I have lost 23 pounds and everything has been going well. I work out an hour (cardio and sometimes weights) 7 days a week. Recently, however, my scale has stopped moving. I have been stuck at a 152-154 margin for coming on 3 weeks. I'd really like to give my body a jump start as my current tactic seems to of grown old for it. I heard that zigzagging is the best route and I'm game.
I found a chart online which is determined solely on current weight.
This is how it goes:
M 1368
Tu 1216
Wed 1368
Thurs 1216
Fri 1368
Sat 1216
Sun 1216
I am a 5'6 female, 20 years old, weighing in at 152lbs.
This is the chart for "extreme weight loss" That isn't EXACTLY my goal, but the numbers for normal loss were in the 1500-1600. And that seems extremely high.
I'm just wondering if the more expert among you think this sounds correct/healthy/etc?
1500-1600 is NOT high!!! I am constantly amazed how the majority of women on this site think they need to eat 1200 calories to lose.
Zig Zag works ok but I do better doing it on my own. Every few days I try and eat a bit more to shock my system.
I highly recommend listening to the podcast "fat2fit" radio. start with episode 83. At least listen. Its all about why people eat to little when trying to lose weight.
I zig-zag exclusively, mostly because I'm never going to be successful carefully meal planning to hit an exact number all the time and amazed by those that do.
I eat healthy, track everything, try to adjust dinner according to my decisions earlier in the day and hope I come up in my 1800-2000 target range (I'm a guy).
However I only view the 1800-2000 as a target and don't sweat it too much if I go over or under. If I have several days much too low or high I'll adjust.
My calories for the last 7 days were...
2270
1386
1533
1970
1786
1500
2092
While I don't actually know if this zig-zaggin has sped, slowed, or had no affect at my rate of loss I will say that I've been losing more weight faster than I expected to. I do believe strongly in the concept of keeping my body very confused and I think this is one way along with significant variation in exercise routines.
I think the big thing is that if you are going to do this, don't zig by binging a wasted 800 extra calories on unhealthy food.
crcossel- Thank you for your comment! I'm sorry for startling you. I realize that 1200-1300 seems very low. However, before I hit this stall, I was still counting calories and was eating a rather consistent 1500-1600. Before my journey began, I was eating 1700-1800 with NO exercise EVER (I know this because I counted a few of my 'typical' eating days out of curiosity). So, I believe that your range is simply more than my metabolism can agree with.
I could be wrong, of course! I often am, as a diet newbie.
Well it could partly be too that your body is "adjusting" I would definitely try zig zagging. but ignore that site. You can figure it out on your own. For instance.....maybe 2 days down 1 day up? 1200, 1200, 1500, 1300, 1700, 1200......that's just an example. The goal is to try and convince your body you aren't starving.
I do this pretty easily based on my food schedule. For instance friday nights is pizza night. Homemade but its usually 550-600 calories by itself when its all said and done. Another night might be a social occasion where I eat more like 1800-2000 calories for the day.
I've adjusted slightly and I think this is a good deal better:
M 1338, Tues 1216, Wed 1460, Thurs 1216, Friday 1581, sat/sun 1216. There are an awful lot of low days, but I expect some days I will end up going over, anyway, just because of my schedule...