Is "cheating" only related to the KETO diet?

[JohnGafnea]

Or do lots of diets have a designated "cheat" time every 3-4 days? The only reason I drew that conclusion was because lately every post is about cheating and/or the KETO diet. So I was thinking they might be related. Also does cheat mean to eat what you really want (in moderation), or just eat more of the good things you already eat?

 

[YellowJacket]

Cheating every 4 days is like a monk popping Viagra....its kind of pointless. Thats too much cheating. I cheat once every 10 says, some once a week. Its ever how much you have a tolerance for and the amount you know wont destroy your diet. This is very common with Keto diets as a carb load. I certainly recommend it and I think the Keto guru's will agree. This is something Bobo and WYD02 could cover much better than myself, but cheating is eating moderatly healthy foods in moderation. Sounds odd, but thats how it is. Cheating isnt loading up on gummy bears and ice cream for 24 hours, its allowing yourself to 're-feed' on slight more carbohydrate rich foods.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

No, its definetly not for only keto diets. One big advantage of any type of refeed is to restore leptin levels to normal. Levels will consistently drop with any type of caloric deficit and the only way to get them back to normal is to eat. Comsume starchy carbs to accomplish this but don't go crayz on it. I usually go for maintenence calories and remove most of the fat in my diet. As for gummy bears and candy, I actually eat those during a refeed but I don't go nuts with them. The idea is to have high GI carbs that create insulin spikes which will refill glycogen stores, raise letpin levels, and contribute to muscle repair. This is good for any type of diet but its much less frequent with your basic 40/40/20 split type diets.

 

[bigliftsCNU]

Cheating every 4 days is like a monk popping Viagra....its kind of pointless. Thats too much cheating. I cheat once every 10 says, some once a week. Its ever how much you have a tolerance for and the amount you know wont destroy your diet. This is very common with Keto diets as a carb load. I certainly recommend it and I think the Keto guru's will agree. This is something Bobo and WYD02 could cover much better than myself, but cheating is eating moderatly healthy foods in moderation. Sounds odd, but thats how it is. Cheating isnt loading up on gummy bears and ice cream for 24 hours, its allowing yourself to 're-feed' on slight more carbohydrate rich foods.

LOL!!!! good joke

like YJ said.. cheating every 4 days or so is really not good, and defeats the whole point of dieting in the first place. like YJ i usually have a cheat day every 10-14 days... but there are sometimes where i can only go a week( not very often) without having one. its about willpower. but on your cheat day, its all about moderation. and like YL said.. its not about loading up on crap foods.... on a cheat day.. i will basically stay on my diet... but if i want to have a small bowl of ice cream, i will... or if i want to have some gummy worms instead of the sugar free gummy worms, i will.... if i want to drink some koolaid( not post workout) instead of crystal light, i will... but i will stick to my diet the best i can. i always recommend cheat days on keto diets... not only is it more benefical to have a cheat day every once in a while for the diet itself.. it makes the diet easier to stay on.

 

[Timbo]

Don't call it a cheat day. Call it planned refeeding, overfeeding, carb-loading, carb-recharging...but don't call it cheating.

There's a huge difference. Cheat days are a whole different monster, and you'd actually have to describe what you meant by cheat day.

Now, in the face of a chronic caloric deficit and relatively low levels of bodyfat, I do feel--and there's much anecdotal and scientific evidence to support this--that planned carbohydrate refeeds will assist with fat loss.

It appears that the likley mechanism is signalling of leptin, which decreases in time along with a caloric deficit and lower levels of carbs. In a short period of time, T3 and metabolism, along with leptin, all decrease, leading to stalls in fat loss. In addition, over time, lipogenic enzymes upregulate. That's a different matter in and of itself, though.

Anyway, the periodic refeeds purportedly will increase fat loss by upregulating the decreased hormones and therefore enhance fat loss.

To answer the original question again, not only ketogenic dieters would benefit from frequent refeeds, but it appears that any dieter would.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

It appears that the likley mechanism is signalling of leptin, which decreases in time along with a caloric deficit and lower levels of carbs. In a short period of time, T3 and metabolism, along with leptin, all decrease, leading to stalls in fat loss. In addition, over time, lipogenic enzymes upregulate. That's a different matter in and of itself, though.

Well said. This is probably the single biggest problem people face. They eventually get frustrated and give up because they don't know how to break this imaginary wall.

 

[Timbo]

Exactly, Bobo. Then the downward spiral begins, in one of two ways:
1. Frustration leads to bingeing and depression, which worsens the situation entirely; or
2. Frustration leads to greater caloric expenditure and lesser caloric intake, which in turn leads to greater muscle wasting.