Starting calorie zig-zagging, to boost my metabolism.

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karmahunger
karmahunger Posts: 373 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
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Replies

  • GreyEyes21
    GreyEyes21 Posts: 241 Member
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    Calorie zig-zaging usually works for when you plateau. It will be interesting to see if it works just for normal weight loss or metabolism boost.

    Usually LOTS of protein helps metabolism. I'm usually WAY OVER my protein and my metabolism is getting very high.

    Good luck! :D
  • samigirl1975
    samigirl1975 Posts: 62 Member
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    Calorie zig-zaging usually works for when you plateau. It will be interesting to see if it works just for normal weight loss or metabolism boost.

    Usually LOTS of protein helps metabolism. I'm usually WAY OVER my protein and my metabolism is getting very high.

    Good luck! :D

    I will have to do this!! More protein. Any recommendations that have tons of protein??
  • karmahunger
    karmahunger Posts: 373 Member
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    I will have to do this!! More protein. Any recommendations that have tons of protein??

    Eggs, dairy, soy, nuts.
  • YoYo1951
    YoYo1951 Posts: 370
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    anxious to see how you do with this. I have read about it, but don't know anyone who has done it. Keep us updated please
  • Off10h8ed
    Off10h8ed Posts: 282 Member
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    Calorie zig-zaging usually works for when you plateau. It will be interesting to see if it works just for normal weight loss or metabolism boost.

    Usually LOTS of protein helps metabolism. I'm usually WAY OVER my protein and my metabolism is getting very high.

    Good luck! :D

    I will have to do this!! More protein. Any recommendations that have tons of protein??



    For high protein, I go with fat free cheeses, eggbeaters and beans!

    You can also do nuts, peanut butter and such but I would watch that route a bit as you will be adding fat too.
  • sheribrasington
    sheribrasington Posts: 75
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    Bump
  • dena789
    dena789 Posts: 164 Member
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    Interesting. Do keep us posted! :flowerforyou:
  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 5,023 Member
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    I too am interested in how this has worked for others. It has helped me in the past with a plateau
  • GreyEyes21
    GreyEyes21 Posts: 241 Member
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    Calorie zig-zaging usually works for when you plateau. It will be interesting to see if it works just for normal weight loss or metabolism boost.

    Usually LOTS of protein helps metabolism. I'm usually WAY OVER my protein and my metabolism is getting very high.

    Good luck! :D

    I will have to do this!! More protein. Any recommendations that have tons of protein??

    I do protein shakes. 1 scoop 20g - 3x a day. :) plus an egg and nuts, peanut butter 2tbsp and MORE for snacks
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

    I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
    This is no different than eating the same amount of calories everyday of the week.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    For high protein, I go with fat free cheeses, eggbeaters and beans!

    You can also do nuts, peanut butter and such but I would watch that route a bit as you will be adding fat too.

    Beans - High in carbohydrate, fairly good protein, low fat.

    They are great for digestive distress too.

    Personally, I'll have a steak ... or eggs ... whole eggs ... lovely eggs ... ;)
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
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    Lentils and beans (black, pinto, garbonzo, that sort) are high in protein. If you want to increase your your protein, i'd try and mix the two. There are several dishes that can easily accommodate both beans and meat.
    Burritos & chili being the obvious. chicken and black bean salad


    lentil soup with pork, there are also italian dishes with white beans.

    when using beans from a can, always thoroughly rinse them. Light red kidney beans are much kinder on the stomach.
    Not all canned refried beans are equal.

    The zig zagging is also wonderful in November and December with the holidays coming up. It's easy to move them around a bit when you have a party. with this also in mind, try and keep your low-cal days during the holiday as clean and unprocessed as possible, pre-cooking is your best way to accomplish this. Double your recipe, freeze the other half.

    ****You may also want to consider BYOB when you can... or do a little research on how many ugly calories your fave cocktail is. Pre-gaming should always be an option! You make it up with salads, more minutes at the gym and lots lots lots of water both months.


    Good luck with this and I hope you take advantage of it!
  • GreyEyes21
    GreyEyes21 Posts: 241 Member
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    Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

    I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
    This is no different than eating the same amount of calories everyday of the week.

    Unless you plateau... I've done this many times to trick the body into losing again.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

    I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
    This is no different than eating the same amount of calories everyday of the week.

    second this

    And re protein intake, I can't believe the first recommendation was not meat?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

    I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
    This is no different than eating the same amount of calories everyday of the week.

    Unless you plateau... I've done this many times to trick the body into losing again.

