Does this look like a proper zig-zagging plan?

letsdothis2010

I'm stuck on my first plateau I've been reading up a lot on zig zagging my calories...but I haven't been able to find anything that applies specifically to me. For some time now I've been hovering my calories around the 1300 mark + I eat back about half of my exercise calories. My body may be messing with me though cause the scale will just not move and if it does move, it goes up a bit.

These are my stats:

(Pretty much) Sedentary----

Maintenance: 1,960

Lose 1 pound a week: 1,460

Lose 2 pounds a week: 1,200 (actually doing 960 calories a day would be a 1,000 calorie deficit...I've never even thought about going this low, I promise lol)

Day One: 1200
Day Two: 1300
Day Three: 2000
Day Four: 1200
Day Five: 1300
Day Six: 2000
Day Seven: 1200

Does this look correct? Or should my low days be lower/higher?

Any and all input is appreciated

Edit to say that I have about 50 more pounds to lose TOTAL

reese66

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

This site will help you calculate , best wishes...

shellgib

this it the website I use to calculate mine

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

LadyOfOceanBreeze

Hi! I zigzag w/o a planned attack. One day I will eat almost all of my exercise calories back,

one day be 250 in the red, one day be behind over 400, next day eat half back...

no rhyme or reason just eat and keep it free flowing and relaxed.

EAT RAW as much as possible and get 6 days of exercise a week, anything!

it raises metabolism a lot as does green tea. I drink at least 3 (no sugar), every day and

drink a gallon of purified water too

hope this helps!

letsdothis2010

I looked at that site before and it confused the heck put of me lol. It puts my maintenance at 1887 and "extreme fat loss" at 1448. That seems really high to me. I figured that out as sedentary as well (I would figure that out later myself). Maybe I'm being overly concerned and I'm used to looking at a "big" deficit lol.

letsdothis2010

Rabbitslave, good ideas thank you!!

1_up

Looks good to me!

days 1&2: 1200, Day 3 1960... repeat


Zig-Zagging helped me break my plateaus in the past. Here is the post by Newfiedan that I found very helpful on this topic

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


"...Here is the cal breakdown for maintenance/loss/max:
2440 maintenance/1940 loss/max deficit of 800 is 1640 cals.

So on days 1 and 2 I go max deficit of 1640 cals I do this through food and exercise as I like to eat I usually do it by not eating back 300 of my workout cals (for those with a lot to shed you can do that for 500 cals)

On day 3 I go to maintenance level of 2440 cals. I do this to prevent starvation mode from taking effect and it keeps my metabolic rate at its peak and the exercise helps me to do that as well as crank it up a few notches.

And repeat..."


Hope this helps or at least points you into the right direction.

LadyOfOceanBreeze

thanks reese, great link! it helps me a lot!

letsdothis2010

Thanks 1_up!!! That does help a lot.

spaingirl2011

Bump!

LadyOfOceanBreeze

you're very welcome!

cabaluchi

I'll throw in my two cents, as I have done some very extensive research into zig zagging.
So here is what I am doing...I am 6 foot tall and 174 pounds and 14 - 15 percent body fat. I started at the beginning of the year at 217 pounds and 27.8 percent body fat. I foolishly dropped my weight too fast at like 2.5 pounds per week for about 4 months straight with a calorie deficit of 1600 calories. My workouts (3 to 5 a week - cardio and weight training) were suffering and my energy was low all the time. I was hungry all the time as well...sometimes starving, because i believed that this was the best way to get down in size. It worked...but I also lost about 11 pounds of lean body mass in the process. Now, I have fired up my metabolism and will keep it guessing. I am still in a weekly deficit for my calories...but have at least 3 days where it is a surplus. Here is my weekly plan...Monday and Tuesday 2100 calories, Wednesday 2700 - 2800 calories, Thursday and Friday 2100 calories, Saturday and Sunday 2700 - 2800 calories. And yes...I will log in and eat all of my workout calories...although on the high days it can be difficult to eat close to 3100 calories. My goal right now is to try to increase my lean body mass on the high days while burning off the fat on the low days. As long as my weekly average is below my maintenance level of 2500 I will still lose weight...just only body fat.

MissBellatrix116

bump.