Zig Zag Plan

adventuring

So I decided I wanted to give a zig zag calorie plan a shot, so I made a plan using the calculator from freedieting.com. However, I know the concept of zig zagging is that it's the same amount of calories at the end of the week, but in different amounts, and using even their lowest option for me, their plan averages out to a little over 1500 calories a day.

I'm currently eating 1200ish a day, and I've lost fairly consistently. I haven't had a problem meeting my macros, and I've felt fine, so I don't think that I'm undernourished. Should I maybe customize my own plan closer to what I'm eating now but with jumps that correspond to theirs? Has anyone tried this?

I would like to give zig zagging a shot but don't want to slow the pace of my weight loss, which is currently somewhere from 6 to 9 pounds a month. Any thoughts?

thirtyandthriving

Honsetly, if what you are doing right now is giving you numbers that you like why mess with it? If you hit a plateau thing try and mix things up a bit.. Just my opinion.

adventuring

Honsetly, if what you are doing right now is giving you numbers that you like why mess with it? If you hit a plateau thing try and mix things up a bit.. Just my opinion.

Oh, I dunno, just curious, I suppose.

PBJunkie

So I decided I wanted to give a zig zag calorie plan a shot, so I made a plan using the calculator from freedieting.com. However, I know the concept of zig zagging is that it's the same amount of calories at the end of the week, but in different amounts, and using even their lowest option for me, their plan averages out to a little over 1500 calories a day.

I'm currently eating 1200ish a day, and I've lost fairly consistently. I haven't had a problem meeting my macros, and I've felt fine, so I don't think that I'm undernourished. Should I maybe customize my own plan closer to what I'm eating now but with jumps that correspond to theirs? Has anyone tried this?

I would like to give zig zagging a shot but don't want to slow the pace of my weight loss, which is currently somewhere from 6 to 9 pounds a month. Any thoughts?

You are referring to calorie cycling. If your sole goal is to lose weight then it is best to keep your deficit constant and not change so often unless you have hit a plateau.

Calorie cycling is only beneficial if you know your body very well and you want to add a bit of lean mass while your are losing fat. Basically you would eat 10% more on weight lifting days and 10% less on your cardio and off days. Also note your rate of fat loss will be slower when doing calorie cycling.

adventuring

So I decided I wanted to give a zig zag calorie plan a shot, so I made a plan using the calculator from freedieting.com. However, I know the concept of zig zagging is that it's the same amount of calories at the end of the week, but in different amounts, and using even their lowest option for me, their plan averages out to a little over 1500 calories a day.

I'm currently eating 1200ish a day, and I've lost fairly consistently. I haven't had a problem meeting my macros, and I've felt fine, so I don't think that I'm undernourished. Should I maybe customize my own plan closer to what I'm eating now but with jumps that correspond to theirs? Has anyone tried this?

I would like to give zig zagging a shot but don't want to slow the pace of my weight loss, which is currently somewhere from 6 to 9 pounds a month. Any thoughts?

You are referring to calorie cycling. If your sole goal is to lose weight then it is best to keep your deficit constant and not change so often unless you have hit a plateau.

Calorie cycling is only beneficial if you know your body very well and you want to add a bit of lean mass while your are losing fat. Basically you would eat 10% more on weight lifting days and 10% less on your cardio and off days. Also note your rate of fat loss will be slower when doing calorie cycling.

Thanks for your reply and advice!