How to zig zag cals properly/caloric cycling properly

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  • brendalyne
    brendalyne Posts: 497
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    bump...
  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
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    I have mine set at a 500 a day calorie deficit by default.

    I eat all but 300 calories 2 days in a row, then go over by 500 on the third, rinse and repeat. I eat all exercise cals aside from that.

    Working wonders for me at least.
  • cindy859
    cindy859 Posts: 99 Member
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    bump
  • ancho84
    ancho84 Posts: 40 Member
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    Bumpity bump
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
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    An odd thing I noticed, after reading Eat, Stop, Eat.

    I've been zig zagging my calories, using the 3 day method originally outlined. The thing is, I've noticed that with the small amounts of calories I'm consuming on my low days...I occasionally don't eat much, or at all until dinner. When I do this...I'm going 24hrs without food...which qualifies as fasting. I started two weeks ago when I got sick (didn't eat for 2 days)...then I ate a lot more on the third.

    I'm betting this was the cause of my 8lbs worth of loss over those two weeks, as well as breaking my 6 week plateau. I am now going to more purposefully zig zag and make sure I don't eat for at least two 24hr intervals a week (this includes sleep time...so it's not as bad as it seems). I'm thinking the losses will continue to come, particularly since I'm back on track with exercising, and after the two weeks off, my workouts are more intense than ever.

    Cris
  • susanb_16
    susanb_16 Posts: 131 Member
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    bump
  • AI1108
    AI1108 Posts: 488 Member
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    bump
  • Susanpv
    Susanpv Posts: 37 Member
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    save....bump
  • amsparky
    amsparky Posts: 825 Member
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    Bump
  • amomatt
    amomatt Posts: 41
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    sorry.am being a bit dense

    My cals are at 1320 (deficit of 500) so on days 1 and 2 I should stick to that...should I be "eating back" my exercise cals?

    And then how much to go up to on Day 3?
  • amomatt
    amomatt Posts: 41
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    bump
  • martielou
    martielou Posts: 50 Member
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    Thanks for this! Very clear & helpful! I'm plateauing with 9lbs or so to go! This is great!
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    I do 1 increased calorie day per week on a Saturday. That's my treat/cheat day and also kicks my metabolism into shape for the following week. I do find that I see a spike in weight on Sunday/Monday but the drop over the week after stays steady where if I don't have the treat day my loss progress gets a bit sluggish.

    I can see this working on a 1 day in 3 schedule though. The theory seems solid.
  • mjp202
    mjp202 Posts: 50 Member
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    Bump. I've been thinking of trying this approach.
  • getsveltEagain
    getsveltEagain Posts: 1,063 Member
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    bump to read over tonight!
  • jen_0_0
    jen_0_0 Posts: 5 Member
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    Bump :-)
  • jessikas5
    jessikas5 Posts: 28 Member
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    Bump! Have to try this!
  • AmandaR910
    AmandaR910 Posts: 991
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    Definitely trying this. Great post.
  • shawny9499
    shawny9499 Posts: 6 Member
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    bump
  • Rexrabbit
    Rexrabbit Posts: 3
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    saving

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