Cheat Meal or Day
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Tappy44
Posts: 1,050 Member
I am starting Low Carb next week, not Keto yet. I was wondering if anyone does a cheat meal or day to confuse the body?
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I don't. I stay keto. I have had two days in the past 9 months where I've gone over 50 carbs. It didn't seem to shake anything up in my body other gaining the expected water weight. On keto I don't have cravings so I don't really desire cheat days anymore.5
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I have at least one day a week where I eat more carbs on purpose, sometimes two if my schedule is crazy. I don't know if it really confuses my body, but it definitely makes it easier for me to stick to low carb long term and it doesn't seem to have any negative impact on my weight loss.4
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www.healthfulpursuit.com has a discussion on the different types of carb-up...one meal, one day, one weekend - and the pros and cons of both. I don't do this intentionally, but I do do it on occasion deliberately. It has to be a choice, not a compulsion, and it has to be set with limits before doing so - in order to set yourself up best for long term success. I wish I didn't have cravings anymore, but I do. So mixing it up here or there seems to really help keep going long term (almost to 18 months now).5
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No cheat days for me. I'm worried it will start a downslide4
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No, since I am diabetic I should be eating this low carb anyways. I am seeing awesome results with my blood sugars and blood pressure so that only confirms that I am eating the way I should be. Do I slip and eat a BAD carb (cookies not vegs/fruits) here and there? Yes. BUT 95% of the time I'm eating low carb. I aim for 30 grams a day but usually end up around 35-40 per day.2
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I don't recommend having cheats. They trigger cravings and there's no reason the "confuse the body". Just feed it well and treat it well. It will do its own thing well if you don't feed it crap.1
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I do a cheat meal once per week, typically. It's not for any scientific purpose. More just like I want some tater tots or chips & salsa, and I like to look forward to that meal. Hasn't caused any major problems for me. But then again I'm not trying to maintain keto, just moderately low-carb, the rest of the time.2
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If by cheat, you mean jack up my total calorie intake, sure (one day per week, usually Saturday, and it's still around maintenance cals). If you mean adding carbs, no.2
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This is my 4th week on a hard keto diet. I've lost about 22lbs. so far. I do intend to have a cheat meal (carb refeed) on Monday the 4th of July. I've done one month keto diets in the past in order to get that 20lbs. rapid weight loss but I've never continued the keto diet past that point with or without a cheat meal. The only reason I'm going to do the cheat meal is to see if it "shocks" my body when it kicks me out of ketosis and then I get back into it. It's really more of an experiment than anything. I've done so much research and read so much into the keto diet and just like any diet (lifestyle), there are always differing opinions. I've come across people who say that you should have a cheat meal at certain intervals to confuse the body and re-ignite your metabolism. Others have said that you shouldn't put up a "sugar wall" that you have to keep knocking down every time in order to enter ketosis again. We'll see what happens.2
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »I don't do this intentionally, but I do do it on occasion deliberately.
Huhhhhuhhuhuhh
She said do do
[Beavis and Butthead laughter]
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I do LCHF but not Keto. I don't schedule or plan any cheat days or meals. Going over my carb goal doesn't happen often. When I want to eat something on occasion not so carb friendly, I make adjustments elsewhere in my day.1
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I do one to two days per week of higher carb, usually with one actual cheat meal of whatever I want. I have been losing consistently, so it's working for me, and the flexibility makes it much easier to stick with this way of eating.0
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »I don't do this intentionally, but I do do it on occasion deliberately.
Huhhhhuhhuhuhh
She said do do
[Beavis and Butthead laughter]
I was going to go there, but more of a family guy vibe. You rock.
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »I don't do this intentionally, but I do do it on occasion deliberately.
Huhhhhuhhuhuhh
She said do do
[Beavis and Butthead laughter]
*snerk*
Oh that brings up memories...3 -
When I see someone that hasn't started the WOE yet, asking about a "cheat meal"...
what I read is either, I'm not ready to fully commit or I know I can't sustain this WOE.
I could be wrong in any case, but if you have low willpower to begin w/ it could potentially set you up for disaster with heavy cravings, especially if you haven't been at this for long.
I don't personally believe in "refeed" or "reset" or "confusing the body"...if I want a slice of pizza, I call it what it is and it's typically never planned.6 -
Well, define "cheat". Does that mean higher calories, or eating more carbs than you normally do? My personal carb goal is anything less than 100 grams. Some days I am at 40-50, and some days I am at 80-100. For some people, those 80-100 would be considered "cheating".
This past Tuesday, I was way over on everything. We had a retirement party lunch at an Indian food buffet where I had no idea what it was I was eating, nevermind the calorie or carb counts. Then that evening went out to dinner for a family birthday and I'm sure was over on that too as well as having a drink. So, yes, I cheated, but it isn't something that I allow for regularly, next day I got right back on plan. I wanted to because I felt so horrible. lol.1 -
I am starting Low Carb next week, not Keto yet. I was wondering if anyone does a cheat meal or day to confuse the body?
I heard some people have carb days to confuse the body, but be warned if you're doing low carb (<=20g) to get your body into ketosis you'll be knocked out of ketosis and have to get back into it again which could take days or weeks which is a major bummer. I also find once I eat something sweet my brain kicks into overdrive wanting more and more sweets, which is how I got here to begin with, so I avoid it as much as I can. Most of my "cheat snacks" or "cheat meals" are usually just higher in calories but still low carb, like the vanilla ice cream I have or parsnip chips where I can eat an entire bag sometimes (they are way too good).
Of course sometimes I just really want ihop so pancakes happen once in awhile. I don't do that to confuse my body, I do it to spend time with my kiddo who loves pancakes on Sunday. But after that meal happens, that's it, I go right back to low carb. I don't do a whole high carb day.
If you're not worried about ketosis then try it and see how it works for you, but I'd try it after a month or so of strictly low carb since you'll essentially be learning a whole new way of eating.3 -
Confuse my body? No, I like it behaving normally.
I haven't cheated on keto, but I do sometimes eat above maintenance level calories. I probably will Monday. However, I know it means I most likely won't lose weight on the scale for the next week or two because of it.1 -
For ~ 2 months I was doing 1 'cheat' day per week, conveniently timed on the weekend of course. I would eat over my normal calories and carbs, probably ~100g carbs and ~2000 to 2500 calories for the day. I justified this because I'm nursing and I nurse more on weekends because I'm home with my babies instead of at work. I didn't lose a pound that whole time.
Now I've got my calories and carbs on lockdown 7 days a week and I'm FINALLY losing. So, I learned the hard way that 'confusing' my body with extra carbs and calories does nothing but keep me fat.5 -
For ~ 2 months I was doing 1 'cheat' day per week, conveniently timed on the weekend of course. I would eat over my normal calories and carbs, probably ~100g carbs and ~2000 to 2500 calories for the day. I justified this because I'm nursing and I nurse more on weekends because I'm home with my babies instead of at work. I didn't lose a pound that whole time.
Now I've got my calories and carbs on lockdown 7 days a week and I'm FINALLY losing. So, I learned the hard way that 'confusing' my body with extra carbs and calories does nothing but keep me fat.
Yeah, the point is, it doesn't confuse the body at all, your body knows exactly what to do with those extra carbs and calories. We just like to confuse our mind with justification. lol.5