Cheat days while cutting.

[36drew]

Do you feel they are absolutely necessary? Give your position and explanation for your answer.

 

[altimus]

personally, i have a cheat meal once or twice a week. i spend all week measuring and counting out calories to the T, so having a cheat dinner or larger than usual breakfast is my way of rewarding myself. i find that after strict dieting for extended periods of time, even then my body begins to adapt to the caloric deficit and i come to a halt. after a cheat meal, there is a spike in my metabolism and it kickstarts the fat loss process. i think they are very good ideas and one should not be so anal to the point that one has to be miserable 24/7. life is short, diet hard, but reward yourself for your hard work now and then. my .02

 

[36drew]

Pretty good post and explanation. Anyone else?

 

[*Bunny*]

When I first started cutting, I'd have one cheat meal a week, which would consist of Red wine & a big fat blue cheese crusted filet or the like ... it was more of a reward meal for a weeks worth off kickin' ass ... not to mention I use to love wine

With the metabolism fire burning strong, it'll usually rip through any crap I threw in it, as long as I incorporated one every week ... When I tested the waters to see how my body would react to a cheat 'day' ... OMG misery ...


I don't crave the foods that are commonplace to society ... cakes, cookies, chocolate, fast food, etc ... so when I do ever eat something like that, my body freaks out ... for good reason Everything in moderation... you have to be happy with yourself & lifestyle ... I think they are good not only for your metabolism, but your sanity

 

[alex2678]

Cheat days usually cause more harm than good for most people. A one day boost in calories is really not enough to effectively raise T3 to that much of a degree. Having one meal that you're craving, however, will probably not have that much negative effect on your body provided you don't go overboard. (And it can be beneficial to the mind as well) If you're in your final weeks of cutting and have to cheat(wedding, party...), cut the food intake for your other 5 meals in half to avoid going too far above your caloric maintenence. It won't be the most "balanced" food day, but you can have your meal and stay on a relatively good track.

 

[Makavelli]

It depends on the person, but for most people I always have them have a high carb day to refill glycogen stores and a cheat day every once in a while.

 

[36drew]

It depends on the person, but for most people I always have them have a high carb day to refill glycogen stores and a cheat day every once in a while.

How high do you consider high carb? (granted their are going to be fluxtuations from person to person).

 

[pintoca]

make it a PROGRAMMED cheat meal instead of a full day and you will be OK.

Reward to help you keep your sanity.

If you don't feel you need it, don't eat it... however, if you FEEL you need it, don't deny it, you will cheat anyway and worse with something else.

 

[Lifterforlife]

Ironically, the mentality is the leaner you get, the less you should cheat. When it is probably quite the opposite.

Hormones can wreak havok. You will have falling test levels, high cortisol. Bring leptin into play here also.

 

[Tweakle]

just carb up and eat more clean cals for a period to reset your metabolism. Dumping 10,000+ cals of transfat and sugar into a body with a sluggish metabolism has always seemed a bad thing to me