Cheat meal or cheat day???

[jport1540]

When running a cutting diet, I know it is necesarry to chear a little bit. I was curious though, when cheating, do you have a cheat day or a cheat meal?

[idunk42]

I think a cheat meal should suffice. I think that cheat days may be a bit much and can hinder what you are trying to accomplish.

[UpstateTank]

agreed...cheat meals seem to be the way to go...but when you do have that cheatmeal dont hold back...get that 10oz cheeseburger w/ bacon cheese mayo lettuce tomato onion and a side for frys and dammit while your at it get that monster slice of raspberry cheesecake for dessert

[mwolffey]

look in to "carb refeed" days...better for you than cheating while on a cutting diet imo

[C_Bino]

look in to "carb refeed" days...better for you than cheating while on a cutting diet imo

Agree completely. I dont cheat by most peoples definition. Rather you should have carb load days. For me I guess cheating is when I put sour cream on my yams or some cheese on my egg whites.

Going out and having "cheeseburger w/ bacon cheese mayo lettuce tomato onion and a side for frys and dammit while your at it get that monster slice of raspberry cheesecake for dessert" as UpstateTank suggested is just stupid. In now way is that beneficial to dieting if you are serious about nutrition/bodybuilding. How is cheesecake good at all for you?

The point of "cheating" is to increase calories by some, to push your metabolism to increase to burn these extra calories. Your metabolism then remains increased to help you keep burning. It also keeps your metabolism from slowing down from a constant diet that never changes.

But going and eating ANYTHING in sight on a cheat meal is just taking it overboard and showing a lack of control.

Sure have a hamburger if you need it, or that slice of pizza. But notice how I said hamburger and slice. I didnt pluralize them. And only do it if you really need it and you are at a breaking point so to speak. I mean even Ronnie admits to eating a slice of pizza when he feels he needs it. But eating an entire pizza or whatever is just pointless, your body cant burn it off and in turn stores more bodyfat.

[InsaneInTheMembrane]

I have ONE cheat meal a week (on sunday) when cutting..it works wonders..and like CBino said, don't go over-board..

I am cutting now...last sunday, I had a craving for choc chip cookies so I ate 2 of those along with my dinner (which was a standard "cutting dinner"), the week before it was ice-cream, so I had two scoops and the week before, I craved pizza, so I had 2 slices (thin 'n' crispy)..for me its more about craving control and sanity maintenance....However, I also double up my oatmeal on sundays to load up on good carbs for the coming week...

[chest6]

look in to "carb refeed" days...better for you than cheating while on a cutting diet imo

agreed 100%

[UpstateTank]

C_Bino-
I wouldn't necessarily say my suggestion should be labeled as wrong or "stupid". I usually have a meal like that every 3 weeks. In no way has my approach towards cheat meals negatively affected my progress of my cutting diet. The only side affect is excess water retention the following day which I've found to go away after 1 day. The other 104 meals I eat in that 3 week timeframe keep the calorie deficit balance in my favor. And I guarantee you that having a meal like I suggested does not constitute a lack of control or will. The other 99% of my meals are dead on with my diet right down to the last oz. of chicken and egg white. I can understand why you criticized my suggestion as maybe I did not explain it fully enough. IMHO my approach has worked for perfectly during my cutting but at the same time I see the points you make concerning cheat meals and using them as a way of manipulating your metabolism to optimize fat burning. I dunno I guess thats how I like to do things

[Surfstud18]

haha nice

[timtim]

if you dont compete and are happy with your physique and eat healthy 90% to 95% of the time year round do what you like.

fill life with living. thats a good quote someone posted at elite. dont look back and regret something as ridiculous as not enjoying food when you wanted to.

look at it like this, you eat 6 to 7 times a day. so 6 and 1/2 days you eat perfect. then for 2 meals or whatever on the last 2 meals of the 7th day you go off your diet. not the end of the world and surely doesnt mean you are not serious or 110% committed to the bodybuilding lifestyle. please, commitment? so to be as committed as the pros should i also inject nubain 5 times a day and take 6g of gear a week, in the offseason? thats commitment right there.

fill life with living.

[Lavinco]

So then a cheat week is out of the question then?

[UpstateTank]

ahmen timtim

[boxingbean]

good thread....i wondered that too, i have a FEMALE frenzy so i take one out evry sunday to eat at a restaurant, but then i wont eat nothing else that day, so oatmeal n protein shake in mornin, then another shake at afternoon, then around 5pm or 6, go out to eat, then thas my cheat day, n I LOOK FORWARD TO IT EVRY WEEK !!!!!!!!

[novastepp]

i loved carb loading days. you can do a lot while still being smart. no reason to get crazy. carb loading should satisfy you enough.

