Zig Zagging Calories Day 1

WarmDontBurn

A wonderful MFP member helped me to understand more about zig zagging calories and today I started. I want to see how I do in a week so thought I would post my progress and maybe if others are new to zig zagging we can help eachother.

My week will be Day 1 & 2 = 1340 Net and then Day 3 - 1650 ( May be tough)
I just wanted to mix it up and bit and see what happens.

Anyone else just starting zig zagging? Any tips advice or just whatever :flowerforyou:

My weight this morning was 136.7lbs and I have 145 calories left for the day so far but light snack after my kiddos go to bed will take care of that!

staceyo1211

Interesting...i'd like to know about this as well.

bmfrazie

What is this all about?

JessesGirl05

What is this all about?

it's supposed to keep your body working, instead of getting too used to any one particular thing.

WarmDontBurn

I read about it here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly?hl=Zig+zagging+

WarmDontBurn

My first post I weighed in at 136.7lbs. I was successful in Days 1,2 and 3 today is day 4 and my scale is the lowest it has been in 8 years!!!

Today I weighed in at 135.6! It may not be 100% as I know weight can fluctuate and you should only weigh once a week but I haven't seen that number in so long it is great motivation!

jennmoore3

Maybe I will try this as well. Interesting to say the least.

jennmoore3

Hey how are you doing?

WarmDontBurn

Doing good! I weighed again this morning and I am at 135.7lbs so a tiny gain but I am still happy to be in the 135's. I guess I can believe that it is real!

Today is Day 5 so last low day before tomorrows high. My normal weigh in is Monday so I will check back in before then unless I see a prettier number

mckant

Thanks for posting your updates. This is an interesting strategy and I like to see how you're progressing with it. It seems to be working for you. Keep it up

CricketKate

I started this last week as well! Good Luck!

iamhealingmyself

I started this on Sunday. I'm close to my goal weight (10lbs or so) and since my exercise has been sporadic at best I thought this would help me knock off those last few lbs. I'm also following the EX FL (Extreme Fat Loss) numbers this week and might swtich it up ever other week for the month of May. We'll see how it goes.

Alternate zig zag concept:
ZIG ZAG Ex FL Fat Loss Maintain
Sunday 1400 1516 1894
Monday 1400 1516 1894
Tuesday 1400 1400 1516
Wednesday 1680 1819 2273
Thursday 1400 1516 1894
Friday 1400 1400 1705
Saturday 1540 1667 2084

jennmoore3

I started this on Sunday. I'm close to my goal weight (10lbs or so) and since my exercise has been sporadic at best I thought this would help me knock off those last few lbs. I'm also following the EX FL (Extreme Fat Loss) numbers this week and might swtich it up ever other week for the month of May. We'll see how it goes.

Alternate zig zag concept:
ZIG ZAG Ex FL Fat Loss Maintain
Sunday 1400 1516 1894
Monday 1400 1516 1894
Tuesday 1400 1400 1516
Wednesday 1680 1819 2273
Thursday 1400 1516 1894
Friday 1400 1400 1705
Saturday 1540 1667 2084

Hey I know this sounds so dumb, but... Can you explain a bit more? You have 3 different numbers for each week. Either I am really dumb or just not getting what you mean. Thanks!

Jenn

amberaz

I just calculated my own ZigZag plan and started this week. I took my weekly calories to lose 1/2 lb per week and split that up over the week with a varying umber every day. High calorie days are on my lighter exercise days and lower calorie days are on my heavier exercise days, that way I can still eat decently on my light/off days. Here's how I did it.

9800 calories per week (1400 per day to lose .5 lb)
Sunday 1600
Monday 1400
Tuesday 1200
Wednesday 1400
Thursday 1200
Friday 1600
Saturday 1400

I am really wanting to drop this last 3-5 lbs and I just can't seem to bust 110 on the scale. I am really hoping that doig this for a month or so will help get me to my goal.

