Calorie Shifting To Enhance Weight Loss Efforts

dredd395
dredd395 Posts: 6
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
I had a fun weekend in Vegas and wasn't eating as healthy as I should have been. I am a few weeks into trying to eat healthy and had a 4day weekend of not so healthy eating.

Question:

There is a such thing as calorie shifting. Does this actually work?

Eating a 1000-1200 healthy diet daily would create a calorie deficit. However, if you increase to 1500 to 1700 calories for a few days, would that put your body in a confused state of mind and allow you to burn more calories?

Replies

  • KellyBurton1
    KellyBurton1 Posts: 529 Member
    Bump:tongue:
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
    I've seen this called zig-zagging on other sites. I'm not sure if it works. I don't think it would work for me, because my appetite seems to adjust to what I am eating. I get used to eating less. Then if I have a day or two that I exercise more than usual and therefore eat more, I want to eat more the next day too! Maybe it works for some people, though!

    Can anyone comment on whether this has worked for them?
  • Healthyby30
    Healthyby30 Posts: 1,349 Member
    Let me tell you this...I ate a strict diet of 1200 calories a day for weeks...Thanksgiving week and Christmas week I splurged and was eating a bit more like 1500-1600 calories mostly all those days. Those weeks I lost 5 lbs each. (I normally lose 2-3). So, I'm beginning to think there is truth to this! lol
  • vikeschick42
    vikeschick42 Posts: 28
    I've researched zig-zagging and think it works. At least it seems to for me. I try to stay around 1200 calories for 6 days, then around 1800 on the 7th. My body starts to recognize a regular pattern of 1200 calories and it slows down to match that. So I need to throw it for a loop every once in awhile to keep the metabolism up. That's why a lot of people plateau on the 3rd week even though they are following the same diet plan. Plus a day "off" seems to help me keep my sanity. :)
    Good luck to you!
  • dredd395
    dredd395 Posts: 6
    I wonder if it only applies with healthy food only.

    I did alittle research on this and I think there is some truth to it.

    How many calories should be increased and for how many days?
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    The main reason that zigzagging works is because you are interupting low calorie eating with high calorie eating and preventing starvation mode to ever take effect. It's like preventing a plateau by changing up your workouts from time to time.

    I believe that it works, but I don't think that anyone really needs it. Proper nutrition without shocking your system every few days works just fine.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I wonder if it only applies with healthy food only.

    Yes, it applied to healthy food only. You shouldn't gouge yourself with pizza and chocolate any day of the week just because it gives you more calories. :flowerforyou:

    Nutrition is about both quantity of food (for weight maintenance) and also quality of food (for proper health!).
  • exercisesucks
    exercisesucks Posts: 102
    I think before you try any calorie shifting or other unorthodox dieting methods, you should focus on establishing a sound regular eating regimen and log your food for at least 2 weeks while exercising regularly. You need to have an established baseline of how your body burns calories before you try different methods.
  • antipholous
    antipholous Posts: 116
    I do this when i've reached a wall. I find that eating 1.5 to double my calorie limit for the day (but still eating healthy foods, just more of them) for a single day, then pulling down to 1.2 to 1.5 times for the next day, then back to normal helps push me back towards weight loss. It's an inexact science, but I find it useful for those times when that scale just doesn't feel like moving.
  • dredd395
    dredd395 Posts: 6
    Thanks for the helpful comments!
This discussion has been closed.

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