Cheat Day?
kmdigan
Posts: 11 Member
I'm reading mixed views on a weekly cheat day. My brother got me into that 4 hour body which advocates a weekly high carb intake to routinely shock your body. I've followed that mindset for almost two weeks now and I'm down 11.2 lbs.
Does anyone else do this? Is it necessary? I feel pretty guilty cheating once a week but the weight is flying off.
Does anyone else do this? Is it necessary? I feel pretty guilty cheating once a week but the weight is flying off.
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No, it's not necessary. In fact, for people who are insulin resistant, have issues with carb cravings, or are looking to get into ketosis, it can be counterproductive.
From what I've seen, the people for whom a weekly "refeed" or "carb-up" (see also: Carb Nite) work best are those, like Tim Ferriss, who are already at a fairly low body fat and would prefer to stay low carb most of the time, but find they need the higher carbs at least sometimes for one reason or another.
Keep in mind, too, that you're two weeks into a low carb diet in general. The vast majority of that 11lbs you've lost is water weight (as much as all of it, in fact), as going low carb depletes your glycogen stores, which also hold water.
Does that mean you shouldn't do it? Not necessarily. If it works for you after 4-6 weeks and fits into your lifestyle, then go for it. I wouldn't consider it a "cheat day," though, as I'm not a fan of thinking of it as a "cheat" day. The refeed day would be part of your way of eating. It's scheduled and planned.
As for "cheat days" in general, I'm not really a fan of them. In part because it perpetuates the mindset that something like low carb is a "diet as a verb" (ie - fad diet), instead of a "diet as a noun" (ie - way of eating), and perpetuate the idea that what you're doing is abnormal (for you) and not a lifestyle change. I eat "low carb" for the same reason I eat anything in general -- it's what I do. Does that mean all my food choices are perfectly LCHF? Nope. I do the best with what I have, and I occasionally indulge in a treat after I've thought about it and considered whether that treat is worth the consequences that come with it. That's what a way of eating is. No "cheat days" necessary.0 -
It is *ABSOLUTELY* not necessary, no way no how. That said, I do know people who have posted long term success stories who cheated on a regular or semi-regular basis for their own reasons. So its possible, and if it works for you long term, ok fine.
But I would never recommend it to anyone. So many people that find long term success on low carb diets do so in large part because avoiding carbs suppresses their cravings for foods they shouldn't eat and keeps them steady/stable as far as diet goes. Regular cheating is never going to get you to that stage of things.
For the keto folks, there is a protocol called "CKD" or Cyclical Keto Diet that involves "Carb Ups" as part of very high performance fitness/weightlifiting routines. That kind of thing is required for very very few people though, and never recommended at the start of a low carb undertaking, so I don't think its relevant at all here.
Basically, if it works for you, ok, more power to you, different people absolutely lose weight in different ways and respond to different things. But as a default recommendation to someone new to low carb dieting, this isn't necessary and is likely a bad idea.0 -
Thank you for the information. Even on the "cheat day" I kept the carbs to a bare minimum as I wasn't really sure and didn't want to mess up ketosis.
The information my brother gave me was from Tim Ferriss (I believe) but I most definitely am not looking for a body building physique. I was a competitive soccer player for 19 years and when I stopped and eventually had kids, the weight piled on.
Again, thank you for your thoughts. I will adjust accordingly.
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no cheat day on this journey. Way too hard to keep coming back. Slow and steady for me. I expect it to be a life change and
"cheating" is not a life change.0 -
Eh, I just find a way to make whatever I want to cheat with keto friendly. There are so many good blogs out there that have done all the hard work. For me there's no point to cheating. Cheating makes me bloated, feel sick, get crazy cravings, and in general makes it much harder to eat how I want to eat.0
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icerose137 wrote: »Eh, I just find a way to make whatever I want to cheat with keto friendly.
Yeah. I go over my calorie count ALL THE TIME. I don't even think twice about it. As long as I don't mess up the carbs it all works out in the end.
