Living for the Weekend!

It's the weekend, but being on a diet can sometimes feel like you're missing out - with calorie-cycling you can still enjoy a night-out whilst staying on track.

If you're looking to loose 1lb per week then you need a deficit of 3500kcal over the course of that week. That's typically a 500kcal daily deficit, but like a financial budget, it's all about the balance in the end.

So for example, say your maintenance calories are 2500kcal, instead of a flat 2000kcal daily target, you can spend that 14000kcal weekly budget so that it's weighted towards the weekend:

Sunday	1650
Monday	1650
Tuesday	1650
Wednesday	1650
Thursday	1650
Friday	3500
Saturday	2250
Total	14000

Be wary of spikes in weight in this scenario - increased carbs (beer!) or salty restaurant food will lead to water retention and that'll show on the scale. Normally takes a few days for this to revert, and you'll get a couple of unaffected readings just before the next weekend session, so might be better to only weigh yourself monthly if there's the potential that a "lack of progress" could lead to quitting - I've had (great!) night-outs that resulted in >7lb water weight gain, so it's easy to think everything is ruined even though you're still on track as your progress is being masked.

This extra budget can still be exceeded, as plans can go out the window as the night progresses. You can either just write this off, and get back on the diet-horse the next day - and, as a one-off incident it shouldn't have too much of an overall effect. But, you can push the boat out a bit further with more selective drink and food choices.

Alcohol itself won't be stored as fat, but it has an energy value that can push you over budget and into fat storage for the other food you consume. As the body views it as a toxin, it gets priority and other metabolic pathways shutdown. Dietary fat is pretty much just stored, and the same with carbs once glycogen stores are full (glycogen is what drives muscle so exercise during the day itself can deplete these stores). Protein will not be stored as fat (you could pretty much drink whisky and eat chicken breast all day without gaining an ounce!).

This boils down to:

• Low carb drinks: Spirts,  Dry Wines or (very) Light Beer
• Zero calorie mixers
• Low fat, low carb and high protein food

More detail here:
https://rippedbody.com/alcohol/
https://leangains.com/the-truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle-growth/