Cheat days help?

Jayco141
Jayco141 Posts: 221 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have found that when I have a cheat day, it seems it gives my system a jolt and I start losing weight again after that. It seems I hit a plateau at times and then I decide to have a good cheat day and then boom! WeightLoss begins again. What the hell is the science behind that?

Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    As long as your weight loss is continuing, you are doing great.
    Is there a chance that you are weighing yourself too often.?
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    Depending on the food choices of a cheat meal you may get water and in transit food effects (these often cause weight gain but can, with some cause losses).

    IGF and leptin levels are suppressed when in calorie deficit and may start to return to normal after a cheat day (note that it's generally accepted that leptin requires longer than a day to return to normal, but I guess that the upswing starts quite quickly?)
  • l911jnt
    l911jnt Posts: 164 Member
    Ive been at it for 3 months now and I have experienced this too. It is so weird to me. I thought I was imagining the coincidence. It doesnt happen every single time but about 70% of the time it does. I will add, I am not going WAY overboard, I have only hit maintenance calories maybe twice in the 3 months ive been losing weight.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    edited April 2017
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    Depending on the food choices of a cheat meal you may get water and in transit food effects (these often cause weight gain but can, with some cause losses).

    IGF and leptin levels are suppressed when in calorie deficit and may start to return to normal after a cheat day (note that it's generally accepted that leptin requires longer than a day to return to normal, but I guess that the upswing starts quite quickly?)

    This. Arguably there isn't real science behind it though.
  • broseidonkingofbrocean
    broseidonkingofbrocean Posts: 180 Member
    "Overfeeding can have profound effects on leptin concentrations in the body. However, not all macronutrients are created equal. Fat overfeeding does not elicit the same leptin response as carbohydrate does. In fact, fat has virtually no effect on leptin concentrations, and in some cases even reduces leptin levels.14,15,16

    Carbohydrates, on the other hand, have a positive impact on leptin.15,17,18 In fact, high-glycemic carbs (e.g., sugar) may be the sole reason for increases in leptin after meals.19 It should be noted that leptin does not particularly increase immediately after a meal per se, but does so anywhere from 4-48 hours after carbohydrate refeeding.1,17,20 In the short term, leptin concentrations are not affected and should be taken into account during planned refeeds."

    From http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/refeeds-for-fat-loss-the-science-behind-leptin.html

    What you're doing sounds a lot like refeeding.
  • Krby13
    Krby13 Posts: 63 Member
    I don't understand how if I'm under my calories several days in a row and then the day before I weigh in, I have a very physical day at work I still show a weight gain or no weight lost. It's very frustrating and hard to stay motivated when it happens. I do suffer from PCOS so maybe that has something to do with it.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    Krby13 wrote: »
    I don't understand how if I'm under my calories several days in a row and then the day before I weigh in, I have a very physical day at work I still show a weight gain or no weight lost. It's very frustrating and hard to stay motivated when it happens. I do suffer from PCOS so maybe that has something to do with it.

    Probably some mild normal inflammation and water retention in the muscles from the additional activity.

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