WarmDontBurn

OMG I thought I was getting better with my scale addiction..lol. I weigh every day now...again and happy to report I am down some more :happy: 135.4lbs baby!!

WarmDontBurn

And today is my official weigh in and I am 134lbs!! Hello 134!!
I have now lost 2.7lbs since April 30th when I started this thread.

SparksFly460

I started this on Sunday. I'm close to my goal weight (10lbs or so) and since my exercise has been sporadic at best I thought this would help me knock off those last few lbs. I'm also following the EX FL (Extreme Fat Loss) numbers this week and might swtich it up ever other week for the month of May. We'll see how it goes.

Alternate zig zag concept:
ZIG ZAG Ex FL Fat Loss Maintain
Sunday 1400 1516 1894
Monday 1400 1516 1894
Tuesday 1400 1400 1516
Wednesday 1680 1819 2273
Thursday 1400 1516 1894
Friday 1400 1400 1705
Saturday 1540 1667 2084

Hey I know this sounds so dumb, but... Can you explain a bit more? You have 3 different numbers for each week. Either I am really dumb or just not getting what you mean. Thanks!

Jenn

It's based on a three week rotation. The first set of numbers for each weekday is set to Extreme Fat Loss net calories. The second set for each weekday is set for 'regular' weight loss and the last set of numbers for each weekday is set a zig-zag for maintaining weight.

SparksFly460

I started this on Sunday. I'm close to my goal weight (10lbs or so) and since my exercise has been sporadic at best I thought this would help me knock off those last few lbs. I'm also following the EX FL (Extreme Fat Loss) numbers this week and might swtich it up ever other week for the month of May. We'll see how it goes.

Alternate zig zag concept:
ZIG ZAG Ex FL Fat Loss Maintain
Sunday 1400 1516 1894
Monday 1400 1516 1894
Tuesday 1400 1400 1516
Wednesday 1680 1819 2273
Thursday 1400 1516 1894
Friday 1400 1400 1705
Saturday 1540 1667 2084

I would LOVE to try this to spike my metabolism back up. Just so I have something to work off...What is your maintenance net inake? I'm guessing abut 1800?

WarmDontBurn

Ya 1770 according to MFP if I set it to maintenance now.

maillekelly

I am doing the same, I'm eating about 1200-1300cals day 1,2,3 then my maintenance on the 4th day which is 1800 then the exact same over and over again. However I don't use these numbers as my 'net' calories, That is only what I put in my mouth. I also burn about 400 calories a day, but I do not eat back my exercise calories as this method is working for me so far. Obviously if things change I will have to switch up my diet.

froglegjack

I am starting this today glad you are posting about your success!:drinker:

popchex

Oh nice! I did something similar to this on WW (the Wendie plan) and have been sort of going with it on my own this past week...didn't realise there was a thread on it! Thanks for sharing I'll DEFINITELY be doing this.

ohdear1986

this is how i have did it since i started. doubt i could do it any other way. i weigh on a friday, friday i ate 3400 kcal, sat 1100 and today will be around 1200. tomorrow back up to 1600 ish. am trying to maintain now though. my high days are great, i feel satisfied to the point i can handle the low days. without a high day i wouldn't have made it this far.

JaneP2011

Interesting!! I've actually noticed that if I have one or two 'normal' days a week I tend to lose weight more effectively than sticking rigidly to low calorie (1200-1400) every day. Didn't know it was called zig-zagging! Might give it a go more formally ...

alainaroseg

Bump!

Thanks for posting progress - it's very motivational!

iamhealingmyself

I started this on Sunday. I'm close to my goal weight (10lbs or so) and since my exercise has been sporadic at best I thought this would help me knock off those last few lbs. I'm also following the EX FL (Extreme Fat Loss) numbers this week and might swtich it up ever other week for the month of May. We'll see how it goes.

