Cheat day to cheat starvation mode?

caretheaton

I had this thought on my run this morning. I know cheat days are important (for me at least) because if I want something fatty or sugary I can still have it, I just have to wait until Sunday. Craving a hamburger and fries? I better eat my chicken boobs and brussel sprouts tonight, because on Sunday I feast! Apple pie a la mode? Finish that last mile hard because Sunday will be here soon!

But do cheat days also help keep your body from settling into the dreaded starvation mode? Obviously to lose weight you have to use more calories than you consume, and doing this to extreme or for long periods of time can lead to your body either adjusting to the set intake or holding on to the fat it already has because it must have been a hard winter. So it makes sense to me that a cheat day lets your body know that yes food is aplenty and it's okay to let go of those fat reserves. Does anyone know of any research that may back up this train of thought, or am I just trying to revel in my cheat days a little too much?

Charlotte012

BUMP!

MissMaryMac33

Sounds like a logical idea.... but never tried it...

I consider Tuesday and Sunday my cheat days because I don't go to the gym and tend to go over my calories a little
The other days I do fine... if I planned a serious cheat day though, not sure I'd be able to stop the next day!

joehempel

I don't believe starvation mode even exists unless you are like 15% body fat or less.

So no....cheat day is to keep you on track and not feel like you are giving up everything, and eventually fail on your journey to eating right. If I gave up everything I would scream.

Everything is good in moderation.

deannarey13

That's a good question. Curious as to what others say. I do think however that if you go out of control on your cheat day, you are just undoing all your hard work from that week. Especially if you do this once every week. I try to limit those types of events to once per 3 or 4 weeks.

papastu

I don't believe starvation mode even exists unless you are like 15% body fat or less.

So no....cheat day is to keep you on track and not feel like you are giving up everything, and eventually fail on your journey to eating right. If I gave up everything I would scream.

Everything is good in moderation.

agreed .

has anyone ever looked into how long it actualy takes to get into this 'phantom' mode ?

carlxo21

I eat whatever I want, just in moderation and I take what I'm eating into account. Cheat days do NOT help with starvation mode. Starvation mode only happens when you cut your intake to 50% of what your body requires. "cheat days" are nothing more than that. And yes I think you are reveling in your cheat days a little too much lol

ajbeans

Can I just say that I LOVE that you call them "chicken boobs." I thought I was the only one. :laugh:

As far as cheat days... I don't plan them, but they happen for me. Every now and then I just go over, and I do go ahead and log it so I don't go completely hog-wild, but I also don't beat myself up over it or kill myself trying to burn off the extra calories when it happens. And I honestly think that's one of the biggest reasons that I've been losing so steadily and haven't hit any kind of plateau, for the exact reasons that you're stating there. I could be wrong, but it seems to work for me.

tejoman

No, your body will only go in to starvation mode if it doesn't have enough calories to maintain normal functions. Your body doesn't care if those calories come from chicken breasts or red velvet cake, it just needs them to survive. And cheat days are actually less important than you might think. Scheduled cheat meals say every other day (or whenever works for you) that are small tend to work a lot better, and are healthier

heaventrull

I don't believe starvation mode even exists unless you are like 15% body fat or less.

So no....cheat day is to keep you on track and not feel like you are giving up everything, and eventually fail on your journey to eating right. If I gave up everything I would scream.

Everything is good in moderation.

My thoughts exactly...

blpope

It's an interesting thought. I consider my cheat days a "morale booster" as long as I don't go overboard. Otherwise, I'd go insane!

hayleyxxwxx

I recently plateaud at 1401b and was stuck at this weight for weeks and weeks. During this time i was sticking to my set calories, exercising almost every day and eating back most of my exercise calories. This last week, everything went out that window, diet and exercise and what happened.....i lost 4 1bs during that week eating pretty much what i wanted...how and why does that happen?

volfan22

I don't have a whole day - I allow myself one cheat meal - usually the same day of the week, not necessarily the same meal. It gives me some freedom, without allowing myself to way over indulge. On those days I make sure I do plenty of cardio so the damage is minimal and mentally I don't feel like I have sabotaged a lot of work.

Moderation - I have had to teach myself that there are "sometimes" foods and cake and ice-cream (my weakness) falls into that catagory. :0)

AliC74

I am in agreement that the concept of a "cheat" day (or preferably cheat meal) is to simply keep you on track with a diet, by allowing yourself so-called "forbidden" foods during that time.

The reality is, most "cheat days" or meals, don't have anything more than a mental effect on a dieter, unless, as a PP indicated, bodyfat levels are already quite low. In that case, refeeds may be useful to the dieter. They are not meant to be all out binge fests though.

The following link has more information regarding refeeds:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

Dornroschen

I don't believe starvation mode even exists unless you are like 15% body fat or less.

