By: Chris Gates

If you want to lose weight, but you don’t want to sacrifice fun weekends, parties with friends and family, or the occasional weekend getaway trip…

Well, you’ve come to the right place!

In this article, I’m going to teach you everything you need to know about one of my favorite flexible dieting strategies.

It’s called calorie cycling.

• No, it’s not magic.
• Yes, you still need to be in a calorie deficit.
• And yes, this strategy is something that can make your ENTIRE weight loss journey more sustainable and enjoyable.

To be honest, I use calorie cycling all of the time — both personally and with my online fat loss coaching clients.

Because life shouldn’t take a back seat to your weight loss goals.

Sure, you’re trying to lose weight. But you still have a family, friends, a job, hobbies, and more.

You can’t put everything on hold until you drop 10-20 pounds of body fat.

You’re better off learning how to lose weight while managing everything else in your life, because that’s what leads to sustainable progress.

So let’s dive into the details of calorie cycling. We’ll start by mapping out how to use calorie cycling to create a calorie deficit, and then transition into some strategies you can start using TODAY.

Let make tons of progress, and enjoy the journey along the way. Time to dive in!

Learn about some of my AMAZING clients who have used calorie cycling to build muscle, burn fat, and see amazing progress!

First & Foremost, Let’s Talk About Your Calorie Deficit

Before we even begin to break down how you can use calorie cycling for weight loss, you need to understand the concept of a calorie deficit.

And it’s quite simple. Let’s break it down…

A calorie deficit is what’s required for you to lose body fat. There’s literally no other way for fat loss to happen.

And being in a calorie deficit means you’re consuming fewer calories from food than you burn each day.

It’s simple energy balance, really.

1. Your calories coming in (food, drinks, etc.) need to be less than what your body burns.
2. If calories in are less than calories out, your body will be forced to utilize fat tissue for energy.

And voila! Fat loss happens.

Typically, the best way to create a calorie deficit is to slightly reduce how many calories you eat on a regular basis, and monitor your body composition over time.

I’ve got an article that breaks the entire process down. It’s pretty much required reading, so give that a look.

And if you don’t know how many calories to eat to be in a calorie deficit, you’ll need to do some simple math to figure that out. My calorie deficit calculator will help.

What Is Calorie Cycling?

Calorie cycling is an extension of your calorie deficit.

Most of the time, people figure out their calorie deficit and then eat the same exact amount of calories every day.

For example, Johnny determines that he’ll be in a calorie deficit by eating 2,000 calories a day, so that’s how much he eats every day of the week.

That’s a perfectly reasonable and effective approach! You can make a ton of progress doing that.

But we can take things a step further.

Because if Johnny takes his 2,000 calories every day and thinks a bit bigger, there’s room for flexibility.

Those 2,000 calories extrapolated across a full 7-day week add up to 14,000 calories that you can play around with in any way you like.

And THAT is where calorie cycling comes into play.

Calorie cycling is a simple strategy that allows you to view your calorie deficit across the entire week, as opposed to each individual day. You set up your weekly calorie deficit (in this case, 14,000 calories) instead of a daily calorie deficit, and allocate calories to each day based on your…

• Preferences
• Needs
• Desires

Let me give you an example.

Example Calorie Cycling Plan

Let’s say you have a weekend trip coming up that you’re super excited for.

You’re heading to the lake with your friends, and it’s going to be a fun-filled 3-day trip.

And while you’re excited to spend time with your friends, you’re also a bit nervous because you have a weight loss goal.

• You’ve been losing weight for the past couple of months.
• Your habits and routines have been really dialed in.
• And this trip is going to be a HUGE challenge to manage your calories.

Well, stress no more.

We can set up your diet ahead of time to build in a TON of flexibility.

You’ve been losing weight on 2,000 calories a day, so we just need to crunch some numbers.

Your weekly calorie deficit is 14,000 calories, so it’s all about figuring out how you can reallocate those calories and keep things sustainable.

Honestly, cutting out 300-400 calories for a few days isn’t a monumental task. That involves eliminating a snack and perhaps reducing the portion size of one of your meals.

Easy peasy.

And since Friday is a travel day to the lake, and Sunday is a travel day back home, you really just have one day that’s going to require a lot of flexibility.

Here’s the plan…

• Monday-Thursday: 1,600 calories
• Friday (travel day): 2,000 calories
• Saturday: 3,600 calories
• Sunday (travel day): 2,000 calories

By saving some calories here and there at the beginning of the week, you’ve opened up a HUGE amount of flexibility for your full day at the lake on Saturday.

