Zig Zag Dieting? Have any of you tried this? Just starting out

theblondechef

I am trying to find livable diet solutions to lose weight. I only have time to work out a few times a week right now, so this will be a slow process. But have any of you tried the zig zag method with success?

sarah7591

zig zag ? What is that?

cmriverside

Essentially if you use Myfitnesspal the way it is designed, you will practice Zig Zag naturally since you exercise sporadically.

Enter exercise into the "Exercise" tab and you will be given more calories on those days.


Some people call "zig zagging" the same thing as certain forms of Intermittent Fasting, such as 5:3.

Any plan will work if you are creating a calorie deficit over time. That's all zig zag does. It was too much thinking for me, I just prefer to log my food and eat a bit more on exercise days, the way this site is set up. Easy peasy.

MsCzar

What are you thinking when you say workout? For some, that means an hour or so at the gym, often with commuting and shower time added on. Or maybe it means completing your full normal exercise routine, walk or run. Maybe think of reducing your workout time rather than completely skipping it? Even 10 minutes of high energy movement is helpful; it keeps your head in the game and keeps you from losing hard-won ground.

I workout at home, primarily with 30-40 minutes daily on a rebounder (mini trampoline). I can usually manage to find 30 minutes somewhere in my day, but when time is truly tight, I crank up the intensity of my workout for 10-15 or so minutes before jumping in the shower.

wunderkindking

I don't formally or rigidly zig-zag, but I have always kept an eye on my weekly deficit rather than a consistent daily one, and I lost almost all my weight with my calories set to maintain and just eating between 1200 (I'm female) and maintaining.

It worked fine and let me follow my actual hunger cues, which are NOT consistent.

(And neither is my activity level. There's a base level of activity in my life. Extra stuff is erratic.)

AnnPT77

theblondechef wrote: »

I am trying to find livable diet solutions to lose weight. I only have time to work out a few times a week right now, so this will be a slow process. But have any of you tried the zig zag method with success?

You write as if exercise causes weight loss. It doesn't.

Calorie deficit - eating fewer calories than you burn, overall, on average - causes weight loss.

Sure, exercising burns calories, but so does job, home chores, and frankly just being alive and breathing. Any activity level, any amount of exercise, can exist alongside weight loss, just by managing what we eat.

My calorie level varies day to day as a natural result of following the MFP method, and having a schedule that means I exercise lots some days, not at all on others. I don't intentionally zig-zag calories in one of the tricksy ways that some web sites suggest, because for me it doesn't have a point. (Some people may find it helps their energy level, or makes it easier to stick to a calorie goal; I don't.)

With my variable exercise level, I've (at different times) lost weight, gained weight, or stayed at about the same weight, depending on how my average eating calories balanced out with my average activity/being-alive calories. At one stage, I even exercised hard 6 days most weeks, even competed in races, and stayed obese . . . so I'm quite clear that exercise doesn't inherently result in weight loss, for me. Later, I lost weight on pretty much the same exercise schedule, by eating a manageable amount less.

For anyone with a meaningful amount of weight to lose, weight loss is inherently a slow process, and IMO should be, because fast loss increases health risks, and can be counterproductive in other ways (reduced energy, hair thinning, difficulty getting proper nutrition, etc.).

To me, a livable approach to weight loss is to find an easy, happy way to get my calorie intake below my calorie output, on average, and stay there for weeks and months . . . while keeping my energy level up, my eating enjoyable/filling/nutritious/practical, my exercise fun and not excessively time-demanding, and generally putting in place habits that will keep me at a healthy weight long term. (I've been at a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after about 3 previous decades of overweight/obesity.)

Just my opinions, obviously, though.

Best wishes for success!

theblondechef

Thank you all for your input! I do like the idea of maybe utilizing weekly calories as a opposed to a fixed "zig zag" format for calories per day, that does make a lot of sense, I hadn't thought if it that way before.

VictorSmashes

I love zig zag “dieting.” I think the idea is that not training your body to eat a set amount everyday is supposed to help prevent plateauing because your body isn't then adjusting to that deficit.
I don’t know if it works. I do know I prefer it and it works for me for a while. I still reset it like you would any deficit so I won’t say it’s better than rigid deficits. It just makes sense for my lifestyle.

ahoy_m8

I have. But it’s always been kind of accidental, e.g. I overate one day and compensated the next. Or something unplanned happened and I underate one day and compensated the next. So long as you are hitting your goal *on average* you will lose weight. Using your weekly average intake really helps to “find livable diet solutions to lose weight” because it flexes with your life. It’s nice to have the flexibility to eat more some days than others.

I never set a schedule of zig days or zag days or whatever, but I do enjoy more when something special is going on and eat less other days to balance that out. But you totally hit on the key point: finding what’s livable for you.

Experiment a little and enjoy yourself along the way.

TwistedSassette

I'm not sure exactly if this is zig-zagging, but I have MFP premium which allows me to set my calorie goal by day. So during the week I am a bit more strict and reduce my goal by about 115 calories a day, then on weekends I relax it a little more and increase my goal by about 300 calories a day.

I started doing this because I found that I was eating more on a weekend (maybe being more inherently active makes me hungrier - I'm sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day during the week!) so rather than going over my goal every weekend, I found ways to reduce my weekday intake slightly - essentially "saving" those calories for the weekend. It works for me as it feels a little more flexible, but overall on a weekly basis it's the same number of calories.

amusedmonkey

If by zig-zagging you mean varying calorie levels day to day, then yes, I do this naturally with no set pattern. Some days I eat more some days I eat less and it all averages out in the end. I usually look at my calories as a monthly pool. Flexibility is important to me, and not all days are the same. Some days I'm hungrier, other days I'm less hungry, some days I feel like eating high calorie foods, other days the foods I want are lower in calories...etc.

Weight loss IS going to be relatively slow if you do it properly regardless if you exercise or not. Exercise can give you extra calories to eat which can make weight loss easier, but it's not necessary for weight loss nor has as much of an effect as you think on weight loss. It's a good habit to have, though (and the extra calories are welcome).