Shocking the Metabolism with Calories

when you're doing a zig-zag diet, and shocking your body, or just plain jumping around, what should the difference in calories be each day? i've seen people go as extreme as eating a difference of 1000 calories in two days, but if its more than 400 it's hard for me to manage, because it just gets too much back-and-forth action. but if it were a difference of say, 300 calories each day, would that be effective enough? going on a site that's been posted often on here...i forgot what it was called...they had a difference of 200-300 calories each day. but i've heard so much controversy against that >.< am i wasting my time with  something like,

mon=+100  tues= -200   wed= +200   thurs= -100  fri= +100  sat= -200 sun= maintain

or

mon=+100 tues=+200 wed= -200 thurs= -100  fri= +100  sat= -200 sun= maintain

what's worked best for others?

As long as your calorie deficit is within 500 - 700 of your energy needs then you should be able to go quite a long time before you hit a stall or a plateau - which is what zig-zagging is designed to avoid.  So if your total energy needs are 2100 per day you can aim for between 1400 and 1600 as your average intake - a 200 cal window.

I think that if the zig-zagging is too extreme all you effectively end up with is an irregular eating habit.... overeating, undereating.  I don't think that's healthy and I also don't think it sets anyone up for maintaining their new weight, which after all is the whole point of the exercise.  A regular eating habit, similar-sized meals & a routine of some kind makes weight-maintenance so much easier.

I personally enjoy a day every two or three weeks where I get my full energy needs... the full 2100 from the above example.  I can fit it in with the occasional meal out or some other food occasion  so it feels 'normal' to be eating more, rather than 'shocking the metabolism'... which sounds rather aggressive.

thats a great approach i....appreciate lol. it's hard having irregular eating habits when it takes more work than not :/ when you have that day that you fulfill your calories, does it have an effect on you? are you bloated the next day, or your weight stalls? its just no fun having those road blocks..!

I use the window approach. 

personally, I find it tedious to try to hit my calorie goal EXACTLY every day.  If you are eating a balanced and varied diet your calories will naturally fluctuate anyway.

That is a pattern and behavior that is a lot closer to real life which makes it easier to maintain for the long haul.

Original Post by kellyjess:

when you have that day that you fulfill your calories, does it have an effect on you?

 It cheers me up for a start.   And that means I keep on going rather than getting fed up.   The next day I feel rather more hungry than normal .... I take that as a good sign, the metabolism clicking up a notch.    I don't feel bloated because I tend to stick to the same kinds of healthy foods as normal, just in larger portions.   I don't weigh daily so I can't say what happens to the scales.  However, taking a reading each week the scales usually keep on falling.  When you think about it, going from 1400-1600 to 2100 in one day is only 500-700 more calories than normal..... since you need 3600 excess calories to generate 1lb in fat it's not going to tip the scales long-term.  Ultimately, you have to increase calories to maintain.... this is good practice.

Go here  www.NaturalPhysiques.com  They'll calculate it for you. 

Well here it is April Fools Day again....April Fish in France....

I've been thinking about zig zagging as a strategy for a while now.  I tend to work out my calories on a weekly basis, and on a day to day day basis see bumps up and down of 300 calories.  Maintaining now for 18 months with a small caloric deficit I've found that the only sure way to rev up my metabolism is to exercise more. 

I've played around with eating and haven't seen it do much for metabolism per se.  I know that overeating (a big "up" zig - usually a holiday meal) will cause weight to go up for days afterwards.  Undereating a like amount might show a small benefit for a day.  When I look at the Harris Benedict equation for BMR it makes sense.  Your basic metabolism is determined by your age, height and sex.  Not by how you bounce your meals around.

I just tried out Natural Physique's zig-zag calculator for my weight (thanks for the link MK).  The low to high range was only 300 calories per day.  I'm already doing that, within the normal day-to-day variation of my diet. 

glad to see some results =) so zig zagging didnt do much at all...see, i havent seen really any change for me either, but i love the idea of going over some days, and only having to hold back that many too...rather than keeping a solid deficit...but it's terribly confusing and tedious >.<

and frustrating to see some people have amazing results and none of them work for me. ha.