Alternate zig zag concept:
ZIG ZAG Ex FL Fat Loss Maintain
Sunday 1400 1516 1894
Monday 1400 1516 1894
Tuesday 1400 1400 1516
Wednesday 1680 1819 2273
Thursday 1400 1516 1894
Friday 1400 1400 1705
Saturday 1540 1667 2084

Hey I know this sounds so dumb, but... Can you explain a bit more? You have 3 different numbers for each week. Either I am really dumb or just not getting what you mean. Thanks!

Jenn

You're not dumb the numbers are all scrunched together, no pretty tables.
No, this isn't for each week, it's depending on how much I want to lose.

The last number is my maintenance calories to keep my current weight. The FL (fat loss) number (one to the left of maintenance) is a % of my maintenance (not sure of the exact number, lets say 75) and will get me close to what mfp is doing, the EX FL (extreme fat loss) is a greater deficit to shed more per week. (Let's say that number is 55% of my maintenance) The concept is that the Ex FL would be the least amount of calories I would ever want to eat in a day (and these are NET calories, which means you eat back your exercise calories if you have them)

I decided to stick with the EX FL numbers for a 2nd week. I had a run in with some high sodium the first week and didn't know it, couple that with muscle repair, swelling, etc. from exercising daily instead of the occasionally 3 times a week, so I ended up gaining 3 pounds but I'm already back down below 177 so I'm hoping to show the 3 lbs off plus an actual loss of real weight by this weekend.

iamhealingmyself

It's based on a three week rotation. The first set of numbers for each weekday is set to Extreme Fat Loss net calories. The second set for each weekday is set for 'regular' weight loss and the last set of numbers for each weekday is set a zig-zag for maintaining weight.

That was not my understanding of the process nor the way I'm following it. It also wouldn't make sense to throw a maintenance week in there if I'm still trying to lose weight. Maybe I missed something though on that site.

The maintenance level tells me what I need to maintain (my baseline) the FL is the least I would lose per week and the EX FL is the most I would lose per week, but really, my numbers aren't that much different from MFP so I'm only gaining about an extra 500 calories off my logged MFP daily goal.

iamhealingmyself

I would LOVE to try this to spike my metabolism back up. Just so I have something to work off...What is your maintenance net inake? I'm guessing abut 1800?

You can't work off someone elses numbers you have to use your own.

Read this thread to understand how and why you'd want to zig zag. He gives a basic deficit plan and explains how to get your numbers (he will only have one set of numbers not 3 like mine)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly

For mine I went to another website and entered the information to get my set of numbers.
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
from there enter your data then click on ADVANCED OPTIONS.
make sure the Mifflin-St. Jeor method is checked to match MFP calculations more closely (they will not be exact though)
click on calculate then under that is an option for 7 day zig-zag - click that to get the set of numbers I used (tailored of course, for your needs)

Please be sure to educate yourselves about this process before you begin. These numbers are intended to be NET calories eaten AFTER exercise, not before. If you do not eat back your exercise calories when doing this (depending on how much you burn daily) you may have too severe of a deficit and could end up hurting yourself nutritionally.

The plan is totally based on calories alone. You do not NEED to exercise to lose weight using this method. HOWEVER, we all know that to be healthy, exercise is important.

WarmDontBurn

And today is my official weigh in and I am 134lbs!! Hello 134!!
I have now lost 2.7lbs since April 30th when I started this thread.

Sunday is my weigh in date but after not moving at all this week I weighed in this morning at 133.8lbs!!
I find that I am not quite eating enough though. It seems like I have been so busy I forget to eat and then by the end of the night I have all these extra calories left, funny part is it is mostly on my down days!

So I will be back Sunday for my official weigh in and then try harder to eat more. My sister will be home from California so I may end up eating too much! It is only a week though so I am not terribly worried, I have come so far.

WarmDontBurn

Maybe it is a fluke but I weighed in this morning and was 133.2!!

CricketKate

That is fantastic!