Just need some people's opinion

I've decided to try the whole zig-zagging my calories ordeal. I have been on a 1200-1350 calorie diet (days I work out, I add what I burned to that) and have only lost about 6 pounds since Nov. 3. I hear that zig-zagging is a good idea because it helps get your metabolism working as well as gets you prepared for life after weight loss. I made up a little schedule of the amounts of calories I'll eat for each day a week and just need some people's opinions on it. Does it look effective or should I make some changes?

Sunday: 2000 calories, exercise

Monday: 1200 calories, no exercise

Tuesday: 1350 calories, no exercise

Wednesday: 1500 calories, exercise

Thursday: 1800 calories, exercise

Friday: 1200 calories, no exercise

Saturday: 1600 calories, no exercise 

You lost 6lbs in less than a month? That's MORE than great! The MOST anyone should ever try to lose is 1% of their body weight per week. .5lb to 1lb a week is healthy, 2 per week is aggressive.

I, too, cycle my calories:

1800, 2000, 1400, 2800, 1200, 1500, 2100 -- and a free day where I don't count every 2 weeks in place of the 2800 day.

I've lost 50lbs since June, down to 266lbs from 319. I do cardio 3-4 times a week, sometimes less, sometimes more, strength training 3 days a week and I average 1829 calories a day. As I lose more weight, my burn rate will be slower but I am NOT lowering my calories. I plan to increase my cardio, take my time and just eat healthfully, like a normal, lifelong thin person does.

See www.mypyramid.gov for healthy calorie ranges for gradual weight loss

By the way, what you planned looks a lot like mine! It looks really good. Just don't go below 1200 cal/day and you'll be fine! I believe people should eat an average of their TARGET maintenance calories and EVENTUALLY they will end up at their goal weight.

I was going to have my days that I eat low amounts (1200, 1350) be the days I don't work out. I want to try to have at least 4 days of exercise.

Sounds like a great plan to me, good luck!

Original Post by j3nn_dot_net:

You lost 6lbs in less than a month? That's MORE than great! The MOST anyone should ever try to lose is 1% of their body weight per week. .5lb to 1lb a week is healthy, 2 per week is aggressive.

Sorry but that isn't true in all cases or even most cases.  You can safely lose more then 2lbs per week if you are doing it correctly. I just don't like blanket statements like that when people are so different. Sorry, I don't want to derail this thread but wanted to add this.

 

Cycling calories sounds interesting, but probably not for me. Good luck!

archer: Sure, people can safely lose more than 2lbs a week IF their starting weight is very high. I started at 319lbs, the first week I lost nearly 10lbs but it slows down and I wouldn't be happy losing it that fast, I have my skin adjustments to consider. I'm still losing 2 to 2.5lbs a week, but I'm not trying to. I aim for 1lb a week but my burn rate is higher because I'm still in the mid 200's. I expect it will slow down as I lose more but if I kept up at this pace until I reached my target, I'd surely look like a deflated balloon.

Otherwise, it's typically not safe to lose more than 1% of your body weight, UNLESS you are very active AND eating enough to nourish your body. There are exceptions to every rule and I don't generalize anyone -- but when it comes down to it, most of us have the same anatomical and metabolic behavior. There's going to be people that have different situations but if we looked at everything one by one, we'd never have any health standards to go on.

The differences between men and women alone are quite substantial and men can easily lose 2 or more lbs a week if they were being aggressive but the point of weight loss is to learn better, healthier habits that you can keep up with after you get to your goal and tring to take off what was put on over a longer period of time isn't exactly sensible. Especially if you're going from low calorie intake to calories to maintain.

just work it right 5 days a week with exercise and proper calorie intake,no need for zig zagging .thats what i did and include H.I.I.T training if u can.

I find that when I zig zag (totally not on purpose though), I lose more weight, especially if I've hit a bump in the road or am "plateauing". But I find for the most part, unless I'm having a bit of trouble, there is no need.

When I was trying to reach my goal weight I kept my calories consistent.  Now that I've reached my goal and have developed healthy eating habits I don't need to count calories any more.  Thank God!  I would consider exercising one more day a week!

Actually I think calorie cycling or zig-zagging is the best way to go BUT the zig-zag you have up there averages to just a little over 1500 cals a day and I'd just suggest that you make sure that is not too many calories for your stats and lifestyle. If you weight 130 or less and you're not active then you are not likely to lose weight on an average caloric intake of 1500 a day. You might lose but it will be at a rate of 1-2 pounds a month. You were worried you were not losing fast enough on 1200-1300 a day so how is 1500 a day going to work out for you? Anyways it doesn't hurt to try I guess.

hey

i just joined now, and i found this zig zagging interesting,,, but how do u now which day to choose specific aamount of calories...im 165 pounds and 5'2.....i need to lose about 33 - 44 pounds to reach my ideal weight........... i checked that that my calorie intake should be 1620 .....how do i zig zag this...please ......i do about 30-60 minutes of exercise a day for 4-5 days a week............and also if i do the zig zag calorie diet --- how long would it approximately take me to reach my ideal weight.....................thanks!!!

zeezo- this website was helpful for me.  there's an option on there that shows you what your zig-zag cycle should look like.  

 

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calc ulator.htm

thanks kaaatie sooo much -- really helped alot --- very interesting website......wish me luck --  lol :)