Daily calorie cycling
Calorie cycling (zigzag dieting) spreads your weekly calorie target unevenly across the week — higher intake on training or social days, lower on rest days — while keeping the weekly total the same. Because your weekly average is unchanged, the number that actually drives fat loss or gain stays on target, but day to day the plan feels more flexible.
How it works
The calculator fixes your weekly total, then redistributes it:
average daily = maintenance + daily adjustment weekly total = average daily × 7
A high day is the average plus half the spread, and the low days are lowered just enough to keep the weekly total fixed:
high day = average + (spread% × average) ÷ 2 low day = average − (high days × delta) ÷ low days
where delta is the per-day bump on high days. So no matter how you split high and low days, high × (high days) + low × (low days) always equals your weekly total.
Example
Maintenance 2,400 kcal, a −300 daily deficit, 3 high days and a 20% spread:
- Average daily = 2,400 − 300 = 2,100 kcal (weekly total 14,700)
- Spread = 20% × 2,100 = 420; delta = 210
- High day = 2,100 + 210 = 2,310 kcal (×3 days)
- Low day = 2,100 − (3 × 210) ÷ 4 = 1,942.5 kcal (×4 days)
- Check: 2,310 × 3 + 1,942.5 × 4 = 14,700 kcal ✓
| Day type | Calories | Days |
|---|---|---|
| High | ~2,310 | 3 |
| Low | ~1,943 | 4 |
| Weekly total | 14,700 | 7 |
The plan is calculated instantly in your browser. This is general information, not dietary advice — nothing is uploaded.