Martin Katahn's Rotation Diet?

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Final results

I was hoping to lose a pound or 2 more since nothing came off in the third week but every morning it's 176. Now finishing day 6 of the transition week so I'm at the 2100 calorie level.

The other day I had 2 bowls of bran flakes for breakfast and 2 whole wheat rolls and soup at lunch and didn't need anything else till supper. Had yogurt and orange and wheat germ and bread for breakfast today, then 2 tuna fish sandwiches for lunch and again didn't need anything till I had cheesy scalloped potatoes for supper.

I would really like to lose at least 2 more pounds so I can't go crazy and binge. Don't know what my next plan will be. Perhaps another week at 1800 and /or 2100 calories.
 
After reading this I'm kind of curious to try it. Hmm... Do you have to follow the exact diet or can I just follow similar calorie counts?
 
Give it a try...

I think the main advantage of the plan is the varying calorie levels and the limited time frame. However, the book does have a lot of good information - menus, planning, safe fruits and vegetables, motivation, exercise and reports on results of the actual first trials of the diet.
 
I am starting the Rotation Diet today. I did it when I was 17 and lost 30 pounds in one rotation (ah- to be young again) and then again after the birth of my first son.
I've tried other things but nothing worse like this- although I HATE the 600 calorie days.
It's why I haven't done it in so long, but I am really at a point that I can't continue at this weight. I want to lose it and I need to see the scale move immediately in order to not feel frustrated. So here I go! If no one else is doing it that is OK with me- I will just keep posting my progress to help with my own motivation!!

I'm doing my own menus because I am a bit of a picky eater:

Day 1- 600 calories
Breakfast: one egg, one piece of toast with no calorie I can't believe it's not butter spray
Snack: two cup of strawberries
Lunch: 4 oz. grilled tilapia with lettuce and cucumbers plus 1 TBSP vinaigrette dressing
Snack 2: one wedge of laughing cow cheese spread over celery stalks
Dinner: Protein Shake
 
Before you get too carried away Mel, can i suggest you start your own diary thread in the diary section. You will get more support.

Also you will get a bit of prodding from us to follow a more safe and realistic diet. And we'll tell you how.

You can do it. There are probably some very good reasons why you failed before. The scales should start going down immediately if you eat a suitable amount of calories. Its not too hard to work out what that is.

I haven't heard of the rotation diet but it sounds like another fad diet and certainly 600 calories on any day won't kill you but you do'nt need to eat so little food to lose weight.

Really have a look at my diet. And some of the other diets on this weight loss dairy section.

And it does get easier within the first month as you settle into a routine that suits you. It isn't actually hard to diet i've discovered. Its when you starve yourself and eat poor quality food that its hard.

So far i've lost 7kg in a bit over 2 months. If you were much overweight you would easily lose more than that, eating what i eat and doing no exercise at all. But exercise is good in so many ways. Please check out my diary its called "i'm aiming for 59kg". Do'nt be fooled jsut because i wasn't very overweight to start with. Its the same for all of us. The trick is to eat the right amount of calories for your weight and lifestyle. And to eat good foods - by which i mean high nutrition, low fat, sugar and salt foods.
 
I have used Katahn's Rotation Diet 3 times previously over the past 22 years and it worked every time. Ten years ago, I lost 78 pounds on the RD.

Currently, I have one day left on my 21 Day Rotation and I have already lost 24 pounds.

The main reason for the success of the RD is that it does not slow your metabolism. Also the psychological reward of the rotation and breaks from the 1200/1500 is iherently motivational.

The Rotation Diet works best in combination with Katahn's T-Factor Meal Plans which are designed to reduce your intake of Fat grams. The 21 Day Calorie Tracking Chart in the T-Factor is very helpful in keeping count of your calorie intake.

If you are like me and you find it difficult to prepare and keep track of meal plans of the RD/T-Factor, you might want to try Healthy Choice Frozen Meals which have the calorie, fat gram, carb gram and protein gram count on every package. Healthy Choice Meals are tasty especially with a little K-Paul's Seasonings.

Another reason for the success of the RD/T-Factor plans is that they emphasize exercise of at least 45 minutes per day. Let's face it, if we had continued to exercise like we did in high school, we probably would not have needed months of dieting.
 
For my RD break week I thinking about increasing my calories by 100 a day from 1800 to 2400 in a week to keep my metabolism up. If I start to put on any pounds I will drop back down from the calorie level that caused weight gain. Has anyone tried increasing your calorie level 100 calories a day during the break week?
 
Free said:
For my RD break week I thinking about increasing my calories by 100 a day from 1800 to 2400 in a week to keep my metabolism up. If I start to put on any pounds I will drop back down from the calorie level that caused weight gain. Has anyone tried increasing your calorie level 100 calories a day during the break week?
Click to expand...

Although I am in wk 4, I still lost another pound on 1800 calories. So far I have lost 25 lbs. in 1st rotation. I will continue to increase by 100 calories a day until I stop losing, then I will know the calorie intake at which I maintain my weight.

Btw, I exercise 90 minutes per day. 30 mins. before breakfast. 30 mins. at 5:30 pm and 30 minutes in the evening.
 
COPIED FROM MY DIET DIARY:

The beauty of the Rotation Diet is that you can eat whatever you want. I have combined the RD with the T-Fact Diet to cut my fat intake to a minimum but basically I am still eating my favorite foods just in smaller quantities. I have also incorporated the 6 week body makeover plan in that I eat 3 small meals combined with up to 6 snacks throughout the day so that I am never hungry and my metabolism does not slow.

Here's my basic meal Plan:

Breakfast

Pack of Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal with 1/2 a Banana and Black Coffee

Approximately 200 Calories


Morning Snack
Kirkland's Red Grapefruit Snack -- 50 Calories

8 Raw Almonds -- Approximately 50 Calories


Lunch
Healthy Choice Meal -- Approximately 200 to 300 Calories depending on which part of the rotation I am in; or Fast Food Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/o Mayonnaise -- 370 Calories


Afternoon Snacks
An apple, orange, banana, grapefruit, almonds, or a carrot and celery stalk (with a little low fat ranch and K-Paul's no salt seasoning) -- Approximately 30 to 100 Calories


Supper
Any meal of approximately 300 to 500 Calories


Evening Snacks
Same as lunch snacks or Special K with Fruit (200 Calories with low fat milk)



Beverages
Green Tea, Black Coffee and lots of water.

I usually have a 4 oz. Glass of Red Wine at Lunch and Supper unless I am in the 1200 Calorie Rotation and can not add the 100 Calories in 4 ounces of Red Wine.


That's it in a nutshell. Basically I never get really hungry with all the snacks throughout the day.
 
For 22 years I considered Katahn’s rotation diet the gospel because it worked for me. Once I modified it and discovered that my modifications work better for me than Katahn’s diet, I no longer consider Katahn the guru that I once did. My 4 week diet rotation plan works much better than Katahn’s 3 week plan. Previously I thought that there was some magic to Katahn’s system so I adhered to it religiously. Now I have discovered that my plan of increasing calorie intake by 100 calories per day in the second and fourth weeks works much better and it has actually sped up my metabolism. It occurs to me that Katahn’s 1200/1500/1800 regime was adopted by him because it was easier for him to prepare his meal plan that way. Since I use fruits, vegetables and nuts as caloric building blocks, it is easy for me to increase my caloric intake by 100 calories per day; and that results in greater weight loss and increased metabolism rate.
 
I have modified Katahn’s second week rotation again. I think I can lose more weight and not lower my metabolism with a 1800/1500 alternate day rotation for the second week.

Here is my modification of the Rotation Diet:

1st Week:

First 3 days 1200 calories per day

Next 4 days 1500 calories per day

2nd Week:

Next 7 days 1800/1500 calorie alternation

3rd Week:

Next 3 days 1200 calories per day

Next 4 days 1500 calories per day

4th Week:

Next 7 days 1600 increased by 100 calories
per day to 2200 calories per day

This is a 4 week rotation instead of the 3 week rotation of Katahn's Diet.
 
I am thinking about modifying Katahn's rotation in the 1st and 3rd weeks to alternate 1200 and 1500 calories for 6 days and 1500 on 7th. I think that would be easier for me than reducing my calorie intake to 1200 for 3 straight days.
 
Moving this over from my diet diary thread:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weight-loss-diary/50356-50-lbs-down-50-go.html

Finally I have lost 50 pounds. It took me about 11 weeks to do it but considering I binged in LA and New Orleans and a bit over the 4th, I am pleased with my progress. I have 50 more to go, but without binges I hope to do it in 8 weeks with my modified rotation diet and 90 minutes to 120 minutes of exercise per day.

I started out on Katahn's 3 week rotation, but I have modified it to work best for me.

Here is my modification of the Rotation Diet:

1st Week:

Alternate between 1200 and 1500 calories for 6 days then 1500 on 7th day.

