chrisw77's Journal, 08 May 19

Makes a lot of sense 

I thought the body was constantly storing and using anyway (according to my favorite scientist - don't make me look it up!). Is there some research to back this up? 

The pic is about carb cycling, not calorie cycling. Having carbs ready for an intense workout is science. Eating enough protein for muscle repair/building is science. Having the calories for the day be ultimately higher ... is that science or common sense like "You have to eat protein right after a work-out" which seems like it would be wise, but science says otherwise. Just in a 'I challenge that' sort of mood today... 

"Just common sense" is a red-flag for me, I guess. LOL 

The study you gave for the accepted challenge isn't about balancing caloric needs. It's about zigzaging calories but not having anything to do with the day's activity level. That's what I do to ward off plateauing. When I did it randomly it worked great! When I ate more when I exercised but kept deficit the same, it didn't work at all. So, not the right study for the current challenge. Try again. :)  

Ok, will read it when I get home. Going out now... 

Ok, not a study on effectiveness, but what they said was that zigzagging carbs can help stop plateauing (which has been studied and is true) and you may as well put your heavy workouts on your big carb days. Ok. But not exactly 'balancing so you don't have to store and then retrieve energy'. And they also mentioned bringing down the protein during those high carb days to offset the increased calories. Pretty sure you're not going to do that. :) Anyway, my point is, zigzag deficit works to stop fat-loss plateaus. Eat carbs for strenuous activity. Eat protein for building muscle. But not sure if 'balancing calories' based on activity is a helpful thing. In fact, it'll make it harder to zigzag deficits (for those of us still losing). And if anecdotal evidence from me is acceptable, then it's to be avoided.