Martin Katahn's Rotation Diet?

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Still going...

Alright Vlaska - that's two days of success! Good job on the water and the steps.

Just finished my third 1300 calorie day and have been feeling pretty good at this level - really not much more or less hungry than at the higher levels. I'm in a groove here with the yogurt and fruit for breakfast, a couple tablespoons of nuts and a fruit for afternoon snack and free veggies for evening snack. Lunch and supper are about 400 calories each and include whole grains or potatoes, salad or cooked veggies, and either cheese or some type of protein (chicken, fish, beans).

Did some rowing and biking yesterday, light weights today.
 
Week Three, day 5....

I spent the whole day gardening. We've had several days of rain and several more are in the forecast so this was the ideal day to plant some annuals and perennials and seeds and transplant some small raspberry bushes. I had every intention of staying at 1300 for the week but I went up to 1500 yesterday and 1700 today. Weighing in at 174 the last three days.
 
Oh NO - treats!

I didn't intend to exercise today after so much gardening yesterday. But I did intend to stick with around 1500 calories. I was over at my mother-in- law's house getting it ready to sell. We had a late lunch.
A chicken burrito which I love at Taco Bell. But this was Taco Bob's, the chicken was tough and the beans and cheese made it mushy. So I didn't finish it - didn't think it was worth the calories. I also had a raspberry tea with it which was WONDERFUL. We worked a couple more hours and I was hungry and had a headache on the way home so I didn't resist a vanilla ice cream cone when my husband stopped for a malt. Then after a nice healthy supper I had two chocolate mints. In spite of all that the total was 1900. I intend to eat much lighter tomorrow, the last day of the third week. Still weighing in at 174.
 
Whoo hoo, 172!

I felt skinnier while lying in bed this morning and sure enough I was. I don't know why I always go up and down in 2 pound increments but I do. Started almost three weeks ago at 180, a weight at which I feel fat. Today at 172, a weight at which I feel skinny. The challenge, to finish off the third week today and transition over the next week to the calorie and activity level that keeps me where I want to be for the rest of my life. I may decide to go a little bit lower but I am happy for now.
 
Reporting in....

Thank you for the link and the comments adamscullion. It's true calories are not fat but if they are ingested and not used they become fat, and the opposite is also true. I agree that apples are good food and healthy diet and exercise are the key to gaining and maintaining weight goals. The calorie levels I used are quite reasonable and resulted in a 1.5 # loss per week which is a healthy rate.

The 172 didn't stick around but I finished the 4th week with 5 days of 1800 and a couple days of 2200. This has been my 5th week vacation. I'm at a good solid 174 and on Sunday will start another 3 week program. The plan is 3 days of 1300 calories, 3 days of 1600 calories, the 7th day 2000 calories, repeat for weeks two and three. I will be happy if I reduce 4 more pounds to 170 in time for my 65th birthday on June 20. I definitely see more waist definition, a flatter stomach and more toned thighs now from the 6 pound reduction.
 
And so it begins again...

I've finished two days of 1300 calories. Had yogurt and apple for breakfast yesterday, yogurt and pineapple today. Made some homemade spaghetti sauce was wonderful in baked corn pasta with mozzarella. It had a little bit less calories per 1/2 cup than the usual jarred marinara sauce I generally use. Thought I should make my own because I got loads of fresh oregano and a bit of basil plus parsley and sage in my small herb garden. Had some delightful lemon sautéed chicken breast with corn and cooked cabbage for supper. My snack on the 1300 days is a couple tablespoons of nuts and a piece of fruit. Today for lunch we were having some Dutch rye bread and low fat cheddar cheese. Two slices of bread topped with cheese is 280 and wouldn't seem like much but with a big bowl of homemade vegetable soup it was a satisfying lunch. For supper tonight we had boiled new potatoes, raw red pepper and sautéed Pollock seasoned with oregano, garlic powder, paprika and lemon. Every evening I have a cup of herb tea and tonight I also had a large cucumber with it. Hunger level hasn't been too bad and the meals have been delicious and satisfying. Used weights yesterday and a bit of indoor biking and rowing today.
 