So no....cheat day is to keep you on track and not feel like you are giving up everything, and eventually fail on your journey to eating right. If I gave up everything I would scream.

Everything is good in moderation.

agreed .

has anyone ever looked into how long it actualy takes to get into this 'phantom' mode ?

This happened to me about 5 years ago, and it is the only way that I can explain what happened. I got to the point where I was consistently eating nothing for breakfast, crackers or something equally small for lunch and a small salad for dinner. I did this because on my original diet (not counting calories, doing the slimfast mealplan) I plateaued in weight loss and started cutting out food a bit at a time. I found a calorie counting web site and got some knowledge in my brain, and upped my calories from around 800 to 1650 and lost 40 pounds in four months.

I definitely wasn't 15% body fat, so I totally believe in starvation mode.

brattyworm

I had a time when I was able to train with a pt/nutrionist. The way he explained it to me when I was working on getting my eating under control was you should keep the body guessing. So if you're consistently eating a set amount of calories and your throw in some extras one day a week (or two... not back to back) the body will kick up your metabolism a bit to burn those calories off cause it doesn't know what they're there for and doesnt really want them. Then when you drop back down to normal its still ramped up a little so you get a few more burned out from it.. So enjoy your cheat day... although he also said instead of making it a day full of crap to eat, pick a specific meal or something that you want and that way if you have a craving or desire a something during the week you can do that again a specific meal as opposed to an entire day.

dp1228

I recently plateaud at 1401b and was stuck at this weight for weeks and weeks. During this time i was sticking to my set calories, exercising almost every day and eating back most of my exercise calories. This last week, everything went out that window, diet and exercise and what happened.....i lost 4 1bs during that week eating pretty much what i wanted...how and why does that happen?

I was just about to comment the same exact thing! I was on a plateau and I hadnt lost any weight and for a few days I decided to take a break.. ate mcdonalds and everything. i weighed in at the end of the week and i had lost 5 pounds. i honestly think it was just shocking my system into losing agin. now i dont think you're talking about starvation mode as much as you are talking about a normal plateau. i think "cheat days" (although i dont call them that.. i usually call it upping my calorie days LOL) help keep your body guessing and will help you avoid plateaus. i rarely eat the same exact amount of calories every day. it always varies (some ppl call that zigzagging calories) you still have to keep working out during that time tho usually. otherwise it might not really work. just my two cents!

Onesnap

I don't believe in this way of thinking. Denying yourself a particular treat until a 'cheat day' sounds almost like one of those restrictive diets that are not sustainable long term (think: Special K diet).

If you always have a particular day as a 'cheat day' that means you're not following the MFP program. In order to lose 1lb/week you will have to meet (not fall below or above) your calorie goals for each day. If you have a day each week where you go way overboard, and don't workout...this is not following the way the program works (for people to lose 1lb/week and to keep it off for good).

I don't consider allowing yourself foods you love and various things as a treat 'cheating'. This is the way traditional diets are set up and many traditional diet plans (or fad diets) are not sustainable long term. If you log every bite and every workout you'll do just fine. We all have days that we go over, but saving up for a cheat date and denying yourself a treat on the day that you want it is really going against the grain and against the way this program is set up.

Have the treat when you want it, just log it and make adjustments during the day to accommodate it.

That's why this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle.

Silverkittycat

The starvation period for the Minnesota Starvation Study allowed approximately 1560 calories daily. Some of the physical results -

Various changes reflected an overall slowing of the body's physiological processes. There were decreases in body temperature, heart rate, and respiration, as well as in basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is the amount of energy (Calories) that the body requires at rest (i.e., no physical activity) in order to carry out normal physiological processes. It accounts for about two-thirds of the body's total energy needs, with the remainder being used during physical activity. At the end of semistarvation, the men's BMRs had dropped by about 40% from normal. This drop, as well as other physical changes, reflects the body's extraordinary ability to adapt to low caloric intake by reducing its need for energy. One volunteer described that it was as if his "body flame [were] burning as low as possible to conserve precious fuel and still maintain life process" (Keys et al., 1950, p. 852). During rehabilitation, metabolism again speeded up, with those consuming the greatest number of Calories experiencing the largest rise in BMR. The group of volunteers who received a relatively small increment in Calories during rehabilitation (400 Calories more than during semistarvation) had no rise in BMR for the first 3 weeks. Consuming larger amounts of food caused a sharp increase in the energy burned through metabolic processes.

The changes in body fat and muscle in relation to overall body weight during semistarvation and rehabilitation are of considerable interest (see Figure 21-3). While weight declined about 25%, the percentage of body fat fell almost 70%, and muscle decreased about 40%. Upon refeeding, a greater proportion of the "new weight" was fat; in the eighth month of rehabilitation, the volunteers were at about 100% of their original body weight, but had approximately 140% of their original body fat! How did the men feel about their weight gain during rehabilitation?

