How a cheat day helps in gym and fat loss?

[The Day Dreamer]

I have been on gym natural diet with personal cutting program(for fat loss and reducing fat percentage). Does cheat day helps ? as I read on the Internet somewhere.


By the way,
After 4 months of No cheat, I ate 1 large scoop of Vanilla ice cream and 100 ml of cold drink. How bad is it looking? TIA.

 

[edro]

I have cheat meals almost every weekend.
I eat strictly through the week, but family and entertainment usually means I have a few bad meals on the weekend.

If your body is used to lower and less refined carbs, cheat meals of high carbs (like cake, ice cream or candy bars) will make you gain a few pounds due to blood glycogen levels.
It should drop off in a day or two of going back to your "good" diet.

There are plenty of articles and studies on starvation mode and cheat meals, so you will have to read for yourself.

From my experience, it is perfectly healthy to have some cheat meals.
I'm not an expert, but they do seem to reset your body and help overcome a plateau.
Plus, it's fun to see your body weight plummet 3-4lbs in a day when you go back to your strict diet.

 

[vi edit]

Meh. I just build in cheat snacks daily. A serving of chips. One or two of the super small/"fun" size candy bars. A beer. Whatever. Allowing modest amounts daily prevents me from binge eating/drinking when I've been depraved over a long time.

That's why weight watchers is so successful in the long run vs any other fad diet plan.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I don't have cheat days really. Any time I go over my allotted calories for a day i roll them over to the next day, so I start that day with that many fewer calories to eat. In that way I'm allowed to binge every now and again, but I always account for all the calories so that I technically didn't deviate from my diet after it all shakes out. I don't really make any distinction about the types of foods that I eat though. If I eat my entire allotment in ice cream, but don't go over, I consider that to not be a "cheat day" because I didn't exceed my designated number of calories. If I go over my designated number of calories, but I spread the excess over the next day or so, I don't consider that a cheat day either because it will average out to be a normal day after I've "paid for it" in the form of a more restricted diet later.

The way that normally works out is that I'll eat a little more than normal on weekends, and then eat a little less during the week to make up for it. I can have stuff like ice cream essentially whenever I want it though, I just have to count it against what I'm allowed to eat. If I run out of calories I stop everything.