Husband says have a cheat day once a week.....REALLY ?

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Replies

  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    LucasWilland wrote: »
    I think what your husband is referring to is the idea of a refeed day or cheat day. It was believed for some time in some circles that having a few days where calories were above maintenance would result in an increase in Leptin levels. Leptin is the prime regulator of body fatness by initiating signals to the hypothalamus to control appetite. In response to a diet, Leptin levels notably decrease, which acts as a homeostatic defense mechanism to defend the body from losing stored fat any further. This can notably cause a decrease in NEAT levels and even the calories burned during exercise. This is part of the semi-true idea of starvation mode. Yes, it is true that the body does try to defend itself from long periods of being in a deficit, but it very rarely will ever cancel out the deficit entirely. There have only been a few studies that show this to be the case in some individuals.

    While cheat days or refeeds can be beneficial psychologically, due to being able to eat more, Leptin levels do not increase enough to make a significant impact on energy expenditure. A far better idea is to take a diet break after every 8 weeks of successful dieting, where calories are brought up to maintenance and stay there for 2 weeks. This will help increase some of the Leptin lost from the deficit and ease ghrelin, which will make dieting easier.

    * One thing to note is that if you are going to implement a strategy like this, the increase in calories should come primarily from carbohydrates, as they have the biggest impact on circulating Leptin levels, while protein could perhaps be lowered a bit, and fat could be kept the same, assuming that you are not consuming a very high fat diet of 40% calories or higher.

    ^^ great post
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    IJNIPA wrote: »
    So he says if I have a cheat day once a week, then it will reset my metabolism. Is that really true? He also says it readjusts how your glycemic foods register inside your body. Sounds crazy to me. What do you guys think ?

    If by cheating you mean eating over your current maintenance level calories once a week that is not necessary. Your metabolism does not need to be readjusted or reset. It does not do what he is claiming.
    It wouldn't hurt you to eat at maintenance or slightly over one day if the rest of the week you have a deficit (see posts about birthdays, holidays, vacations). It isn't going to make you lose more weight to have a "cheat day" though.
    If you eat enough to wipe out your weekly calorie deficit in one day every week (1,700- 7,000+ extra calories) that is a problem.


  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    When I cheat:

    kcdwo7oh7os6.jpg

    Exactly. Cheat days only cheat me out of my goal.
  • ValleyHooper
    ValleyHooper Posts: 1,993 Member
    I'm human, and yes I will have a cheat day once in awhile. I will eat a brownie or gasp a cheeseburger (oh my gosh the horror of it all)!!!! I am still working hard, and I will not punish myself for treating myself to a goodie now and then.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Unless you're doing RFL or similar, you probably don't need to worry about resetting/refeeding once a week. If you are doing that, then you should probably have researched the protocol well enough - or are supervised - to know if/when that would be appropriate. The second part? I honestly have no idea where he got that.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    Maybe not an entire day, but a meal once a week - yes. I still log it too.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    ValleyHooper wrote: »
    I'm human, and yes I will have a cheat day once in awhile. I will eat a brownie or gasp a cheeseburger (oh my gosh the horror of it all)!!!! I am still working hard, and I will not punish myself for treating myself to a goodie now and then.

    Is it a "cheat" day because you went over your calories? Or because you ate those particular things? (I hope you only call it a cheat day for the former, not the latter).
  • Dcharold
    Dcharold Posts: 1 Member
    edited March 2017
    I've lost about 12lbs on slow carb diet which mandates a cheat day once a week where you can eat ANYTHING. You write it down when you want it during the week, deferring it to later. Usually on cheat day you can't get through half what you wrote down before you're full. It's a great diet, super easy rules. I just use My Fitness Pal to keep an eye on how it's working since one of the rules is 'measure everything'.
  • samihyvonen
    samihyvonen Posts: 2 Member
    Dcharold wrote: »
    I've lost about 12lbs on slow carb diet which mandates a cheat day once a week where you can eat ANYTHING. You write it down when you want it during the week, deferring it to later. Usually on cheat day you can't get through half what you wrote down before you're full. It's a great diet, super easy rules. I just use My Fitness Pal to keep an eye on how it's working since one of the rules is 'measure everything'.

    This. If you're on a super-low-carb diet, a cheat day full of carbs really gets the weight loss going fast. Without it, things slow down after a while.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    edited March 2017
    I have "cheat days". Usually a meal on a the weekend, but I try to do a bunch of cardio to offset the calories... a little. I need it for the mental break. And it also is easier for me to stick to my calories/planned meals during the week if I know I have a day to look forward to where I can indulge in some of the things I love. So for that reason, I 100% recommend a cheat day. As for any other benefit besides the mental break? Don't think there is one.

    Whatever works best for you.

    ETA: I only call it a cheat day b/c it's outside my normal routine. I don't really consider it cheating at all though.
  • samihyvonen
    samihyvonen Posts: 2 Member
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    Parkercomom wrote: »
    I have read that a cheat meal a week is good. It has an effect on thyroid levels.

    Read better sources. ;)

    "Conventional wisdom" isn't always right for everyone. I've read the same thing, tried it, and it works really well.
  • Ck103084
    Ck103084 Posts: 139 Member
    This thread helped, thanks! I eat strict for a month or so and then cave, horribly. (Like yesterday. It wasn't pretty. :s ) Maybe a cheat day once a week will help or even once every two weeks. :)
  • EmBee_Meister
    EmBee_Meister Posts: 5 Member
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    When I cheat:

    kcdwo7oh7os6.jpg

    story of my life. (more like a month or 6 go by)
  • stephie59
    stephie59 Posts: 23 Member
    I have done a lot of research and talked to professionals, most of them say have a cheat day. Not eating a ton of junk food once a week but adding a treat in that you don't eat the rest of the week.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    What if someones says instead of having a cheat day once a week they say you should binge once a week. Same thing.

    Now I'm not considering a cheat day going over your normal calories by say 30-40%. I'm thinking the double +.

    Who in their right mind would advise someone to binge? I think everyone has their own definition of what a cheat day means for them.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    fascha wrote: »
    I could make a spectacular disaster in one day a week, highly don't recommend doing a yolo day once a week lol

    That's where I'm at. What I think of as a "cheat day" (there is no such thing, btw. Your body counts the calories whether you do or not. They don't sneak by) generally involves a smorgasbord. One of those every week and I'd never lose. Sometimes I might have a heavy meal, or save my calories for a controlled pig-out, but ad far as the "not counting, eat whatever" scenario, I'm planning on doing one of those a month as I get closer to maintenance and see how it goes.

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