Zig-Zagging Help

"...the most effective nutritional technique for fat loss ever developed!

Every time you cut calories below your maintenance level, it’s never long before
your body recognizes the deficit and adjusts your fat burning thermostat so fewer calories are burned. The larger the drop in calories and the longer the drop is maintained, the bigger the drop will be in metabolism.

Your body is an amazing machine that is remarkably adaptable to any situation or environment. Your body likes to stay in a state of equilibrium and will always fight your efforts to change. Fortunately, there is a way you can “trick” your body into keeping your metabolic rate up while you’re dieting for fat loss – It’s called the zig zag method and it’s without question the most powerful fat burning technique ever developed.

You must have a deficit to lose fat, but what you don’t want is a large deficit for a
long period of time. The way to “outsmart” your body’s starvation response is to avoid prolonged calorie deficits. You simply drop into a calorie deficit for a brief period of three days, then – before your body has a chance to decrease your metabolic rate– you raise your calories back up to maintenance level (or even above maintenance) for one to three days. You then repeat this process until you reach your desired body fat percentage.

Some bodybuilders zig zag their calories completely at random and this seems to be effective for them. Other people use low, medium and high days in a pyramid fashion. My research, based on personal coaching programs with over 600 clients and on 14 years of competitive bodybuilding experience, has shown conclusively that the zig zag method works best in three day cycles. When your calories are kept in a large deficit more than three days, that’s when your metabolic rate starts to dip. By raising your calories every fourth day, you spike your metabolism and the starvation mode never fully kicks in.

Here’s how the zig zag method works: You will use two separate menu plans –
one high calorie day, and one low calorie day. Your low calorie day will be initially set at 15-20% below your maintenance level. Your high calorie day will be initially set at your maintenance level. You will then “cycle” your calories on a three days down, one day up rotation as follows:

Basic “zig zag” rotation

Low calorie days (15-20% below TDEE): 2240 calories – 3 days
High calorie days (maintenance level): 2800 calories – 1 day

Adjustments in calories may need to be made according to your weekly results, and some experimentation is usually necessary before you find your correct numbers. For example, to accelerate fat loss, you could create a larger deficit of 25-30% for the low days and a 10% deficit on the high days. 30% is a large reduction, but as long as you raise your calories every fourth day, your metabolism won’t be affected. If loss of LBM ever becomes a problem, you can raise the number of calories you consume on your high days, or you can even take two or three high calorie days in a row (a three-down, two up or
three down, three up rotation)

Accelerated fat loss zig zag rotation

Low calorie days (30% below TDEE): 1960 calories – 3 days
High calorie days (maintenance level): 2520 calories – 1 day

Zig zag rotation to prevent lean body mass loss

Low calorie days (15-20% below TDEE): 2240 calories – 3 days
High calorie days (5% over maintenance level): 2940 calories – 3 days

The zig zag method is without question, the most effective method of fat loss ever developed. It is also one of the best-kept secrets of the world’s best natural bodybuilders and fitness models. Bodybuilders frequently use this method prior to competitions to help strip their bodies of all visible fat while maintaining their lean body mass. This method is also effective for breaking plateaus, accelerating slow fat loss, maintaining lean body mass and preventing sluggish metabolisms from slowing down further.

The zig zag method is also great way to make a reduced-calorie nutrition plan work most effectively for an endomorph or “slow-metabolism” body type who tends to lose fat slowly and with great difficulty."

this is was taken from the book "burn the fat, feed the muscle" by author and body builder tony venutos, hope this helps!

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Im actually zig-zagging at the moment but i leave them set, and i look for net calories, but this is my first week so we'll see how that method works or if i should be looking at just cals in alone.

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if you use this website below, follow their recommended zig zag and then add in your exercise calories each day on top of what they give you and eat them back.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm