Cheat Days????

carrie_eggo

FYI, I'm typing this while eating a cheese danish :happy:

Stop calling them cheat days, they are "Spike Day's"

"Cheating" causes a negative connotation, and they are nothing but good for you. A cheat day spikes leptin and metabolism!

If you read the article "Fat Trap" in the New York Times, you would see they talk about hormones and how they are affected during dieting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all

Leptin is the "anti-starvation" hormone and "starving" is simply having a negative caloric balance. If your body is living off of stored energy and is never storing energy, our brain picks up on the imbalance and senses a period of famine.
Leptin levels decline drastically in as little as 7 days of calorie restriction, when leptin levels are low our hunger & cravings increase at a rate connected to the amount of decline in our leptin. In an effort to make us search out food. Also when this happens our brain slows metabolism down to prolong the use of our stored energy.
A diet is really a type of self induced famine and our brain doesn't know the difference.

Now on the flip-side, studies have shown leptin rebounds quickly after a short 12 hour period of overfeeding!

Some people think that having a day of eating higher calories will make them crave it more often, but that just is not the case. Cravings are much less after leptin is increased,

So a cheat/ Spike Day is a solution to the hormone problem dieting creates and it's a huge advantage psychologically having a weekly "day-off"

I've lost over 100lbs and kept it off for several years, I Spike every week, and I exercise about an hour a week. According to the "Fat Trap" article most people in my position (lost a large amount of weight and maintained it) exercise an hour+ daily. There's no way I could do that. Spiking is a much more manageable way to keep the weight off permanently.

I saw this thread and was planning to talk about calling it a 'spike' rather then 'cheat' day but I think Russell pretty much summed it up!

NAILED IT!! :drinker:

wildon883r

What about eating is cheating. Eating responsibly means you can eat ANY food. 20+ years ago a regular hamburger was 1/8th a lb of ground beef. Now that's a burger on the kids menu. Adults is 1/4lb plus. I used to eat the 1/2 lb burger now i eat the 1/4.. It's still alot of calories but half of what i used to consume. I now eat 2 slices of pizza instead of 4-6. I get a mini blizzard instead of a large. I share a foot long Subway sub instead of eating it all by myself. With that being said all those things mentioned are not on my weekly menu and more then not 1-2 times a month.

When you schedule a cheat day it kinda defeats the reasoning behind moderation. If your starving yourself during the week or eating a menu that doesn't satisfy you then you will never keep the weight you lose off ever. If you want a burger then you should have one but not set aside a day where you can just go to a buffet and have an all you can eat meal. I think its important to adapt a lifestyle that you love 7 days a week therefore not needing a free for all binge day.. You can have it all and lose weight still.

WilliamsPeggy

Bob Harper, from "The Biggest Loser," said on the Thanksgiving special in 2011 to get in a good workout before eating at meal that's out of character from your normal healthy stuff.

cherigurl

I have a cheat day and it is actually tonight, well kind of a cheat day, I eat good all day but at dinner time we order out and tonight is chineese and whatever I want for dessert or beer if i feel like it, then all day saturday and sunday i bust my butt working out and being good, but i makes me feel better if i have a cheat day/night, it is worth it to me. During the week i am good most of the time but friday nights me and the hubby get chineese or what ever for dinner with the kids and i really don't feel that bad about it.

cherigurl

FYI, I'm typing this while eating a cheese danish :happy:

Stop calling them cheat days, they are "Spike Day's"

"Cheating" causes a negative connotation, and they are nothing but good for you. A cheat day spikes leptin and metabolism!

If you read the article "Fat Trap" in the New York Times, you would see they talk about hormones and how they are affected during dieting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all

Leptin is the "anti-starvation" hormone and "starving" is simply having a negative caloric balance. If your body is living off of stored energy and is never storing energy, our brain picks up on the imbalance and senses a period of famine.
Leptin levels decline drastically in as little as 7 days of calorie restriction, when leptin levels are low our hunger & cravings increase at a rate connected to the amount of decline in our leptin. In an effort to make us search out food. Also when this happens our brain slows metabolism down to prolong the use of our stored energy.
A diet is really a type of self induced famine and our brain doesn't know the difference.

