This is the Jay Santos Zigzag Diet Plan.
I kind of made up this plan a couple years ago and thought I was really smart, and then realized it was already known and called a variation of a "Zigzag" diet plan.
This diet has been very successful for me. I'm pretty sure Pelagius would (rightly) call everything I'm about to say here as "bro science" but I've read enough of these principles over and over I tend to believe them.
Summary:
eat in calorie deficit weekdays
eat in calorie surplus weekends
lift heavier on the weekend matching your high calorie days
Goal:
lose weight while maximizing the fat vs muscle loss and even gain muscle while losing fat
Sample details:
Let's say my BMR (google to find online calculators) is 2300 calories a day.
On weekdays, target 1800 calories a day, with 500 burned in a workout, for a total deficit of 1000 calories per day (-3500 = one lb)
On weekends, target 3300 calories a day, with 500 burned in a workout, for total surplus of 500 calories per day
Net weight loss = ((1000 * 5) + (-500 * 2))/3500 = 1.14 lbs per week.
You can tweak any of those variables for desired results, ie more loss per week or less loss per week, or even net loss of 0 which would be done with the purpose of converting fat to muscle with no change in weight
Calorie breakout:
Always high in protein either deficit or surplus day. Get 1 g per body weight in protein. So if I weigh 200 lbs, that's 200 g of protein.
That leaves 1,000 calories on a deficit day, which will be mostly all fat.
For surplus day, I switch it, and make most all the extra calories come from carbs
Workout:
Set your workout plan so your heaviest days coincide with the big calorie days. I recommend lifting weights, heavy compound exercises in the 5-18 rep range. I change things up but the one I'm doing right now which I like the best is. Weekend: low rep for strength, 5 reps, longer workouts with the added energy from calories. Saturday: chest, shoulders, tri's. Sunday: legs, back, bi's. Mon/Fri rest. cardio only. Tue-Th: high rep, circuit style, more of a fat burn workout, shorter workout. Tue: chest,shoulder,tri, Wed: legs, Thur: back,bi's.
Logic:
Why the surplus days? Why not just stay on calorie deficit?:
1. resets your metabolism, if you don't do this, you're in danger of your metabolism getting slower and slower and not burning enough calories to sustain weight loss over a long diet
2. easier for me to stay disciplined when I'm in a work routine then when i'm home or out and about on the weekends
Calories being mostly fat on deficit days:
1. I find it more enjoyable and easier to stay satiated with a low carb diet than a low fat diet.
2. Mixes in principles of Keto diets.
Calories being mostly carb on surplus days:
1. Muscle needs protein and carb to build, so you're giving yourself best chance to gain muscle
2. Keto diets require carbing up on occasion
I kind of made up this plan a couple years ago and thought I was really smart, and then realized it was already known and called a variation of a "Zigzag" diet plan.
This diet has been very successful for me. I'm pretty sure Pelagius would (rightly) call everything I'm about to say here as "bro science" but I've read enough of these principles over and over I tend to believe them.
Summary:
eat in calorie deficit weekdays
eat in calorie surplus weekends
lift heavier on the weekend matching your high calorie days
Goal:
lose weight while maximizing the fat vs muscle loss and even gain muscle while losing fat
Sample details:
Let's say my BMR (google to find online calculators) is 2300 calories a day.
On weekdays, target 1800 calories a day, with 500 burned in a workout, for a total deficit of 1000 calories per day (-3500 = one lb)
On weekends, target 3300 calories a day, with 500 burned in a workout, for total surplus of 500 calories per day
Net weight loss = ((1000 * 5) + (-500 * 2))/3500 = 1.14 lbs per week.
You can tweak any of those variables for desired results, ie more loss per week or less loss per week, or even net loss of 0 which would be done with the purpose of converting fat to muscle with no change in weight
Calorie breakout:
Always high in protein either deficit or surplus day. Get 1 g per body weight in protein. So if I weigh 200 lbs, that's 200 g of protein.
That leaves 1,000 calories on a deficit day, which will be mostly all fat.
For surplus day, I switch it, and make most all the extra calories come from carbs
Workout:
Set your workout plan so your heaviest days coincide with the big calorie days. I recommend lifting weights, heavy compound exercises in the 5-18 rep range. I change things up but the one I'm doing right now which I like the best is. Weekend: low rep for strength, 5 reps, longer workouts with the added energy from calories. Saturday: chest, shoulders, tri's. Sunday: legs, back, bi's. Mon/Fri rest. cardio only. Tue-Th: high rep, circuit style, more of a fat burn workout, shorter workout. Tue: chest,shoulder,tri, Wed: legs, Thur: back,bi's.
Logic:
Why the surplus days? Why not just stay on calorie deficit?:
1. resets your metabolism, if you don't do this, you're in danger of your metabolism getting slower and slower and not burning enough calories to sustain weight loss over a long diet
2. easier for me to stay disciplined when I'm in a work routine then when i'm home or out and about on the weekends
Calories being mostly fat on deficit days:
1. I find it more enjoyable and easier to stay satiated with a low carb diet than a low fat diet.
2. Mixes in principles of Keto diets.
Calories being mostly carb on surplus days:
1. Muscle needs protein and carb to build, so you're giving yourself best chance to gain muscle
2. Keto diets require carbing up on occasion
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