zig zagging calorie question

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bamagary
bamagary Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
My question is what is a good example of zig zagging your calories everyday? 1400 one day and the next 2000 calories? or am i completely missing the meaning of zig zagging? Any help would be appreciated.

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  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
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    I "calorie shift" from day to day, but usually only by 200-300 calories, definately not as extreme as your example. I have found that making sure I eat very different things each day and shifting my total calories around has helped keep my scale moving. I do eat very clean as well though.
  • lukasmac
    lukasmac Posts: 216 Member
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    i found this grid online

    Monday - 1200 cal
    Tuesday - 1500
    Wednesday - 1300
    Thursday - 1200
    Friday - 1600
    Saturday - 1200
    Sunday - 1500
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
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    I think 1200 calories is really low unless you are so sedentary the only calorie burn you have is from breathing. I'm not sure if I agree with the whole zig-zag calorie thing, or eating early in the day vs. later at night, or fat burning foods vs. regular foods. I think its really simpler than that. You have to burn off more than you take in in order to use up what's stored on your body as fat. I've lost 230 lbs and I'm stuck now but I know its because I'm eating more than I should. That's the bottom line and I know if I start watching the eaten vs burned closely again, it'll start coming off again.
  • bamagary
    bamagary Posts: 16
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    lukasmac, on that grid, what would the baseline calories be so i could adjust to those calories. b/c none of those days equal what MFP recommends
  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
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    lukasmac, on that grid, what would the baseline calories be so i could adjust to those calories. b/c none of those days equal what MFP recommends

    Example: MFP gives you a daily goal of 1500. A week's worth of this is 1500 x 7= 10,500 calories/wk. Just make sure you zig zag your calories up and down by a couple hundred or so (I go as far as 500) and don't go over a total of 10,500 in that week. That way you are still staying within the goal MFP gave you to lose however many pounds per week you chose when setting your goals. You can zig zag however you want. I go by how my body feels. If I'm not hungry one day I make it a low cal day. Then the next if I'm super hungry I go way over. There's not an EXACT number you need to go by just fluctuate your cals a bit to keep your body guessing. I have read that you need to AT LEAST have a difference of 200+ for your body to recognize the fluctuation. Good luck!
  • bamagary
    bamagary Posts: 16
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    thanks ashlee!
  • molina76853
    molina76853 Posts: 143
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    I am new to MFP and am needing to know the best way to even start to cound calories on a daily basis. I started my weight loss/healthly lifestyle change adventure 2 weeks ago and have lost 3 lbs by walking daily, increasing water intake and eating healthier with portion control. I would like to start to keep track of my daily calorie intake? How?
  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
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    I am new to MFP and am needing to know the best way to even start to cound calories on a daily basis. I started my weight loss/healthly lifestyle change adventure 2 weeks ago and have lost 3 lbs by walking daily, increasing water intake and eating healthier with portion control. I would like to start to keep track of my daily calorie intake? How?

    Well this site is a great tool. You just enter in your personal goals (how many pounds you want to lose/week) and MFP will give you a daily calorie goal. Then you log your food into the food diary to keep track of your daily calorie consumption.
  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
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    thanks ashlee!

    WELCOME! :bigsmile:
  • DixieDarlin1987
    DixieDarlin1987 Posts: 553 Member
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    I know this is kind of late to reply to this but I have been experimenting with the zig zag thing in order to break a plateau and it worked! I don't have much weight to lose and I quickly started struggling bc my body is trying to hold on to these 10-15 lbs like crazy. I started out going up and down by 300-400 calories everyday (but they added up to 12,250, which is my weekly calorie intake needed to lose 1/2 pound per week) I did that for a couple of weeks but saw no change. Then I decided to really shock my body....I went 3 days at 1200 calories each, then one day of maintenance calories (for me it's 2400) then two "pigout" days (I still stayed at 12,250 for the week though). That worked! I had to vary my calories BIG TIME, and I added in a little more cardio. The day after my pigout day, I was up 2 lbs, but the next day I had dropped 3 lbs and broken the weight I'd been stuck at! The next week, same thing! YAY!!! Small fluctuations may work for you...try it for a couple of weeks and see. If that doesn't work, try bigger fluctuations. Everybody is different...you just have to find what works for you.
  • KDonnelly1976
    KDonnelly1976 Posts: 16
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    I am trying this but am deeply confused! While I have all my calorie counts for the day, I found it extremely difficult to over eat on the days that I can. I know that sounds strange, but true...especially if I am exercising on those days! There is no way I can eat 1700 calories, and then on top of that eat some or all of my exercise calories back. I think the highest I can go is 1500....maybe! The only time I can see myself really going high is on a Friday night when I like to go out. Any suggestions please!
  • Noz7
    Noz7 Posts: 59 Member
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    This is so interesting!
    I'm only just getting started over the last few weeks and have been pretty good at logging everything. I've been losing slowly and find that my calories are very low on some of the days I've done a lot of exercise and very high on some random days when I feel like eating more.
    I'm happy to lose slowly as I'm not too badly overweight and want to make it a permanent lifestyle change, rather than a quick 'solution'.
    My new resolution is to not go over 2000 calories, which is approximately maintenance for me.
    I'm calling this zig zag dieting! ROFL
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
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    I found an online calculator that helps you figure out how to zigzag over a week. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    I'm trying out the recommended pattern this week (which is a fat loss day, a maintenance day, an extreme fat loss day, repeat). It's something like 1550, 2100, 1250...

    We'll see if it works...

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