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I don't think intentional cheats are worth it if your goal is weight loss. By eating carbs, even right before an intense workout, your body almost immediately stores some as glycogen in your muscles. Then you have to go through the elimination process again and possible keto flu and stalled weight loss. It makes everything take longer. In my opinion. I see others saying a 'cheat day' has helped them push through a plateau, but I think that is after they've been Keto consistently for a long time.0
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I've read too many posts complaining about post cheat sickness and crappy feelings (both physical and emotional) to want a cheat. With this diet I already feel like I'm "cheating" all the time. I don't crave carby or sugary stuff anymore, and that was my biggest downfall with straight calorie counting. I was always tempted to go over calories to eat those things. I have lost 17 lbs in 35 days of keto which to me seems big but I have a lot to lose, and like previously mentioned it was mostly water weight in the first week (in which I probably did lose about 10 lbs). Either way, I'm stoked about this kind of diet and I'm with everyone else when they say carb days are not necessary at all.0
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Sure, INMO, you are really cheating yourself. A carboholic like me, does not stop at a slice of bread, once that carb door is open, I am in full binge...better for me to keep it in control.0
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softblondechick wrote: »Sure, INMO, you are really cheating yourself. A carboholic like me, does not stop at a slice of bread, once that carb door is open, I am in full binge...better for me to keep it in control.
^^ Yes! One thing I love and find it hard to resist is bread. Soft, fresh bread. I've tried lower carb bread and they're just not the same...they're either thin and can't hold much or in thicker bread the carbs are too high for my liking0 -
11 days in Low Carb, No Sugar....I'm afraid to have sugar....now that I stopped craving it, I don't want to awaken that beast.0
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I'm with you, Lollynn.... I'm scared to tempt the beast...
Also, to me, the need for a "cheat" system implies I'm doing something wrong, bad, sneaky. I don't want to feel like that. If I want something I shouldn't have in quantity, I figure out a reasonable portion and figure out how to fit it in. I'm sure this will get more complicated as I'm doing this WOE longer, but moderation is key. Some things just have to be more limited moderation than others...0 -
I've done cheats. They aren't worth the additional crapy feelings and bloat. I'd have a horrible headache the next day and it isn't worth the pain. I've found new foods or subs that I like better. Nothing I like bread, but it makes me feel horrible. I shouldn't eat it.0
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Exactly how I'm feeling Angela! On the first so called cheat day, really the only carb thing I ate was 3 slices of pizza. I felt so bloated that I just laid on the couch feeling gigantic.
I've since eliminated those "cheat days." It seemed to work for my brother when he lost weight but honestly I find losing the weight is so much slower that way. I'm not one who eats a bite of a roll and then it's all downhill so I feel lucky in that sense.
Another question, how much weight can one expect to lose the first month?(approximately) I started at 295 and I'm beginning week 3 and I'm down 13 lbs.0 -
I started off with the 4HB as well - I still sometimes have lentils (though rarely beans) but I mostly eat lowish carb and dip into keto sometimes as well. I do like the "cheat" day though - it lets me bake with the kids and we can share the results etc, have a nice Sunday dinner with the family and I'll eat the roast spuds. I also think it is a psychology thing - I find it much easier to focus for 6 days in the week if I know I can have something special at the weekend - other people might find this changing about harder. Apart from the carb refeed reason if you are training hard, there are other advantages that TF mentions - increasing circulating leptin, increasing cAMP and GMP and improving conversion of the T4 thyroid hormone to T3. I think this approach is very dependent on your own personality, if you are losing well and are happy, keep doing it - if you start stalling in your weight loss then you might need to look at tweaking what you are doing and perhaps changing a cheat day for a cheat meal or even drop it completely for a while.
When I first started losing I found that the carb craving the day after my cheat day were more marked - that isn't such an issue now for some reason. I seem to be able to switch much easier between low carb and a once a week high carb (even after 2 weeks high carb over Christmas I managed to drop straight back down to keto within 3 days without so much as a mild headache). I also found that dropping the lentils reduced my carb cravings (and I wasn't having much of them anyway - really just lunchtime). I lost about 40lb using the slow carb diet before I have started having to look at changes - one of those changes being tracking on MFP.0 -
I've found high carb days to really be a personal preference dependent on where someone is in their weight loss journey, how fast they want to lose the weight, and their emotional relationship with food.
My weight loss buddy at work lost 80 pounds over the last year by eating low carb during the week and having Saturday be his cheat day.
Sure he could have lost the weight faster without the cheat day, but sometimes losing it fast isn't what's most important. It really is about finding a weight loss and maintenance strategy that work best for you for the long haul.
So I say, if it works for you, do it until it doesn't work for you anymore, and then you can always change it up 0 -
Thanks ladies! My husband is doing low carb with me so that probably makes it easier for me mentally. It is nice to eat something high in carbs once a week but I just feel so badly about myself and the weight that maybe I'm psyching myself out.
