My Zig-Zag Method Challenge - END!

sarah307
sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
My personal Zig-Zagging Test opinions :)

original post one month ago - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/259434-my-zig-zag-method-challenge

I purposely zig-zagged for one week straight.. and it really did help me get off my plateau! (because I think I needed to eat more anyways... so that could be a factor)

but now for the past 2-3 weeks or so.. i have zig-zagged semi-naturally.

What i mean by this is - MFP gives me 1410 calories a day (yes, i eat back most of my exercise calories)...
I have found the three day method helpful. Example.
Day 1 and Day 2 .. I'll have 1200-1300 calories. (not much lower than what i'm supposed to have to lose.... what mfp already has set for me is 0.5 lbs/wk and that is at 1410)
Then, on day 3 - I bump that up to eating about 1500-1600. THEN i make sure I got back down to the Day 1 of 1300ish. Or if i'm just not feeling it - I have whatever and make sure I am at my original MFP calorie goal. if it's my 3rd day, then I purposely go over my goal for only 100-200 (but that is IF i have gone under by 100 the previous days..)

So weekly - it is basically evening out. I have been losing a pound or more a week doing this (even though my goals are set to 0.5) but like i said, there could be other factors... like am I logging all my workouts as accurate as possible? is my activity level completely as accurate as possible? = I don't know.

Also, during this past month, I have gained, lost, gained, lost. so my weight definitely zig-zagged as well :) But I started off at the beginning of my zig-zag challenge at like 126 maybe?? (my personal plateau!) and then now I am 122 today. So it helped me break past that... ups and downs, but steadily breaking past that plateau.

****With that being said, I think Zig-Zagging is a great idea for mixing up what your body is doing (just like exercise - you don't want to do the same exact workout for the exact same days, because then your body just gets used to doing that and your body composition doesn't change.) So I just think if you eat the exact same thing every day - your body gets used to burning that same thing every day and nothing ever changes... which equals PLATEAU.****

*This isn't from any scientific information or anything, but what I have personally done and thought about.

Replies

  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I zig-zag too. Tom Venuto speaks highly of this method in his Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book. I consistently lose body fat every week exercising 4-5 days a week and zig zagging my calories.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    I was once stuck at 203 for 17 days and then I found Zig-Zag. Broke that and more...now I'm 175 & 11% BF. I always reccommend ZZ to people that get stuck and it always works.
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    sweet!! i'm glad people agree with me!!

    I'd love to here more success stories with ZZ !!
  • wildeone4
    wildeone4 Posts: 204 Member
    Thanks for sharing this girl! Heck...you are seriously awesome and are such a great example for so many! Keep it up! :)
  • live2dream
    live2dream Posts: 614 Member
    I've been meaning to do this...but how do you calculate how many calories when your exercise varies everyday and the calorie intake is supposed to increase?
  • psb13
    psb13 Posts: 629
    i have just started to do this. after reading about it on the other websites, i ended up doing basically the same thing that you are doing-it made more sense than the other info. thanks for validating what i thought was right!!
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I've been meaning to do this...but how do you calculate how many calories when your exercise varies everyday and the calorie intake is supposed to increase?

    The way I did it was to make sure that my weekly average was what my daily goal was calculated to be. I am supposed to average between 1500-1600 per day. I did around 1500 for 3 days, then 1 day of 1800, and repeat over and over again. It averaged out to like 1530 overall.

    The first week I did it, I lost 1.8 pounds...and 1.45 pounds of that was pure fat.
  • gonnabeHOT_Heidi
    gonnabeHOT_Heidi Posts: 103 Member
    Sooo u eat low for two days n then high on the third day? N just do this over n over? It sounds simple enough but just checking :)
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    I've been meaning to do this...but how do you calculate how many calories when your exercise varies everyday and the calorie intake is supposed to increase?

    The way I did it was to make sure that my weekly average was what my daily goal was calculated to be. I am supposed to average between 1500-1600 per day. I did around 1500 for 3 days, then 1 day of 1800, and repeat over and over again. It averaged out to like 1530 overall.

