Please help me zig zag!

mmulhern914

I am having a bit of a problem figuring out to calculate my daily calories bhy zig zagging them. I have 1890 calories per day for normal activity, with a 500 calorie deficit (1 lb. loss per week), leaving me with 1390 calories per day, plus any exercise calories I burn. How do I figure out the zig zag? Help! Thanks!

crystal10584

message aggiecass09

she's been helping people with that left and right.

GingerDarlene

what is Zig Zag I havent heard of that in counting calories

CricketKate

This is the thread that got me started:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly

On days 1 &2 I Net between 1200 & 1300 on Day 3 I Net between 1500 & 1600. Good Luck!

Red13

Here's a link to one of many sites that figure it out for you

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

If it doesn't seem correct you can modify to your caloric needs. Example if you have 1890 per day that would equal 13,230 calories a week and you can add up what the site gives you to see if the numbers for the week are close to what MFP sets for you. Also, I write down my totals every day and see how close I come to my weekly goals. That way if I got over a little a day or two I can adjust my last two days of the week to stay within my weekly goal. Good luck!

crystal10584

what is Zig Zag I havent heard of that in counting calories

1300 one day, 1500 the next, 1425 the next, 1800 the next 1200 the next... blah blah blah..

calorie variation from day to day basically.

iamhealingmyself

The daily numbers will change from person to person so don't use someone else's numbers. The link that CricketKate posted will give you some good information and he uses the process that matches MFP. I think that other website uses a different formula to calculate your BMR so it will be higher than MFP. I have mine calculated based on MFP maintenance and off the other site but I'm using the one that is in line with MFP. The only thing is there is no setting on MFP to trigger that program so you will be over or under your daily MFP numbers accordingly. It helps to put your zig zag goal in your food notes so you know why you were under or over and as a reminder while you're logging your food. So long as your net is the same at the end of the day it should work.

Good luck!
This is my first week of doing it so I'm not sure if it will help me, but Kate has had good luck so far!