Dr Oz says people who cheat lose more weight

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  • jan_andrea
    jan_andrea Posts: 44 Member
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    I'm not finding this to be true for me :( My spike meal is usually at The Peach Farm in Boston's Chinatown -- we're down there every couple of weeks. But take last week as an example. I was 220 that morning, which I recorded. Went to Boston, walked around a lot, took pictures of the Lunar New Year celebrations, and had our meal there. Probably around 800 calories all told. Next day: 223. It's taken me the whole week to get back down to 220, and that was just yesterday; today was 220.8. I had assumed that a lot of the weight "gain" was from the sodium (one of our favorite dishes is the spicy salty dry-fried squid), and that with adequate water, I'd be back down in a day or two, but it's just not happening :(

    It's not always a Chinatown meal, either. When we visit my in-laws, they cook for an army and occasionally I'm not careful. There's the same higher weight the next day, taking me the whole week to get back to where I was before. I've been in this same range for the last month :P I know plateaus happen, but I'm not really sure what to do about this. (Anyone who'd like to take a look at my diary is more than welcome to make suggestions :) My exercise is usually lots and lots of 4mph walking around town, usually pushing a stroller or carrying heavyish bags. I haven't started another program because the walking does get my heart rate up and after doing it, I'm pretty tired.)
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    I'm not finding this to be true for me :( My spike meal is usually at The Peach Farm in Boston's Chinatown -- we're down there every couple of weeks. But take last week as an example. I was 220 that morning, which I recorded. Went to Boston, walked around a lot, took pictures of the Lunar New Year celebrations, and had our meal there. Probably around 800 calories all told. Next day: 223. It's taken me the whole week to get back down to 220, and that was just yesterday; today was 220.8. I had assumed that a lot of the weight "gain" was from the sodium (one of our favorite dishes is the spicy salty dry-fried squid), and that with adequate water, I'd be back down in a day or two, but it's just not happening :(

    You didn't gain 3lbs from eating 800 calories extra. I absolutely promise you that. 3lbs is 10,500 calories. It was probably water weight. And salt-centric dishes are pure evil for water retention.

    Edit; You mention chinatown. Chinese food is absolutely loaded with sodium.
  • jan_andrea
    jan_andrea Posts: 44 Member
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    Oh, I know that all three pounds were not fat -- it was mostly water, I know. I'm just having a hard time reconciling spike meal = good (for me) when it takes me a week to get back to my pre-spike-meal weight :/
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Oh, I know that all three pounds were not fat -- it was mostly water, I know. I'm just having a hard time reconciling spike meal = good (for me) when it takes me a week to get back to my pre-spike-meal weight :/

    Well I'm glad you understand :) You're choice of spike meal just so happened to be loaded with sodium. This is why I advise people to measure as well as weigh - when you think things have gone backwards, it gives you another gauge of progress. Weight itself is a highly irrelevant statistic. Your body composition is far more important.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
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    I am just afraid that I won't come back from the "spike" day

    This is a very normal fear.

    You can look at it a few ways.

    1. Spiking has a positive affect on the hormones that control our physical cravings.
    2. You control when you Spike and have these foods, instead of the food controlling us when we slip up.
    3. Knowing that every week you are allowed to eat what you love helps immensely with emotional cravings because you feel less deprived.
    4. I always workout the day after spiking. My glycogen is restored to allow me to have a great workout. Also it gets me right back on track mentally.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    Oh, I know that all three pounds were not fat -- it was mostly water, I know. I'm just having a hard time reconciling spike meal = good (for me) when it takes me a week to get back to my pre-spike-meal weight :/

    Well I'm glad you understand :) You're choice of spike meal just so happened to be loaded with sodium. This is why I advise people to measure as well as weigh - when you think things have gone backwards, it gives you another gauge of progress. Weight itself is a highly irrelevant statistic. Your body composition is far more important.

    Absolutely agree about the body composition aspect. I haven't lost a pound since Christmas but I have gone down a pant size. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the pounds I lost before Christmas but there is no way I could have squeezed into these pants back then so, obviously, my body composition is changing in ways that the scale doesn't show.

    I don't consciously follow the actually spike day plan (although I do think the idea has merit). I do more of a zig-zagging throughout the week while focusing on a weekly calorie target. But, sometimes, I zig-zag so much that I do go over my weekly calories. Some weeks zig-zagging, I stay under or just my weekly deficit, sometimes I go over a little, sometimes I go over a significant amount like 1500-2000 calories for the week.

    Also, when I first restarted my diet/exercise plan in August, it took me 2 weeks to lose 1#. It was a bit frustrating but I already felt so much better and stronger with the increase in my exercising that I was able to ignore the scale a bit and trudge on until I did get rewarded with weight decreases.

