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Unfortunately, a lot of people who simply can't stand the rigor and stress of dieting resort to cheat days. They take one day a week and eat everything and anything they want and believe it actually helps them lean down faster or more effectively. I think you have to be really careful with cheat days because, for a lot of people, cheat days hold them back and prevent them from getting lean.
To get leaner, you have to reduce your calories. Obviously, this means you have to eat less dietary fat and carbohydrates. After approximately fourteen days of dieting, the body begins to slow its metabolic rate- the amount of calories it burns in any given day. This is a defense mechanism and an adaptation to eating fewer calories. When you eat fewer calories, eventually you will burn fewer calories. It follows that this slowing process starts at the completion of week two, which, means cheating before two weeks is up is a waste of time and prevents you from getting leaner.
At two weeks, you have to evaluate how many calories you really need to give your body the boost it needs to prevent a slowdown in metabolism. That is going to vary from person to person but for most people, the answer is about an extra 500- 700 calories a day, for one to two days. In other words, after dieting for two weeks, you can suspend the diet for one to two days and eat an additional 500-700 calories; the majority should come from carbohydrates.
But Chris, why carbohydrates? Largely, the metabolic slowdown that the body takes in response to dieting seems to be highly correlated with carbohydrates. When you eat less, you eventually burn fewer calories and carbohydrate deprivation appears to be the main reason the body begins its lowering of its metabolism. When you temporarily consume 500-700 more carbohydrates than usual (which is equivalent to 125 to 175 grams), the body responds by reversing the slowdown in metabolism. In theory, you should be able to last another two weeks before having another cheat day but that time frame is not chiseled into stone. I would use the bathroom scale as a helpful tool. If you are losing weight with no real drop in strength or size, you really do not need cheat days. They are overrated. In this case, you do not need cheat day as everything is going fine. You are losing weight and the mirror indicates that you are keeping your size. Strength wise; if you are staying strong in the gym, that's always an indicator that the metabolism is not slowing down. On the other hand, if you are struggling to lose weight, it could be that you do need a cheat day to nudge the metabolism. The idea is to use the cheat day to keep your metabolism from falling into this backwards state where it fights tooth and nail to hold onto its body fat. In this situation, where you actually eat less but fail to drop any weight, the problem is often that the body is really good at jumping into a slow metabolic state. Here, a cheat day every fourteen to seventeen days is highly recommended. When you eat fewer calories but fail to lose weight, that's an indication that your body tends to quickly fall into a state where it slows its metabolism rather significantly in response to eating less. To keep it from quickly falling into this slowing state, where fat loss becomes extremely difficult, you'll need the cheat day.
To get leaner, you have to reduce your calories. Obviously, this means you have to eat less dietary fat and carbohydrates. After approximately fourteen days of dieting, the body begins to slow its metabolic rate- the amount of calories it burns in any given day. This is a defense mechanism and an adaptation to eating fewer calories. When you eat fewer calories, eventually you will burn fewer calories. It follows that this slowing process starts at the completion of week two, which, means cheating before two weeks is up is a waste of time and prevents you from getting leaner.
At two weeks, you have to evaluate how many calories you really need to give your body the boost it needs to prevent a slowdown in metabolism. That is going to vary from person to person but for most people, the answer is about an extra 500- 700 calories a day, for one to two days. In other words, after dieting for two weeks, you can suspend the diet for one to two days and eat an additional 500-700 calories; the majority should come from carbohydrates.
But Chris, why carbohydrates? Largely, the metabolic slowdown that the body takes in response to dieting seems to be highly correlated with carbohydrates. When you eat less, you eventually burn fewer calories and carbohydrate deprivation appears to be the main reason the body begins its lowering of its metabolism. When you temporarily consume 500-700 more carbohydrates than usual (which is equivalent to 125 to 175 grams), the body responds by reversing the slowdown in metabolism. In theory, you should be able to last another two weeks before having another cheat day but that time frame is not chiseled into stone. I would use the bathroom scale as a helpful tool. If you are losing weight with no real drop in strength or size, you really do not need cheat days. They are overrated. In this case, you do not need cheat day as everything is going fine. You are losing weight and the mirror indicates that you are keeping your size. Strength wise; if you are staying strong in the gym, that's always an indicator that the metabolism is not slowing down. On the other hand, if you are struggling to lose weight, it could be that you do need a cheat day to nudge the metabolism. The idea is to use the cheat day to keep your metabolism from falling into this backwards state where it fights tooth and nail to hold onto its body fat. In this situation, where you actually eat less but fail to drop any weight, the problem is often that the body is really good at jumping into a slow metabolic state. Here, a cheat day every fourteen to seventeen days is highly recommended. When you eat fewer calories but fail to lose weight, that's an indication that your body tends to quickly fall into a state where it slows its metabolism rather significantly in response to eating less. To keep it from quickly falling into this slowing state, where fat loss becomes extremely difficult, you'll need the cheat day.
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