Nutrition in Context #4 - Calorie Cycling

If you missed the other posts in the Nutrition in Context series, here they are:

#1 - Making Sense of the Non-Sense: http://majorpainmatt.blogspot.com/2012/07/nutrition-in-context-1-making-sense-of.html

#2 - Weight Loss: http://majorpainmatt.blogspot.com/2012/07/nutrition-in-context-2-weight-loss.html

#3 - Carbohydrates: http://majorpainmatt.blogspot.com/2012/08/nutrition-in-context-3-carbohydrates.html

I’ve indirectly referred to calorie cycling throughout the Nutrition in Context series, but don’t think I ever spent any real time explaining it and why it is such an effective strategy for body composition goals. If you want to lose fat and either maintain or grow muscle at the same time, then you definitely want to pay attention and consider implementing calorie cycling into your routine. For body composition in general, you NEED to do strength training! Therefore, for calorie cycling to work, you need to do strength training! You can eat perfectly but you won’t have that athletic, cut look that you are hoping for unless you develop your muscles. So, for the purposes of this blog post, I am assuming you do regular strength training, and you don’t play around with lightweight stuff that takes over 15 reps before you feel a burn J …oh and for you ladies worried about getting “bulky” if you look at a heavy weight for more than a few seconds…please, please, please stop believing that lie. Women who lift heavy weight look TONED and athletic, not big and bulky. Women who take STEROIDS look bulky…and have more facial hair than I do.

What is calorie cycling?

I’ve seen some bogus definitions or explanations of calorie cycling out there on the interwebs (I’ve been dying to use that word…interwebs…it’s probably not even a real word, but it sounds cool), so if you read somewhere that calorie cycling is designed to “trick” your metabolism to make you burn more fat…never go to that website again. Calorie cycling isn’t about spiking your metabolism.

Calorie cycling IS a method of partitioning your calories so that on the days you lift weights you have the necessary calories and nutrients to build muscle. On your rest days, you reduce your calories, and preferably go low carb, to burn more fat for energy. If you lift weights properly and get the right balance of calories and macronutrients, you can build muscle, shred fat, and do it all without having to do any cardio! I have been calorie cycling and have been able to stay under 10% body fat despite some very poor eating choices over the past several months… while at the same time gaining muscle and strength! Suffice it to say I’ve been able to eat what I want for the most part without it hurting me too much. If I were more disciplined, I’d be even leaner than I am right now…so I think it’s time for me to get my head right!

A few IMPORTANT bullet points:

• The rules for weight loss/gain never change. Expend more calories than you consume and you’ll lose weight. Consume more calories than you expend and you’ll gain weight. Therefore, your total caloric intake for the week should be consistent with your weight loss or weight gain goals.
• On lifting days, you want to consume the majority of your calories POST workout. Ideally, immediately after your workout. Your post workout meal should be high in carbohydrates and protein. You also want the majority of your carbs to come from starchy sources: breads, rice, potatoes, etc.
• On lifting days you want to shoot for .7g to .8g of protein per pound of body weight. Therefore, if you weigh 200lbs, try to consume 140g to 160g protein. Ideally, the majority after you work out.
• On rest days (non-lifting days) you want to significantly reduce your calories. You should be very purposeful about the types of foods you eat and avoid any little “snacks” you don’t need.
• On rest days you want to go LOW carb. This takes planning and even more discipline. Low carb days are miserable (for me at least…I’m hungry and tired)…and by dinner time you are craving carbs like nobody’s business…but don’t give in! A goal should be to try to keep total carb intake for the day below 50g. If you can do less than that…awesome!
• On rest days you still want to get good sources of protein when you eat, so a grilled chicken salad or something like that is an excellent choice.

If this is the first time you are hearing this, it may be a little difficult to wrap your head around what I’m talking about. Therefore, I’m going to give you two detailed examples to help explain.

Body Composition Goal Only

This is an example for someone who is interested in maintaining their current weight, but improving their body composition (gaining muscle and dropping fat). Since that is my goal, I'll use my current workout schedule along with my daily calorie intake. Based upon my age, weight, body composition and activity level, I estimate that I need to consume an average of 2,750 calories/day to maintain my current weight. Therefore I multiply my daily calorie goal times 7 to get my total calories for the week = 19,250. Next, I want to set a low calorie goal for my rest days. A good rule of thumb is cutting your average daily calories in half, but since I’ve got so many calories to work with, I’ll go a little less than half and set a low calorie goal of 1,250 calories. Now I need to back these calories out of the weekly total and then divide the remaining calories by the remaining 5 days to determine how many calories I should eat on my workout days. 19,250 – 1,250 – 1,250 = 16,750 / 5 days = 3,350. Because I work out especially heavy on Saturday with a big leg workout (which is also your body’s largest muscle group) I want to add more calories in on Saturday. To do this, I’m going to shave off a few more calories on the other workout days and add them to Saturday. So I’ll take the daily workout calories down 150 to 3,200 (150 x 4 = 600) and add those 600 calories onto Saturday to give me 3,950 calories for my heavy leg day.