    The first week I did it, I lost 1.8 pounds...and 1.45 pounds of that was pure fat.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ yep!!!
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Sooo u eat low for two days n then high on the third day? N just do this over n over? It sounds simple enough but just checking :)

    that is correct :) but you don't want to get too caught up in it and eat like a million calories and binge on unhealthy stuff on your high calorie day.

    it's kind of the same reasoning behind people doing one "cheat" day a week..
  • korygilliam
    korygilliam Posts: 594 Member
    Very interesting...will check it out! Thanks for sharing
  • gonnabeHOT_Heidi
    gonnabeHOT_Heidi Posts: 103 Member
    Do u just go over then or do u change ur calories on MFP?
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Do u just go over then or do u change ur calories on MFP?

    i don't actually change the 'goals' on MFP. cause that'd take up too much time to do everyday.

    I just have my baseline calorie goal (what MFP already gave me)... and then write in my daily notes like.. "day 1 of ZZ, calorie goal 1300" or something like that.. and then I go over or under whatever MFP gave me.

    like i said, i'm not too strict about it. the first week of my challenge i was strict though -well, kind of! (just cause i wanted to "test" it out) but yeah i'll just go over 100 calories or something on the third day then go back to under 100 calories or at my baseline.

    if i dont feel like doing it or my body is hungry or whatever - i just aim for my baseline.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    Do u just go over then or do u change ur calories on MFP?

    I set my calories to maintenance on MFP. I know what i need to be eating day in and out...so MFP's 'check' isn't relevant for me lol.

    By the way...the three day zig zag worked for me too...while the 7 day method failed miserably. I vary it by even more...1300-1500 on day one and two...then 2100 or better on day 3. It calculates out to about 1700 average calories...but the 'shock' value of two low days really seems to have helped a lot.

    Cris
  • gonnabeHOT_Heidi
    gonnabeHOT_Heidi Posts: 103 Member
    Cool thx guys :)
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    netcalorieszigzagjune.jpg

    My Monthly Report for trying to zig-zag. = just for an example.
    And yes, i broke my plateau. :)

    that last bar on the far right is today LOL so i'm not done eating yet :)
  • amsparky
    amsparky Posts: 825 Member
    Thanks so much for posting this!! I don't have the patience to test this (maybe once I am closer to goal weight), but it is helpful to know.

    I did a mini-test of this this week and it worked, so I may try to do this regularly, instead of being so stringent with my cals.

    Thanks again!
  • ImperfektAngel
    ImperfektAngel Posts: 811 Member
    Does anyone know if this has to be two days in a row of low cals and then the 3rd of high cals? or can you do one day high, one day low?
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    you are welcome! i love doing stuff like this so it was fun for me :) hope everyone can benefit from this information
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Does anyone know if this has to be two days in a row of low cals and then the 3rd of high cals? or can you do one day high, one day low?

    there is a lot of discussion about it on...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly
  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
    I will have to try this when I get stuck. I did go over a once this week b/c the boyfriend wanted Pizza Hut. I cant resist :smile:
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
    Do u just go over then or do u change ur calories on MFP?

    Here's what I did (based on great tips from other posters on MFP):

    I created my 7 day schedule from free calculator available here: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    Then I manually set my MFP goal to be the lowest calorie day in my schedule (e.g., 1200) and then I created seven custom exercises for each day of the week and set them at the calorie amounts above 1200 that I'm scheduled to eat that day. For the 1200 calorie days, it ends up just being 1 calorie burned for the custom exercise. For my largest zig zag day, it's something like 400 calories.

    Every day, I add one of my custom exercises for that day of the week (named Sunday, Monday, etc.) to my log which will add my zig zag calories as exercise calories which automatically get added to my calorie consumption goal for the day.

    This really simplifies it! I don't have to remember the schedule at all.

    Good luck!
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    Does anyone know if this has to be two days in a row of low cals and then the 3rd of high cals? or can you do one day high, one day low?

    I think the idea is to keep your body, on average...in the lower range, while keeping your metabolism spiked via the higher days. I think it might work just alternating...but your losses most likely wouldn't be as effectively applied.
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