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In order to lose body fat, there are a myriad of diet methods you can use. Unfortunately, many diets all come down to dropping your caloric intake to levels so low, you also lose muscle mass together with your body fat. On top of that, you will often not take in enough nutrients, vitamins and minerals to maintain a healthy body.
Luckily, there are also methods that will bring your body fat levels down to where you want them, without you having to starve your body, lose energy and waste muscle mass. One of the most successful and widely used methods is the zigzag dieting method.
The Zigzag Dieting Method
To confuse matters, there are more than one dieting methods using the zigzag approach. The two most
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| Johan Brouwer |
The reason carbohydrates are cycled is that carbohydrates, when not used as an energy source, will be stored as body fat. Carbohydrates also help the body with storing body fat. When you are taking in too many carbohydrates, you will not lose weight and even gain body fat.
Next to all that, many people are carbohydrate sensitive, meaning they cannot process carbohydrates well, resulting in lack of energy and other discomforts. Lowering your carbohydrate intake will help losing body fat, and to avoid your body getting used to the new intake level, we cycle the intake so the metabolism ‘keeps guessing’.
The zigzag methodology requires you to calculate what you need to eat each day to lose weight first. You can do this by using the Katch-McArdle formula below:
| LBM (lean body mass) is your lean body weight, so your weight without the fat. BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the number of calories your body burns to ensure the basic bodily functions are taken care of. Maintenance is the number of calories you need to hold on to your current weight. |
Activity Level 1: Little or no training, office work 2: Light training/sports 1-3 days per week 3: Average training/sports 3-5 days per week 4: Heavy training/sports 6-7 days per week 5: Heavy daily training/sports plus physical labor, or two workouts per day |
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You take the maintenance number from the calculation, which is the number of calories you need each day to maintain your current weight at your current activity level. From this, you subtract the number of calories you need to lose weight. Start by subtracting 500 calories from your maintenance number and see how far you get with that number. Remember that the maintenance number will gradually get lower when you are losing weight, so recalculate the number regularly.
With the number of calories per day you calculated, you can start constructing your diet plan according to the zigzag method. If you want to base your zigzag diet plan on a three day rotation, multiply the number of calories you have just calculated by three to get the total number of calories you will need to ingest during these three days.
Example:
The number of calories you just calculated is 2000.
Over three days, you will need to eat 6000 calories.
Now you need to divide these calories over the three days, making sure you got a high calorie day, a medium calorie day and a low calorie day. An easy division is:
Day 1: 2500 calories
Day 2: 2000 calories
Day 3: 1500 calories
Next you will need to come up with a diet plan that divides these calories into protein, carbohydrates and fat. Below you will find a great example.
The Diet Plan
The diet plan below is dividing your diet into three separate days, after which you start again with day one. The first day, you will have the most calories (above the number you have just calculated) and carbohydrates, the second day you will eat less calories and less carbohydrates (approximately the same number of calories you calculated you need) and the third day will be below the number of calories you calculated. You will also see that the percentages each macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates and fat) differ each day, with a high carb intake the first day, a moderate carb intake the second day and a low carb intake the third day. Of course, the amounts mentioned will need to be adjusted to meet your needs.
I was given this diet plan below by my good friend Johan Brouwer, who is a competitive bodybuilder and has coached numerous bodybuilders and fitness ladies to the posing dais. His athletes are, when they listen and do what they’re told, walking around onstage ripped!
Let’s have a look at day 1:
Day 1
| Meal 1: | Quantity | Kcal | Protein | Carbohydrates | Fat |
| oatmeal | 80 g | 267 | 13 | 53 | 0 |
| whey protein | 45 g | 184 | 37 | 5 | 2 |
| fruit | 1 | 60 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Total: | 510 | 50 | 72 | 2 | |
| Meal 2: | |||||
| toast | 4 | 340 | 12 | 64 | 4 |
| honey | yes | 200 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| sliced meats or | 150 g | ||||
| eggs (five whites, one yolk) | 5 | 291 | 36 | 0 | 10 |
| Total: | 831 | 48 | 112 | 14 | |
| Meal 3: | |||||
| rice (cooked) | 250 g | 368 | 8 | 83 | 0 |
| prineapple slices | 4 | 240 | 3 | 58 | 0 |
| chicken breast | 150 g | 240 | 46 | 0 | 6 |
| Total: | 848 | 57 | 140 | 6 | |
| Meal 4: | |||||
| toast | 2 | 170 | 6 | 32 | 2 |
| honey | yes | 100 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| tomato | yes | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| canned tune (in water) or | 1 | 176 | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| mackerel in tomato sauce | 1 | ||||
| Total: | 456 | 46 | 59 | 2 | |
| Meal 5: | |||||
| potatoes | 4 | 160 | 4 | 32 | 0 |
| vegetables | 250 g | 50 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| steak or chicken breast | 150 g | 200 | 40 | 2 | 4 |
| Total: | 410 | 49 | 44 | 4 | |
| Meal 6: | |||||
| oatmeal | 50 g | 167 | 8 | 33 | 0 |
| whey protein | 50 g | 204 | 41 | 5 | 2 |
| Total: | 371 | 49 | 38 | 2 | |
| Daily Total: | 3425 | 298 | 465 | 29 | |
| Percentages: | 37,65% | 58,67% | 3,68% |
As you can see, the diet calls for six meals per day, eaten at approximately two-and-a-half hour intervals to ensure the nutrients are fully processed by your body before the next load comes in. The main thing that changes over the three days is the amount of calories and the amount of carbohydrates in your diet. You can check the percentage for each nutrient at the bottom of the daily food list.
