Zig Zagging Calories Day 1

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  • popchex
    popchex Posts: 52 Member
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    Oh nice! I did something similar to this on WW (the Wendie plan) and have been sort of going with it on my own this past week...didn't realise there was a thread on it! Thanks for sharing I'll DEFINITELY be doing this. :D
  • ohdear1986
    ohdear1986 Posts: 110 Member
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    this is how i have did it since i started. doubt i could do it any other way. i weigh on a friday, friday i ate 3400 kcal, sat 1100 and today will be around 1200. tomorrow back up to 1600 ish. am trying to maintain now though. my high days are great, i feel satisfied to the point i can handle the low days. without a high day i wouldn't have made it this far.
  • JaneP2011
    JaneP2011 Posts: 65 Member
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    Interesting!! I've actually noticed that if I have one or two 'normal' days a week I tend to lose weight more effectively than sticking rigidly to low calorie (1200-1400) every day. Didn't know it was called zig-zagging! Might give it a go more formally ...
  • alainaroseg
    alainaroseg Posts: 8 Member
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    Bump!

    Thanks for posting progress - it's very motivational! :)
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    I started this on Sunday. I'm close to my goal weight (10lbs or so) and since my exercise has been sporadic at best I thought this would help me knock off those last few lbs. I'm also following the EX FL (Extreme Fat Loss) numbers this week and might swtich it up ever other week for the month of May. We'll see how it goes.

    Alternate zig zag concept:
    ZIG ZAG Ex FL Fat Loss Maintain
    Sunday 1400 1516 1894
    Monday 1400 1516 1894
    Tuesday 1400 1400 1516
    Wednesday 1680 1819 2273
    Thursday 1400 1516 1894
    Friday 1400 1400 1705
    Saturday 1540 1667 2084

    Hey I know this sounds so dumb, but... Can you explain a bit more? You have 3 different numbers for each week. Either I am really dumb or just not getting what you mean. Thanks!

    Jenn

    You're not dumb the numbers are all scrunched together, no pretty tables.
    No, this isn't for each week, it's depending on how much I want to lose.

    The last number is my maintenance calories to keep my current weight. The FL (fat loss) number (one to the left of maintenance) is a % of my maintenance (not sure of the exact number, lets say 75) and will get me close to what mfp is doing, the EX FL (extreme fat loss) is a greater deficit to shed more per week. (Let's say that number is 55% of my maintenance) The concept is that the Ex FL would be the least amount of calories I would ever want to eat in a day (and these are NET calories, which means you eat back your exercise calories if you have them)

    I decided to stick with the EX FL numbers for a 2nd week. I had a run in with some high sodium the first week and didn't know it, couple that with muscle repair, swelling, etc. from exercising daily instead of the occasionally 3 times a week, so I ended up gaining 3 pounds but I'm already back down below 177 so I'm hoping to show the 3 lbs off plus an actual loss of real weight by this weekend.
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    It's based on a three week rotation. The first set of numbers for each weekday is set to Extreme Fat Loss net calories. The second set for each weekday is set for 'regular' weight loss and the last set of numbers for each weekday is set a zig-zag for maintaining weight.

    That was not my understanding of the process nor the way I'm following it. It also wouldn't make sense to throw a maintenance week in there if I'm still trying to lose weight. Maybe I missed something though on that site.

    The maintenance level tells me what I need to maintain (my baseline) the FL is the least I would lose per week and the EX FL is the most I would lose per week, but really, my numbers aren't that much different from MFP so I'm only gaining about an extra 500 calories off my logged MFP daily goal.
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    I would LOVE to try this to spike my metabolism back up. Just so I have something to work off...What is your maintenance net inake? I'm guessing abut 1800?
    You can't work off someone elses numbers you have to use your own.

    Read this thread to understand how and why you'd want to zig zag. He gives a basic deficit plan and explains how to get your numbers (he will only have one set of numbers not 3 like mine)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly

    For mine I went to another website and entered the information to get my set of numbers.
    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
    from there enter your data then click on ADVANCED OPTIONS.
    make sure the Mifflin-St. Jeor method is checked to match MFP calculations more closely (they will not be exact though)
    click on calculate then under that is an option for 7 day zig-zag - click that to get the set of numbers I used (tailored of course, for your needs)

    Please be sure to educate yourselves about this process before you begin. These numbers are intended to be NET calories eaten AFTER exercise, not before. If you do not eat back your exercise calories when doing this (depending on how much you burn daily) you may have too severe of a deficit and could end up hurting yourself nutritionally.

    The plan is totally based on calories alone. You do not NEED to exercise to lose weight using this method. HOWEVER, we all know that to be healthy, exercise is important.
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,253 Member
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    And today is my official weigh in and I am 134lbs!! Hello 134!!
    I have now lost 2.7lbs since April 30th when I started this thread.

    Sunday is my weigh in date but after not moving at all this week I weighed in this morning at 133.8lbs!!
    I find that I am not quite eating enough though. It seems like I have been so busy I forget to eat and then by the end of the night I have all these extra calories left, funny part is it is mostly on my down days!

    So I will be back Sunday for my official weigh in and then try harder to eat more. My sister will be home from California so I may end up eating too much! It is only a week though so I am not terribly worried, I have come so far.
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,253 Member
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    Maybe it is a fluke but I weighed in this morning and was 133.2!!
  • CricketKate
    CricketKate Posts: 3,657 Member
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    That is fantastic!
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    Great news! I find my weight often varies during the week never really eluding to it's trend. I might get on the scale daily or every 2 days but I never consider that a "real" weight because I know it will change by my official weigh in day.
  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 827 Member
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    bump!
  • AngelRae83
    AngelRae83 Posts: 60 Member
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    id love to try this
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,253 Member
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    well I weighed in this morning at 133.4 so not too far off! I am still in the 133's so I am a hapy girl.
    My sister is home so this week will be challenging. We had spaghetti for supper and I know about how much I eat when I make it so I am confident I didn't go over by too much if at all.
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,253 Member
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    132.9 lbs on 05/17/11

    Been missing about a week now while my sister has been home. She is gone and it is back to business. Tomorrow is weigh in and I am pretty sure there will be some sort of gain as my diet has not been the best.

    Regardless I will post my gain and continue on with zig zagging and updating here.


    :flowerforyou:
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    Interesting topic! Bump
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,253 Member
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    Well one week off and I have gained 1.1lbs. I hate horrible and yesterday I ate A LOT! I am going to up my water today and get back on track!!

    Todays weight -- 134!
  • jilld76
    jilld76 Posts: 324
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    I've been thinking of trying the zig zagging, but wasn't sure how to do it. It's great to hear about your experiences and your loss successes! I'm definitely going to read up on this and try it for this week.
  • ruhimaach
    ruhimaach Posts: 171
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    Great post! Thanks for sharing your progress with us. You've had such amaazinngg results. My weight loss has been really slow and hopefully, this can shake things up! I'm going to try zig zagging as well. Congrats on your weight loss so far. :smile:
  • jessicazanebell
    jessicazanebell Posts: 67 Member
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    thats awesome! i just read that post as well and i am planning on starting my zig-zagging tomorrow. I was worried that i might gain weight at first because of the high amount of calories on day 3 but it is reassuring to know you just staryed and are doing great so far. I cant wait to see what results ill see! good luck =)

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