AboutLaurie Beebe, MS, RD, LD Expertise As a registered dietitian I am fully qualified to accurately answer questions regarding weight loss, including those from people with health conditions requiring dietary restrictions (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc) who want to lose weight, or who have been advised to do so by their physician.
Experience I have been a registered dietitian for over 25 years and am certified in Adult Weight Management through the commission on dietetic registration. I also have training in coaching through Coach U and currently work as a diet coach to help people lose weight the healthy way.
Organizations American Dietetic Association, Weight Management Dietetic Practice Group, Nutrition Entreprenuers, St.Louis International Coach Federation, Toastmasters
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Florida, 1983; Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from Case Western Reserve Universitiy 1985; Certification in Adult Weight Management 2006; CoachU core essentials grad 2007.
Question Everyone says that to lose pounds/fat you must reduce calories. Some people also say that your body gets used to being on reduced calories and actually becomes more determined to hold on to the fat that it has.
Assuming these are both true, my question is: Would it be healthy and would it boost metabolism to eat on a cycle? For example.. to eat very low calories for "x" amount of days, then eat normally for a day or two, then repeat? And if so, what length of time would be recommendable for each part of the cycle?
Answer Dear Elysian,
What a great question! It's true that you must reduce your calorie intake (or increase the number of calories you burn) in order to lose weight. It is also true that if you stay on a low calorie diet for a while your body will likely experience a reduced metabolic rate in order to conserve energy because it senses you are, in a sense, starving yourself.
In fact, there was a diet around in the 1980's named "The Rotation Diet" which worked on this principle: An extremely low calorie diet (600 calories for women and 900 for men) was followed for three days, a very low calorie diet for four more (900 calories for women and 1500 for men) and a low calorie diet for the next couple of weeks (1200 calorie for women and 1800 calories for men). The diet was theorized to prevent the "plateau" effect that occurs when a low calorie diet is followed for a period of time. In actuality it probably worked because of the extremely low calorie level ingested the entire time a person was following it!
In reality, diets below 1200 calories are likely to be lacking in nutrients and difficult to adhere to for any length of time. If you follow a calorie level that is in deficit of your needs by just 200-500 calories each day, you should lose two to five pounds per month and this phenomenon of slowed metabolism--or weight loss plateau-- should not occur. (This site can help you calculate your calorie needs based on height, weight, age, gender, and activity level http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/caloriesneed.htm)
Most of the people who contact me regarding having reached a plateau have been on a calorie level that is too low for them because they wanted to experience quick weight loss.
Slow and sure is the way to go for continuing healthy weight loss that you will be able to maintain in the long run.
