The 7-day zigzag diet plan

Each row is one day of the week with its own calorie target and a protein minimum. High rows sit above your daily target, low rows sit below, and the column of targets averages back to the number your deficit was built on. The workout column only shows you where the extra energy earns its keep.

Let calories swing, keep protein flat. The ISSN position stand gives 1.4-2.0 g protein per kg body weight per day for most exercising adults, and 2.3-3.1 g/kg/day to help retain lean mass during a calorie deficit. Aim near the top of that range on both kinds of days, so the low day never becomes a protein-poor day.

On a low day the missing calories should come from carbohydrate and fat, not from the protein column. That keeps hunger steadier and stops the low day from doing damage the high day then has to undo, which would quietly raise the weekly average.

Judge the plan on the weekly average of your weight, not on any single morning. Body fat stores about 7700 kcal per kilogram, so an average deficit of 500 kcal per day produces roughly 0.45 kg of loss per week, close to the commonly cited safe range of 1-2 lb (0.45-0.9 kg) per week.

If the average sits inside that range, leave the split alone. If loss stalls for a couple of weeks, trim the daily target slightly and keep the same percentage swing; if it runs past the range, raise the low days rather than cutting the high days.