Zigzag calories

Kate_UK

I seem to be on a bit of a plateau so I'm considering zigzaging my calories to see if that will help to get things moving again. How do YOU log it? Do you just log as normal so that you show over your cals on the high days and under on the low? Or do you adjust your MFP settings so that you always stay in the green? I hate being in the red lol. But If I see the extra cals in there everyday I know I'll want to eat them! Also is it net cals you base your day on or cals consumed.

Thanks in advance!

Kate

lu123

Well, I average out the calories and put that as my calorie goal, normally my exercise keeps me in the green. If you don't want to go into the red just set it as highest calorie intake you're going to have and just remember day to day what your own goal is.

Dunno if that helps but that's how I do it.

championnfl

Plateau??? Ever try quick burn?

15 or 30 mon. times[depending on your schedule]

pick your favorite cardio.[tredmill,bike, etc.]
30 sec intervals 1-10 levels
30 sec at highest level 10[fastest you can] DO THIS 15 TIMES!
30 sec at slowest level 2 [ notice 2 not 1 level] DO THIS 15 TIMES!
Do this for 30 mins & you will burn cals for up to 24-48 hrs when finished!

Do this everyday for week & start to notice the differance.

Kate_UK

Plateau??? Ever try quick burn?

15 or 30 mon. times[depending on your schedule]

pick your favorite cardio.[tredmill,bike, etc.]
30 sec intervals 1-10 levels
30 sec at highest level 10[fastest you can] DO THIS 15 TIMES!
30 sec at slowest level 2 [ notice 2 not 1 level] DO THIS 15 TIMES!
Do this for 30 mins & you will burn cals for up to 24-48 hrs when finished!

Do this everyday for week & start to notice the differance.

That sounds great thank you! :flowerforyou: I'm swimming today but I'll definitely be trying that when I'm on my stationary bike tomorrow and for another 6 days afterwards. Hope I see the results.

renae5

the interval training is an awesome way to get a jump start... even if the scale tries to remain stalled, my measurements will move after a week of that...Oh, and be Ready to SWEAT!!! Good luck!

gingajoy

I zigzag quite a bit -- try and keep to 1200 in the week, and try not to eat too many exercise calories If any). I then go over at the weekend (but hope that the uneaten exercise will compensate. I don't go bananas at the weekend, but over by about 200-400 each day. I guess that's not really zigzagging as you're thinking of it. I love MFP, but if I could add one feature, it would be a rollover or 'bank' calories feature.

Just in case you wanted to get into interval training gently, and start just a very manageable bit of running (30seconds run, 30 second walk) then I highly recommend this podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/motion-traxx-upbeat-workout/id300391393 (see #14) JEff Galloway coaches you through the session, the music's good, and I quite like his voice (sounds like Owen Wilson:-)) I tried it last week to try and vary my routine a bit -- it was fairly easy to do, but I really got my heart rate going. (Oh, and I lost 3lbs last week -- not sure if this is why, but you never know!)

Kate_UK

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Just in case you wanted to get into interval training gently, and start just a very manageable bit of running (30seconds run, 30 second walk) then I highly recommend this podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/motion-traxx-upbeat-workout/id300391393 (see #14) JEff Galloway coaches you through the session, the music's good, and I quite like his voice (sounds like Owen Wilson:-)) I tried it last week to try and vary my routine a bit -- it was fairly easy to do, but I really got my heart rate going. (Oh, and I lost 3lbs last week -- not sure if this is why, but you never know!)

Thank you for the link, I love to be able to say I'm a runner, but I just cant get passed those first few minutes running in the same way as I do with other exercise, so maybe starting this way will help get me on the right road so to speak. (no pun intended!) I could mix that up with the biking every other day.

Thanks for all your respones, I LOVE that the people on this site are so friendly and are happy to share some wonderful tips.

AnAbsoluteDiva

Zigzagging rocks. But I wouldn't make adjustments. Post the calories as you ate them. When you get the report, you'll clearly see the zig zag. If you feel differently (moody, bloated, whatever) you can look at how many calories you took in and develop a pattern.

Precision is key. High calories on rest days, low calories on training days.