The Promblem With A Whole Cheat Day When Dieting

This is my opinion on this. i've been dieting hard for about a year straight. Dietings a bitch, there no doubt about it, in the end however i feel the outcome is worth it. i know some of you that diet never cheat, i have no clue how u do it, i know some that cheat here and there and others that have 1 cheat day a week. I used to cheat every Sunday all day, usually 3 full meals with snacks in between. it still worked, i mean i was strict enough during the week to make up for it for the most part but monday i would be fucked. tons of whatever retention an bloat. after the bloat would go away i could still notice damage from what i had eaten. i read and read more about stuff and relized if you eat more calories then u burn in a day, all those calories that were not burnt will turn to fat for the most part. so i started cheat 1 meal saturday night desert and all and one meal tuesday night desert and all. yea i was still prombly eating more calories on those 2 days then i burn, but nothing near the amount that i had been. i would always wake up the next morning and do 30 of intense cardio on a treadmill. usually by the end of the day all the water is gone and so is the bloat. this has worked great for me, splits up the week alittle, keeps me on task. If you have ever seen any of my pics u will notice that it has indeed worked and still does. i go really on carbs on my strcit days, usually between 30g and 60g. protien very high and fat medium. any questions give me a private message i would be glad to answer any questions that i may be able to help in. for those of you to cheat, what have u notcied worked best? how is your diet there after?

I personally dont like using a cheat day. I enjoy eating healthy so it works for me and I dont feel like I am missing anything. There are many other people out their that I think shouldn't use a cheat day. From what I see other people doing they cut about 500cals a day for 6 days then on a sunday or something like that they eat about 2000 extra cals. Mainly from fat and sugar... This leaves you only taking out 1000cals a week from your diet. Plus all this extra cals on sunday are overloading your system and being stored as fat. I personally think it would be better to cut your cals by 200cals per day that is 1400 cals per week lost which is more and your body want store all that extra fat on sunday. I think it is a lot easier to take out 200cals per day than 500cals per day. I feel that doing this you will stay on your diet for longer plus you will feel better not hungry and tired, staying with a diet is were the result will come from. Those are my feelings on a cheat day. But if you need a cheat day to stay on your diet then by all means do it, sticking with something is what makes winners vs. losers. Know what I mean.

Pain.

WHy not just a cheat meal instead of a whole day?

I am the same way as painintheazz ... my idea of a cheat day is getting a couple big plates of Sushi Tuna Rolls - or going to the Panda Express for dinner (ORANGE CHICKEN!) :D Never cared too much about candy and stuff like ice cream...

But the cheat day is a means to keep the thyroid awake and metabolism up - and keep you on diet by giving you a day to look forward to. If it is f'ing you up - maybe you are going to far with it.

Food is just a source of energy and your raw materials for growth and health... realize that everytime you put something in your food processor - I mean mouth... :D

I find that with most I have trained that the cheat day works well... In the begining that day off would be a food marathon ! But by week 4 they were not able to eat the same amounts as they once had .. Then the fats would get to em more and more ... they would eventually, without my prodding, cut down on what they ate and how much.
I would teach them to make the most out of their cheat day.. Not just downing anything and everything, rather to write down their menu of their perfect day of eating. This menu would stimulate their minds to find food that would not simply be empty calories full of crap. They would plan their day's meals. I saw even with this program by the 4th week these meals would start to change into healthier and healthier meals.

But its still about intuitive eating...

Good Luck
MM

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Originally posted by yellows2k
WHy not just a cheat meal instead of a whole day?

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That is a better idea, but still have to be careful. I know some people that crave fast food. A cheat meal of a whopper, jumbo fries and jumbo coke is like a cheat DAY!!! So, chose your cheat meal carefully. I would go and see what the nutrional breakdown is of all that stuff but I am afraid I might puke.. And like warrior said I look at a cheat day as more of a day to get my metabolism back up and running at full speed.

Pain

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Originally posted by yellows2k
WHy not just a cheat meal instead of a whole day?

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That is a better idea, but still have to be careful. I know some people that crave fast food. A cheat meal of a whopper, jumbo fries and jumbo coke is like a cheat day!!! So, shose your cheat meal carefully. I would go and see what the nutrional breakdown is of all that stuff but I am afraid I might puke.. And like warrior said I look at a cheat day as more of a day to get my metabolism back up and running at full speed.

