Free calorie tool
Calorie Cycling Calculator
Calorie cycling means eating more on some days and less on others. This calculator keeps the weekly total where your goal puts it and shows what each kind of day comes to.
Worked example
For a 30-year-old man who weighs 75 kg and is 178 cm tall (lightly active) eating an average of 1,862 kcal a day, 2 high days a week at 2,148 kcal and 5 low days at 1,748 kcal add up to 13,036 kcal for the week.
Set up your high and low days
The result below starts from the example's numbers. Change any field and it updates as you type.
Track this target every day
Use the number above as your daily goal in CalorTracker, then log meals by photo, voice or text and see where your day stands against it. Free to start, no card needed to explore.
Results are estimates from published formulas, not medical advice. Your own body can sit above or below them.
Where the formulas come from, and how we check them: how we calculate.
How calorie cycling works here
First it finds your weekly average the way the calorie calculator does: maintenance (TDEE) moved by your goal. Then it chooses a higher number for the high days and a lower one for the rest, so that the seven days add up to the same total as eating that average every day. You choose how many high days (one to three) and how big the gap is.
The arithmetic
- Weekly total = average × 7.
- Low day = average − gap × high days ÷ 7, rounded to a whole number.
- High day = low day + gap.
Because the weekly total is the same, the expected change in weight over the week is the same as eating steady, by the usual arithmetic of about 7,700 kcal per kilogram. This tool does not claim that cycling gets better results than eating the same amount every day. It is a way to arrange a budget you already have, and some people simply find it easier to live with.
The lowest day we will give you
A low day never falls below 1,200 kcal for women and 1,500 kcal for men. If your chosen gap would push it lower, the gap is shortened and the page tells you. When you lose weight, the weekly average itself also stops at that minimum.
Laying out the week
The table shows one way to spread the high days. Put them on the days you train hard, or have a dinner out, or whichever you find easier to eat more on. Only the weekly total matters to the arithmetic.