Cheat days

someday2010

After goin low carb for the last 6 days it decided to have a cheat day but Ive binged like crazy on carbs like pasta and brown bread. They never tasted so sweet after having hardly no carbs in 6 days!

Question is in peoples experience do cheat days help where trying to lose fat? Research on the net says it does but in reality has it helped people on here?

tHE vAGGABOND

With cheat days you have to be sensible at the same time, if you have 10,000 calories on your cheat day you may as well not bother the diet for rest of the week

But I think its important for me, as I know I can have a few pints or go out for a meal with family or friends and not beat myself up about it. Indeed I think it should almost be mandatory, so you can relax once a week or whatever and exhale..

I always make an effort to be extra good the days following my cheat days and do a bit more in the gym etc

someday2010

I reckon id be max 500 to 700 kcals over the mainatenance calories. Id binge in the morning and afternoon and taper back for the evening

I find coming to the end of the week my interest and determination really falls off but if I have a cheat day I really focus on the diet and training for the next few days.

Jwacqui

I have been losing weight for the last year and a half and have always had a treat day the day of weigh in.

I literally have whatever I crave and sometimes I do go a bit over board but so far I am down 67lb and could not continue losing weight without that treat day. I really look forward to it.

Some people say it hinders weight loss but I don't think so, I'm down nearly 5stone and yes at this point my weight loss has slowed down and I need to up the game at this point but I will still have my treat day.

If I am craving a chinese during the week or a takeaway I will wait till treat day, I always head out with my mates and it's just a day where I have a break. I think it really helps me mentally.

Khannie

Jwacqui wrote: »

so far I am down 67lb

That is flipping amazing. Fair play to you.

Big fan of maintenance and / or cheat days here. I think they keep you sane.

Jwacqui

Khannie wrote: »

That is flipping amazing. Fair play to you.

Big fan of maintenance and / or cheat days here. I think they keep you sane.

Thanks!

Yeah got to agree, I would go insane thinking I couldn't splurge! I'd much rather lose weight slower and have a life enjoying myself.

Sapsorrow

Ehm suprised no one pointed it out yet but you shouldn't be having binge days when you're low carbing, everytime you do it you're just setting yourself back two days and are gonna have to go through the carb flu all over again it makes no sense at all!

jdivision

I'm down 80 in 27 months and find it depends on what you eat. If you eat high sugary foods on a cheat day I find it's hard not to afterwards - things like pizza (gf in my case) seem to cause less cravings afterwards.

S.R.F.C.

If you can do without them then sure you might as well, others need them to keep them sane, i know i did, and it's a reward for putting in the good work during the week/month/whatever, although i don't like the sound of that carb flu Sapsorrow's on about.

Sapsorrow

If you're trying to be low carb you're also going to keep reinstating any sugar/carb addiction everytime you binge/cheat ultimately setting yourself up for failure down the line. When you do low carb properly it doesn't take long until your blood sugar and appetite stabilizes and you don't get cravings anymore and your taste buds become increasingly sensitive to very mildly sweet foods like fruits. Binges or cheat days are only going to set you back one way or another whether it's due to undoing ketosis or constantly reinforcing your sugar addiction.

dudara

If you're going to do low-carb, then you need to do is consistently for at least 2 weeks at the start, if not for longer. If you binge after 6 days, then your body has not yet fully adjusted to the carb-free diet and you undo all your work. You really may as well not bother.

Low-carb is a great way of watching your weight etc but you have to commit, at least at the start. Later on, once you have adjusted, an odd carby meal is OK.

Kimia

How many grams of carbs is low carb though? My endless quest to find out continues..

I had a 'cheat day' recently but after tracking I only went over by about 600 cals (to about 2200 in total) and up to 100g of carbs. I usually restrict to about >60g.

Would this set me back to glycogen burning rather than fat burning? I haven't experienced any 'carb flu'..

dudara

Carb-flu will generally come around when you cut way back - typically to under 20g a day.

60g of carb a day is high - to me, at least.

Kimia

I couldn't do under 20g a day, it's far too restrictive for me. I've lost 10lbs by doing the >60g a day but I'm wondering if 100g is high enough to kick me out of ketosis.. does anyone know?

Obvo i mean 60g of net carbs, not actual weight of bread for example.. Is that what you mean Dudara? It's hard to fathom that you stay under 20g a day - that's hard core atkins right? (fair play)

dudara

Kimia wrote: »

Obvo i mean 60g of net carbs, not actual weight of bread for example.. Is that what you mean Dudara? It's hard to fathom that you stay under 20g a day - that's hard core atkins right? (fair play)

When I eat low-carb, I go for 20g a day (net) for a few weeks or several days. When adjusted, I tend to relax that to about 40g.

20g a day isn't actually that hard - I have a wheat intolerance, so I naturally tend to avoid a lot of carb-sources anyway.

Macha

So would a better low-carb cheat day involve increased calories but still keeping the carbs low? I can imagine being happy with an extra helping of my low-carb cheesecake. 2.5g/slice but pretty calorie-intensive..mm..

neuro-praxis

I strongly disagree with cheat days, but that is because I am someone who struggles with binging. Cheat-days were for me just an excuse to binge. I found in particular that Weight Watchers encouraged this with its "banking" system of points. It took me a long time and a lot of soul-searching to break that cycle of binging. I believe cheat days get a hold on a lot of us and that is what drives us. If treats is what ultimately drives us then failure is imminent (for me anyway). I used to think I can't face life if I can never have a binge again! But now I think I can't face life if it is driven by binging!

But then, I've also given up calorie counting. Some days I eat more than I need, some days I eat less. It balances out. The key thing is increasing the metabolic rate of the body with very strong and consistent nourishment with lots of wholefoods, and regular exercise. And not stressing about size, or celebration dinners. Or lumps!