    I think you just stated why it doesn't really work.

    "I've done this many times to trick ..."

    The point being made is, if you eat the same amount every day, which includes your weekly activity averaged out to a daily basis with a correct deficit taken - you automatically end up calorie cycling if you have any variability to your workout.
    Rest days are high net calorie days, hard workout days are low, avg days are in between.

    All you are doing is probably finally feeding your body closer to what it would like to have in the first place, and metabolism can finally speed up.

    No tricking of it, just speeding it up.

    This would mean your normal calorie level is too low for your level of activity.
  • SomeoneSomeplace
    SomeoneSomeplace Posts: 1,094 Member
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    I think fast days/restricting days are pretty silly, personally it just leads to be over-eating the next day and being really really bloated and even water weight gain ...but my stomach is pretty tiny since I carry all my fat in my legs and butt I'm not saying it to braggy my stomach just doesn't happen to be a problem area for me ( at least not when I'm bloated) so that could be why I get so bloated when I do things like this but I personally wouldn't recommend what you're doing on Sunday

    Also why can't you just vary up your exercise?
  • jcpreader
    jcpreader Posts: 16
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    I had put on a lot of weight due to drinking too much alcohol during a difficult time. When I stopped drinking weight just dropped off for the first month but now I'm stuck again and still overweight. I think my metabolism is messed up due to stress and not eating properly in the past so this could be a good option for me to try
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

    I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
    This is no different than eating the same amount of calories everyday of the week.

    Unless you plateau... I've done this many times to trick the body into losing again.

    I think you just stated why it doesn't really work.

    "I've done this many times to trick ..."

    The point being made is, if you eat the same amount every day, which includes your weekly activity averaged out to a daily basis with a correct deficit taken - you automatically end up calorie cycling if you have any variability to your workout.
    Rest days are high net calorie days, hard workout days are low, avg days are in between.

    All you are doing is probably finally feeding your body closer to what it would like to have in the first place, and metabolism can finally speed up.

    No tricking of it, just speeding it up.

    This would mean your normal calorie level is too low for your level of activity.
    Pretty much.
  • GreyEyes21
    GreyEyes21 Posts: 241 Member
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    not exactly. I've lost 63lbs doing the same thing every day and plateaued 3ish times. and I lowered my calories one day. upped them the next and the third day i went to my usual routein, the fourth day I lost again and continued my weight loss for another 20-30ish lbs. I eat exactly what I need to inc 82g protein every day (way over the 56g MFP suggests) and have kept it off for 2 years. I'm not saying that zig-zagging every day would work but to each his own. fail and try again until you find what works for you. As long as you succeed in the end and maintain is all that matters

    p.s. I lost all 63lbs the first 6 months losing. then stopped to try to maintain for 1yr 6months. now trying and succeeding at losing again. :D
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
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    Mondays & Wednesdays I will eat 1506 calories, and Tuesdays & Thursdays I will eat 1200. Then Friday & Saturday I will eat 1300. Sundays I will fast or eat very little.

    I hear this works very well, I'll let ya'll know how it goes :)
    This is no different than eating the same amount of calories everyday of the week.

    Yes, it is different.
    You can plan your meals differently, some days allowing you more foods, other days less. For anyone with a social life, this is a god send in allowing to enjoy life and stay on caloric track.
    On days with less food, your digestive track isn't working as hard. Giving your digetsive system a bit of a break is good for it. If you look at what it does, it's nothing short of a miracle and many of us abuse it on a regular basis. Don't you think it does a little happy dance when it doesn't have to work super hard on all this processed foods with unpronouncable words? Meat/animal products like eggs and milk is one of the toughest natural foods it has to work on and most of us eat it twice a day. many of us, over 5 servings a day. <if you want more in this info, inbox me>

    When your body is used to the same amount of food every day, it gets comfortable. And like many people it works as lazy as possible. if it can figure out how not to burn a calorie, it won't. Our body isn't stupid. However, if you keep it on it's toes, it switches things up. At the end of the day, the body is expecting a couple extra hundred calories and *gasp* it's not there. crap, gotta spend those calories.

    It's the same with exercise, your body gets confortable, it gets lazy. switching that up can be beneficial as well. If you can go through your routine half asleep and not even needing to think... you need to switch it up a bit. Even if it's switching you rest day/run day. **I suggest your low caloric days are used on your rest or mild work out days, but nothing excess.

    A lot of people also don't reevaluate how many calories their body needs after losing 10+lbs. and cause people to get stuck.

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