Zig-Zagging?

ThatGamesStudent
ThatGamesStudent Posts: 47
edited September 30 in Food and Nutrition
If anyone is unfamiliar with Zig-Zagging it basically means to swap around your calories. I'll give you an example;


Monday - 1,200 Kcal
Tuesday - 1,100 Kcal
Wednesday - 1,500 Kcal
Thursday - 1,200 Kcal
Friday - 1,300 Kcal
Saturday - 1,600 Kcal
Sunday - 1,200 Kcal

I heard doing this makes losing weight easier as the fluctuation in Calories doesn't let the body settle to 1 set calorie goal(Like eating 1,200 calories a day, consistently). If you sit at a certain calorie goal the body will get used to it? Is this true and does Zig-Zagging work?

Replies

  • krystonite
    krystonite Posts: 553 Member
    I'm very interested in knowing the answer to this as well.
  • ThatGamesStudent
    ThatGamesStudent Posts: 47
    I'm very interested in knowing the answer to this as well.

    Hopefully we can find out!:)
  • brandelynh
    brandelynh Posts: 5 Member
    My friend used this method and lost 30lbs in about 4 months. It's pretty flexible and created a lot less worry for him. His trainer is a bodybuilder and suggested this method.
  • ThatGamesStudent
    ThatGamesStudent Posts: 47
    My friend used this method and lost 30lbs in about 4 months. It's pretty flexible and created a lot less worry for him. His trainer is a bodybuilder and suggested this method.

    Any idea on how big a difference the calories should be for the method to work effectively?
  • laureneva15
    laureneva15 Posts: 280
    i'm bumping this for later cos i'm curious to know as well
  • FirewifeCarrie
    FirewifeCarrie Posts: 118
    Wondering if this would work for me...I feel like since I've increased my calories that all I do is eat!
  • ThatGamesStudent
    ThatGamesStudent Posts: 47
    Wondering if this would work for me...I feel like since I've increased my calories that all I do is eat!

    I feel this when i eat a bit more than usual... Even though my max has been 1,300 calories and smallest 800 calories lol..

    I just want to find out if this 100% works before i set out to eat some more lol
  • FirewifeCarrie
    FirewifeCarrie Posts: 118
    I've done some research and found a website to help you calculate the zig zagging...
    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    Now this is my information according to my weight, age, height, and fitness level,
    Ex Fat Loss Fat Loss Maintain
    Monday 1196 1594 1993
    Tuesday 1120 1276 1594
    Wednesday 1435 1913 2391
    Thursday 1196 1594 1993
    Friday 1120 1435 1794
    Saturday 1315 1754 2192
    Sunday 1196 1594 1993
    *Note I'm 5'5", 29 yrs., 140 lbs. and I workout out 5 times a week (or more).

    I am curious on how to set this up on MFP?
  • FirewifeCarrie
    FirewifeCarrie Posts: 118
    My 'chart' totally messed up when I hit post...sorry! :smile:
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
    I do it and it seems to work. As far as how much my calories vary- I'm set up for a 1 lb a week loss. That means if I eat 500 calories over the MFP goal I break even and don't gain or lose for the day. So 2 days a week I'm over my calorie goal by 100 or 200 2 days a week I'm under by 300 or 400, one day at goal or close, and one day I week I'm over by more than 500 so that one day a week I'm technically gaining an ounce or two.

    ETA - Here's my numbers for a typical week

    My daily goal is 1870
    Monday I netted 2632 (over by 762 on the screen)
    Tuesday I netted 2574 (over by 704 on the screen)
    Wednesday I netted 1096 (under by 774 - I know, gasp, under 1200 calories net. I've been doing this for almost 2 years and I've got no muscle left and cant figure out why)
    Thursday I netted 2198 (over by 328)
    Friday's net was 1249 (under by 621)
    Today I'll net really close to goal and Sunday I'll try and be a few hundred under goal again. So my weekly goal totals match my weekly actual totals.
  • FirewifeCarrie
    FirewifeCarrie Posts: 118
    I do it and it seems to work. As far as how much my calories vary- I'm set up for a 1 lb a week loss. That means if I eat 500 calories over the MFP goal I break even and don't gain or lose for the day. So 2 days a week I'm over my calorie goal by 100 or 200 2 days a week I'm under by 300 or 400, one day at goal or close, and one day I week I'm over by more than 500 so that one day a week I'm technically gaining an ounce or two.

    Can you go in MFP and manually enter your calorie range for each day? I've lost a total of 30 pounds and then went in a stall so I bumped up my calories, but now I've gained 2-3 pounds back! Have heard about this method so I'm very curious if it would work for me. I only want to lose 5-10 more but seems like this is going to be the hardest to lose, lol!
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
    I do it and it seems to work. As far as how much my calories vary- I'm set up for a 1 lb a week loss. That means if I eat 500 calories over the MFP goal I break even and don't gain or lose for the day. So 2 days a week I'm over my calorie goal by 100 or 200 2 days a week I'm under by 300 or 400, one day at goal or close, and one day I week I'm over by more than 500 so that one day a week I'm technically gaining an ounce or two.

    Can you go in MFP and manually enter your calorie range for each day? I've lost a total of 30 pounds and then went in a stall so I bumped up my calories, but now I've gained 2-3 pounds back! Have heard about this method so I'm very curious if it would work for me. I only want to lose 5-10 more but seems like this is going to be the hardest to lose, lol!

    You can. From the home page it's Goals - Change goals - then the custom button. There you can change P/C/F % sugar goals calorie goals or anything else that you want.

    I don't however. The iPhone app has a really great feature that shows you your totals for the week. So I just leave my settings alone and not stress if I'm over or way under for any particular day. As long as the app says I'm close to my weekly total - all's good.
  • FirewifeCarrie
    FirewifeCarrie Posts: 118
    I do it and it seems to work. As far as how much my calories vary- I'm set up for a 1 lb a week loss. That means if I eat 500 calories over the MFP goal I break even and don't gain or lose for the day. So 2 days a week I'm over my calorie goal by 100 or 200 2 days a week I'm under by 300 or 400, one day at goal or close, and one day I week I'm over by more than 500 so that one day a week I'm technically gaining an ounce or two.

    Can you go in MFP and manually enter your calorie range for each day? I've lost a total of 30 pounds and then went in a stall so I bumped up my calories, but now I've gained 2-3 pounds back! Have heard about this method so I'm very curious if it would work for me. I only want to lose 5-10 more but seems like this is going to be the hardest to lose, lol!

    You can. From the home page it's Goals - Change goals - then the custom button. There you can change P/C/F % sugar goals calorie goals or anything else that you want.

    I don't however. The iPhone app has a really great feature that shows you your totals for the week. So I just leave my settings alone and not stress if I'm over or way under for any particular day. As long as the app says I'm close to my weekly total - all's good.
    Thanks! :happy:
    I do like the the app on my iPhone but it would bother me to see the under/over all of the time. I think I'm going to try and set it up and start zig zagging! Hoping that this can start my weight loss again!
  • niki108
    niki108 Posts: 65 Member
    I use zigzagging when I hit a plateau. It does work! There are several threads on it.
  • darrcn5
    darrcn5 Posts: 495 Member
    I zig zag! It is easier for me because it allows me to go over some days.
  • 1_up
    1_up Posts: 1,414 Member
    Zig-Zagging helped me break my plateaus in the past. It was a much higher jump from day to day. Here is the post by Newfiedan that I found very helpful on this topic

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/212510-how-to-zig-zag-cals-properly-caloric-cycling-properly?hl=zig+zagging
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