Cheat day to cheat starvation mode?

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  • KatyFace9801
    KatyFace9801 Posts: 230 Member
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    I just started with a trainer who said that you should have a cheat day/ or cheat meals every 5 days.
    This is where you go above & beyond your normal caloric intake
    Her reasoning is that it keeps your metabolism up & guessing (as I believe someone else has said on here)
    and also, I like 5 days, bc it's not such a loooong wait.

    Like if it was once every 2 weeks or something
    that's forever when you've got a craving
    Where as I get another one in 3 days.
    3 days til frozen yogurt
  • PerceptionFitness
    PerceptionFitness Posts: 8 Member
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    you got it! Read the Four Hour Body
  • PerceptionFitness
    PerceptionFitness Posts: 8 Member
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    in short: spiking caloric intake once per week increases the T3 and T4 hormones which in turn elevate metabolism.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    I don't believe in cheat days, because that means that I'm dieting instead of living. If there's something I really want I just figure out how to budget it in on whatever day I really want it, or I make a replica (burger and fries? Turkey burger and oven fries with herbs and parm). I'm on the fence with starvation mode, I don't think I'd hit it in a week or two, but I know that prior to balancing my calories and exercise my metabolism was a hot mess.
  • aj_rock
    aj_rock Posts: 390 Member
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    But do cheat days also help keep your body from settling into the dreaded starvation mode? Obviously to lose weight you have to use more calories than you consume, and doing this to extreme or for long periods of time can lead to your body either adjusting to the set intake or holding on to the fat it already has because it must have been a hard winter. So it makes sense to me that a cheat day lets your body know that yes food is aplenty and it's okay to let go of those fat reserves. Does anyone know of any research that may back up this train of thought, or am I just trying to revel in my cheat days a little too much?

    Cheat days do help normalize your metabolic hormones, but not nearly as effectively as maintaining healthy habits and simply eating a lot of starchy, but healthy carbs for a day.

    To put it in very general terms, a planned cheat day is more for psychological reasons. A carbohydrate refeeding day is to help stave off starvation mode or normalize your metabolic hormonal levels.

    HOLD ON

    Someone actually mentioned the carb re-feed on MFP?

    There's no way I'm at work right now. I must still be dreaming...
  • realmaverick
    realmaverick Posts: 12
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    I realise this is an old thread. But people need to realise that different people respond differently to different styles of dieting etc.

    Losing weight has nothing and I mean nothing to do with 'clean food', if you like clean eating, that's great. But for many trying to eat clean due to pressures from just about every nutritionalist as well as health communities they belong to is a huge part of why so many fail. Especially those who emotionally eat, going from crisps and biscuits to chicken and veg will only last so long before they give up.

    The important thing for weight loss is calorie restriction, whether that's made up of clean food, junk or a combo, you'll still lose weight and at the same rate too.

    I don't recommend pure junk food for obvious reasons such as nutrition. But including junk foods in your daily intake, won't impact your weight loss as long as your don't go over your allowance.

    I know for a fact, based on my own experience and tests with friends that a cheat day can help boost weight loss. The important thing is not to go overboard. Still track but have up to an extra 50% of calories, it's a great way to get past a plateau.

    A friend of mine always plateaus and the only thing that will keep him losing weight, is to have a cheat day once a week. It works great for many people and it's also something to look forward to. I appreciate many of you don't believe in it, but that maybe because you don't need it or want it, that's fine. For many it's additional freedom. Whether this works because it's cheating starvation mode, simply speeding up the metabolism or something else, I don't know. But it works and that's all I care about.

    As proved with the Twinkie diet, you can eat whatever the hell you want and lose weight. MyFitnessPal is awesome but you don't have to clean eat to lose weight and treat days are awesome.

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