most interesting
for a while now I have been struggling to lose weight on 1200 (5ft 3.5ins and 54)
the calories cycling makes so much sence - I have been eating 1100 for a while now and its hard to stick with - knowing I can have the odd day at 1600 is such good news it will be like having a day off :):)

I believe that calorie cycling IS helpful to avoid a slowdown in metabolism and/or to break a plateau. While I'm counting POINTS for Weight Watchers, there is no reason why I can't "cycle" them a little. Actually the FLEX Points is cycling in a way, since the calorie intake will be a little different from day to day.

I've never heard of this before. Is it truly healthy or is it just another fad diet? I can't see how this would work.

Annie

Yes very interesting! Even though I am 5'8" I had to goggle this subject and was surprised to find tons of info....

I found the following 2 items on Livestrong.com:

If you're trying to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories. In "Bodies-in-Balance," author Tom Dolan recommends women between 5 feet, 2 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches tall eat approximately 1,650 calories per day while dieting. If you're less than 5 feet, 2 inches, Dolan recommends dropping that intake to 1,500 calories; you should never, however, drop below 1,200 calories per day.

Diet Plateau
In "The 3-Hour Diet," author Jorge Cruise notes that petite women may experience a diet plateau sooner than their non-petite counterparts. The more body mass you have, the faster you'll burn calories. This is why petites -- who are generally shorter than 5 feet, 2 inches, and weigh less than 150 lbs. -- may need to adjust their diets to continue losing weight. Cruise suggests cutting about 200 calories from your daily intake once you reach a plateau to jump-start your weight loss.

Very interesting article. I like the idea of cycling calories.. but i've been told not to go below 1200 cal. I guess something new is learned every year.

Will have to wait to see if this diet is noted on any doctor shows or in the news.

I'm 5feet 2inches or maybe 5feet 1 1/2 now. had my bmi done and was told i burn 2100 cal. just being. i was told to eat 1900 cal. a day and exercise burning about 300 cal.

What happens with the calories you burn. you will be well under 1100 ? Do you add the cal. you burned back in?

I hope it works for the people who try it.
thanks for sharing

Just looked it up the book review says he's been on the view and Dr. Oz. Surprised i didn't' hear of it before.

Where did you read about it?

Um, wouldn't it stand to reason that someone with less body mass in general would require less calories than someone with more?? I mean, you wouldn't serve the same size meal to a person 6 ft, 230 pounds as even a person who is 5'8" and 150 pounds...would you? Maybe you would...but, certainly wouldn't expect the lesser person to eat it all!

You don't feed smaller children the same amount as an adult or a bigger child...

hmmmm...seems like common sense to me. Calorie cycling has been around for years...for folks of all shapes and sizes. It's a matter of shocking your system and not letting it get used to the same thing all the time. Same principal stands with exercise.

If you always do what you've always done...you'll always get what you've always gotten.

Sheesh, I am only 4'11 so I guess all I can have is a saltine cracker 3 times a day. LOL But seriously I do feel I require less and tend to eat smaller portions since I can't finish what most average adults would consume. Even still with no "over eating" issue I am still 30 pounds over weight! I come from a long line of obese women and fight just to be at the weight I am. Metabolism/genetics also has a lot to do with it.
.

I am 5 ft 1 in and need to lose about 45 pounds. I started a diet yesterday....again....and am just not sure which one to follow. I have tried Weight Watchers, but with my schedule have a hard time keeping track of points. Any ideas???

Makes sense to me! We could spread those extra points over a couple of different days and that might perk up the ole metabolism.

I'm barely 5' and yes, I know I require far less calories than most people. My problem is that I am an emotional eater. I eat whether or not I'm hungry, often when I'm full and uncomfortable. For me, it's related to stress. But, 1100 calories is also very hard to stick to! I'm going through my nutrition information that I have saved here and there (all over my house) for years and trying to put together my plan for the new year. I've read that for weight loss, I would need to eat between 900-1000 calories and eat 1100-1200 for maintenance.

I am now on chapter 4 of this book. Several things he says make sense. 1) Picture a large pool and a baby pool. The baby pool takes less water to fill it than the big pool. 2) Going over in calories for a smaller woman therefore is a bigger weight gain over time vs the same calories for a taller woman 3) As your weight decreases, your BMR goes down, or the calories required each day to maintain your weight, 4) BMR decreases as you age. Our metabolism naturally slows down.

Here is the formula he presents to calculate BMR:

BMR=655+(4.35xweight in lbs)+(4.7 x height in inches) - ( 4.7 x age in years) x multiplier

Multiplier:
1.2 for sedentary (desk job, minimal exercise)
1.375 slightly active (3 x week walk)
1.55 moderately active (6x per week exercise or more)
1.725 active

For me, I am 47 years old, 5' 1", currently 164 lbs. My current BMR is 1936. To lose 1 lb a week I need to keep my calories around 1400. Getting to my goal weight of 110 lbs, my BMR would drop to 1619!! That is approximately 1600 calories a day to MAINTAIN my weight!!

Like I said, the math that he goes through is scary, but makes total sense. I have been tracking calories for about a year, and the only time I LOSE weight is when I keep around 1400 calories, AND exercise! As soon as I hit 1900, I gain! Eating 28 more calories a day for a year and changing nothing else, results in 3 lbs per year gain! 30 lbs in 10 years, 90 lbs in 30 years. Well for me, I have gained about 58 lbs in 22 years, so this math makes total sense to me!

The book is called "The Petite Advantage" by Jim Karas. I saw him on Dr Oz. He does push breakfast as the most important meal of the day.

Hi-ok so I calculated my bmr using the formula below. I am 5 ft 1 inch, 50 yrs old and pretty active (workout 6-7 days/week) I got a bmr of 1837-if I wanted to lose a pound a week what would my caloric intake need to be?

it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to equal 1 lb. so 500 calories a day.

So to lose 1 lb per week, you would be at around 1337 calories per day.

Being petite (5'-5'1") AND having a goal weight of 105-110 pounds I have seen articles that say to maintain this weight (with no exercise) I can only eat about 800 calories. Add in exercise and it might be possible to get to 1200 but smaller bodies naturally burn less calories. So when I get to my goal weight it will be difficult to eat the recommended 1200 without gaining weight. Unfortunately 1200 is not very much and it adds up quickly. True you can eat lots of fruits and veggies but they do not have staying power and you get hungry again pretty fast. Oh the price I am willing to pay to be thin!!

I am pretty short and I was using 1500 calorie diet. Lost about 15 lbs and I was very happy, but now I am using 1200 calorie diet for better results... :P
You can read about this diet here: http://www.calorieguide.org/the-1200-calorie-diet/
Good luck!