Zig-Zagging Diet or Calorie Cycling Diet

Calorie cycling, or calorie zigzagging or shifting, is a diet regimen built upon the premise that keeping the body's metabolism guessing about caloric intake is a successful way to lose weight. Because the metabolism never reaches a state of homeostasis, or stability, it is forced keep guessing on caloric intake and, as a result, it stays revved up. This state burns fat. A calorie cycling diet purportedly keeps the body from adapting to any certain amount of calories.

1. Strategy 

   To begin a calorie cycling regimen, you need to determine your daily caloric needs for weight loss. This is based upon your age, weight, sex and height.

   • For men, use the following formula to determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR):
     66 + 12.7 * Height (in inches) + 6.23 * Weight (in pounds) -- 6.76 * age
     For women, complete this formula:
     655 + 4.7 * Height (in inches) + 4.35 * Weight (in pounds) - 4.7 * age
     Multiply the total by the corresponding number below according to activity level.
     Sedentary: 1.2
     Somewhat active: 1.375
     Active: 1.55
     Very Active: 1.725
     For example, the formula result for a 6-foot tall, somewhat active 35-year-old man weighing 150 lb. is 2,600.
     You must be willing to do a little planning with your diet. Calorie cycling revolves around the kinds of calories you eat as well as the amount of calories you eat. Once you determine your daily caloric needs, you mix those numbers up a bit. The idea is to never eat the same amount of calories 2 days in a row.

   Principles

   • There are different versions of this diet in that some instruct you to eat your daily caloric amount 2 days in a row, then eat a few hundred calories more the next day. Then 2 days "on" and the next day "off." Other diets recommend longer days "on." Elisabeth Wilson, author of "Boost Your Energy: Feel Great, Do More, and Lose the Lethargy," claims that you should eat your determined amount of calories per day for 4 or 5 days in a row and the next day eat a few hundred calories more. Then return to your determined number for 4 or 5 days and eat more calories the next day, repeating the cycle.
     Another version of this diet recommends that you consume the same amount of calories 2 days in a row. Jeremy Likness, author of "Lose Fat, Not Faith: A Transformation Guide," explains, "Instead of consuming 1500 calories per day, you consume 1000 calories one day and 2000 calories the next day." On such regimens, the body never has an opportunity to adapt to any particular amount of calories.

   Results

   • Wilson writes that calorie cycling "works on the principle that by mixing up your calorie count, your metabolic rate stays on its toes, too, so to speak. Your metabolic rate doesn't drop as you lose weight; in fact, it revs up." Likness agrees, adding "Although you do not burn fat and build muscle at the exact same time, zigzagging allows you to burn fat and build muscle in mini-cycles. At the end, you will drop weight, build muscle, and, because your body never adapted, still have a strong metabolism."