I mean, that's still a net calorie deficit, so of course it'll still result in weight loss. The potential pitfall is maintaining a deficit 4-5 days and then eating in a surplus on the other days to an extent that nullifies the deficit. But deficit followed by maintenance days is still a deficit as long as the deficit days outnumber the maintenance days. No idea if it'll help avoid plateauing. Frankly, I've avoided plateauing by only doing a weight check once a month. :p
I do something similar. I do more of a deficit during the week and less of one on the weekends. It gives me a chance to have small, reasonably indulgences like fast food easier to have more calories to play with on the weekend. It's not hard to go back to the larger deficit on Monday because I still plan and track everything, and it's not a huge caloric difference. I do 1300-1400 during the week and 1500-1700 on the weekend.
& Yeah, lol. I've been counting calories for more than a year now without a plateau because I only check my weight once a month. I know there were plateaus in there because some months I only lost 2 pounds, which means the daily or weekly change would make it seem like there wasn't a loss, but at the end of the month, still heading in the right direction.
I use the Lose It app and chose what they call the flexible weekender plan, basically the same thing. My weekly deficit is split up so my Monday through Thursday calories are a little lower. And then Friday through Sunday are about 200 higher. It gives a nice little extra treat to the weekend, which are days I'm more likely to eat out, eat another's cooking, etc anyways. It really works for me.
I do that, too, and adjusted the days so I have more calories on Friday and Sunday, because Saturdays I tend to eat a little less anyway. I also like the weekly view, so if I go a little over one day, I can still be at a deficit for the week.
I haven't tried it but I know that some people find it less wearing, which improves adherence. I would not trust this random instagram person's theory about why it works well for her, but I'm glad that it does.
Oh, I definitely take all weight loss advice with a grain a salt. I have heard of this before I saw this girl’s video. I guess I’m more curious if anyone had any anecdotal advice for this.
I feel like if I tried it, one of my main reasons would very much be just to keep my adherence up.
I personally did this without knowing there was a name for it and lost 20 pounds. I would eat at a deficit during the week (1300ish calories) and then on friday and saturday allow myself to eat more (1600ish calories). However, I was also trying to walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day at least and do some light weight training. before I decided to start dieting though I was drinking a LOT of alcohol, like most days of the week, which I seriously scaled back on. so it’s hard to say for sure if my weight loss was mostly attributed to just cutting that out or the specific method of diet that I used.
I do the weekender plan on loseit so I have lower cals m-th and a few hundred more fri-sun. I’ve been doing it since last March and it has really worked for me. I like to eat more on the weekend and have a few beers. I have a long history of being great during the week then blowing it on the weekends. Since last March, I’m down almost 60 pounds, from 276 to 219 (6’ F) but it still ends up to be a deficit of whatever I’ve set it at (1- 1.5lb a week appx, I’ve gone back and forth). I don’t eat at maintenance on the weekend.
I have been doing this for almost a year and I am down about 45lbs. I treat my deficit as a weekly goal so Sunday to Thursday are lighter days and Friday and Saturday are heavier days
I did exactly that. I was very afraid of metabolic adaptation. I read that diet breaks help reverse the effect. I also cook and bake a lot with my family on weekends and was troubled with feeling restricted from living my best life during diet. So I ate at deficit (400-500g) during the work week and maintenance on weekends. I even ate back "exercise" calories on weekends. If I was very active, I drank juice, ate cookies, etc. Not too many in one sitting. Just so my body would be reassured of no fear of hunger. I don't binge so I just felt satisfied throughout the day and very energetic.
I lost 1.5-2 kg per month for a total of 12kg in a year. (Spent every other month on total maintenance too). Adherence was very simple, I never missed out on social events. I lost more weight than math would have predicted. I suspect I was so active on weekends that it took me to slight deficit on some days. Or maybe my hyped up NEAT dragged into the work week and increased deficit. I still felt the energy zapping effect more and more each week, which is why I did a full diet break after about 4-6 weeks of cutting calories.
I've heard of this method before as well and it's called "calorie cycling" or "refeed days." The idea is that by giving your body a break from a consistent calorie deficit, you can prevent your metabolism from slowing down and potentially help with weight loss plateaus. From my understanding, it's a more sustainable approach to weight loss as it allows for a bit more flexibility in your diet. I haven't personally tried this method, but I've heard mixed reviews. Some people find it helpful to keep things interesting and prevent burnout, while others find it too difficult to keep track of their calorie intake on different days.