And since you’ll spend a little bit of time at the lake on both Friday and Sunday, we’ve built in some extra flexibility there, too.

Cutting a few hundred calories Monday-Thursday made it all possible.

This is how calorie cycling works!

Other Ways to Use Calorie Cycling

That example of going to the lake is just one way to apply calorie cycling to your daily and weekly routine.

The cool thing about it is, you can truly use this in any way that you want.

• If you have a work trip during the week and you need flexibility for it, calorie cycling works. Just reduce a little before, and a little after.
• Maybe a holiday is coming up, and you want to be able to enjoy a big family get-together without stress.
• Perhaps you just struggle with constantly being in a calorie deficit day, after day, after day. You can alternate days of low and high calories to keep things sustainable.

The makeup is totally up to you. As long as you’re in a calorie deficit for the week, you’re doing everything right.

Flexibility Doesn’t = A Free For All

While calorie cycling is an amazing tool, it does come with some caveats.

And these are totally preventable as long as you follow what I’m about to outline…

First up, this strategy only works if you’re being honest about your diet.

I’d highly recommend that you track your nutrition every day of the week so that you have a solid, accurate view of how many calories you’re eating each day.

If you just eyeball the food that you’re eating, and estimate the calorie content, you’re probably going to fail with this approach. It’s just way too easy to let your high-calorie days turn into free-for-alls when you’re not paying close attention.

Those days with added flexibility are not intended to be a binge. Your diet should still be structured.

The Scale Will Probably Get Weird

When your calories are up and down, that means the scale is going to go up and down, too.

And that’s OK.

It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.

So just relax.

If you do something like reduce calories during the week, so that you can eat more calories over the weekend, the following sequence is probably going to occur…

• Monday-Friday: The scale goes down.
• Saturday-Sunday: The scale goes back up.
• Next week: It will take a few days for your weight to come all the way back down.

When you cut more calories than usual, you’re likely going to lose weight. That makes a ton of sense, right?

And then when you eat more calories than usual, your weight is going to go back up. Once again, totally reasonable.

But when your weight goes up, it doesn’t mean you gained 2-3-4 pounds of body fat overnight.

Your weight will spike up because…

• You have more physical food weight sitting in your digestive tract.
• You ate more carbs, so you’re retaining water.
• You ate more sodium, so you’re retaining water.
• Perhaps you strayed from your normal routine, which can mess with your bowel movements.

None of those mean you gained a ton of body fat.

So just keep going, and evaluate your weight based on weekly trends.

Not daily fluctuations.

Continue to be Intentional With Your Diet

It’s really easy to let high-calorie days turn into a free-for-all.

So, I want you and I to talk about this so that you can avoid it.

And it kind of goes back to what I mentioned earlier about tracking your diet, and how you need to be honest with your intake.

That remains true.

And honestly, you probably shouldn’t radically change the types of foods you eat when you have a low-calorie or high-calorie day.

It’s not all salads and protein shakes on low-calorie days.

High-calorie days don’t mean you can eat pizza, cookies, and ice cream for every meal.

Your meals should typically be structured the same exact way.

1. Start with a protein source like chicken, turkey, fish, or beef.
2. Complement it with a nutritious carb source.
3. Add a fruit or vegetable.
4. Drink plenty of water while you eat.

Now, if you’re doing calorie cycling for something like that trip to the lake we talked about earlier, sure… Have some indulgences here and there.

Grab some beers. Have a few slices of pizza.

Enjoy yourself, within reason.

But try to factor in those same nutritious food sources where you can.

This is going to help you stick to your daily calorie goal and keep you as full and satisfied as possible.

I Hope This Helps!

I really think calorie cycling is something that can work well for most people.

If you’re able to keep things controlled and stick to your calorie goals for the week, and for each day, you can make a TON of progress while also having a ton of flexibility to enjoy life.

• You still need to be disciplined.
• You’ll need to do so work to plan ahead each week.
• And as always, consistency is key.

And I hope this article helped give you some ideas on how calorie cycling may work for you 🙂

This is a strategy I use with my online fat loss clients all of the time. Whether it be for a birthday, vacation, holiday, or something else, we regularly fluctuate calories to meet the needs of their lives.

If you’re interested in getting help with a customized workout and nutrition program to meet your goals, that’s exactly what I do!

I work with people all over the world to build muscle, burn fat, and establish healthy lifestyle habits that lead to sustainable progress. Head over to my coaching page to learn more.

Thanks for reading!

~ Chris