With every meal an amount of protein is eaten, so your muscles are constantly being fed the necessary amino acids they need for maintenance and growth. Also notice that each meal requires a different protein source, so you will get quality amino acids from various sources into your bloodstream. Always try to vary the nutrient sources in your diet as much as possible, so you will get nutrients in various qualities and avoid boredom.
Oatmeal is a great complex carbohydrate source, so it is used extensively in this diet plan. By the way, mixing warmed up oatmeal with vanilla-flavored protein powder is just heaven! Just mix up the oatmeal in a bowl with water, put it in the microwave until it almost overflows the bowl, take out and add the protein powder.
In the second meal, I have included the eggs (delicious when scrambled) into the calculation, not the sliced meats. You will mostly eat the eggs because they are cheap and delicious, but when travelling, sliced meat might be more convenient. The choice is yours.
When you get bored with eating canned tuna, substitute with canned mackerel and tomato sauce, or fresh fish if you can get your hands on it.
Next day 2:
Day 2
| Meal 1: | Quantity | Kcal | Protein | Carbohydrates | Fat |
| oatmeal | 60 g | 200 | 10 | 40 | 0 |
| whey protein | 45 g | 184 | 37 | 5 | 2 |
| fruit | 1 | 60 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Total: | 444 | 47 | 59 | 2 | |
| Meal 2: | |||||
| toast | 2 | 170 | 6 | 32 | 2 |
| honey | yes | 100 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| sliced meats or | 150 g | ||||
| eggs (five whites, one yolk) | 5 | 291 | 36 | 0 | 10 |
| Total: | 561 | 42 | 56 | 12 | |
| Meal 3: | |||||
| rice (cooked) | 125 g | 184 | 4 | 41 | 0 |
| pineapple slices | 4 | 240 | 3 | 58 | 0 |
| chicken breast | 150 g | 240 | 46 | 0 | 6 |
| Total: | 664 | 53 | 99 | 6 | |
| Meal 4: | |||||
| toast | 1 | 85 | 3 | 16 | 1 |
| honey | yes | 50 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| tomato | yes | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| canned tune (in water) or | 1 | 176 | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| mackerel in tomato sauce | 1 | ||||
| Total: | 321 | 43 | 31 | 1 | |
| Meal 5: | |||||
| potatoes | 2 | 80 | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| vegetables | 250 g | 50 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| steak or chicken breast | 150 g | 200 | 40 | 2 | 4 |
| Total: | 330 | 47 | 28 | 4 | |
| Meal 6: | |||||
| oatmeal | 25 g | 83 | 4 | 17 | 0 |
| whey protein | 50 g | 204 | 41 | 5 | 2 |
| Total: | 287 | 45 | 22 | 2 | |
| Daily Total: | 2606 | 276 | 294 | 26 | |
| Percentages: | 46,34% | 49,28% | 4,38% |
You can see that the calories have gone down quite drastic. You might want to make the difference in calories between day 1 and 2 less dramatic in your own diet, but when you can handle this, that’s okay too.
Notice that the amount of calories from protein sources stays the same. The main difference between day 1 and day 2 is the decrease in carbohydrate calories.
And day 3:
Day 3
| Meal 1: | Quantity | Kcal | Protein | Carbohydrates | Fat |
| oatmeal | 40 g | 133 | 7 | 27 | 0 |
| whey protein | 45 g | 184 | 37 | 5 | 2 |
| Total: | 317 | 43 | 31 | 2 | |
| Meal 2: | |||||
| rice cakes | 2 | 50 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| honey | yes | 100 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| sliced meats or | 150 g | ||||
| eggs (five whites, one yolk) | 5 | 291 | 36 | 0 | 10 |
| Total: | 441 | 38 | 34 | 10 | |
| Meal 3: | |||||
| rice (cooked) | 75 g | 110 | 2 | 25 | 0 |
| pineapple slices | 4 | 240 | 3 | 58 | 0 |
| chicken breast | 150 g | 240 | 46 | 0 | 6 |
| Total: | 590 | 51 | 82 | 6 | |
| Meal 4: | |||||
| rice cakes | 2 | 50 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| honey | yes | 100 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| tomato | yes | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| canned tune (in water) or | 1 | 176 | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| mackerel in tomato sauce | 1 | ||||
| Total: | 336 | 42 | 37 | 0 | |
| Meal 5: | |||||
| vegetables | 250 g | 50 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| steak or chicken breast | 150 g | 200 | 40 | 2 | 4 |
| Total: | 250 | 45 | 12 | 4 | |
| Meal 6: | |||||
| whey protein | 50 g | 204 | 41 | 5 | 2 |
| Total: | 204 | 41 | 5 | 2 | |
| Daily Total: | 2137 | 260 | 201 | 23 | |
| Percentages: | 53,70% | 41,53% | 4,77% |
Most of the carbohydrates are out now. You will feel a bit hungry, but remember, tomorrow you can load up on carbs again during day 1!
As you can see, constructing a diet plan using the zigzag method is not too difficult. Just remember the following rules:
- Ensure you get the calories you need each day. Do NOT starve yourself!
- Try getting your nutrients from many different food sources
- Do not drop your protein calories. You need protein to hold on to your muscles.
If you want to try the diet above yourself, you can download the PDF file for the Three Day Zigzag Diet Plan here.Tape it to your fridge, so you can reference it when preparing your meals!
Sources:
my big friend Johan Brouwer
Dutch Nutrient Guide (Voedingscentrum)
Dutch Diet Guide (Voedingscentrum)
If you want to read more about losing weight while gaining muscle, check out Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle, the nutritional bible for many athletes!
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