cheat days

[HOLLYWOOD]

do you base your cheat day on the progress you're making with your diet?or is it a must have for progress? is so how often should it be incorperated into your diet?

[sooners04]

I have one cheat "meal" a week.

[Aboot]

General guideline is one meal a week. You should have it to keep your body burning fat and keep it from slowing your metabolism down.

You can make adjustments with this as you see how your body reacts.

[HOLLYWOOD]

say for someone who is burning fat slowly how would you incorperate a cheat day for that person?

[SwoleCat]

Try this, as there is no one correct answer.

If it's early yet in your dieting endeavor, have ONE all out cheat meal on that cheat day. Whatever you want, just do it.

Use the rest of the day to eat clean as you normally would.

Then, as time goes on and you are leaner, closer to your goals, you have learned a bit about your body, how it reacts to certain foods, etc., then you may cheat more on this "free day" and see how it affects you many days later (when true damage sets in, NOT the next day which shows a diff. in water/salt/glycogen gain). By doing this, you wil be able to tell just how much you can get away with w/out sacrificing all that you have worked for.

Note that each person can get away w/different amounts of cheating. Those who diet CORRECTLY and retain/gain lean muscle mass while doing so, will find that they can cheat FAR MORE, as they burn more fat and overall KCals w/the lean mass they have. Those who diet too quickly, or the wrong way and lose lean mass while they lose some fat, will find that cheating more on this "free day" only causes them to plummet into a downward spiral of failure.

You have to keep logs, keep an eye on you, and be accurate.

~SC~