Now on the flip-side, studies have shown leptin rebounds quickly after a short 12 hour period of overfeeding!

Some people think that having a day of eating higher calories will make them crave it more often, but that just is not the case. Cravings are much less after leptin is increased,

So a cheat/ Spike Day is a solution to the hormone problem dieting creates and it's a huge advantage psychologically having a weekly "day-off"

I've lost over 100lbs and kept it off for several years, I Spike every week, and I exercise about an hour a week. According to the "Fat Trap" article most people in my position (lost a large amount of weight and maintained it) exercise an hour+ daily. There's no way I could do that. Spiking is a much more manageable way to keep the weight off permanently.

I saw this thread and was planning to talk about calling it a 'spike' rather then 'cheat' day but I think Russell pretty much summed it up!

NAILED IT!! :drinker:

By the way this is AWESOME and you are AWESOME for posting this. You made my day lol

FaithHopeBELIEVE

It depends on you, personally. Will a cheat day derail you completely or help you to stay on track? For me, a 'day-off' mentality could be pretty disastrous, but I need small indulgences through the week. I work these into my calorie goals for the day, and add a bit of extra exercise if I need to. I also worry less about the day-to-day calorie levels and more about the end-of-week stats - if I'm a little over one day and a little under another, they usually balance out. A side of fries and a beer sounds like things you could work into your goals for the week to me, if that's what will keep you from feeling deprived and resentful, but it is about finding what works for you. Good luck!

This is exactly what I do as well.

Russellb97

What about eating is cheating. Eating responsibly means you can eat ANY food. 20+ years ago a regular hamburger was 1/8th a lb of ground beef. Now that's a burger on the kids menu. Adults is 1/4lb plus. I used to eat the 1/2 lb burger now i eat the 1/4.. It's still alot of calories but half of what i used to consume. I now eat 2 slices of pizza instead of 4-6. I get a mini blizzard instead of a large. I share a foot long Subway sub instead of eating it all by myself. With that being said all those things mentioned are not on my weekly menu and more then not 1-2 times a month.

When you schedule a cheat day it kinda defeats the reasoning behind moderation. If your starving yourself during the week or eating a menu that doesn't satisfy you then you will never keep the weight you lose off ever. If you want a burger then you should have one but not set aside a day where you can just go to a buffet and have an all you can eat meal. I think its important to adapt a lifestyle that you love 7 days a week therefore not needing a free for all binge day.. You can have it all and lose weight still.

I see your point, and moderation can work very.

Spike Day's work on our hormones so long-term weight loss is possible.

Also as far as fat gain is concerned, it's actually extremely difficult to eat enough to store even an ounce of fat if you had 6 days of calorie deficit. Extra energy is stored as glycogen first before fat is stored. Glycogen is generally depleted while dieting. Another benefit of 6 days deficit and one day surplus is our body can actually begin to increase the amount of glycogen stored from the constant deplete/storing of it.

Amanda0325

For me a weekly cheat "meal" gives me something to look forward to. A whole day to cheat would totally derail me.

This^^^^^^^^ need to learn that lol

ConkreteChic

For you folks that do have cheat days/meals...what kind of deficits do you create on regular days? For example...I'm trying to create a calorie deficit of 500-700 calories a day (approximately 1-1.5 lb loss per week), but if I have a cheat day i feel like it would be pretty easy to eat 1000+ extra calories (just grabbing a burger and fries at a burger joint could add that on) and theoretically that would negate a lot of the work I've done during the week.

Do those of you who have cheat....er, I mean, spike days/meals are you still losing at the rate you set for yourself weekly? If you're exercising extra hard or for a lot longer to make up for it, that seems like it's not really "cheating/spiking"...that sounds like simple "eating your exercise calories back" to me.

Would love some input on this!

fatboypup

I have a cheat meal not a whole day.

THIS ... when i was hardcore losing last year I'd do a monthly cheat meal .. A day is enough to wreck a whole weeks work.

niso13

FYI, I'm typing this while eating a cheese danish :happy:

Stop calling them cheat days, they are "Spike Day's"

"Cheating" causes a negative connotation, and they are nothing but good for you. A cheat day spikes leptin and metabolism!

If you read the article "Fat Trap" in the New York Times, you would see they talk about hormones and how they are affected during dieting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all

Leptin is the "anti-starvation" hormone and "starving" is simply having a negative caloric balance. If your body is living off of stored energy and is never storing energy, our brain picks up on the imbalance and senses a period of famine.
Leptin levels decline drastically in as little as 7 days of calorie restriction, when leptin levels are low our hunger & cravings increase at a rate connected to the amount of decline in our leptin. In an effort to make us search out food. Also when this happens our brain slows metabolism down to prolong the use of our stored energy.
A diet is really a type of self induced famine and our brain doesn't know the difference.

Now on the flip-side, studies have shown leptin rebounds quickly after a short 12 hour period of overfeeding!

Some people think that having a day of eating higher calories will make them crave it more often, but that just is not the case. Cravings are much less after leptin is increased,

So a cheat/ Spike Day is a solution to the hormone problem dieting creates and it's a huge advantage psychologically having a weekly "day-off"

I've lost over 100lbs and kept it off for several years, I Spike every week, and I exercise about an hour a week. According to the "Fat Trap" article most people in my position (lost a large amount of weight and maintained it) exercise an hour+ daily. There's no way I could do that. Spiking is a much more manageable way to keep the weight off permanently.

Thank you very very Much for this post! It gave me a whole different look at it with knowledge behind it!!!

Silverstar46

I agree with some of these other people. It depends upon you. What I do is make sure that if I'm craving something chocolate (like I will be this next week) that I plan those calories into my day. I've found sticking to plain chocolate really works. You can eat NINE hershey kisses for only 200 calories. For me that is great - I can have a couple throughout the day, making sure only to have nine total and my craving is gone and the calories are manageable.

I have also had days where I knew that i was going to eat more at dinner than I should so I just had something small for breakfast. There are days when I go over my calories, but the next day I try to be better.

You can also excercise more. The more you excercise, the more you can eat without going over your limits! Hope this helps!



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CashierCantin

No more cheat days/meals for me. If I want something, I allot for it in my daily count. If I go over a bit, then I okay it. If its a huge then I really think about it.

Spent too many years trying to deal with the mentality that I can't have something unless I "cheat". Trying to flick that switch in my head that says I can have a little bit of anything I want as long as I count it.

Yesterday I had pizza bianco. Today I had a small piece of a coworkers homemade calzone. In the old days I would have said no and felt left out. I made mention of these items in my daily food diary and then I adjust the rest of the day accordingly.

I am done with 'cheat' days. I am in this for the long haul (knock on wood). Gotta be sensible or it's just not gonna fly with me.

AmyMW7

I do one cheat day a week, on my weigh in day. I don't go crazy, but have what i'm craving within reason.
usually it's pizza, fries or a blizzard. It keeps me going for the rest of the week and has worked for me!

Good Luck!

cutchro

Saturday is my cheat day... I do not go overboard but allow myself to have a burger if I want or a few french fries, pizza, drinks, chips, what ever happens to come my way.. however, I still log the food I eat. It's great to see how I use to eat every day and not wonder anymore where all that weight came from!

mybeach27

Try to not have one whole cheat day, but allow yourself to have one small treat every day...for example one scoop of ice cream or a cookie etc. It will just throw your body off if you eat really healthy and then give it an influx of junky goodness...also will probably make you feel bad (trust me:) I have tried that, and found that it actually makes me gain weight...good luck, and add me if you would like!

PoochPottery

I LOVE my cheat days! It is usually on the weekends! I am a huge foodie and I cannot deny myself!

maryjay51

saying cheat day doesnt bother me at all..makes me feel like im doing something naughty ...its just refreshing i dont have to be perfect all the time even in what i eat..for me i try to plan what im going to have thats off the routine list .. then i dont go overboard and its more controlled than going bonkers.

Longhorn8

ohhh yes. each week i get one day of cheat day where i don't eat whatever i want but i don't watch what i eat as closely as i normally do by having one cheat day, i don't crave those sweets as much through out the weeks.

justbecause2014

I do all my cheating on saturday...eat a brownie, maybe something fried. Not nessacarily a whole day just a few things I really want. I try to eat relativley healthy the rest of the day...atleast this is my plan. Since I just started i'll have to see how it goes!