Cheat days?

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posted by Anonymous

I've been cutting for the past 31 days and things are going great! However, in those 31 days i haven't had a single cheat day. Every thing i ate was planned and accounted for. How important are cheat days? i've heard the usual theory that a cheat day once a week will keep my metabolism high but how important are they really. Also what about a cheat day once every two weeks or once a month. I really dont wanna have a cheat day as i know i will feel like shit after eating garbage.

posted by ThePrez

When I first started working out, I was using the Body For Life program. THey advocated that sunday was to be my cheat day. THey didn't, however, give any guidelines. I took that and ran with it. From the time I awoke, until the time I went to sleep, it was a full-on, no holds barred free for all. I would eat whatever I wanted, and as much of it as I could cram down. Ice cream, pizza, McD's, etc. I don't think there was one day I didn't puke at night either on purpose to settle my stomach, or naturally. I felt horrible on Monday. Towards Wednesday I'd start to feel better, but then I'd start craving the sweets again...and by Friday/Saturday I was a crackhead fiening for Sunday morning. I was still able to see good results, though I went through 2 BFL cycles (6 mos.) before I was happy.

I don't do this anymore. I realized that I was doing more harm than good. By the time my body was able to detoxify from Sunday, it was Wed or Thurs which only gave me about 3-4 'clean' days a week. I also notice now that I don't crave junk food nearly as bad since I've eliminated my crazy Sundays.

I still think a cheat meal or a 'refeed day' is important. Just keep it somewhat clean, or at least have some kind of self-control. There's a lot of info out there supporting either side of this argument. this is just what I've observed.

posted by 2Guns_old

In my opinion cheat meals are more important when you are cutting with a low carb diet. I don't mean the hardcore ketogenic diets that are aimed at getting your ass into ketosis low carb type either. In my case, i seem to loose fat better with diets where I consume no more than 150 gs of carbs a day. After consuming that # of carbs for a few days my body will just tell me okay we need more carbs today. This is what everyone calls a refeed which is aimed at filling our muscles back up with glycogen. I don't eat pizza or crap like that. The point is to restore glycogen stores so carbs are the most important thing in the cheat meal/day. I don't even look at what I do as a cheat since I know my body needs it. I'll just eat more oatmeal, rice, or even pasta and not worry about it because I know I need it.

Now if you're cutting with a moderate to high carbs diet(which I don't beleive in. From my personal experience), I think a cheat meal would still help you out by getting your metabolism running again.

posted by Jules

I keep my carbs to around 40g a day - as I am trying to get rid of an excess fat load of around 4k. I will up after I am at my right 'tape measure' size. Anyway, I find I have a cheat day every two weeks or so. On a weekend. I just have more rice, oats and fruit than normal. During the week I am strict on food intact and hardly eat out, so make up a bit for that at weekends, with a bit of wine, plus the occasional naughties, extra whipped cream mocha with a bit of cake etc.. I then drop my carbs right down to 20g for the next two days and drop of a lb or so. I dont gain any when I cheat but it seems to kick start the burning. Plus I think it gives the Liver and Kidneys a chance to chill out and refresh the sugar levels in my body. I also do my hardest work out one day after a cheat day - F.Delts, Pecs and Tri's. The sugar seems to help my stamina stay up for the hard work out, so I get to press more.

All in all its up to you. Your body will know if it really missing something. Go with it. But don't binge

Jules

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