# Can a cheat meal/day be important?



## billly9 (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi people! :thumb:

I'm currently four weeks into a cut, but have only had one cheat meal which was on the friday of the third week. My diet everyday is very strict, I'm on a low carb diet, consisting of lean meats, oats, sweet potato and green veg, for the cheat days, I stick to my diet, but have a cheat meal for my dinner - ie Pizza and some desert.

Now I have read most people cheat once a week, I'm planning on doing it once a month though but I've read that having a cheat meal/day and then going back to a strict diet is good for the metabolism and kicks the fat burning into overdrive.

So my question is, *would having a cheat meal every week benefit me more than having it once a month?*

I'm not craving majorly or anything, some days I think "Well that looks yummy!" but I just look the other way.

Also, how bad can a cheat day as opposed to a cheat meal be for the me? I know many people have whole cheat days.

Thanks for any help,

Billy

P.S. On a side note, and sorry for one more question (and the long post) - I'm on 2200 calories a day, and have been since the beginning of my cut - would cutting 150 calories every 4 weeks be OK? Or do I stick the same calories the entire way through my cut?

Thanks again! :rockon:


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## Josh1436114527 (Apr 3, 2007)

I think id have to have one every week rather than every month just for my sanity


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## Leiela (Feb 14, 2010)

I think cheat meals are important for sanity and for a metabalism boost, however how often very much depends on how much you "cheat" a cheat meal is very different from a cheat day, if i was to cheat for a whole day each week then i'd never make any progress as i can easily eat my own body weight in cheese and icecream.

Personally i have 2 mini cheats a week, a meal on a friday evening usually takeaway however i still have some limited portion control go on, i rarely eat a whole takeaway meal for example, normally i have 100g of fried rice and 200g of which ever meat dish i fancy (last night it was pork sweet and sour) I specifically make sure the 200g is made up of the meat though and the sauce is what gets left eating only what coats the meat.

Saturday night is my second mini cheat, I have friends come over and i allow myself to have some sort of snack or desert, crisps/ pringles /popcorn/icecream whatever but again it's not an exuse to eat the whole packet i dish out a reasonable amount and just let myself have that one top of my usual meals for the day.

the only time i really allow myself a no-holds barred cheat is when it's a special occasion, mine or someone elses for example if i go out for a meal for a friends birthday i usually let myself eat whatever and as much as i want, but that happens less than once a month.


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## zelobinksy (Oct 15, 2008)

I have a cheat meal once - twice a week, generally for intrinsic rewards to be honest. If I've had a hard training week I feel as if i deserve a treat.

Mind saying that, i was off training because of a stupid back injury and i had so many cheat meals...was tasty never the less...^^


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## Lois_Lane (Jul 21, 2009)

Not needed but altering your diet so you have higher carb days/ higher calorie days is good to keep the metabolism going. Cheat meals as in bad food is never needed.


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## Grim Reaper (Feb 21, 2010)

How low are your low carb days ? with oats and sweet potato there are loads of carbs.. My low carbs would be 30-50 max mon-fri and cheat over weekend...


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## pickle21 (Oct 22, 2009)

I've recently altered my diet from having a whole cheat day to having just a cheat meal on a Sunday night and allowing a mini cheat meal in the week if I feel I need it.

I'm hoping it will give me some good results!

xx


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

For me each week but i have a theory now after a couple of diets that in future...at the start of my diet ill go longer than a week without a cheat as i can suffer ...like yourself.....without much cravings.

however

the more you are into a diet and the more depleted etc you become...the more brutal it gets and i crave bad

i think that at this point i would start taking it down to less between cheats and come the end of the diet....i would be having something very small every 4 days perhaps?

DUnno so many ideas but in short yes i think having what you crave is important for your metabolism and also for sanity and keeping you on the diet else you may give up and fold


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## billly9 (Sep 1, 2010)

Thanks for the replies!

I gather then that having a cheat meal every week instead of every month has no additional benefits to your metabolism then - and only really helps with peoples cravings?

Also, could someone answer about my calorie reductions - when cutting should I gradually lower calories every few weeks - or stay on the same amount for the entire cut?

Cheers


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

hard to say on metabolism mate. some believe it does give it a little kick up if you are dieting away quite hard. i think it helps as long as not OTT

ct calories when you need to. if your losing weight keep calories the same. if ou aint then drop them. theres no rule as such. just be sensible about it and monitor. reduce it when you need to mate


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## billly9 (Sep 1, 2010)

Ok thanks for help mate!


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## westy125 (Jul 24, 2010)

Had the flu all week, so my diet has been non existant! well food has....

Just ordered a pizza as i feel better and need somethng inside me!!


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## Raptor (Feb 16, 2010)

As some have said i believe a cheat meal to help, if your cutting on clean food then your body will get used to the cleanness, if you have a pizza and a cake once a week it may shock the body and stop it for adjusting its metabolic rate to the new diet

Thats my excuse anyway :lol:


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

dutch_scott said:


> con hit nail on head, reps bud
> 
> ur met rate on stims and being lean, adding cv, well its rocketing, wont slow down like the myth loving binge lovers think, doesnt scientifically maike any sense to be fitter, eating more often taking stims then in 8 weeks slowing a met rate, pfft total ludicrous.
> 
> upping carbs and lowering as con said. cheatings for the weak.


 up my carbs for a refeed cheat but tbh i considerchocolate and cereal part of my diet and not even a cheat...up to a point

Bollocks to it beng for the weak. Its not required to not have a little something you like up to a certain point in a diet for most. It will do no harm or set back...just make the experience more bearable for most.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

So when you diet for your show Scott will there be any cheat or will your refeeds consist entirely of higher complex carbs?