Sunday – workout day – 3,200 calories

Monday – workout day – 3,200 calories

Tuesday – rest day – 1,250 calories

Wednesday – workout day – 3,200 calories

Thursday – rest day – 1,250 calories

Friday – workout day – 3,200 calories

Saturday – workout day (heavy legs) – 3,950 calories

This strategy should allow for anabolic (growth) windows on workout days and catabolic (shrink) windows on rest days. Doing this will create an environment where I have the best opportunity to build muscle and burn fat at the same time…all while maintaining weight.

Body Composition and Weight Loss Goal

Let's take someone who also wants to lose weight as well as change their body composition. Let’s say that this person lifts weights 3 times a week, and runs 1 day a week. Based upon this person's specifics, their daily calorie goal in order to lose the 1 lb per week is 1,800 calories, putting their total weekly calories at 12,600. Let's reduce the calories by half on the rest days down to 900 calories, and we'll keep the calories on the cardio day neutral at 1,800 calories. Here is the calculation to find out the workout day calorie goal: 12,600 - 900 - 900 - 900 - 1,800 = 8,100 / 3 = 2,700. Not only should this person be able to lose 1 lb per week consistently, they'll be in a position to gain muscle while losing more fat.

Sunday - workout day - 2,700 calories

Monday - rest day - 900 calories

Tuesday - workout day - 2,700 calories

Wednesday - rest day - 900 calories

Thursday - workout day - 2,700 calories

Friday - rest day - 900 calories

Saturday - cardio (run) day - 1,800 calories

The Good, the Bad, and the Fun

The Good news is on your workout days you’ve got some extra calories to utilize and you can eat what I consider “good” food. Don’t go crazy with your food choices, but generally speaking you can get away with eating a little more liberally after your workout as your muscles are primed to use the carbs and proteins you ingest.

The Bad news is if you want to burn the fat, you’ve got to play by the rules on low calorie/low carb days. Did I mention I loathe low carb days? I don’t see how anyone could actually stick with a low carb diet for more than a few days…maybe that is why people diet and then quit. Carbs are your primary source of energy, so if you cut them out you are probably going to feel weak and tired. If you are a coffee drinker, then the caffeine will be especially helpful to you on low carb days. If you are looking for low carb lunch ideas, my favorite is a 12 count grilled nugget from Chick-fil-a. With Chick-fil-a sauce, you are looking at 360 calories, 50g protein, and only 6 carbs. Hard to go wrong with that! If you like salads, a grilled chicken salad is just as good…just watch out for the calories in the dressing!

The Fun stuff, at least for me, is eating right after my heavy leg workout day. If you are going to cheat, the best time to cheat is right after a big muscle group workout like legs. Want a big burger and a ton of French fries?…might as well! You might want to shower first…but as soon as you can after a workout cram those calories in. Be sure your cheat meal has a good mix of carbs and protein. Having a big cheat meal like this once a week can help keep you sane, and if you eat it at the right time (after that big workout) then it can work for you versus against you.

Remember, workout days you want to go high carb, high protein, low fat. Rest days you want low carb, high protein, and fats are fine…just stick to your calorie goal.

So there you have it…calorie cycling for body composition explained. Obviously your goals dictate whether or not this is a strategy that you want to employ, but I don’t know many people who wouldn’t want to tone up and lose fat. Happy cycling!

Scripture for the day

A friend of mine and I have recently started a weekly study in the Gospel of John. One of the things that really stood out to me as we were studying about Jesus' first recorded sign/miracle where he turned water into wine was John 2:6-7. You probably want to read the entire chapter for context, but verses 6 and 7 read, "Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the waterpots with water.' So they filled them up to the brim." Why was it important to note that the waterpots were filled to the brim? When Jesus performed the work needed for the purification of our sins, there was nothing left for us to do...nothing left to add. The waterpots were filled to the brim...there is no room for anything to be added! Praise the Lord that Jesus performed the work of salvation, and there is nothing left for us to do...simply accept the free gift of Salvation!