Massively hungry the day after Cheat Day...

RunDineWine

It has been my experience that on cheat days you tend to eat not just worse but more and you're stretching your stomach when it is not used to it, so the next day you have a more empty space. just my thought

RHachicho

Everbody's appetite works differently. This is why I don't have cheat days. Because for me cheat days make me want to eat more not less. Though I would ask next time that all the holier than though *kitten* telling you omgz cheat days r 4 loozersz!!1 go and re examine your empathy and understanding of other people. It works for some people and I can certainly understand why you would want to do it. Sometimes I wake up and I want to be able to say .. you know what I am not going to care what my calories are today. I am just going to eat what I want to eat. When I want to eat it. This is a natural human desire. The glut of food that exists in our society is not natural for us. As animals we existed in exercise rich food scarce environments. So the urge to stuff your face with food when you got the opportunity was entirely healthy. Sadly this is now not the case. And often now if you diet and then suddenly take a cheat day your body goes OMG FOOD and tries to make you eat till you explode.

missdibs1

Since I don't believe in cheat days....


Anyway when I indulge in salty foods I am thirsty the next day

And so

I drink a lot of water and make sure I burn off those carbs.

Daxxes

I'm wondering if anyone else has this issue of being rather hungry the day after having your Cheat Day?

AND

What do you do to help curb the day after hunger pangs?

the hormone leptin controls your hunger cues. When you diet your leptin levels decrease...basically an evolutionary response to protect from the discomforts of famine and general lack of food. When you eat more your leptin levels increase...so when you have a cheat you temporarily increase your leptin levels and therefore are hungrier. Essentially, this is why anorexics and people with other eating disorders can eat so little and claim not to be hungry...they're not...because their leptin levels are in the tank. Conversely, this is why obese individuals can seemingly eat and eat and eat without being full...there leptin levels are high and constantly signaling hunger cues.

I don't have a cheat day per sei, but I do a refeed every couple of weeks when I'm dieting. It is controlled and deliberate though, not a random cheat to do whatever. I re-feed in order to deliberately spike my leptin levels and make my metabolism crank it out.

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This is really interesting, it certainly explains a lot!! Thanks very much for posting. Amazing all the great tid bits you can learn on MFP.

LunaS2

Thank you to the person who asked this question. I am changing my eating for life to organic food. The other day I did 5 hours of massage at work. I had a small snack with me but I was so tired when I got home and although not that hungry felt lazy about making a healthy meal. My partner wanted pizza and I decided to go with it. It wasn't planned but I felt a cheat would be better then denying myself a food I enjoy only to feel deprived later. I ended up feeling hungry for more pizza when I expected to feel full early like I usually do. The next day I was ravinious and had trouble keeping my calories in check as well as craving other high sugar food like icecream. I was really confused as to why after struggling to meet my calories each day I suddenly felt so much craving and hunger. So I looked up a board and it seems to be expained. I know now that there is a reason and can be more aware and careful now. I think the advice on cheats was helpful. A cheat to me was non-organic but now that I know how it will feel I can plan better. Perhaps making organic pizza, or high protien and fiber planned for the next day if I really want something not organic. Hope the poster just takes all the posts and figures out a plan that works for them. At least they know others have the same issue and that it may be a physical response.