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Posts: 11,355
11/20/09 11:47 P

Energy out is the dictator of lossing weight. If I have a quiet day, it is not Gung Ho and eat 2300 caloires even if on maintenance.. Energy out sitting on your butt doesn't warrant the normal calories in, so am eating 1500 calories.
I use common sense and monitor my days when extra food is needed..
You can shock the body once in a while, but it will cotton on and back fire if you do it too often..

current weight: 145.0

306 265.75 225.5 185.25

145

Posts: 290
11/20/09 11:23 P

I agree with one of the previous posts. I would tend to eat more on days I strength train than other days. It does seem like cardio suppresses my appetite. I generally end up cycling due to how I feel, rather than following a strict caloric budget, so to speak.

Pounds lost: 30.0

0 9.25 18.5 27.75

37

SparkPoints: (4,430)
Fitness Minutes: (1,715)
Posts: 75
11/20/09 6:12 P

The CURVES Diet is something like 7 days 1200 calories, then 23 days at 1500, then eat normal (or increase your calories)....if you gain 3 pounds, go back to the 1200 calories. Haven't really tried it yet. I'm at the 1500 calorie part now.

current weight: 258.0

280 248.75 217.5 186.25

155

Posts: 8
11/20/09 5:55 P

I do zig-zag... but not on purpose. I tend to eat alot on days where I'm up and out all day, usually in class. On days where I'm doing homework or sleeping (such as Thursday -- Sunday), I don't eat as much because I'm busy. I'm really bad with planning how much I'm gonna eat at a time, but I'm working on it. :D

Pounds lost: 0.0

0 11.875 23.75 35.625

47.5

Posts: 224
11/20/09 4:35 P

I was stuck at 145 for what seemed like an eternity and just recently started doing this... i excersize more on the days i eat more and a bit less on days i eat less... I go into more details on my spark blog and i have a public food/ excersize log on my sparkpage if you wanna check it out :)

current weight: 133.5

139 135.5 132 128.5

125

Posts: 87
11/20/09 3:04 P

I had great success last year doing this...'zig-zagging'. I purposely ate on the highest end of my calorie allotment one day and then went two or three days in the middle and then one day on the lowest end. I lost 44 pounds pretty consistently. It took some effort on my part, but not a lot.

I also 'zig-zagged' my exercise as well. On the highest end of goals for about three days in a row and then I would do a low end for one day. It seemed to really keep my body guessing!

Pounds lost: 15.0

0 6.5 13 19.5

26

Posts: 286
11/20/09 2:58 P

I vary my calories on a daily basis, but not by planning like I think some people do with "calorie cycling". How they will eat certain numbers of calories on certain days. I think this works for some people, but what I have found works for me is listening to my body. Like for example this week on Sunday I ran 7 miles, this kind of suppressed my appetite, so I was around 1200 cals for the day, Monday I could tell my hunger was catching up and I ate around 1400 calories. So I do an intuitive calorie variation depending on my hunger and exercise level. I used to aim to eat an exact number every day and that made me hit a plateau, now I just aim to have a certain weekly average, not a specific day to day number.

current weight: 110.0

146 137 128 119

110

Posts: 963
11/20/09 1:30 P

Do any of you vary your calories on a daily basis? I'm needing to change a thing or 2 up to avoid a plateau and I've read that will definitely help. Anyone have personal experience with it? Thanks so much!

Pounds lost: 94.0

0 27.5 55 82.5

110