Cheat Your Heart Out: Eat What You Want and Lose Fat - New Article!

[Joe Black]

Has 'project beach body' hit a brick wall? When fat loss inevitably slows down or stalls, most revert to eating even less and doing more cardio.

However, strategic cheating could just be your answer to really strip off the fat further. How would you like to lose fat while still eating some of your favorite foods? Pizza? Check. Cookies? Sure.

It's not all fun and games, but planned cheat days could just be the best thing you could do right now to lose fat.

READ HERE

Look forward to your feedback and questions!

[ThomasG]

Great article!! I've experimented with this myself in the past. Some of my clients when getting really close to their weight loss goals Plateau when I tell them to raise their calories and have a cheat day(s) they have a hard time grasping the concept. This article will help me give a more physiological explanation of it, thanks!

[Jimmy Smith]

Great article!! I've experimented with this myself in the past. Some of my clients when getting really close to their weight loss goals Plateau when I tell them to raise their calories and have a cheat day(s) they have a hard time grasping the concept. This article will help me give a more physiological explanation of it, thanks!

Great idea! You know people (clients) all too often associate cheating with not sticking to your diet. Then on the other spectrum you have individuals that will have large cheat meals every friday or saturday and wonder why they aren't getting lean.

[Allen Cress]

Good article and hopefully the science discussed will open peoples eyes that having cheat days (I call them re-feed days) when they are needed will enhance fat burning and have a positive effect on your body.

The only thing I think differently on somewhat (and not so much that I disagree with completely as with some people increasing cal with good foods is menatlly easier) with is if your leptin levels downregulate and you truly need a cheat day then there is no rules on how much and what you eat as your body will respond to and needs a calorie spike (no limits). I use this with competitors during dieting as well as regular individuals just wanting to stay lean while adding muscle slowly, aka the Cycle diet developed by my mentor Scott Abel. Where you are able to have a cheat day every week and sometimes a mid-week spike once you have reached a supercompensated state. All is individual of course, but I find either a cheat meal or cheat day of whatever you want (I don't recommend fast food) works very efficiently aas the foods are very calrie dense and the spike is greater and more effective.

Overall good article by Jimmy as I know he has discussed this type of thing with Scott in interviews and what not and the science he presents is great and makes the article that much better as most individuals will open their eyes more. But as Jimmy said Cheat days needs to be strategically placed and taken only when needed according to ones bio-feedback.

Good Article!

[Jimmy Smith]

Good article and hopefully the science discussed will open peoples eyes that having cheat days (I call them re-feed days) when they are needed will enhance fat burning and have a positive effect on your body.

The only thing I think differently on somewhat (and not so much that I disagree with completely as with some people increasing cal with good foods is menatlly easier) with is if your leptin levels downregulate and you truly need a cheat day then there is no rules on how much and what you eat as your body will respond to and needs a calorie spike (no limits). I use this with competitors during dieting as well as regular individuals just wanting to stay lean while adding muscle slowly, aka the Cycle diet developed by my mentor Scott Abel. Where you are able to have a cheat day every week and sometimes a mid-week spike once you have reached a supercompensated state. All is individual of course, but I find either a cheat meal or cheat day of whatever you want (I don't recommend fast food) works very efficiently aas the foods are very calrie dense and the spike is greater and more effective.

Overall good article by Jimmy as I know he has discussed this type of thing with Scott in interviews and what not and the science he presents is great and makes the article that much better as most individuals will open their eyes more. But as Jimmy said Cheat days needs to be strategically placed and taken only when needed according to ones bio-feedback.

Good Article!

Allen,
Thanks for the great reply. Your right that when leptin is down regulated, you may need a "anything goes cheat". The only reason that I did not mention it was because out of the 10 people that need a cheat, only 1 may be able to keep that "all you can eat cheat" within reason. Way too many people use it as a way to just eat garbage. Scott certainly opened my eyes to a lot.

[Allen Cress]

Allen,
Thanks for the great reply. Your right that when leptin is down regulated, you may need a "anything goes cheat". The only reason that I did not mention it was because out of the 10 people that need a cheat, only 1 may be able to keep that "all you can eat cheat" within reason. Way too many people use it as a way to just eat garbage. Scott certainly opened my eyes to a lot.

I agree but the thing is if your body truly needs it the only bad thing that will come of eating more junk than quality ( fast food ) is more water retention and possible food hangover, but no physiological side effects. I always tell clients what is prefered as far as food goes as it depends on their mental and emotional state as well.

[slickoiz]

Great article but I have a question. How about the folks "dieting" to try and gain weight, build some lean muscle and put some size on. I've been dieting near 4,000 calories a day for an extended period of time. Starting out I gained about 12-14 pounds but as of late, I've only managed to maintain 8-10 of those pounds and my weight gain has come to a halt. Would there be a cheat day method to this where you take some time to eat closer to a 2,000 calorie diet or something along those lines?
Thanks in advance for your assistance. It's greatly appreciated!

