Leptin cycling and cheat meals

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Danispen
Danispen Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi - my first post to a forum so here goes. I have joined a 6 week challenge at the gym and was wondering if anyone had any experience of having a calorie laden cheat meal a week and still managed to maintain good weight loss.
In the 6 week plan a cheat meal is a necessity - the argument goes that Leptin is a major hormone necessary for fat loss to occur but that Leptin levels fall when the body remains in calorie deficits for prolonged periods so the cheat meal 'tricks' the body into thinking that it is being fed lots and Leptin levels rise again.
There are no exact guidelines as to what the cheat meal can be - just that it's a lot of calories. I just had my first cheat meal at 1000 odd calories ( with a drink as well) and am seriously thinking I hope this works and I haven't just wrecked a week of good eating!
Any ideas or stories I would love to hear.

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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I wont comment on leptin...or "tricking your body"

    I ate in a calorie deficit for almost a year without "cheat meals" and lost weight consistently. 3/4lb a week.

    But that being said to lose weight you need a calorie deficit over a period of time and as long as your "cheat" didn't put you in a surplus you will lose weight...you may retain water due to sodium in the cheat meal tho so possibly expect that.
  • chani8
    chani8 Posts: 946 Member
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    Yes, I do this and have been successful with it.

    What I do is eat low during the week, and then max out on Fri and Sat.

    HOWEVER, I have a weekly goal plan. I figured out my calories needed for the whole week, and then subtracted the weekend's usual 4000 cals, and then divided the remaining by 5 weekdays.

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