calorie confusion

Rachel925
Rachel925 Posts: 15
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
Any experience with " calorie confusion" would be great.


A friend of mine that used to work at a health institute told me that she would consult people about calorie counting and calorie confusion. Basically, she said 3-300 meals and 3-100 calorie snacks a day to total 1200 calories for weight loss. To that end, she said that reaching a plateau in weight loss is because the body starts to run on that amount. The remedy: eat more calories (binge) and then readjust calorie intake again.

What is your experience/thoughts?

It makes sense to me like P90x promotes muscle confusion.

Replies

  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
    eat more protein as calories drop
  • JMun
    JMun Posts: 409
    I'd agree with that. I like to JOLT my metabolism every now and again (mostly cos I'm a piggy). :blushing:
  • Bellyroll
    Bellyroll Posts: 316
    I can see that logic :)
  • foreverloved
    foreverloved Posts: 220 Member
    You can eat more calories, like 1500 for about a month or so and get your metabolism re-adjusted. You'd still likely be at a deficit and lose. You can also start zig zagging calories which prevents what you described from happening, it has been working for me.

    More info: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly?
  • moylie
    moylie Posts: 195
    Yup. Totally worked for me in breaking through a plateau. Also called zig-zagging or calorie cycling. You can do a search on the forums here, or check out freedieting.com for a weekly plan tailored to your specific stats (height, weight, age, exercise/week). I think a lot of people reach plateaus, give up and say WTF, and have a couple days of going over calories, and it can shake the metabolism enough to start losing again. I keep reminding myself this is a lifestyle choice, not a diet. It also means I'm not about to give up the things I love (dessert, drinks, etc.) It's all a delicate balance, and we just have to find what works for us. I always remind myself I'm just a work in progress, nothing is off-limits, and nothing will set me back so far that I can't recover and move on. Life is just too darn short.
  • kklindsey
    kklindsey Posts: 382 Member
    It doesnt really matter how you space the calories out each day it's the total amount in a day. I don't know if she used the word binge or that is your add on and I wouldn't even bring it up except as a former bulemic a binge is something quite different to me than it is to most people.

    I do believe that your body can adapt to the same amount of calories if you eat it day in and day out, weeks on end. I am getting ready to start a cycle of zig zagging right now. Here is what I do but there are lots of others that do it and many articles so you can look and pick the best one for yourself.

    I do High, Low and Medium days. Right now my calories are set to 1200 and everyone will tell you not to go below that but I am under most of the time, just using my calories for an example. A low day would be 1000 to 1200, a medium day would be 1400-1600 and a high day would be 1600 to 1800. I like things simple and am good at hitting my number so i would do High 1800, Medium 1400 and Low 1000. I like to cycle through them like this: High, Low, Medium, Low, High, Low, Medium. I also try to look ahead and make High days correspond to either the weekend or when I have a party or something where I would enjoy eating more than usual.

    You still need to count your calories and you still need to eat healthy, you just shake things up so your body doesn't know if it is getting a lot or a little. I have had lots of success in the past, though I haven't done it in over a year so I will see what it gets me this time.

    Good luck if you decide to try it, go look around on here and on the rest of the net and read up so you understand what you are doing.
  • ValerieMomof2
    ValerieMomof2 Posts: 530 Member
    This actually is what totally worked for me when I hit a plateau and someone said it would and I just laughed. 2 lbs lost the next week and I had been at a stand still for 6 weeks. I was very good about my eating and keeping the calories low and then one day, I didn't get a workout and we had a family reunion picnic and I ate what I wanted and went over by like 500 calories. So I am a believer in this
  • Rachel925
    Rachel925 Posts: 15
    Thanks yall!!!
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