To Cheat… or Not to Cheat

To Cheat or Not To Cheat
By Josephine Dalton cPT, cSN
All Rights Reserved.
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I get many emails concerning the inconsistent suggestions from various health experts regarding the use of “Cheat Days” whether they are necessary or required to get lose body fat, whether you can get leaner without them, whether you’ll get better outcomes if you miss them, and whether the diet works better with or without “junk food” on the menu.

#1. No, diets do not perform better without cheat days. This is not controversial at all. The research has clearly & undoubtedly shown that diets with extreme limitations make your body less efficient at burning fat. The “master” hormone leptin plummets, the metabolic procedure managing hypothyroid testosterone T3 and T4 take a nosedive, the hunger revitalizing hormonal agent ghrelin skyrockets, the visceral fat boosting hormonal agent cortisol progressively increases and BMR decreases with every passing day,

You can NOT get around those facts without improving your fat and carbs consumption, and more frequently the more lean you get. Your body is a magnificent energy conserving machine and it cannot stand diets. Unless you veer from your eating plan at least once a week, you will only make the fat burning process less efficient.

On the contrary, if you don’t mind exercising A LOT, then yes:

#2. Of course, you can get trimmer without cheat days. It will be emotionally agonizing. You will need to exercise more strenuously. You will get no emotional comfort from the problems of dieting; actually, with each day and weeks time that moves by you’ll dig yourself into a metabolic abyss and you’ll need to train tirelessly to get yourself out of. It will deplete you, both physically & spiritually. You will dislike yourself, and probably everyone around you. Basically, life will suck!  But it can be done.  Essentially, if you want to diet without the use of leptin and metabolism enhancing cheat days, you could very well be left with insane, absurd, overzealous methods in order to get slender.

“Three a Days” (a term used in the bodybuilding industry to depict the 3 workouts a day in order to achieve extra low body fat levels; morning cardio, afternoon weight training and evening cardio) and an diet comprised almost entirely of grilled chicken breast, brown rice and fresh vegetables…. and more training on fewer calories and less energy for the rest of life. “Eat, train, sleep… repeat.” That would be your entire life. Might as well enter Ms.Olympia!

But if that’s how you want to obtain your leanest condition then more power to you. Competitive bodybuilders and fitness models follow this approach and it’s common knowledge that grumpiness is to be expected and all too often, brain farts and emotional outbursts and attributed to “low carb day” exclamations.

Of course, you could just sneak off for a slice of pizza or a plate of Hooter wings
and just enjoy a moment of bliss, but in reality, could you do this with control? Or without guilt? Do you honestly think this end of the cheating spectrum could work for you? There is a more sound approach, but pizza and wings does sound better, if you can just accept the cheat for what it is, and start over fresh next meal.

#3. Now, does it have to be pizza and wings? Not at all, but a higher fat, higher glycemic carbohydrate cheat day is what has been proven by nutritional research to reset your baseline metabolism or BMR. If you want to obtain that via maltodextrin meal replacement drinks and fats consisting of MCTs, like coconut oil, you most certainly could. The pizza and wings sounds tastier, but so does a chocolate protein shake.

So, now you have better knowledge to make a more rational choice on whether you’re going to incorporate cheat days or meals in your weight loss program enroute to that bikini (or speedo) worthy body.

f you have a more masochistic disposition and prefer the deprivation route and have little respect for science, by all means, cheat not! If on the other hand you’re someone who loves better performance, realistic outcomes and occasional sinful foods, you’ll probably want to do some Vegas style cheating.

“Ah decisions, decisions!”