    I just find focusing on my fitness easier because it, along with my eating, is something that I can control. I can't control the scale and when it will show a drop. So, I figure, why fuss about what I can't control and focus on what I can control.

    So, be patient and keep on working on the things you can control and the rest will take care of itself. Best wishes!
  • fairycake25
    fairycake25 Posts: 37
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    I shall be having my spike day on Sunday without the guilt!


    I love this i had my spike day yesterday (sunday) and good god i ate for england and enjoyed every single minute of it ....and now im focused on my new week :)
  • Ing1zo
    Ing1zo Posts: 3
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    Didnt know it had a name but I cheat once a week. It works for me.
  • Rozlynmac
    Rozlynmac Posts: 71
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    Absolutely agree about the body composition aspect. I haven't lost a pound since Christmas but I have gone down a pant size. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the pounds I lost before Christmas but there is no way I could have squeezed into these pants back then so, obviously, my body composition is changing in ways that the scale doesn't show.

    I don't consciously follow the actually spike day plan (although I do think the idea has merit). I do more of a zig-zagging throughout the week while focusing on a weekly calorie target. But, sometimes, I zig-zag so much that I do go over my weekly calories. Some weeks zig-zagging, I stay under or just my weekly deficit, sometimes I go over a little, sometimes I go over a significant amount like 1500-2000 calories for the week.

    Also, when I first restarted my diet/exercise plan in August, it took me 2 weeks to lose 1#. It was a bit frustrating but I already felt so much better and stronger with the increase in my exercising that I was able to ignore the scale a bit and trudge on until I did get rewarded with weight decreases.

    I just find focusing on my fitness easier because it, along with my eating, is something that I can control. I can't control the scale and when it will show a drop. So, I figure, why fuss about what I can't control and focus on what I can control.

    So, be patient and keep on working on the things you can control and the rest will take care of itself. Best wishes!
    [/quote]

    You've made me so happy! I was feeling exactly the same, but worried I was just trying to rationalise the fact I wasn't seeing much progress.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    My two cents (if anyone give a damn) is that if you balance calories over a week you get better results than thinking day by day. This is especially true where you have peaks in training as well as eating as they are not naturally in synch: e.g. I do a long run at the weekends (Marathon training so we are talking up to 2500 Calorie workouts) and trying to eat that back same day is stupid... especially when you consider that most runners eat light before they go out... Say 200 calories max.. so by lunchtime (i.e. post run) you can easily have 4000 calories left for the day... Never gonna eat that eating food which is mostly healthy!

    Generally the day after training people are hungry - and the couple of days before you should be 'carb loading' - so you tend to end up with 3 days small of food spikes and one with a large food deficit. To me a spike doesn't = cheat. I think the terminology does it injustice.

    That aside, I do believe in 100% tracking.... It keeps you accountable and tends to prevent a spike becoming a binge. It also allows you to go back over you week when you are looking at your weight loss profile and think about what went well and what went badly: especially if you are interested in your macros (protein/carb/fat ratios).
  • LooseWheel
    LooseWheel Posts: 211 Member
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    LMAO, ok first I thought it meant that the 'cheating' was due to the increase in sexual activity as it's a real awesome cal burner!! Calming down now. te he he
  • RonKay
    RonKay Posts: 85 Member
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    bump
  • hannata86
    hannata86 Posts: 57
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    I like the idea of a calorie spike... I've practiced it on nearly every diet I've done and if I can keep the other 20 meals of the week good, clean and under my calorie intake, I'm always guaranteed a loss. :)
  • MsMouseMouse
    MsMouseMouse Posts: 92 Member
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    I do agree with this but just the words "Dr OZ says" makes me not want too lol

    That's how I feel exactly. Yes he's right this time. But he also believes people can heal each other with their hands and spirit energy.. I sure don't consider him a reputable expert on anything other than getting women to watch tv.

    Maybe you should search out healing hands. There is probably more to this than we think.
  • DorothyR87
    DorothyR87 Posts: 113
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    I like the idea of a "spike" day, but for me I don't think I wold actually have an actual day planned. For me it would work best to just know that every so often it's ok to go over my calorie limit.

    What's interesting is that last night I was really mad so I pigged out and ate 4 pieces of pizza. When I woke up and weighed myself I was sure I would weigh more, but I actually weighed 0.5 lbs less. I know the body fluctuates but I sure liked seeing that pigging out didn't ruin my weight loss progress.
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
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    He's just a paid spokesperson for Ashley Maddison...

    Oh. wait.
  • runfoodierun
    runfoodierun Posts: 59 Member
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    Ok..maybe I need to watch that show because all I got from these posts is that everyone cheats with a guy named Spike. I'm sure he's getting all the exercise he needs. :wink:
    [/quote

    hahaha. aha ah. awesome. :glasses:

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