How many of you do a 'Spike' day?

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  • zoink66
    zoink66 Posts: 116 Member
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    I have a cheat day once a week, usually at the weekend, mostly because I just want to go out and eat and drink! I'll sometimes try and save up calories from that day (eat fewer calories for breakfast and lunch), but I'll still end up being maybe 500-800 over my daily goal (mostly because of booze! :laugh: :laugh:). Sometimes the weekends are a little lax for me as well, so in addition to my cheat day, I'll also have one day where I'm maybe 200-300 cals over my goal. The rest of my days I'm right at my target.

    I've been losing about 1/2 to 1k a week this way (with exercise too!) and I'm 7k from my goal weight.
  • StaceG1986
    StaceG1986 Posts: 350
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    I don't do this regularly, but on Valentines Day I did go over by a fair amount (600), around this time I had reached a plateau and was either gaining or maintaining, well I weighed in the next day and had lost nearly 2lbs! That was after caesar salad, steak, cheesecake, wine and Baileys! So I wouldn't make a habit of it, but if I'm struggling then I may do it again! :laugh:
  • MsChevyStang
    MsChevyStang Posts: 3
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    I tend to have a 'spike' day over the weekend. I try really hard throughout the week to follow within my suggested intake range. I usually end up being a touch under by the end of the day. On my spike day I may even get a little crazy and have a slice of pizza or have eggs for breakfast instead of egg whites. I decided to do this after reading a few articles by several college/university health and obesity centers. If you google "Calorie Shifting" you will find some of the articles and find a whole diet plan dedicated strictly to calorie shifting. I dont follow the CS diet plan but I do understand and agree with the medical centers on the research.
    Simply put they say your body will adjust to your diet/caloric intake levels if you do/eat the same thing day after day. Your body's metabolism will adjust (slow) to the level it needs to for you to maintain your weight at the level of calories you are providing it. By having a cheat/spike day, you are increasing your calorie rate on that day and keeping your body from adjusting to your low calorie lifestyle, therefore keeping your body from lowering its metabolism to maintain your body at a 1200 calorie diet. Its not a new concept, there are research studies that go back into the 1980s but its resurfaced and has become a popular option again.
  • BrianJLamb
    BrianJLamb Posts: 239 Member
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    This is a very interesting thread...I never would have thought that a cheat day could actually improve your weight loss.
    My fear especaillt just starting again is that I will quickly relapse in to old habits or just habits I havn't gotten out of my system yet :wink: How do you guys control yourselves?

    Marnie, I feel like a free or spike day actually helps me to control myself. It is like raising a kid with too many restrictions. At some point, when the kid feels like everything is pointless because he will never get what he wants, he rebels and does everything he wants and more. Eventually, he winds up doing stupid things completely out of character that you would never expect and it becomes harder to reinforce the correct values. If I don't give myself a controlled outlet, then I lose motivation and at some point I become more likely to binge. That binge feels like a disappointment or failure, like I let my parents down, and rather than face the humiliation or shame that comes along with failing and admitting I was wrong, I would prefer to keep doing wrong. If I tell myself that these things are alright, then I keep stride for longer, maintaining healthy eating habits for 6 out of 7 days. That 7th day is not a failure, it is a permitted day off. I appreciate the downtime and revel in it and because I have established healthy patterns, as time progresses those healthy days become easier and easier, eventually becoming habit and nature.
  • ejha77
    ejha77 Posts: 63
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    I do, because you have to have a life, don't you? I know I won't stick to 1200 calories a day for the foreseeable future unless I know there's some wiggle room on special occasions, etc. I tend to do one spike day a week. The stupid thing is that I feel a bit sick when it comes to filling in my diary on here afterwards. I want to lie to myself, kind of. Does anybody else do that :ohwell:?
  • nibbynoo
    nibbynoo Posts: 250 Member
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    i must admit i have been doing this without realising and feeling guilty about it!
    i think it may have started to get me off of my plateau though and people have started noticing.
    sundays are the worst day for me! (usually hungover!) i relax and feel hungry every couple hours! its a nightmare!

    will adopt the spike day properly now though!

