calorie zig-zag

veggieheadie
veggieheadie Posts: 79
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
Has anyone heard of calorie zig-zagging??I recently discovered a site (www.freedieting.com) and I really like their calorie caculator. It gives you a 7-day zig-zag. It seems like it would be beneficial to help keep your body from getting used to the same amount of calories everyday, but I really don't know.

Replies

  • KateDonnelly
    KateDonnelly Posts: 53
    I do this anyway as some days I find it impossible to stay within my calorie range (set at 1340). I work out in a zig zag pattern too and so far i have seen progress while still feeling one hundred percent. I'll have to read more about it but it makes good intuitive sense to me.
  • elysant
    elysant Posts: 139
    I believe I have heard of this, just not by this name. Is this where you vary your calorie intake each day but maintain a calorie amount for the week? (e.g. Mon - 1500, Tues - 1700, Wed - 1400, Thurs - 1500, Fri - 1200, Sat - 1600, Sun - 1700... total for week 10,600 (instead of breaking that 10,600 into 7 equal parts of 1500/day)). I have heard of this as a way to break a plateau but not as an everyday eating method :o) I don't see why it would be a problem to eat this way daily. :o)
  • maz123
    maz123 Posts: 63
    sounds good at a plateau again so gonna try this :)
  • youngs
    youngs Posts: 250 Member
    I pretty much do this any way some days I am way below my calories set on MFP an then some days I am very close to them but never go over and so far I have had good progress..I was just wondering about this yesterday..I am glad you posted this I will have to check it out..I think it works cause it keeps your body wondering what is going on and does not get use to the same about each day..that is my thinking on it but I am not a expert and may be way of track but it seem to be working for me..
  • veggieheadie
    veggieheadie Posts: 79
    I think it sounds like a pretty good plan. I've been stuck on a plataeu for almost a month now and I REALLY need to find a way to break this.
  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
    My theory is that your body doesn't reset it's food clock at midnight. While I don't intentionally "zig zag" my calories as I do aim for my daily given MFP goal.... there's times that I eat too much and will be a few hundred over, and within the same week I may exercise a lot and end up a few hundred under. I figure it all averages out over the week and I'm fine - I never have bunches of days in a row where I'm way over or way under - I don't think that would be a good thing!
  • imagymrat
    imagymrat Posts: 862 Member
    I'm a true believer in zigzagging, it's worked for me, might not work for everyone, there are days I burn way more calories then others and need to adjust accordingly on days that i'm less active the calories reflect. I've never had a problem with plateaus because i'm always changing my caloric intake/exercise variety. I don't let my body get used to a thing!
  • veggieheadie
    veggieheadie Posts: 79
    I'm a true believer in zigzagging, it's worked for me, might not work for everyone, there are days I burn way more calories then others and need to adjust accordingly on days that i'm less active the calories reflect. I've never had a problem with plateaus because i'm always changing my caloric intake/exercise variety. I don't let my body get used to a thing!

    That is really great to know----thanks. I'm going to start zig-zagging today. I like the zig-zag idea, because I can adjust it according to what is going on in my life. I was having a hard time sticking to the same calorie pattern day in and day out. Somedays I just couldn't stick with it because of kids, husband, extended family and holidays. According to my zig-zag pattern for this week, I'll have a lot of numbers to work with and I will still be able to stick within a good calorie range. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will bump me out of my plateau.
  • tatiana_13
    tatiana_13 Posts: 325
    I'm a fan (caveat: recent fan) of zigzagging. In the past, I lost weight by limiting empty carbohydrates and portion control--worked well for me! But, now that I'm about 10 to 15 lbs from goal, I've had a very looooong plateau---and I keep losing and gaining the same 5 lbs. I starting zigzagging, and its working really well! I'm just doing the *basic* calorie zig zag. I agree with some posters who say it might be a little complicated for those trying to find a workable routine...I don't know if I would have been that excited about it when I had 70 lbs to lose--when you're going for sustainable lifestyle changes, I don't think this quite fits the bill. BUT, when it comes to shaking things up a bit to jumpstart a stall, I think its quite fabulous.

    Caveat #2...if you're a big eater who is still struggling with reducing calories in general without feeling deprived, you may feel starved on "low" days...I'm not a big eater by nature...just a "wrong" eater :smile: So eating less usually just means eliminating one calorie dense food. Also, true zigzaging avoids going too low on any one day to prevent your body from going into starvation mode...avoiding starvation mode is the primary reason for zigzagging.
  • whyflysouth
    whyflysouth Posts: 308 Member
    I've been at a plateau for a couple months now and I'm not sure if I need to try something like that out or not. I'm sort of very close to my goal weight and ideally I'd like to lose this last 7lbs of fat and build up 7lbs of muscle so rather than attempting a "bulk" & "cut" phase I'm trying to lift often, eat plenty of protein and still eat under my maintenance cals in hopes that such a process can occur. I'm not sure of that whole "you can't build muscle while on a deficit" talk because I'm eating more protein and the deficit is more from cutting back carbs so there's no protein deficit - the muscles should get fed and get to grow.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories