Cheat days help?

Jayco141

I have found that when I have a cheat day, it seems it gives my system a jolt and I start losing weight again after that. It seems I hit a plateau at times and then I decide to have a good cheat day and then boom! WeightLoss begins again. What the hell is the science behind that?

RodaRose

As long as your weight loss is continuing, you are doing great.
Is there a chance that you are weighing yourself too often.?

StealthHealth

Depending on the food choices of a cheat meal you may get water and in transit food effects (these often cause weight gain but can, with some cause losses).

IGF and leptin levels are suppressed when in calorie deficit and may start to return to normal after a cheat day (note that it's generally accepted that leptin requires longer than a day to return to normal, but I guess that the upswing starts quite quickly?)

l911jnt

Ive been at it for 3 months now and I have experienced this too. It is so weird to me. I thought I was imagining the coincidence. It doesnt happen every single time but about 70% of the time it does. I will add, I am not going WAY overboard, I have only hit maintenance calories maybe twice in the 3 months ive been losing weight.

trigden1991

StealthHealth wrote: »

Depending on the food choices of a cheat meal you may get water and in transit food effects (these often cause weight gain but can, with some cause losses).

IGF and leptin levels are suppressed when in calorie deficit and may start to return to normal after a cheat day (note that it's generally accepted that leptin requires longer than a day to return to normal, but I guess that the upswing starts quite quickly?)

This. Arguably there isn't real science behind it though.

broseidonkingofbrocean

"Overfeeding can have profound effects on leptin concentrations in the body. However, not all macronutrients are created equal. Fat overfeeding does not elicit the same leptin response as carbohydrate does. In fact, fat has virtually no effect on leptin concentrations, and in some cases even reduces leptin levels.14,15,16

Carbohydrates, on the other hand, have a positive impact on leptin.15,17,18 In fact, high-glycemic carbs (e.g., sugar) may be the sole reason for increases in leptin after meals.19 It should be noted that leptin does not particularly increase immediately after a meal per se, but does so anywhere from 4-48 hours after carbohydrate refeeding.1,17,20 In the short term, leptin concentrations are not affected and should be taken into account during planned refeeds."

From http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/refeeds-for-fat-loss-the-science-behind-leptin.html

What you're doing sounds a lot like refeeding.

Krby13

I don't understand how if I'm under my calories several days in a row and then the day before I weigh in, I have a very physical day at work I still show a weight gain or no weight lost. It's very frustrating and hard to stay motivated when it happens. I do suffer from PCOS so maybe that has something to do with it.

bpetrosky

Krby13 wrote: »

I don't understand how if I'm under my calories several days in a row and then the day before I weigh in, I have a very physical day at work I still show a weight gain or no weight lost. It's very frustrating and hard to stay motivated when it happens. I do suffer from PCOS so maybe that has something to do with it.

Probably some mild normal inflammation and water retention in the muscles from the additional activity.