    thanks guys, i feel enlightened!
  • csgsurveyor
    csgsurveyor Posts: 11
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    No "Spike" day for me. Sodas and italian are like a drug, I try it once and I will be hooked again. I stay to about 150 to 200 calories within my goal each day. Sometimes over sometimes under. I usually go over when the portion size is bigger than it should be, but darn it, sometimes it is just too good to not have more. I am losing weight without the spike, and I hope it continues.
  • KKOLB1
    KKOLB1 Posts: 53 Member
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    I've had 2 kids & this is the third time I've had to lose a few lbs. Before my body would get used to my daily calories day in & day out & it'd hit a plateau & not lose for a couple weeks. When I have a spike day in there it made my body think, well finally, something different! I used to do '150 calorie days' also, where I'd eat bkfst, snack, lunch & snack, each under 150 calories & then eat a sensable dinner. i did that 3x a week all diff. days, never the same to help jolt the weight loss.
    This is all new to me. Very intriguing to say the least. I hope more people will post with their thoughts and input. I'd love to not feel guilty for going out to eat on the weekend or to the movies for some sinful popcorn!

    So, how does this work? What's the physiological reasons for doing this? How does doing this "trick" your body from hitting a plateau?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    Coincidentally, this just came up today.
    http://www.t-nation.com/strength-training-topics/517

    My New View On Cheat Days
    by Christian Thibaudeau - 03/09/2011
    My friend, bodyweight training expert Adam Steer, and I were discussing dieting this morning. We're both similar in that we are binge eaters who easily fall into the "crap eating party" bad habit. We came to the conclusion that for most people having a cheat day during the week is a bad idea.

    BTW, by "cheat" I mean eating crap that is very dense in calories (fast food, pastries, donuts, candy, etc.).

    The logic behind cheat days is as follow:

    1. They provide a psychological break from a week of blend eating and disciplined dieting.

    2. They give you a metabolic boost and prevents fat loss stagnation

    Today 02:45
    3. They help palliate for the decrease in leptin levels when dieting

    However cheat days also have their downsides:

    1. They keep you yearning for junk food. After a cheat day I will crave "cheat food" for 2-3 days. This actually makes the whole dieting process much harder to stick to.

    2. You CAN screw up one week of dieting by overbinging for one day, regardless of what some people say. And when you have a cheat day, it is easy to do too much.

    And if we look at the "benefits" from the cheat day. You can get them simply by having more "diet" food.

    For example, one of of the benefits is the psychological relief. Well, if that "relief" leads to yearning for junk for days and makes he week hellish, then is it really worth it?

    And the metabolic "boost" (more like prevention of the metabolic slowdown) is mostly dependent on carbs intake (they are required for the conversion of T4 to T3). So you can have the same effect from increase carbs intake from oatmeal, rice or yams for example.

    So the conclusion we came to is that it is a better strategy to stick to your diet every day knowing full well that you are bound to have a "dietary incident" here and there.

    Include higher carb days if needed, but avoid unnecessary junk.

    As John Berardi once said, as long as you are perfect 90% of the time, you'll get all the results. So try to stick to your clean diet as much as you can, don't plan specific cheats but accept that once in a while you will have a little something here and there.
  • KKOLB1
    KKOLB1 Posts: 53 Member
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    it's not necessarily eating 'crap' just more calories to give an extra boost. As some people said they do cheat days where they don't limit themselves & have whatever they want or some eat extra calories but make healthier choices.
    Coincidentally, this just came up today.
    http://www.t-nation.com/strength-training-topics/517

    My New View On Cheat Days
    by Christian Thibaudeau - 03/09/2011
    My friend, bodyweight training expert Adam Steer, and I were discussing dieting this morning. We're both similar in that we are binge eaters who easily fall into the "crap eating party" bad habit. We came to the conclusion that for most people having a cheat day during the week is a bad idea.

    BTW, by "cheat" I mean eating crap that is very dense in calories (fast food, pastries, donuts, candy, etc.).