Those subjects who gained the most weight became concerned about their increased sluggishness, general flabbiness, and the tendency of fat to accumulate in the abdomen and buttocks. (Keys et al., 1950, p. 828)

There must be more recent studies, has anyone checked PubMed's abstracts?

TK421NotAtPost

But do cheat days also help keep your body from settling into the dreaded starvation mode? Obviously to lose weight you have to use more calories than you consume, and doing this to extreme or for long periods of time can lead to your body either adjusting to the set intake or holding on to the fat it already has because it must have been a hard winter. So it makes sense to me that a cheat day lets your body know that yes food is aplenty and it's okay to let go of those fat reserves. Does anyone know of any research that may back up this train of thought, or am I just trying to revel in my cheat days a little too much?

Cheat days do help normalize your metabolic hormones, but not nearly as effectively as maintaining healthy habits and simply eating a lot of starchy, but healthy carbs for a day.

To put it in very general terms, a planned cheat day is more for psychological reasons. A carbohydrate refeeding day is to help stave off starvation mode or normalize your metabolic hormonal levels.

Silverkittycat

Sorry, didn't answer the question. :embarassed:

I don't schedule or plan higher calorie days but usually end up having a couple each week.

KatyFace9801

I just started with a trainer who said that you should have a cheat day/ or cheat meals every 5 days.
This is where you go above & beyond your normal caloric intake
Her reasoning is that it keeps your metabolism up & guessing (as I believe someone else has said on here)
and also, I like 5 days, bc it's not such a loooong wait.

Like if it was once every 2 weeks or something
that's forever when you've got a craving
Where as I get another one in 3 days.
3 days til frozen yogurt

PerceptionFitness

you got it! Read the Four Hour Body

PerceptionFitness

in short: spiking caloric intake once per week increases the T3 and T4 hormones which in turn elevate metabolism.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I don't believe in cheat days, because that means that I'm dieting instead of living. If there's something I really want I just figure out how to budget it in on whatever day I really want it, or I make a replica (burger and fries? Turkey burger and oven fries with herbs and parm). I'm on the fence with starvation mode, I don't think I'd hit it in a week or two, but I know that prior to balancing my calories and exercise my metabolism was a hot mess.

aj_rock

But do cheat days also help keep your body from settling into the dreaded starvation mode? Obviously to lose weight you have to use more calories than you consume, and doing this to extreme or for long periods of time can lead to your body either adjusting to the set intake or holding on to the fat it already has because it must have been a hard winter. So it makes sense to me that a cheat day lets your body know that yes food is aplenty and it's okay to let go of those fat reserves. Does anyone know of any research that may back up this train of thought, or am I just trying to revel in my cheat days a little too much?

Cheat days do help normalize your metabolic hormones, but not nearly as effectively as maintaining healthy habits and simply eating a lot of starchy, but healthy carbs for a day.

To put it in very general terms, a planned cheat day is more for psychological reasons. A carbohydrate refeeding day is to help stave off starvation mode or normalize your metabolic hormonal levels.

HOLD ON

Someone actually mentioned the carb re-feed on MFP?

There's no way I'm at work right now. I must still be dreaming...

realmaverick

I realise this is an old thread. But people need to realise that different people respond differently to different styles of dieting etc.

Losing weight has nothing and I mean nothing to do with 'clean food', if you like clean eating, that's great. But for many trying to eat clean due to pressures from just about every nutritionalist as well as health communities they belong to is a huge part of why so many fail. Especially those who emotionally eat, going from crisps and biscuits to chicken and veg will only last so long before they give up.

The important thing for weight loss is calorie restriction, whether that's made up of clean food, junk or a combo, you'll still lose weight and at the same rate too.

I don't recommend pure junk food for obvious reasons such as nutrition. But including junk foods in your daily intake, won't impact your weight loss as long as your don't go over your allowance.

I know for a fact, based on my own experience and tests with friends that a cheat day can help boost weight loss. The important thing is not to go overboard. Still track but have up to an extra 50% of calories, it's a great way to get past a plateau.

A friend of mine always plateaus and the only thing that will keep him losing weight, is to have a cheat day once a week. It works great for many people and it's also something to look forward to. I appreciate many of you don't believe in it, but that maybe because you don't need it or want it, that's fine. For many it's additional freedom. Whether this works because it's cheating starvation mode, simply speeding up the metabolism or something else, I don't know. But it works and that's all I care about.

As proved with the Twinkie diet, you can eat whatever the hell you want and lose weight. MyFitnessPal is awesome but you don't have to clean eat to lose weight and treat days are awesome.