Your calories. You are correct however that if you are consuming nutrient poor food especially those hi in sugar salt and fat then the moment you slip into a calorie surplus you risk rapid weight increase and thus the yo-yo effect you were referring to.

So in order to properly and most effectively take advantage of c i c o you need 2 make sure that the calories you do consume are as nutrient-rich as possible preferably complete proteins at least in my opinion since I'm not a vegan and the full rainbow of color amongst your fruits and vegetables. Quality fats especially from nuts, seeds and avocados.

For a lot of people who see dieting as restrictive in the negative sense or they see that one slice of pizza and that's it, would be surprised at how much food they actually could consume when eating healthy clean and nutrient-rich.

Even more so people would be shocked when they realized just how little the human body needs each day to function properly and just how little an increase is needed to compensate for any energy used while exercising.