Can someone explain to me the science behind the following behind refeed/cheating

**dirkmcgirk** · 01-20-2015, 10:27 AM

If I am on a 2500 calorie cut diet for several weeks and have a cheat day of 6000-9000 calories in the 4th week why won't i gain 3 pounds of fat as a result of this cheat day. if a pound is 3500cals and i eat twice that how is it i come out unscathed with the exception of added water weight for a day or two? Is the body not processing all the food i ate that particular day?

**hawk14dl** · 01-20-2015, 11:07 AM

I don't think the idea is to 4x your calorie intake.

More like to add in carbs to bring you over maintenance.

The idea of a refeed is to convince your body that you aren't in starvation (survival) mode. That way, your body doesn't start eating away at lean mass.

If you simply enter a caloric deficit and stay 100% true to it, your body will either adjust, or enter survival mode.

Such is my understanding

**hawk14dl** · 01-20-2015, 11:09 AM

Refeed and cheat day are different btw. They can be the same, but technically different.

A cheat day is just that, to allow yourself to indulge so that you don't get bored and hate yourself

**Docd187123** · 01-20-2015, 11:27 AM

A cheat day is an excuse for someone to pig out bc their diet is overly restrictive.

A refeed is a way of manipulating certain hormones like leptin, ghrelin, thyroid hormones, etc bc of what happens during dieting.

**-Horus-** · 01-20-2015, 11:32 AM

Cheat days are great for cutting. I feel it boosts the body for days, and it's nice to have a day you just enjoy a lot of foods you like or avoid day to day. I love it personally and found better fat loss with 1-2 cheat days a week while carb cycling and watching cals the rest of the time.

**Docd187123** · 01-20-2015, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by -Horus-

Cheat days are great for cutting. I feel it boosts the body for days, and it's nice to have a day you just enjoy a lot of foods you like or avoid day to day. I love it personally and found better fat loss with 1-2 cheat days a week while carb cycling and watching cals the rest of the time.

Or you could just simply include those foods as a part of your normal diet and not have to cheat.

**dirkmcgirk** · 01-20-2015, 11:37 AM

But my question is why does a person gain the 2-3lbs from eating all those calories in one day?

**Back In Black** · 01-20-2015, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by dirkmcgirk

But my question is why does a person gain the 2-3lbs from eating all those calories in one day?

Weigh the food before you eat it. I bet it weighs 2-3 lbs and you won't poop it out straight away so you'll be full of shit. And water.

**Docd187123** · 01-20-2015, 11:51 AM

Bc the thermic effect of food from a mixed meal is roughly 10% but can vary. So right off the bat you're not really eating as many excess calories as you think bc some of the calories will go towards digesting the food you ate.

If you're dieting down it means your glycogen stores aren't full so some of the excess calories will go to filling glycogen reserves.

If you're dieting down you're not gaining much muscle but when you overeat some of the calories will go towards building muscle.

Several more reasons but that's not to say you cannot get fat during this period. The example you have is quite extreme also. If you're dieting at 2500cals there's no need for a 9000cal day

**Marc114** · 01-20-2015, 11:52 AM

There are several reasons why you wouldn't gain the extra pounds after that amount of calories. For one , there is a limit to the amount of any nutrient you can process and absorb. 2 , if you were already in a calorie deficit your metabolism had already slowed down to use the limited calories more efficiently , when you quadrupled the amount of caloric intake , you kicked your metabolism into overdrive. Also , you are burning calories as you are digesting that huge amount of food. There are probably several other factors influencing this, people on here that are way more knowledgeable than me on these things will be able to explain it a lot better than I can.