Pain

totally agree, a whole cheat day will kill u , set u back for sure 2 days and then as u said u consistently are dieting harder and harder to get back were u were. everyone is different. i'm italian so crave breads and cheeses pasta and stuff like that. i try to neevr eat pasta and once in a blue moon alfrado pasta which i love. i cheat meal saturday is usually like a turkey sub with mayo and cheese, one slice of pizza and then a small dish of ice cream. believe it or not if i do cardio the next morning for like 30min were u go fast for 2 min and then med for 2min and so on theres hardly any difference in abs face wereever. one thing i have noticed is right after i eat that within prob an hour i can feel my fingers kinda swell from all the salt. is there anything i can do to help that? do u think its just cause all week my soduim is so low and then all the sudden boom all this salt is rinning through my system? anything u can recomend for a sodium sensitive person?

Cheat days are like one step backward with two steps forward. You need a day of extra calories to kick your metabolism in the ass. And your body gets a load of nutrients. Some nutritionist on this board may have different findings - but from my knowledge, your system takes two weeks to adjust to a new diet. If you are on low calories - you will do great, for two weeks. After that time your body will attempt to become more effecient and lower your metabolism. So by taking one or two days (ectomorphs usually opting for the entire weekend, where a endomorph would typically use one day, or one meal) to cheat, you confuse your body and keep it from slowing your metabolism. A way to do it without using dangerous drugs like T3.

If you find you bloat fast from sodium intake - drink more water. Your body will only hold water if it thinks it is at a risk of dehydration. Drink water as often as possible. Non caffenated teas are a excellent way to increase hydration.

Sounds like you got your diet dialed in - your biggest thing is water. More water. Get some bottles waters to keep in your car and for basic convience.

so you think on my cheat day throw water down like crazy?, i was hesistant before cause i did'nt want to retain more, i know that the more water u drink the less u will retain but i don;t know if that the case with me.

now that i think about it, today is sunday, yesterday i had a big ass cheat meal, then i went to a party and there was no water there, nothing but diet ice tea, and i have noticed that even though i did'nt cheat as bad as sometimes i feel more bloat. maybe thats cause of the lack of water i drank

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Originally posted by Keightly
so you think on my cheat day throw water down like crazy?, i was hesistant before cause i did'nt want to retain more, i know that the more water u drink the less u will retain but i don;t know if that the case with me.

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Well... we found the problem. Yes, drink more water or the extra carbs will cause water storage. Carbs = water storage - which is why on Ketogenic diets a rapid weight drop happens from water loss. I can't recall the exact pathway that carbs cause water retention right now... but yes, drink lots of water.

By limiting your water intake your system will suck the fluids out of evrything and then when you do up water intake - the next day, or whenever, more water gain. Which can take a few days to drop.

I made the mistake of eating a lot of beef jerky once (tryng to maintain protein while out and about) - holy shit did I pack it on. I was slamming water like I had been deprived in the desert. It took about 6-7 days to drop it.

so for intance like today, now i am drinking water , because it was restricted last night now that i am drink it is it going to store even more?cause like u said "when you do up water intake - the next day, or whenever, more water gain. Which can take a few days to drop."

do u think taking something the NWB natural water balance would be a beneficial?

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Originally posted by Keightly
so for intance like today, now i am drinking water , because it was restricted last night now that i am drink it is it going to store even more?cause like u said "when you do up water intake - the next day, or whenever, more water gain. Which can take a few days to drop."

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Bottomline, you need to get yourself out of the roller coaster and just keep pounding water. Otherwise your body is looking to hold onto what it can get, and you are constantly trying th shed water during the week, every week - because your cheat day, you keep dehydrating.

so my answer to all this is simpply more water intake. you saying that the cheat meal or whatever obviously takes more water to digest and stuff, if i have none then it hold onto what ever it can as a sort of survival method. thanks for ur help and let me know if i got it right

:thumbsup:

The only time you would ever think of water depletion is just before a competition !

Never go without !!!!

H2O is a MUST !

MM

By the Way !!!!

A cheat day would only be in place with a very strict diet ...

It would be a complete opposite effect if your program wasn't design with this day in place!!!

AND NOT ON AN ATKINS DIET !!!

I dont have the time to explain in detail the reasons why it works to the advantage of the dieter more than just to say the reason carbo loading has been a favored program for the last 30 years...

A person on an appropriate eating program will self regulate by week 4 and learn for themselves (sometimes the hard way) that what they put in their body does have an immediate effect .

I myself make a cheat meal 1 time a week.. So I can go out with my wife or with some friends and not be the GYM FREAK that cant have a good time ...

Intuitive eating !!!

Good Luck !

MM