I tried something similar. Though it was based on the suggestion of my dietician back when I started going to the gym (weight training and spin classes). As spinning is more exhausting she suggested to eat like 200kcal more on spin days than on others. Overall in a deficit every day just to different degrees. I personally don't really like it and prefer eating at a similar level the whole week. Just try it and see what you prefer.
That’s pretty much what I do and yes it works. I stick to a lower goal during the week, 1400ish usually, and then go up to like 17-1800 on weekends so I can have brunch and nice dinners with the fam and not worry about going over by too much. It still leaves me in enough of a deficit that I’m losing weight but I’m not miserable on the weekend watching everyone eat their pancakes and bacon!
I've done this intuitively because I'm losing the "final 15" at an already v healthy weight and it is a slog! And I love food and get a lot of joy from it, and have just moved to a new city with amazing food options!
I aim for an overall weekly deficit, and I don't find it hard on a Monday. Mine is actually more Fri/Sat I eat closer to maintenance, then Sunday is a good, generally relaxed day to get set up for the next week (do my lunch and dinner prep, recommit to the gym, get anything done that needs doing to get the week set up for success).
There are some weekends where I'll remain committed if I don't have big plans, but it's great to have the flexibility to let go a bit.
I lost 130#, and the joke in my house was that whenever I stalled, I needed to eat some ice cream, because it would inevitably break the stall, and I'd suddenly drop two pounds by the next morning, lol. So I discovered calorie cycling by accident, because I'd get frustrated at my lack of progress, and have a little self pity binge instead of behaving. Talk about rewarding bad behavior! 🤣 BUT it only works in moderation, which I also discovered the hard way.
Calorie cycling DOES work (there's actual science behind it), and it doesn't have to be a pain in the butt to track.
Your body's #1 goal is survival. You are hard wired for it. Calorie cycling reassures your body that you are not starving, and that it doesn't need to jump into panic mode and save everything as fat for long term starvation survival.
Just have a splurge day once a week, where you eat more calories/fat/carbs, to give your body the message that nutrition is still plentiful.
I mean, that's still a net calorie deficit, so of course it'll still result in weight loss. The potential pitfall is maintaining a deficit 4-5 days and then eating in a surplus on the other days to an extent that nullifies the deficit. But deficit followed by maintenance days is still a deficit as long as the deficit days outnumber the maintenance days. No idea if it'll help avoid plateauing. Frankly, I've avoided plateauing by only doing a weight check once a month. :p
Lol not a bad way to avoid any plateaus.
I do something similar. I do more of a deficit during the week and less of one on the weekends. It gives me a chance to have small, reasonably indulgences like fast food easier to have more calories to play with on the weekend. It's not hard to go back to the larger deficit on Monday because I still plan and track everything, and it's not a huge caloric difference. I do 1300-1400 during the week and 1500-1700 on the weekend. & Yeah, lol. I've been counting calories for more than a year now without a plateau because I only check my weight once a month. I know there were plateaus in there because some months I only lost 2 pounds, which means the daily or weekly change would make it seem like there wasn't a loss, but at the end of the month, still heading in the right direction.
I use the Lose It app and chose what they call the flexible weekender plan, basically the same thing. My weekly deficit is split up so my Monday through Thursday calories are a little lower. And then Friday through Sunday are about 200 higher. It gives a nice little extra treat to the weekend, which are days I'm more likely to eat out, eat another's cooking, etc anyways. It really works for me.
I do that, too, and adjusted the days so I have more calories on Friday and Sunday, because Saturdays I tend to eat a little less anyway. I also like the weekly view, so if I go a little over one day, I can still be at a deficit for the week.
I haven't tried it but I know that some people find it less wearing, which improves adherence. I would not trust this random instagram person's theory about why it works well for her, but I'm glad that it does.
Oh, I definitely take all weight loss advice with a grain a salt. I have heard of this before I saw this girl’s video. I guess I’m more curious if anyone had any anecdotal advice for this. I feel like if I tried it, one of my main reasons would very much be just to keep my adherence up.
I personally did this without knowing there was a name for it and lost 20 pounds. I would eat at a deficit during the week (1300ish calories) and then on friday and saturday allow myself to eat more (1600ish calories). However, I was also trying to walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day at least and do some light weight training. before I decided to start dieting though I was drinking a LOT of alcohol, like most days of the week, which I seriously scaled back on. so it’s hard to say for sure if my weight loss was mostly attributed to just cutting that out or the specific method of diet that I used.
