Successful Calorie Zig Zag Experts...Help!

Just1forMe
Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, I've tried everything else, so I'd like to give Zig Zagging a try. I think I understand the concept, but I need help setting up a calorie schedule...
My MFP daily goal is 1290 calories. So my total weekly calories would be 9030. I do eat most of my exercise calories back, so I will leave them out of the base goal and eat them above & beyond. Based on that & the pattern that has worked for you, can someone give me good numbers for zig zagging my goal calories? I have no preference for high/low days at all...
Monday-
Tues-
Wed-
Thurs-
Friday-
Sat-
Sun-

TIA!!!

Replies

  • elvb
    elvb Posts: 423 Member
    I use this site: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    It calculates for you based on how many days of exercise you plan to do, then exercise on your higher calorie days! After you hit calculate, click on the link for 7 day calorie cycle. :) Good luck!!
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
    I use this site: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    It calculates for you based on how many days of exercise you plan to do, then exercise on your higher calorie days! After you hit calculate, click on the link for 7 day calorie cycle. :) Good luck!!

    I tried using that site, but it didn't jive with my numbers on MFP & the zig zag numbers didn't add up correctly even for their calculations :( I was hoping someone could take my total and apply their formula (up, down, goal etc) for me...?
  • elvb
    elvb Posts: 423 Member
    My zig zag calories are only about 10-15 calories off from what their fat loss calories are per day.
    I think on here I'm set at 1290 too - this is the minimum you should be eating according to MFP. With zig zagging your total calories for the week is based on your BMR on most websites. It's not what you find here on MFP for some reason.
    I go with what I feel works for me:
    I try to work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. On those days I will likely eat close to 1500 calories (eating back most of my exercise calories. All the rest of the days I stay at or UNDER my 1290. When you calculate it, it brings me to about 9870, my total for my week. Which according to freedieting.com is 1410 daily - this number is my BMR on most websites, which is what you burn laying around doing nothing all day.

    I'm not sure if I was confusing in my ramblings above! Sorry if I was. I'm not very good at explaining what I do. lol
  • allornothinggrl
    allornothinggrl Posts: 15
    1290+500=1790 maintenace
    1790-500=1290 loss
    1790-800=1000ish max loss...guidelines for women not to eat under 1200 cals for a long period of time. This formula would only be a couple days a week up to you.

    Day 1 and 2=1000-1200 cals (can also create part of the deficit by not eating exercise cals back)
    Day 3=1790
    Day 4 and 5=1000-1200
    Day 6 1790
    Keep repeating this cycle.
    OR
    Mon -10%=1,161
    Tue +10%=1,419
    Wed -15%=1,097
    Thu +10%=1,419
    Fri -10%=1,161
    Sat 0%=1,290
    Sun +15%=1,484
    Repeat

    Hope this helps.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Can someone explain the theory behind zig-zagging to me? Like...WHY is it supposed to work?
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
    I'm not an expert, but I tried zig-zagging and think it helped me break through a few weeks of not losing. I used that calculator mentioned upthread. Their calculations were a little bit off from MFP (higher), but I went with them... and it worked! The past couple weeks, I've found that increasing my net calories from 1300ish to 1600ish has helped me get back to losing.

    I think the theory behind it is something like this: If you keep eating at a large defecit level for an extended period of time, your body starts to think it needs to hold onto some fat because it's not getting any. So throwing in a few higher calorie days gets your metabolism running and makes your body think, "Hey, there's lots more fat coming in... guess I can burn some of it now!"

    I'm not sure if the science behind that has ever been proven... but I don't see any reason to avoid throwing in a couple maintenance days every now and again. If I look back at my reports, for example, I'll see that I sort-of naturally zig-zag, anyway.
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
    Can someone explain the theory behind zig-zagging to me? Like...WHY is it supposed to work?

    It "shocks" your metabolism when it has gotten too used to the same level of calories every day. It helps to shake things
    up once in a while!
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