Taking a Cheat Week

[beenie]

Ok, let's not be ridiculous. I don't think an otherwise nutritionally conscious person taking a week off is going to lead to a lifetime of obesity. Maybe you have a willpower of steel, but most people need to take a break every once in a while.

I guess the problem I have with it is that I look at diet as a way of life. Once in a while you go off because of something out of your control. But I don't understand actually planning it. I am sure that every person reading this is going to yell at me, but to me it represents a lack of control and a lack of sticking to obtaining an objective.

Diesel_225 doesnt say what kind of shape he is in now and doesnt give many personal statistics. If he is 6% body fat, you are right, it woun't make much difference. If he is 30% bf it woun't make much difference either. But If he is at 9% he could easily go to 13% in a week. Know how long that takes to get back? My guess is that most of the members here don't - a few do, but most never see it. My experience has been that most people who are really dedicated do not cheat, and that cheaters rarely stick to a plan, but maybe each of you who says "no prob" are either in such great shape that you have no idea what its like for those of us who must strugle to stay in great shape is like OR are in average or below shape and have no isea what it takes to be truely lean. I maybe wrong, but that's just what I think.

[dIeSeL_225]

Diesel_225 doesnt say what kind of shape he is in now and doesnt give many personal statistics. If he is 6% body fat, you are right, it woun't make much difference. If he is 30% bf it woun't make much difference either. But If he is at 9% he could easily go to 13% in a week. Know how long that takes to get back? My guess is that most of the members here don't - a few do, but most never see it. My experience has been that most people who are really dedicated do not cheat, and that cheaters rarely stick to a plan, but maybe each of you who says "no prob" are either in such great shape that you have no idea what its like for those of us who must strugle to stay in great shape is like OR are in average or below shape and have no isea what it takes to be truely lean. I maybe wrong, but that's just what I think.

Im in decent shape at 210 at about 11%BF 5'11 and about 5 weeks ago I was at 225 at 15%BF, I've have been eaten healthy for the past 2 years but never really strict and within the past 5 weeks I have been really strict with my deit and I took the approach of not mixing my carbs and fats and only having carbs post workout and I'm seeing amazing results, I never plan on taking a cheat week Im very dedicated to what I want to do(my goal is to be at 5% BF), I was just wondering what all you other guys do if you take a break from deiting or not.

[beenie]

Im in decent shape at 210 at about 11%BF 5'11 and about 5 weeks ago I was at 225 at 15%BF, I've have been eaten healthy for the past 2 years but never really strict and within the past 5 weeks I have been really strict with my deit and I took the approach of not mixing my carbs and fats and only having carbs post workout and I'm seeing amazing results, I never plan on taking a cheat week Im very dedicated to what I want to do(my goal is to be at 5% BF), I was just wondering what all you other guys do if you take a break from deiting or not.

First of all, I think it is really amazing that you could go from 15% to 11% in five weeks. I don't know if you can get to 5%. Most bodies need some level of fat to survive and people often get sick when they go much below 6% (or so I am told).

At 210 and 11% bf at yer height, you must be really big - obviously. So maybe your body reacts differently from mine.

So tell me when you say cheat, what exactly do you have in mind? Are you talking about having a cupcake one day or do you mean gourging yourself on pizza, beer, and potato chips for a week?

Again, my initial reaction was based on my experiance with other people, and I just haven't seen very many peoiple that can drop body fat percentage that quickly. By the way, are you SURE that both readings were correct, because I can easily see dropping 15 lbs in 5 weeks - that part is easy, but usually as the body gets closer to single digits it becomes more resistent.

[dIeSeL_225]

First of all, I think it is really amazing that you could go from 15% to 11% in five weeks. I don't know if you can get to 5%. Most bodies need some level of fat to survive and people often get sick when they go much below 6% (or so I am told).

At 210 and 11% bf at yer height, you must be really big - obviously. So maybe your body reacts differently from mine.

So tell me when you say cheat, what exactly do you have in mind? Are you talking about having a cupcake one day or do you mean gourging yourself on pizza, beer, and potato chips for a week?

Again, my initial reaction was based on my experiance with other people, and I just haven't seen very many peoiple that can drop body fat percentage that quickly. By the way, are you SURE that both readings were correct, because I can easily see dropping 15 lbs in 5 weeks - that part is easy, but usually as the body gets closer to single digits it becomes more resistent.

I did the readings myself maybe they were not exact but should have been pretty close, I know definitely had to drop a least 3%(I can see it as well as many others can) and that 15%BF was taken at the begining of November, I didnt get strict with my deit til December I dont know if my bodyfat had drop much between that time as I would have noticed.
What I meant by a cheat week was just not being as strict with your meals and maybe mixing your carbs and fats stuff like that and maybe having some junk food(unhealthy foods) for a meal, but nothing like eating like total **** for every meal all week.

[beenie]

I did the readings myself maybe they were not exact but should have been pretty close, I know definitely had to drop a least 3%(I can see it as well as many others can) and that 15%BF was taken at the begining of November, I didnt get strict with my deit til December I dont know if my bodyfat had drop much between that time as I would have noticed.
What I meant by a cheat week was just not being as strict with your meals and maybe mixing your carbs and fats stuff like that and maybe having some junk food(unhealthy foods) for a meal, but nothing like eating like total **** for every meal all week.

Well you know your body better than I do. If I have half a cup of nuts, I consider it a cheat day. I'll do it too, now and again, and I didn't for years. I find I that cheat takes me about 3 or 4 days to work off.

Mixing carbs and fats isn't even an issue for my diet, so I can't respond specifically.

At any rate, I am glad that you, are not going to pig out, but just relax a bit. Whatevery you do, best of luck. If the modications are minor for convenience, I suspect the negative effects will be minor too.

[Jackman]

From Beenie"Well you know your body better than I do. If I have
half a cup of nuts, I consider it a cheat day. I'll do it too, now and again, and I didn't for years. I find I that cheat takes me about 3 or 4 days to work off."


doesnt a cheat day once a week actually help you so you dont get used to your diet?

[beenie]

From Beenie"Well you know your body better than I do. If I have
half a cup of nuts, I consider it a cheat day. I'll do it too, now and again, and I didn't for years. I find I that cheat takes me about 3 or 4 days to work off."


doesnt a cheat day once a week actually help you so you dont get used to your diet?

Personally, I try to avoid cheat days.