Are cheat days a GOOD thing?

[lrg&inCHARGE]

I've read some posts on people dieting 300-500 calories below their BMR and incorporating a cheat day every 2 weeks to "shock" thier system. Is this actually a good thing to do? A guy "victor" says he lost 30 pounds in 2 months on a diet like this, and on his cheat days he went crazy, quadruple his BMR. How effective are these "cheat" days to a diet, does your body get used to the calorie defeciency and make you slow down losing weight?

 

[asianlover]

yes they are. this will keep your body from getting to used to the diet. just keep it to about once every two weeks, other wise you just wont be dieting.

 

[monica15]

I agree. They keep you focused the rest of the time.

 

[JKurz1]

not necessary.......

 

[VictorBR]

I've read some posts on people dieting 300-500 calories below their BMR and incorporating a cheat day every 2 weeks to "shock" thier system. Is this actually a good thing to do? A guy "victor" says he lost 30 pounds in 2 months on a diet like this, and on his cheat days he went crazy, quadruple his BMR. How effective are these "cheat" days to a diet, does your body get used to the calorie defeciency and make you slow down losing weight?

>>>> I think that you are talking about me , right ? LOL

Maybe you don't need to quadruple your BMR like I did sometimes ( not all the times ) , but you SURE NEED to take one day every 7-20 days to eat high calorie meals all day long . I have read it several times that your metabolism slows down after 7-15 days of strict dieting , caloric deficit and this will offset this problem .


Victor

 

[lrg&inCHARGE]

sounds good... i'm going to go for 3 large pizza's every 2 weeks HAHA

 

[VictorBR]

sounds good... i'm going to go for 3 large pizza's every 2 weeks HAHA

>>>> One day I ate a full plate of nachos and cheese and beef , a few hours later 8 pieces of flat chicken , cheese quesadilla , later the day one large pizza + melted fries + 2 cheesecakes for desert

And the next day my waist was still the same


Victor

 

[lrg&inCHARGE]

Cheat days would be great, I miss eating all that food, but I'm still not convinced that it's a good thing. Does anyone have studies or anything that shows that dieting at say a major calorie deficiency (500-700 calories) for over 2 weeks will eventually slow down your weight loss? Anyone else use cheat days to "trick" your body into not slowing down metabolism due to calorie deficiency? Would like to hear from some bigger guys like victor.

 

[VictorBR]

bro you don't need to go that high , you can go with 5000-6000 cals , QUALITY cals , like good carbs , good protein , good fats and you will be ok , actually it is even better to do this way .

I go for the junk food because I simply can't live without them , so every 14 days I would have to go for it .


Victor

 

[VictorBR]

But once I start my cycle , I will probably go with another strategy , like 5000-7000 cals , good stuff , maybe high fat foods here and there like pizza , but NO SUGAR WHATSOEVER . I am gonna be even more strict when I start my cycle


Victor

 

[JKurz1]

just had an awesome cheat

1 large pizza with mushrooms, peppers, peperroni

1 large pizza with peperroni, beef

(45 minutes later- ordered another pizza so i had to wait lol)

1 large pizza with everything. Chicago style thick pizza.

1 whole domonics french bread with half a jar of natural chunky peanut butter spread inside. 2 packets of splenda as well.

(2 hours later)
4 cups of Oats (eaten uncooked)
3 cups of skim milk
5 tbsp of Peanut Butter (natural)
10 packets of splenda
2 tbsp of honey

and also (3 hours later)
10 pieces of fried chicken
3 KFC Twisters
3 servings of those awesome Potato wedges from KFC

Good day. Very very good day.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Starting tomorrow I am gonna schedule a cheat day once every 2 weeks. That's 13 days of perfect eating and 1 day of totally shit eating lol. I think the 13 days will easily win out.

Tomorrow's schedule will probably include:

Ezell's chicken strips, roll, mashed potatoes and gravy and ranch dipping sauce, Dick's cheese burger, frie and chocolate milk shake, pepperoni olive and mushroom pizza with coke, Ivar's fish and chip with coke.

That's 4 sizeable meals plus I'll have 2-3 protein shakes inbetween. Total and complete 1 day gluttony. Basically my favorite foods. My favorite crap that I avoid like the plague now.

I think it will keep me sane though and in the long run allow me to eat perfect 99% of the time and feel good about that and the other 1% to stay sane and satisfy my taste buds and psychological food craving.

Plus it will boost my metabolism abit. Last time I ate higher calories was about 1.5 weeks ago when I had 2 back to back nights of home made penne pasta and cheese macaroni for dinner. After those 2 days I was frickin ravenous for a couple days which is a good sign my metabolism went up a little.

 

[VictorBR]

LOL I can't wait for my cheat day , it is going to next sunday , so I am 7 days out ...


I am going crazy this time ....


Pizzas , cheesecakes , melted cheese fries , vanilla milkshakes ( TONS OF THEM ) , mexican food ( nachos , quesadillas ) , and then , probably another pizza and more milkshakes RIGHT before going to BED LOL !

I know FOR SURE that it is not the best way to do it , to take in LOAD of SATURATED FATS AND SUGAR at the same time , LOL , but it serves 2 purposes : shock your metabolism and keep you sane .


Victor

 

[mm107]

My opinion on Cheat Days? I love them. In Fact I have cheatweekends. I am very restrictrive on Diet, But on the weekends i lighten up and dont kill myself. Even though i cheat on the weekends. They(for the most part) are still good meals. No junk food, pizza, etc. Maybe a dinner at a restuarant with foods i normally wouldnt eat. I still try to never splurge and munch out a bag od chips or any fatnening snacks like that just for the pure fact i dont need them or even have a desire for them.

But cheat days keep you sane bro. Dont have planned cheat days, i feel when you just need to have one, have one, as long as your diet is on key and perfect reward yourself

 

[kpdus]

Hi,

What's the average calorie increase on cheat days (as a percentage of BMR)?

How long does it usually take to lose the gained water weight? 2-3 days?

Thanks,
kpdus

 

[VictorBR]

I would say at least 2x BMR .

SO if you have a 2.500 BMR , you take at least 5.000 cals

and you don't gain significat water in ONE day , at least I don't

Victor

 

[NorgePrecision]

When I go to the movies once a week I eat either a box of dots or a box of junior mints and some popcorn with butter. That is my cheat day. I wash it down with a large diet coke. I go with my girl so we split the popcorn and diet coke. It is so good.