2nd Week:

Next 7 days 1800/1500 calorie alternation

3rd Week:

Alternate between 1200 and 1500 calories for 6 days then 1500 on 7th day.

4th Week:

Next 7 days 1600 increased by 100 calories
per day to 2200 calories per day

This is a 4 week rotation instead of the 3 week rotation of Katahn's Diet.
 
Hi, Free, it sounds like you're doing great on this plan. Congrats on the 50 lbs lost. That is so fantastic. I actually own this book and have planned to start it in the past, but kept getting sidetracked by other diets. I'm back to this one now, because it seems like it makes a lot of sense. I am hoping to lose about 50 lbs total. I am 175 now and would like to get back down to 125. I will be starting my 1st rotation tomorrow, Sunday, July 17th. I can't wait to actually try it and see how it works for me.

BTW, did you lose the 50 lbs on this Rotation diet plan?
 
125infive said:
Hi, Free, it sounds like you're doing great on this plan. Congrats on the 50 lbs lost. That is so fantastic. I actually own this book and have planned to start it in the past, but kept getting sidetracked by other diets. I'm back to this one now, because it seems like it makes a lot of sense. I am hoping to lose about 50 lbs total. I am 175 now and would like to get back down to 125. I will be starting my 1st rotation tomorrow, Sunday, July 17th. I can't wait to actually try it and see how it works for me.

BTW, did you lose the 50 lbs on this Rotation diet plan?
Click to expand...

I lost the bulk of the 50 lbs on my modified rotation diet. I was on Katahn's diet for about 2 weeks then I began modifying it. Both diets work, I lost 78 lbs on Katahn's diet 10 years ago, I just customized it to work better for me.
 
Thank you, Free, for your posts and modifications of the RD system. Congratulations on your 50 pound loss! I hope you will keep posting occasionally since you indicate that you are planning to lose still more.


It's time for me to do another rotation to get back to goal weight so I believe I will try your modified system. Don't know if I can match that 90 minutes of exercise though!


Since my last posts in the spring I have moved back up to 180 or 182 pounds....again! I have been counting calories and trying to find some other way but once again I must return to the Rotation diet. I may have to plan on doing a rotation 3 times a year unless I can keep up the 45 minutes of daily exercise recommended in the Katahn book. However, I will tackle maintenance later. Tomorrow I begin...
 
I've successfully completed 2 1200 calorie days and am 1 pound lighter. Tomorrow I'll go to 1500 calories - that means I can add another serving of dairy and whatever else I want. Probably more protein because I've been eating plenty of vegetables and fruits I have been very hungry even at 1200 but I had a grapefruit mid-morning after my 300 calorie yogurt grape and wheat germ breakfast and it really did stop the hunger - maybe that safe fruit does work. I had a serving of rice mixed with cheese and (lots of) swiss chard for lunch and will have fish and rice and salad for supper. (My husband has to rotate his grains because of his allergies and today is rice day.) I've been eating quite a bit of celery and radishes and found a couple bonus cucumbers in the garden ........


I did core exercises and biked the first day, did a Sansone walk and rowing machine yesterday.
 
I am on the last day of the first week of this RD cycle. Not as hungry on the 1500 calorie days but still feeling pretty limited. I will be glad to go up to 1800 tomorrow. Started at 180, have been down to 178 then back up to 180 and now 179 today. So at this level of calories there is no obvious fast weight loss for me. Still I know I am eating MUCH less than normal and must be burning some fat! Went for a 2 hour hike on hilly ground Sunday and did some anti-arthritis strength training and rowing yesterday.
 
On the second day of the second week of the RD. 1800 calories allowed me to have four slices of pizza for lunch, skip any afternoon snack and stay within the limits. Back down to 178 this morning - I feared the sodium might put me back to 180. Five more glorious days at this much more liveable level ahead. Still a bit hungry at night but not constantly through the day. I'm aiming for 500 calories for each meal and a 300 calories afternoon snack and free veggies at night if need be.
 
I have finished the first four days of the final week. Hunger isn't too bad now even at 1200. Still it was good to move up to 1500 yesterday. I have been doing some strength building exercises that are supposed to help arthritic joints but they were using too much rest time and supposed to take an hour to complete.

I split the plan into hip/thigh/abs exercises and chest/back/calves exercises so I can alternate different body areas instead of resting and the routine is a lot more interesting and enjoyable and feels more beneficial. I am doing 2 sets of 12 for each exercise since that was the recommended routine in the Miriam Nelson book Strong Women (and Men) Beat Arthritis.
 
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