Autumn shape-up

Well here I am back on my private thread for the first time since early June. That ambitious plan to do another rotation before I turned 65 fizzled out after that last posting. I vaguely recall that I didn't feel like continuing and decided to just focus on maintaining the 174. I was successful at that for quite a few weeks, cutting back each time there was a bounce to 176. However, recently there was a scary bounce to 178 so I cut back and am now at 176. I gave blood last week, have enjoyed a bunch of desserts over the summer, had a dozen home-made cookies yesterday so I am ready to start at least a two week rotation. I'll be travelling to the Feast at the end of September and need to be 174 or lower to wear my favorite tweed suit.

Had yogurt and grapes for breakfast and a slice of bread - 320 calories. Had sautéed Pollack on brown rice and a big tossed salad for lunch - 350 calories. Lifted weights this morning.
 
A basic low calorie plan

aloe said:
Just finished my third 1300 calorie day and have been feeling pretty good at this level - really not much more or less hungry than at the higher levels. I'm in a groove here with the yogurt and fruit for breakfast, a couple tablespoons of nuts and a fruit for afternoon snack and free veggies for evening snack. Lunch and supper are about 400 calories each and include whole grains or potatoes, salad or cooked veggies, and either cheese or some type of protein (chicken, fish, beans)

.
Click to expand...

I was reading through my posts and thought I would repost this here as my basic eating plan. I don't like to have raw vegetables with herb tea, so maybe I'll start having my tea with supper and just a glass of water with veggies for evening snack.
 
Haven't given up yet...

Followed that basic plans with a few extras. 174 this morning. Good day today so hopefully still there tomorrow. Lifted weights and gardened a couple hours. A gorgeous day.
 
Yes, I can....

Didn't do the spring shape up, didn't do the fall shape up. Didn't take my favorite suit to the Feast.

But hope springs eternal so here I am again. This time I'm going to try this version of a calorie rotation diet - a zig zag diet.

Basically this system works by simply reducing your calorie intake over 3 days followed by one day where you eat a little more, i.e. you have 3 low calorie days and one day where you increase you calories to maintenance level (TDEE). This 3-day,1-day cycle then continues. You can use the calorie calculator to get a 7 day zig-zag calorie plan.
 
Gold star for day 1

I successfully completed Day 1 yesterday. Oatmeal with maple syrup and hemp seed for breakfast, cheesy broccoli and rice for lunch, yogurt with apple and molasses and peanuts plus a slice of whole wheat bread for a snack, rice and fish and salad for supper. Carrots for evening snack. Calories: 1640

And today I am thinking this way of dieting seems doable for a long time. When I was doing the traditional rotation diet it was three and a half weeks before you could have a normal calorie day but on this plan I get one after just 3 days. And the 1600 calorie level lets me eat my normal foods for meals and forces me to control the calories for snacks which is where my weakness always lies.

I have been eating oatmeal (mixing 1/2 cup raw oatmeal with 1/3 cup powdered milk for calcium and protein and then cooking in 1 cup of water) for breakfast for a couple weeks since reading an article that it's texture stays in the system and keeps you full so you naturally eat less. That didn't really happen for me but it kept me comfortable yesterday when I was intentionally eating less.
 
Finished days 2 and 3 successfully...

Thought 1600 calories would be pretty easy, but very hungry today and glad I can zigzag up tomorrow

Did rowing and biking machines Tuesday and weights today.
 
Completed days 4,5,and 6 successfully

Zigzagging up was of course, wonderful. I had shredded wheat, wheat germ, raisins, walnuts, and flax seeds with a cup of milk for breakfast, which is over a hundred calories more than my usual breakfasts. Lunch, snack, and supper were pretty typical so for evening snack I had a cup of cocoa and a slice of whole wheat bread with a tablespoon of nut butter for a treat of a snack instead of raw vegetables. Whoo Hooo!

Then it was back down to 1600 for days 5 and 6 and they went well without undue hunger. Had a cucumber for evening snack last night. I've had some wonderful oatmeal with blueberries cooked into it plus cinnamon, honey, and a tablespoon of walnuts. A good start to a 1600 calorie day and tomorrow it's up to 2100 again. Almost seems like a painless way to diet.