[JCD]

Great article but I have a question. How about the folks "dieting" to try and gain weight, build some lean muscle and put some size on. I've been dieting near 4,000 calories a day for an extended period of time. Starting out I gained about 12-14 pounds but as of late, I've only managed to maintain 8-10 of those pounds and my weight gain has come to a halt. Would there be a cheat day method to this where you take some time to eat closer to a 2,000 calorie diet or something along those lines?
Thanks in advance for your assistance. It's greatly appreciated!

what exactly are you asking?

[slickoiz]

what exactly are you asking?

Read the sentence before the question mark... and I guess it would be helpful if you read the article too.

I'm asking, is there a variation to the logic behind this article for individuals who're "dieting" to GAIN weight? For example, for those who don't understand... If you "diet" 4,200-4,500 calories a day for an extended period of time versus if you "diet" 4,200-4,500 calories a day for 6 days of the week, take the 7th day back to a normal calorie intake.

Maybe this method might be more beneficial for weight gain? Possibly by having your caloric intake lower for that 7th day might continously shock your body into more growth on days 1-6 the following week. Would anyone out there agree that there's some truth to this or is what I'm saying not making sense?

[Joe Black]

slickoiz, I gotta be honest but it is actually quite hard to understand what you are asking.

Are trying to ask if there is any benefit to doing the reverse? (i.e throwing in a calorie defect day whilst on a bulk?)

[Clover]

He wants to know if its works in reverse. As in bulking for 6 days and then having a normal day on the 7th would be beneficial for growth.

[Jimmy Smith]

Great article but I have a question. How about the folks "dieting" to try and gain weight, build some lean muscle and put some size on. I've been dieting near 4,000 calories a day for an extended period of time. Starting out I gained about 12-14 pounds but as of late, I've only managed to maintain 8-10 of those pounds and my weight gain has come to a halt. Would there be a cheat day method to this where you take some time to eat closer to a 2,000 calorie diet or something along those lines?
Thanks in advance for your assistance. It's greatly appreciated!

I see your dilemma and I know it's frustrating. At this time in your diet, you do not want to ramp down your calories. Ramping down then ramping up will only work for those looking to keep their metabolism high. First, think more long term. Adding 8-10 pounds is great but most natural athletes don't add more than 5-8 pounds of pure muscle per year. You don't want to push it too high with the calories because when you do, you gain fat.

Look at where your calories are coming from, then your workouts, then your cardio and tweak one of those three and you should start seeing results again.

[Jimmy Smith]

slickoiz, I gotta be honest but it is actually quite hard to understand what you are asking.

Are trying to ask if there is any benefit to doing the reverse? (i.e throwing in a calorie defect day whilst on a bulk?)

Yea I believe he was asking if you lower your calories for a day will it help you grow. Answered it above.

[JCD]

Read the sentence before the question mark... and I guess it would be helpful if you read the article too.

heh, oh I did...

Maybe this method might be more beneficial for weight gain? Possibly by having your caloric intake lower for that 7th day might continously shock your body into more growth on days 1-6 the following week. Would anyone out there agree that there's some truth to this or is what I'm saying not making sense?

it doesn't make sense. It will do nothing to affect your metabolism in any manner. at most, you'll burn a small amount of fat and other stored energy(glycogen) during the low calorie day. But no truth to "shocking your body" in any way.

edit: Plus, if you're maintaining on 4000kcal per day, this is your new maintenance. If you haven't gained any more weight(and that's your goal), you're going to have to eat more - no other tricks or maneuvers around this fact. (not that you're looking for them)

[dirty-c]

Am I not understanding these statements correctly? Because they seem to be contradictory to me:

1.) "There’s a direct relationship between increased food intake and decreased leptin levels."

This statement suggests that increasing the amount of food eaten decreses leptin levels.

2.) "If we’re serious about increasing our leptin levels, the best strategy is to raise your overall calories for a given period rather than simply pigging out for a few meals in a given week."

This statement says that increasing the amount of food eaten increases leptin levels.

So whhich is it? Will eating more food (calories) increase or decrease leptin levels?
Furthermore, what is the main thesis of this argument? That fat loss slows because leptin levels get too low, or because leptin levels get too high

[JCD]

Am I not understanding these statements correctly? Because they seem to be contradictory to me:

1.) "There’s a direct relationship between increased food intake and decreased leptin levels."

This statement suggests that increasing the amount of food eaten decreses leptin levels.

2.) "If we’re serious about increasing our leptin levels, the best strategy is to raise your overall calories for a given period rather than simply pigging out for a few meals in a given week."

This statement says that increasing the amount of food eaten increases leptin levels.

yea... need to rewrite/edit that first part.

So whhich is it? Will eating more food (calories) increase or decrease leptin levels?
Furthermore, what is the main thesis of this argument? That fat loss slows because leptin levels get too low, or because leptin levels get too high

yes, eating more food (in the short term) will increase leptin which will aid in fat loss.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11126336