    The logic behind cheat days is as follow:

    1. They provide a psychological break from a week of blend eating and disciplined dieting.

    2. They give you a metabolic boost and prevents fat loss stagnation

    Today 02:45
    3. They help palliate for the decrease in leptin levels when dieting

    However cheat days also have their downsides:

    1. They keep you yearning for junk food. After a cheat day I will crave "cheat food" for 2-3 days. This actually makes the whole dieting process much harder to stick to.

    2. You CAN screw up one week of dieting by overbinging for one day, regardless of what some people say. And when you have a cheat day, it is easy to do too much.

    And if we look at the "benefits" from the cheat day. You can get them simply by having more "diet" food.

    For example, one of of the benefits is the psychological relief. Well, if that "relief" leads to yearning for junk for days and makes he week hellish, then is it really worth it?

    And the metabolic "boost" (more like prevention of the metabolic slowdown) is mostly dependent on carbs intake (they are required for the conversion of T4 to T3). So you can have the same effect from increase carbs intake from oatmeal, rice or yams for example.

    So the conclusion we came to is that it is a better strategy to stick to your diet every day knowing full well that you are bound to have a "dietary incident" here and there.

    Include higher carb days if needed, but avoid unnecessary junk.

    As John Berardi once said, as long as you are perfect 90% of the time, you'll get all the results. So try to stick to your clean diet as much as you can, don't plan specific cheats but accept that once in a while you will have a little something here and there.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    Another interesting but technical article :)

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/11/cheat-day-strategies-for-hedonist.html
  • phechan3
    phechan3 Posts: 60
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    Hi everyone. :) I'm just starting out with my diet (again..) and so I'm not quite into the swing of things yet. So I was wondering who should do spike days? Is this more so for people who burn a lot of calories frequently? If I'm only exercising for about 30 mins to 1 hour of exercise a couple times a week is that too little for me to justify having a spike day? Thanks for your help. :)
  • Luvmysixpack
    Luvmysixpack Posts: 43
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    I do a spike day once every two weeks or if I get stuck on a plateau. It works. I try not to go over a lot or I will try to balance those cals over with exercise.
  • Shaz_74
    Shaz_74 Posts: 100 Member
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    quote chrisdavey:

    So the conclusion we came to is that it is a better strategy to stick to your diet every day knowing full well that you are bound to have a "dietary incident" here and there.

    Include higher carb days if needed, but avoid unnecessary junk.

    As John Berardi once said, as long as you are perfect 90% of the time, you'll get all the results. So try to stick to your clean diet as much as you can, don't plan specific cheats but accept that once in a while you will have a little something here and there.

    Now THIS makes sense. Thank you. :drinker:
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I recently looked through my diary and there's not a week without one or two days that I've gone over my cals. This is normally social or drinking occassions and to be honest, although I've gone over the allotted calories for the day if I've been out for a meal then I've made the best choices I could. It never hindered my weight loss and gave me a bit of boost too. During the rest of the week I would be below my calorie intake and basically the only time I've been unhappy with myself is going over weekly net goal. I believe that so long as everything balances out in a week you'll be fine! : )

    No I'm trying to learn how to maintain and include my spike day....
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    I recently went gluten free/low carb and lost 7lb almost instantly then it seems to have got stuck again so reintroduced carbs for few days, had pasta and garlic bread, jacket potatoes, then dropped back down to low carb again.

    I try and save my treats for my monthly cravings as I get bad ones for chocolate but replaced choc brownies with choc chip snack-a-jacks which also have no flour in them. (i suspect I might have a mild wheat intolerance) I also allow Rice Krispies cereal and Rice cakes for snacks, but replaced Rice for dinner with 'cauliflower rice' which is just a cauli whizzzed in a processor till its size of rice or cous cous then steamed in microwave. i do 4 mins take out, add cooked mushrooms/onions etc and bit of garlic butter for flavour then put back in for 1 min and can have loads for much less calories.. yummy with a low fat curry on top!

    I replace roast potatoes with butternut squash or chips with parsnip chips (I allow sweet potato chips once a week also). I replaced bread with gluten free bread but only have it once a week as its much higher calorie than regular bread but lovely with eggs on top (the brand I get kind of tastes similar to toasted muffins). And still have enough spare calories for a small choc bar if I'm absolutely desperate for one! :happy:

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