My plan now is to continue this 8 day schedule for 7 weeks and see what the results are. My current weight is 178 and if I would like to end up at 172 at that point. Not fast weight loss but slow and steady, like the tortoise.
 
Completed Days 7 and 8 - the first zigzag cycle is completed.

One down and six to go

Still going. In the above post I said 7 weeks, but I should have said 8 weeks, which is 56 days. In 56 days I can complete 7 zigzag cycles of 8 days each.
That will put me into the first week of March. Scale went down 1 pound midweek but then back up to start weight. Tomorrow will be the official weigh in.

I was hungry at the end of the day yesterday and looked forward to zigzagging up. I was quite full after my shredded wheat plus breakfast but after having had all my higher calories for the day I am still hungry. Maybe this isn't going to be quite as easy as I thought. However, I am building healthy eating habits. I haven't really been tempted to eat just for the fun of it or because of cravings. Going to read posts from other dieters now to get motivated.
 
The weight in....

I was pleasantly surprised to be weighing 176. Had some wonderful blueberry oatmeal for breakfast and cooking some spicy red lentils over brown rice for lunch. Let day 1 of the second cycle begin! (And I see this morning I was 100 calories short on my 2100 calorie day so maybe that's why I was hungry.)
 
Too much zagging...

I continued on through about 20 days, haven't got lower than 176 and have had too many calories over the last several days. So I'm going to go down to 1300 for three days. Starting TODAY. Had fruit and yogurt for breakfast; cheesy rice and kale for lunch; rice, fish, and salad for supper; minipeppers and a whole wheat flat bread for a snack.
 
Five days later....

I successfully completed 3 1200 calorie days, a 1600 calorie day and had 1800 calories today. The 1300 days weren't too bad. I had a ricola lemon mint cough drop for a treat after meals and sniffed peppermint some when hungry. I had fruit and yogurt for breakfast on those days, but back to oatmeal on the higher calorie days and the yogurt moves into the afternoon snack slot. I'm thinking of doing a alternating 1300 and 1600 calorie days for 6 days of the week and then zagging up to 2100 for the 7th day. I'd like to start that on Sunday, so not sure what I'll do over the next 3 days.
 
LOSiNGitALLx3 said:
I'm going to be on the rotation diet starting tomorrow. I hope someone didn't already post a thread on this, I searched it but could only find journals. What are your views on this diet? I hear you lose up to a pound a day from your metabolic rate. If you don't know what this diet is, ( which I'm sure you all do because you're all really smart about weight loss. ) it's when you have 600 cals for 3 days, 900 cals for 5 days I think.. then 1200 for a week...I'm going to switch it up though and do 600 cals for 3 days, then 900 for three days , then 1200 for three days, because it seems that the third day of every diet I'm on I end up switching things up a bit. I'm going to this diet, because I was on a liquid diet for awhile and I got down to 187 ( my current weight. I started at 199 ) but then I realized that when I ate alot after the liquid diet, I'd gain it all back obviously, but with exercise & dieting.. I did ALOT better and didn't gain the weight back.. ( which is probably the same for everyone. ) This diet seemed to be the one that would work best for me considering how I always like a challenge & spicing things up every few days. ( & Yes, I know, You can lose muscle on this diet, but I will be on the treadmill for 45 minutes, and I'll be doing jumping jacks & crunches. )

Has anyone been on this diet? If so, how did it work for you? I'd like both negative & positive feed back.

Once again I'm so sorry if this was already posted, I know how annoying double posts can be, I really did try a search on "rotation" though & could not find anything
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That amount of calories for a day is way too low.
I'm currently watching what I eat and exercising each day and my pants are getting looser after nine days. I look at it as a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Good luck with that diet. Hope it works for you.
 
agreed. dropping below 1200 calories is wayyyyy too low. Losing weight with a caloric deficit like that will eat away at all your muscle well before you lose all the fat, which is a long term fail. Muscle is what burns fat, so you are also dooming yourself on maintaining that weight loss long term.
 
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