How it works
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I'm still a little not sure about this exercise calorie thing. If I tell it I exercse 5 days a week how many calories does it assume I am burning? I did the corporate challenge yesteray and burned 930 cal which is way more than I normally burn because I also butned 200 during my morning routine.
This was kind of my problem. I am a runner and if I go on a 10 mile run I can burn almost 1000 calories- I don't want my body to NOT get the nutrition it needs so this is what I did: I put in that I was sedentary (no exercise) then I still add in my exercise calories each day. So today is a high cal day (1445) but I also burned 770 cal on my run today so in total I have to eat 2215 calories today (I have no idea how I am actually going to eat that much!)
I was thinking about going this route too as I'm a little concerned that I may not be hitting my BMR on some days...0 -
I am being pretty flexible with the zig zagging. I match the high calorie days with the heaviest exercise days. But if I am really not hungry I don't think it's necessary to force feed myself, lol. I look at my macros and If I'm really low on protein and high on carbs I might have a few almonds, or non-fat yogurt if I need protein but already maxed out the fat cals.
Also, while my main goal is to net at or above BMR, I think it's fine if it isn't met every single day. That's the point of zig zagging--you can have low cal days every so often as long as it doesn't go on for several days in a row to where your body adjusts to it.
Since starting this (3 weeks) I've finally gone from a plateau to ~ 1 pound/week loss. :happy:0 -
Lea - so it took you 3 weeks of zig zag to see a loss? Just curious because I had a small loss - but that was it. I am thinking I must not be estimating my portions correctly. Its not like I can measure everything I eat and I wasn't logging little things - like creamer. So this week I am really trying to correctly estimate or even over-estimate if I am not sure. I am doing the higher calories not the extreme weight loss so I figure if I'm off on the side of logging too many calories - its better than over eating. And I could see where I may have been taking in more calories than I thought. Creamer for one - I actually measured what I put in my coffee and it was like double. So I am now doing a little creamer with stevia and drinking less coffee.
There has got to be a reasonable explanation for why I am not dropping pounds. I was reading an interesting thread yesterday (though it got a little out of control with people's responses) about how its as simple as calories in v. calories burned to lose. If that is true - then I would have thought I would have dropped at least some weight by now. Unless - of course I am not accurately logging. I used the working out five days a week because I do actually go out and power walk/jog every day for 30 to 45 min. a day, and I go to the gym and do weight training ususually 2 nights a week at least - I'm trying to get more consistent with this one, and I pretty active on the weekends - I don't sit around and watch tv all day. So I don't log my exercise calories because I consider that I have figured them in already.
I read in a magazine I got that most people over estimate their calorie burn - unless you are using an HRM, and that even HRM's estimation is usually higher than it truley is.
I hate this having to be so worried with everything I eat - it gets very tedious. But I also am not happy with where I am weight wise and something has got to give.
I like the zig zag method better than anything I've done before so I'm going to stick with it.
Also, I can see from my diary that I really need to watch my sodium. I am really trying to eat cleaner (less processed) but boy is that more difficult than I thought it would be!
If any of you have suggestions for me - I would love to hear them. Thanks for being here and being so supportive!0 -
Lea - so it took you 3 weeks of zig zag to see a loss? Just curious because I had a small loss - but that was it. I am thinking I must not be estimating my portions correctly. Its not like I can measure everything I eat and I wasn't logging little things - like creamer. So this week I am really trying to correctly estimate or even over-estimate if I am not sure. I am doing the higher calories not the extreme weight loss so I figure if I'm off on the side of logging too many calories - its better than over eating. And I could see where I may have been taking in more calories than I thought. Creamer for one - I actually measured what I put in my coffee and it was like double. So I am now doing a little creamer with stevia and drinking less coffee.
There has got to be a reasonable explanation for why I am not dropping pounds. I was reading an interesting thread yesterday (though it got a little out of control with people's responses) about how its as simple as calories in v. calories burned to lose. If that is true - then I would have thought I would have dropped at least some weight by now. Unless - of course I am not accurately logging. I used the working out five days a week because I do actually go out and power walk/jog every day for 30 to 45 min. a day, and I go to the gym and do weight training ususually 2 nights a week at least - I'm trying to get more consistent with this one, and I pretty active on the weekends - I don't sit around and watch tv all day. So I don't log my exercise calories because I consider that I have figured them in already.
I read in a magazine I got that most people over estimate their calorie burn - unless you are using an HRM, and that even HRM's estimation is usually higher than it truley is.
I hate this having to be so worried with everything I eat - it gets very tedious. But I also am not happy with where I am weight wise and something has got to give.
I like the zig zag method better than anything I've done before so I'm going to stick with it.
Also, I can see from my diary that I really need to watch my sodium. I am really trying to eat cleaner (less processed) but boy is that more difficult than I thought it would be!
If any of you have suggestions for me - I would love to hear them. Thanks for being here and being so supportive!
I meant that since I changed from a simple 1200-1300 every day, to zig-zagging 3 weeks ago, I've averaged 1 pound/week loss. But looking at my log, I actually went up slightly the first week and lost the 3 pounds in the last two weeks. It hasn't been long enough to tell how well this will hold up, but it's a huge improvement from when I stayed the same for the previous 3 weeks after increasing exercise and eating a constant 1200-1300/day.
I am not using the zig-zag chart from that website. I decided I wanted to 1) net at or just above RMR (had it measured--it's only 1007)most days and 2) up my average calories to about 1350/day. I don't try to artificially fit the chart--I eat higher on strength training days, medium on carido-only days and lower on rest days. so far so good, but like I say, I'll have to see if it keeps working over the longer term.
One thing I've learned, it's not just a simple matter of calories in/out--maybe for some people it is, but not in my case! About 2-3 months ago, I switched to mostly unprocessed foods, making sure I eat enough of them even if I still eat some of the not-so-good stuff, so I don't feel hungry or deprived. I've noticed that my desire to eat most of the bad stuff has greatly diminished. I still eat some "bad" things, but not much and not as often, and I log it all in and keep to my calorie goals. Sodium goal is <1200, which also helps me avoid processed stuff. Between that and my increase in exercise, my blood pressure has already improved a lot even without a large weight loss yet.
So I am slowly learning not to focus just on the scale. 0 -
Ah - thank you for that input. I also try not to rely solely on the scale - but with the extra weight I have put on - it has to go down - lol. Sounds like you have a good plan and it is working for you! I did notice that my sodium was up this week. I'm going to try to keep it down this week and see if that helps. I think paying close attention to my logging and making sure I log enough calories for what I am eating will help. Who would have thought I was having like 300 calories in creamer! Yikes - not me - that's for sure.1
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That's a lot of creamer! :laugh:1
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Hi, I'm new to this group, and I notice that no one has posted for an awfully long time. I'm wondering if you found this to continue to work for you or if it is just one more thing to throw on the pile of plans that looked good, but ended up not working. Please let me know what you find. Thanks.0