[liftin4life]

if you dont compete and are happy with your physique and eat healthy 90% to 95% of the time year round do what you like.

fill life with living. thats a good quote someone posted at elite. dont look back and regret something as ridiculous as not enjoying food when you wanted to.

look at it like this, you eat 6 to 7 times a day. so 6 and 1/2 days you eat perfect. then for 2 meals or whatever on the last 2 meals of the 7th day you go off your diet. not the end of the world and surely doesnt mean you are not serious or 110% committed to the bodybuilding lifestyle. please, commitment? so to be as committed as the pros should i also inject nubain 5 times a day and take 6g of gear a week, in the offseason? thats commitment right there.

fill life with living.

Awesome input. I agree. For the past 6 months, I've eaten strict for 6 days and on day 7, had 3x-6x the normal cal intake eating whatever I've wanted. This didn't prevent me from going from 26-28% fat to 6-8% range in that time period. In fact it may have helped. However, I continue cardio and other training on cheat days to keep circulation up and nutrient turnover high. I notice an increase in metabolism following the cheat DAY. However, one should keep in mind that when nearing the final goal or deadline for that goal, it may be wise to limit cheating to a specific meal or dessert and keep total daily cals the same.

[BIG_T_MC06]

When running a cutting diet, I know it is necesarry to chear a little bit. I was curious though, when cheating, do you have a cheat day or a cheat meal?

IMO no cheat needed, just cycle your carbs every 4-7 days to prevent metabolic rate from dropping.

My last cutting/contest diet was 14 weeks and cheat meals were not a factor, i utilised the carb cycling method 3 to 5 days low carb followed by 1 high carb day.

T

[UpstateTank]

IMO no cheat needed, just cycle your carbs every 4-7 days to prevent metabolic rate from dropping.

My last cutting/contest diet was 14 weeks and cheat meals were not a factor, i utilised the carb cycling method 3 to 5 days low carb followed by 1 high carb day.

T

How much would you vary your carbs when carb cycling? This technique sounds interesting.

[godkilla]

i watched a friend of mine lose 30+lbs with a cheat day every week

[audis4]

Yeah go cheat days!

I swear these days are more important than a lot of things that I can think of right now lol...I know, SAD!!! But when I go to safeway to pick the "crap" food out, you better get outta my path, I'm on a mission!!

I have lost and kept the weight off successfully with my cheat days. Works well for me.

[drivium]

-=NOOB QUESTION INCOMING=-

So how exactly does cycling carbs work? I have very little carbs in my diet.
My diet looks like this:

morning
5 egg whites w/cheese and a can of tuna

mid-morning
shake w/ oats & 6 slices of turkey breast (lunchmeat)

lunch
lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, 2 cans of tuna w/mayo

mid-afternoon
shake w/ oats & 6 slices of turkey breast (lunchmeat) & string cheese

dinner
2 chicken breasts

before bed
shake w/flax

How could I cycle the carbs w/ this diet? I seem to have hit a plateau and my fat isn't budging at this point - it's been at a stand still for like 3 weeks. I have a carb day once every 2 weeks. And I follow this SAME diet EVERY FRIGGIN DAY! haha What should I change? And how can I cycle my carbs based on this. THX!

[TR'05]

IMO the whole cheat debate is blown out of proportion. It obviously depends upon personal goals and what each individual wants to accomplish. Preping for a contest is one thing. Obviously you would want to be as strict as possible with no all out cheat days/meals.

As far as the individual who wants to simply cut up nicely, I would say that in no way should one worry about a cheat meal, or even cheat day/night/whatever, that occurs once in a blue moon. Obviously an all out binge is going to be counterproductive in the short term (ie, the next few days), but months of dedication, consistency, and motivation will not all be lost due to "falling off the wagon" once and a while.

In my own personal experience a cheat day once in a couple weeks is more for sanity than anything else.

Just my $0.02, though.

[audis4]

well put TR'05! Don't sweat the small stuff...give yourself a break and rather than ordering a chicken salad, order a barbeque chicken sandwich with dessert (one example of a cheat meal). This will give yourself a much more balanced lifestyle as well.

[BIG_T_MC06]

How much would you vary your carbs when carb cycling? This technique sounds interesting.

On low carb days i go around 15-25% below baseline carb count for maintenence (e.g base line carbs 200g for example low carb day around 150g)

High carb days are anywhere from 20-40% above normal levels. Still experimenting with the high carb days to find the limits, but works really well i am losing bf for my comp and still look full.

Try it bro, worked wonders for me when i stopped losing b/f, this way you have no excuse to cheat either!

T