In 10 years, I went from 140 to 275, down to 220 and now I'm back up around 280 after having babies. I was competitively active my entire life so I'm hoping to lose weight and recover the fit body I know is in here somewhere. Are any of you exercising as well? Did you start from the in initial phase of changing your lifestyle?
I really am enjoying hearing about everyone's journey. It gives me a lot of hope and motivation! 0 -
Dragonwolf wrote: »No, it's not necessary. In fact, for people who are insulin resistant, have issues with carb cravings, or are looking to get into ketosis, it can be counterproductive.
From what I've seen, the people for whom a weekly "refeed" or "carb-up" (see also: Carb Nite) work best are those, like Tim Ferriss, who are already at a fairly low body fat and would prefer to stay low carb most of the time, but find they need the higher carbs at least sometimes for one reason or another.
Keep in mind, too, that you're two weeks into a low carb diet in general. The vast majority of that 11lbs you've lost is water weight (as much as all of it, in fact), as going low carb depletes your glycogen stores, which also hold water.
Does that mean you shouldn't do it? Not necessarily. If it works for you after 4-6 weeks and fits into your lifestyle, then go for it. I wouldn't consider it a "cheat day," though, as I'm not a fan of thinking of it as a "cheat" day. The refeed day would be part of your way of eating. It's scheduled and planned.
As for "cheat days" in general, I'm not really a fan of them. In part because it perpetuates the mindset that something like low carb is a "diet as a verb" (ie - fad diet), instead of a "diet as a noun" (ie - way of eating), and perpetuate the idea that what you're doing is abnormal (for you) and not a lifestyle change. I eat "low carb" for the same reason I eat anything in general -- it's what I do. Does that mean all my food choices are perfectly LCHF? Nope. I do the best with what I have, and I occasionally indulge in a treat after I've thought about it and considered whether that treat is worth the consequences that come with it. That's what a way of eating is. No "cheat days" necessary.
Perfectly summarized ^^^^^^^^ :-)
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Yeah, babies did me in too, after my second I was 192 pounds and I'm only 5'2". Initially I didn't exercise at all and just focused on getting the food right. Low carb was totally foreign to me and it took me a while to figure out my go-to low carb meals. I think if I had tried to overhaul my exercise at the same time it would have been too overwhelming for me.
I lost my first 25 pounds in 2 months without exercise and then started to add in 30min of walking 4-5 days a week. My theory on exercise is you have to find something you love, life's too short to do something you hate.0 -
annieboomboom wrote: »no cheat day on this journey. Way too hard to keep coming back. Slow and steady for me. I expect it to be a life change and
"cheating" is not a life change.
I'm not taking a cheat day......I'm afraid it will trigger cravings again.....I am not finding it hard this time around because I'm making it a lifestyle too. I am making tons of low carb delicious recipes from Pinterest and skinny taste .....made sausage stuffed zucchini boats today......and buffalo shrimp with blue cheese dressing.,,,,and rolled up ham, salami and provolone with salsa for a hoagie substitute.....being creative is the key.0 -
Thanks ladies! My husband is doing low carb with me so that probably makes it easier for me mentally. It is nice to eat something high in carbs once a week but I just feel so badly about myself and the weight that maybe I'm psyching myself out.
In 10 years, I went from 140 to 275, down to 220 and now I'm back up around 280 after having babies. I was competitively active my entire life so I'm hoping to lose weight and recover the fit body I know is in here somewhere. Are any of you exercising as well? Did you start from the in initial phase of changing your lifestyle?
I really am enjoying hearing about everyone's journey. It gives me a lot of hope and motivation!
I've been exercising for years without losing weight...albeit I feel healthier.....I just started Low Carb, no sugar, no white starches....and the weight is finally coming off .....I have 100 lbs to lose. I do 15 min elyptical, 30 min bicycle, 10 min arm weights......5 days a week.....I watch tv shows on my iPad ......and it keeps me occupied so it's not as painful.....I don't really like to exercise, but I do it for my health.
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A cheat day for me would have me back eating the things that got me into this mess in the first place. I'm only 10 days in, but I eat plenty and am not hungry. Sounds good to me.0
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i don't do cheat days.. but sometimes I eat more than I planned.0
This discussion has been closed.