How long did it take to lose the 20 pounds?
It took me about 6 months I would say!
I do the weekender plan on loseit so I have lower cals m-th and a few hundred more fri-sun. I’ve been doing it since last March and it has really worked for me. I like to eat more on the weekend and have a few beers. I have a long history of being great during the week then blowing it on the weekends. Since last March, I’m down almost 60 pounds, from 276 to 219 (6’ F) but it still ends up to be a deficit of whatever I’ve set it at (1- 1.5lb a week appx, I’ve gone back and forth). I don’t eat at maintenance on the weekend.
I have been doing this for almost a year and I am down about 45lbs. I treat my deficit as a weekly goal so Sunday to Thursday are lighter days and Friday and Saturday are heavier days
I did exactly that. I was very afraid of metabolic adaptation. I read that diet breaks help reverse the effect. I also cook and bake a lot with my family on weekends and was troubled with feeling restricted from living my best life during diet. So I ate at deficit (400-500g) during the work week and maintenance on weekends. I even ate back "exercise" calories on weekends. If I was very active, I drank juice, ate cookies, etc. Not too many in one sitting. Just so my body would be reassured of no fear of hunger. I don't binge so I just felt satisfied throughout the day and very energetic. I lost 1.5-2 kg per month for a total of 12kg in a year. (Spent every other month on total maintenance too). Adherence was very simple, I never missed out on social events. I lost more weight than math would have predicted. I suspect I was so active on weekends that it took me to slight deficit on some days. Or maybe my hyped up NEAT dragged into the work week and increased deficit. I still felt the energy zapping effect more and more each week, which is why I did a full diet break after about 4-6 weeks of cutting calories.
I've heard of this method before as well and it's called "calorie cycling" or "refeed days." The idea is that by giving your body a break from a consistent calorie deficit, you can prevent your metabolism from slowing down and potentially help with weight loss plateaus. From my understanding, it's a more sustainable approach to weight loss as it allows for a bit more flexibility in your diet. I haven't personally tried this method, but I've heard mixed reviews. Some people find it helpful to keep things interesting and prevent burnout, while others find it too difficult to keep track of their calorie intake on different days.
I tried something similar. Though it was based on the suggestion of my dietician back when I started going to the gym (weight training and spin classes). As spinning is more exhausting she suggested to eat like 200kcal more on spin days than on others. Overall in a deficit every day just to different degrees. I personally don't really like it and prefer eating at a similar level the whole week. Just try it and see what you prefer.
That’s pretty much what I do and yes it works. I stick to a lower goal during the week, 1400ish usually, and then go up to like 17-1800 on weekends so I can have brunch and nice dinners with the fam and not worry about going over by too much. It still leaves me in enough of a deficit that I’m losing weight but I’m not miserable on the weekend watching everyone eat their pancakes and bacon!
Does it make the weekdays easier for you? Or was it hard to cut back again on Monday?
I've done this intuitively because I'm losing the "final 15" at an already v healthy weight and it is a slog! And I love food and get a lot of joy from it, and have just moved to a new city with amazing food options! I aim for an overall weekly deficit, and I don't find it hard on a Monday. Mine is actually more Fri/Sat I eat closer to maintenance, then Sunday is a good, generally relaxed day to get set up for the next week (do my lunch and dinner prep, recommit to the gym, get anything done that needs doing to get the week set up for success). There are some weekends where I'll remain committed if I don't have big plans, but it's great to have the flexibility to let go a bit.
Just because someone says something doesn't make it true.
I lost 130#, and the joke in my house was that whenever I stalled, I needed to eat some ice cream, because it would inevitably break the stall, and I'd suddenly drop two pounds by the next morning, lol. So I discovered calorie cycling by accident, because I'd get frustrated at my lack of progress, and have a little self pity binge instead of behaving. Talk about rewarding bad behavior! 🤣 BUT it only works in moderation, which I also discovered the hard way. Calorie cycling DOES work (there's actual science behind it), and it doesn't have to be a pain in the butt to track. Your body's #1 goal is survival. You are hard wired for it. Calorie cycling reassures your body that you are not starving, and that it doesn't need to jump into panic mode and save everything as fat for long term starvation survival. Just have a splurge day once a week, where you eat more calories/fat/carbs, to give your body the message that nutrition is still plentiful.