zig-zagging calories??

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  • Barbellsandthimbles
    Barbellsandthimbles Posts: 205 Member
    Some one on here gave the suggestion to set yourself manually at the lowest calorie intake and then input your own exercise and have it be "Monday zig-zag", etc. that takes into account the difference you need to eat that day. Then you can just add the exercise and eat all of those calories. I've just started trying it (trying to get refocused on losing the last few pounds of fat), but doing that has made it super easy.

    This is what I'm doing also! I have made my own exericse for the days I zig zag!

    Yep, that's what I did as well. I have exercises for my zig-zag calories, then I also enter my exercise I've done for the day but add those cals back as quick cals so they offset and I'm still eating the right amount. Example:

    Monday is a 1744 day. My lowest day is 1544 so that's my base calorie amount I enter in MFP. My Monday Zig Zag cals entered as an exercise would be 200, so now it should show I have 1744 to eat that day. If I workout, I still like to see what calories I've burned (just for my reference) so I enter it in. This morning was a weight day and I burned 172 cals. I added "quick cals" of 172 to cancel out the exercise calories so MFP still shows I have 1744 to eat.

    What about the exercise calories? Why don't I eat those back? My zig zag calculator takes my exercise in to account so it's already added those calories in to my calorie allowance. I hope I didn't just confuse everyone!
  • hazelovesfood
    hazelovesfood Posts: 454 Member
    Well if it works we shall see as i never stick to exact calourie amounts anyway and have some cheats once a week.Ive been stuck at the same weight now for almost 3 weeks.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
    I wish MFP had an option for this!!!

    On the phone app there is a graph you can see your weekly total and average and how close you are to goal each day, I can see it kind of working by using that.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
    A little warning playing with the calculator, the extreme fat loss option puts you below BMR.
  • HealthyBodySickMind
    HealthyBodySickMind Posts: 1,207 Member
    I tend to do this without trying as I have some high days & some low days.

    Ditto.

    Take the last week for example:
    Tuesday: 1561
    Monday: 1696
    Sunday: 1321
    Saturday: 1992
    Friday: 1799
    Thursday: 2406
    Wednesday: 1941
    Tuesday: 2233

    I'm all over the board just eating when I'm hungry, but my weight has been consistent (and happy) my whole adult life.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
    how do you mean? Like eating 1400 one day and 1500 the next? or just eating more when you exercise?

    More like eating 1000 one day and 2000 the next. It averages to 1500, so you're netting 1500/day. !400 one day and 1500 the next is called, "normal variation."

    Science tells us that it doesn't matter how frequently or what time you eat. At the end of the day (or actually more like week), how many calories you average is what counts, not how many you eat per day.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
    I think it's kindof smart in a way.. But I also can see how it would be negative. Humans are creatures of habit and it's actually very natural for us to form set systems and follow similar routines. I think it would throw me off a little bit, at least at first.

    That "humans are creatures of habit" is exactly why this and other scientifically impossible diets seem to work, at least for a time. When you make a conscious effort to observe WHAT you are doing, you are NOT doing "out of habit." There is also a correlation between just tracking what you eat and weight loss. That is, when you start tracking what you eat, without any effort to change any eating habits or eat less, you lose weight.
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
    I think it's kindof smart in a way.. But I also can see how it would be negative. Humans are creatures of habit and it's actually very natural for us to form set systems and follow similar routines. I think it would throw me off a little bit, at least at first.

    That "humans are creatures of habit" is exactly why this and other scientifically impossible diets seem to work, at least for a time. When you make a conscious effort to observe WHAT you are doing, you are NOT doing "out of habit." There is also a correlation between just tracking what you eat and weight loss. That is, when you start tracking what you eat, without any effort to change any eating habits or eat less, you lose weight.

    it is an average that counts in many ways but for the most part people can diet longer if they know they have a day where they can eat more - its about endurance.

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