Are cheat/spike days a mistake? Scared to try it

Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't

I wish it was that easy, its not. After trying to do just that for the past 10 years with no success I have come to realize that it just does not work for me that way. People who do not have this compulsion do not understand. They always think if you would just apply enough will power you could do it. Well if I could apply the will power to do so I would not be fat. I have plenty of will power, I have run 8 marathons in the past 4 years. Its not will power, its more like a disease. For me, it works best if I do not cheat. If I want to eat more calories, then I run further so I can eat more. But for me its important that the foods I eat stay healthy. I can not go out to a restaurant and eat decadant meals, ever. Those days are over for me unless I want to stay fat. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting differant results. I've been there and done that.

I do not disagree with this. But to say you don't know what you are doing I would disagree with. Your got your game locked up. Keep pushing and winning at what you are doing. There is not one path from A to Z, there are many. We are just on different patsh.

See you at the finish line? I can't seem to find it thought! HEH
GL

Awesome, awesome posts here - puts a lot of this into perspective. I wish I could try spiking just for this so-called "metabolism push" but the food addict in me is very anxious about even trying. I might try a jump in calories once a week and just fill those calories with "good" food instead of the things my food addict wants. (Pizza and cupcakes... LOL)

I do enjoy the occasional indulgence that I "make up" for by borrowing calories from other days and working out extra hard, BUT I really have to watch that runaway train that can start up if I get a taste of something "bad".

I guess it takes some experimentation and some strolls down ALL the different paths that can get you from A to B - then pick the path that has the least amount of tree stumps in the way for you personally.

I understand the fear, but my days are calculated. It's not chaos. Most people would be fine spiking at 3,000 calories or so. That could be 3 larger meals, like pancakes for breakfast, burgers and fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Then mix in a few fun snacks.
If guess if you feel like you need to give up those foods forever and your ok with that then it's your choice. There's numerous ways to lose weight. This way just works extra well for keeping it off long-term.

Cheat days are ok I guess unless you are a compulsive food addict type of person. I know if i cheat it sets up the uncontrollable compulsion to keep eating badly. One day quickly turns into multiple days, weeks and months and then afterwards the awful feelings of guilt and remorse. So if you have the ability to cheat for one meal or one day and then stop go for it. But if you find it hard to stop then I would say cheating is not for you. I know its not for me.

If you an unlock that and come to terms with it you might just be better off all around. I use to be that way but now I got something to look forward to. Its not a cheat now, its earned. I calculate it, measure it. I also stick it in a window. So I will consume all my cals in this window once the window closes the session is over. It very structured versus "cheating" "binging"

When I go into the cabinet on a saturday when I a home and just grab something and eat I can still feel that anxiety. But if I plan for it I don't

I wish it was that easy, its not. After trying to do just that for the past 10 years with no success I have come to realize that it just does not work for me that way. People who do not have this compulsion do not understand. They always think if you would just apply enough will power you could do it. Well if I could apply the will power to do so I would not be fat. I have plenty of will power, I have run 8 marathons in the past 4 years. Its not will power, its more like a disease. For me, it works best if I do not cheat. If I want to eat more calories, then I run further so I can eat more. But for me its important that the foods I eat stay healthy. I can not go out to a restaurant and eat decadant meals, ever. Those days are over for me unless I want to stay fat. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting differant results. I've been there and done that.

I do not disagree with this. But to say you don't know what you are doing I would disagree with. Your got your game locked up. Keep pushing and winning at what you are doing. There is not one path from A to Z, there are many. We are just on different patsh.

See you at the finish line? I can't seem to find it thought! HEH
GL

Awesome, awesome posts here - puts a lot of this into perspective. I wish I could try spiking just for this so-called "metabolism push" but the food addict in me is very anxious about even trying. I might try a jump in calories once a week and just fill those calories with "good" food instead of the things my food addict wants. (Pizza and cupcakes... LOL)

I do enjoy the occasional indulgence that I "make up" for by borrowing calories from other days and working out extra hard, BUT I really have to watch that runaway train that can start up if I get a taste of something "bad".

I guess it takes some experimentation and some strolls down ALL the different paths that can get you from A to B - then pick the path that has the least amount of tree stumps in the way for you personally.

I understand the fear, but my days are calculated. It's not chaos. Most people would be fine spiking at 3,000 calories or so. That could be 3 larger meals, like pancakes for breakfast, burgers and fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Then mix in a few fun snacks.
If guess if you feel like you need to give up those foods forever and your ok with that then it's your choice. There's numerous ways to lose weight. This way just works extra well for keeping it off long-term.

OMG!!! Sunday 4k spike day after a gruesome Back Biceps Triceps day. I will break my fast at 10 am. I am going to start my lovely spike day with French Toast and Egg Whites with Turkey Bacon. I am thinking I will use whole wheat bread 10 slices. 12 Egg Whites and maybe 8 pieces of turkey bacon. THE REEEEEEEEEEFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED. I will look to push a 2000 calorie meal. Maybe get a little crazy and have some cocoa pebbles!! lol

Spike Day's are nothing but a huge positive, BUT I do believe that everyone is different and it's your choice if you want to do it or not. Your not wrong if you don't, it just makes things a heck of a lot easier.

It's not so much your body adjusting to a calorie number ex 1,200. What happens is that whenever you have a calorie deficit, and the studies done are 7 days of calorie restriction, the hormone leptin drops. When leptin drops cravings go up, in fact there was a definite correlation between the amount of leptin that is reduced and the amount of hunger, and of course the metabolism starts to slow. Personally I believe it takes sometime, weeks or months before the metabolism decline is totally detrimental, there's no proof, but for me personally I could diet for 4-6 weeks before I would usually hit that plateau. I think the hunger and cravings that begin increasing at 7 days is the biggest problem. It makes it difficult to stay on a diet when your fighting your brain.

This is where "spiking" really helps, as it just takes 12 hours of eating a surplus to bring leptin levels back up.

I feel this change happen to me every week. I Spike on Friday's, by Thursday of every week I feel the cravings coming on strong. Then I Spike and I literally don't care what I eat the next few days. Then as the week goes on I feel them come back right before I Spike again.

Also, what's needed is a small surplus, nothing overly crazy. If you burned 2,500 calories a day, 2,501 would be enough, I just aim a bit higher to make sure I'm over so I use 2X(BMR) so at the most you would store 1,000 calories that is always distributed to your glycogen stores first, before any fat is actually stored.

Just remember, you definitely gain a few pounds after Spiking, it's simply because our body stores 3 grams of water with each gram of glycogen in your muscles. You burn that off in the next couple of days when you go back to calorie deficits.

I've been doing this 8+ years.

I'm not an expert or anything, but my doc once told me to take one meal a week and eat whatever I want don't log it or anything. I think in a way that keeps your body from getting used to a certain amount of calories it has to use up. I also have cheat days to keep my sanity, to have at one meal that you don't have to count or worry about how many calories is in each little piece. But to each his/her own, if you can cheat one day and get back to it, then I think cheat days are good.

If I cheat, I try to limit it to one meal as opposed to one day. Seems to work for me.

Cheat days are a slippery slope for me. I find I do better when I just keep everything in moderation, not denying myself the foods I love love love. I track everything honestly and that keeps me accountable. For me, a cheat day feels like an excuse to binge and that's too counterproductive in my opinion. Good Luck!!!

As long as you don't over do it. Some of my cheat days have been epic, I mean like 7000+ cals. Then I would lay in the bed with an upset stomach lol, wake up the next day feeling guilty...... you get the picture.