look or perform a certain way so you must not compare yourself.
How to apply calorie cycling: Calorie cycle every 4 days: eat an extra 500 calories or so and do not worry what foods you eat to get those 500 calories. You can do this guilt free and it will aid you. Of course if you’re very over weight you can just stick with the body weight x 10-12 in lb all week. But if from a life style perspective you want to have a break every 4 days you should! Some experts will say add the calories in carbohydrates only, while this is ok, it isn’t much to worry about long term! Eat what you like
As you get lower body fat the ‘game’ changes!
*When you are reasonably lean and have lost at least 20lb or more feel free to do the following. And this will be a maintaining and long term fat loss method.
How to maintain your body fat levels:
Have a cheat meal of whatever you like ever you like every 4 days. You can do this guilt free if you follow your diet all of the other days because you will lose whatever may be gained by going back to your diet and this will allow you to maintain and enjoy life while keeping in the shape you have gotten!
The fat loss game changes when you are reasonably lean or normal weight:
If you want to continue to lose weight when you have gotten lower understand the fat loss game changes because the body doesn’t want to go lower. So this is what you would do:
*Have a cheat meal of whatever you like every 5-7 days. Just follow your hunger not a calorie number!
When you get lean to nearing athlete levels you will have to use other tactics altogether and if you are disciplined you can be an eating monster and eat unlimited calories and still serve the body while staying lean all year long. That is called a re-feed day! But it takes effort to get there and we must follow the bodies ‘biofeedback’ signals. I am going to say straight out most of you will need coaching for this! This next section is for only 1% of people because it requires discipline and consistent effort, but if you’re willing it is an option!
When can I have a reefed cheat day?
You have to earn this and have to be low body fat, you will typically look like an athlete body fat levels! The reason is at this level unless you reefed your body will fight you again a lot! Hunger signals will go through the roof and the chances of you staying lean are against you. However let’s also face the fact that it is fun too! Be forewarned that if you do not deplete your body for 6 days of sub maintenance calories that is following the body weight x 10-12lb for your weight in lbs as a basic rule. Though you will need coaching because human beings are not a number! The numbers are a guide!
I didn’t work out re-feeds myself and cannot take the credit for this. Yes there are people out there who do cheat days. But here’s a strong warning DO NOT DO THEM!!! You should only do them when your body has all the right indicators via “biofeedback”. We have the honorary guardian angel on standby to teach you this as this is his field.
When you reach ‘super compensation’ state a mode within the body, crazy feats of eating are within your ability. It isn’t force feeding but to an onlooker it would appear that way. The body becomes a bottomless pit. I have eaten over 10000 calories easily without force feeding and lost weight the following week because my biofeedback indicated I needed the re-feed. It fuels the body up and rebalances hormones within the body. This isn’t based on any “theory” it is based on real world results to match!
This information and service needs attention to detail. Sure you can go ahead and “cheat” on your diet but unless your biofeedback indicates what it needs to you will just get fat! The honorary Guardian Angel will aid you in this subject and you can also come to me as well. There will be a donation fee for this should you need assistance!
For those of you who have eating disorders or bodily images issues there are also a service for that as well. I do not put that on display because I it isn’t my focus! Please ask for this and a donation to the symphony will be a requirement.
Guardian Angel Dil