Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Extreme Dieting: The Zig Zag Method

No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training...what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. -- Socrates(469-399 BCE)
I weighed 175 lbs at the start of the wrestling season my junior year. Within one month I was wrestling the 145 lbs weight class. The key is in a diet that tricks your body out of invoking the starvation response. An enduring condition can not be maintained by a temporary change, and in this way no diet actually works because that's exactly what it is, a temporary change in your nutrition habits. The proper and healthy way to do things would be with a fat loss of approximately two pounds per week. A month of two of hardcore dieting can, however, help you reach the goal that you want to maintain in the long term. Before I go into detail, we should look at what exactly is the starvation response. "Over thousands of years, humans have developed a weight-regulating mechanism that recognizes when there’s a food shortage and decreases energy expenditure to 'protect you.' This survival mechanism is known as the starvation  response.”(Tom Venuto, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle)



The Zig Zag method of dieting can trick your body out of this habit, which has become all but obsolete for the average person living in a first world country. So how do we get started then? It's simple. The only thing you will eat for the entire day is one banana. Seems a little harsh, but you're trying to lose as much weight as possible in as little time as possible. No pain no gain. You get what you pay for, etc. Here, though, is wherein comes the trick. Every fourth day you eat as many calories as you normally would (a good amount preferably but don't go too crazy). It is important to ingest a lot of complex carbohydrates and lean protein. You want foods like tuna, oatmeal, yams, whole wheat bread, eggs. Non processed, natural foods are the best in terms of nutritional value. This high calorie day will prevent your metabolism from adjusting or adapting to famine, which is what it will interpret a crash diet to be. You're going to lose some muscle this way. It sucks but you'll have more time to build it back up since you're losing the fat so quickly.

Final Note: If you're serious about getting in shape and having the body you strive for, you have to work out hard. You don't need to have this crazy image of a person working out three hours a day to get cut. Just put forth maybe 4 hours a week and do a little cardio. Be confident in yourself; don't say "I can't wait till I can take my shirt off and look good this summer." Rather, tell yourself, "Wow, I'm glad I worked out today. I feel great." Good luck and +stay positive+

40 comments:

  1. Very cool, diverse, insightful blog you have running here. +Followed

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  2. Did you try it ? Good infos I'll keep it somewhere. And I'll follow btw keep us informed.

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  3. A "Super diet" could be dangerous... but this one sounds good

    Very good information.

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  4. I like the final note. Not sure if I agree with a 1 banana each day diet. That's pretty extreme.

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  5. Don't care for dieting lol 1+ follower.

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  6. Im no expert, but this doesnt't look very safe method to lose weight. Your body is burning your muscles to get the things it needs.

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  7. Not sure I will try this but I need all the help I can get.

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  8. This is definitely interesting, and kinda works with how I'm so skinny. I don't eat very much, but when I do, I pig out for a full meal or two with small, relatively healthy snacks in between. Good read, though.

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  9. Sound pretty cool, never heard of this method.

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  10. Interesting, but I dont need to lose weight, in fact, I need to gain weight without getting fat, I guess ill just have to work out.

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  11. looking good is all about the diet. I would say it's like 90% diet and 10% exercise. Good post!

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  12. Sounds interesting but is it healthy ?

    Good piece of reading tho' :)

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  13. Quite the interesting approach for sure.
    I'd like to hear some testimonials XD

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  14. extreme dieting is bullshit. You have to do everyday sports and pay attention on your food and not just doing an extreme diet. I think it'S helftier to loose weight longterm then shortterm

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  15. Interesting.. but I don't agree with that method. Anyway it was fun to read.

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  16. I eat like a horse and my body composition is still great, so I don't need this, but an interesting read anyhow.

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  17. Sounds interesting 30 minutes a day of exercise should be plenty to be healthy though

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  18. Don't diet TOO much, that's the best advice.

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  19. May try this soon.

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  20. my problem is I'm skinny as hell... I eat a lot .. I mean A LOT .. at least 4 meals a day with snacks in between and I still stay skinny :X

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  21. these kinds of diets really never work, it's all about exercise and calorie control

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  22. Sounds interesting enough to try :)

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  23. Hello! I'm here again reading all your post

    C ya

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  24. Great info, and consistent with some of the new theories of dieting I've heard.

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  25. Quite interesting. Good info thanks!

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  26. Got some friends who might be interested in this

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  27. hmmm one of my friends tried this, I may have to give it a go.

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  28. Like extreme dieting could ever make you look like that hahaha

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  29. Awesome advice man. I've recently been getting kind of fat myself ever since I graduated college and started being less and less active... I'm definitely going to give this diet a shot no doubt! Thx!

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  30. Definitely gonna give this a try. Thanks

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  31. This is some quality information. I guess if I ever want to drop a few pounds I could give this a shot.

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  32. Really nice, I'll try that!

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  33. I am going to SO try this!!! I like it. FOLLOWED:)

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