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

dutch_scott said:


> its hardly a chore to eat clean for 8-12 weeks for a discipline which is selfish by design with no economic gain for 99%, more people wud be in shape if they listened to jay cutlers quote at bodypower wen asked if he cheats, he said no if u cant only eat what will a. aid ur physique and b. healthy then u need to reavaluate. i 100% agree.
> 
> discipline comes results, eat what the hell u like rest of year, then diet mode and damn well diet. i hate this attitude it does no harm, that is a mute point cos tbh if sumthing does no good, in diet mode, it has no right passing your lips if your dedicated to the goal.
> 
> ...


Right. So your saying that its more a mindset thing you feel?

To me if having a refed day of say an extra 300g of carbs, having a bar of chocolate in with it...even if up to a point of X weeks out cant be said to be of the slightest negative impact in real physical terms. maybe if its a mindset thing and you want to be very very serious then fair play but there isnt a score box on the judges sheet for who has been the most hardcore dieting bodybuilder on the stage gaining you extra points

Personally ive had cheat nights of a few hours. Ill go out, hve a meal with my wife to be and relax. bar of chocolate, fruit smoothie, some cereal....whatever i want. Ill do the same again next time round up till about 4-5 weeks out when it will just be clean refeds i think...with one bar of chocolate just like described above

But.

Im a fan of Skip Hill and his methods of carb up which involve a lot of high GI carbs and requires trial runs at ti for timings sake so maybe ill be eating a lot more sugary high gi food in the final weeks than at the start

I suppose what is an actual "cheat" is dependant on what the diet plan is


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Oh I didn't realise you were going to be hammering in T3 and clen.


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

Yep get you and slightly off the topic but interesting none the less

I wouldnt do this though if i couldnt get into condition without being abole to ahve at least a sensible meal on a saturday night and relax for an hour or two. It doenst men enough to me. Maybe im lucky i dont need a lot of meds and can do this...mayeb its cos im super strict and anal all the rest of the time? dunno. I make sure i earn my cheat thats for sure and demand progress of myslef by saturday morning before anything passe my lips


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## round 2 (Jan 14, 2010)

good thread :thumb:


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## Lois_Lane (Jul 21, 2009)

Great posts Scott as per usual.

First contest i did all i could think about was cheat food.

After the show ended i piled on tons of weight and probably was near kidney failure with water retention.

Second show i had no cheats besides one day when i went to parents in law and just felt like having a normal day.

After the show i ate crap for 2 days and stopped.

TBH now the last time i have eaten garbage food like pizza must be months ago...

I just don't care about it any more i realize how bad it is for physique and health and trust me its BAD!


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## billly9 (Sep 1, 2010)

The only thing I'm using to aid my cut is Green Tea Extract as I'm natty and dont want to touch any gear at the mo (i dont know if there is anything else I can take?). I guess my metabolism is pretty fired up right now though, as I'm dropping weight consistently - 4 heavy weight sessions plus 4 cardio sessions a week, so things are going well. I tend to eat a fair amount of carbs - even though I said its a low carb diet - my macros are 50p/30c/20f - and it seems to be working, havent noticed any muscle loss and im definitely leaner!

I'll keep going with what I'm doing as its working for me and I'm GOING to get the results I want! I wont be cheating every week then as it doesnt seem to make any difference - I may not even cheat at all; we'll wait and see how bad the cravings get - if they stay like they are now for my entire cut then there wont be any need for me to indulge a little.

Thanks for all the help guys, its good to get different point of views. Reps being handed out!


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## Dig (Aug 28, 2007)

I was thinking about this recently.

If have a cheat day/meal each week and consistently lose, say 2lb bw per week, this would suggest to me that the cheat day/meal is not hindering you to a huge extent???

Eg if everything is strict all week then would expect glycogen stores to be low thus the extra carbs will refill these stores- doesnt matter if the carbs come from oats or jaffa cakes will do the same thing in this situation??

Or does the problem come when eating high carbs and high fats together all day, could this cause a little fat gain even if thyroid hormones and fat burners are being used?? But as said if weight drops by around 2lb the next week, then surely things are working ok? (although perhaps slowing progress slightly).


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## Lois_Lane (Jul 21, 2009)

Dig said:


> Or does the problem come when eating high carbs and high fats together all day,).


I think so yes.

Look at it this way when you step on the scales and you are 2lb lighter and you look leaner you assume its fat. But without special testing you would never know. So perhaps without the cheat you lose 1lb of fat but with the cheat you only lose .9lb fat VISUALLY you could never tell the difference but you did in fact make less progress.

Now the arguement goes "well its worth it for me to be able to eat crap as its only so little" if you really think that fair enough. Just personally i think any top athlete would not think this, win at any cost mentality that most of us have.

And one other point not that many will care but it regards health.

When you cheat you gain water weight which is hard on the cardiovascular system. Add in your thyroid and stimulant drugs which already push the cardiovascular system and you have a potentially very unhealthy situation.

Personally i think its completely fine for a heavy muscular athlete who does every thing right during the week to have a big steak, oven fries and a slice of cheese cake on a saturday night as this will only result in refueling and not massive water retention. But this "eat crap for one day per week" nonsense i don't agree and besides a few on here i have never heard of any one that does.


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## Dig (Aug 28, 2007)

Lois_Lane said:


> I think so yes.
> 
> Look at it this way when you step on the scales and you are 2lb lighter and you look leaner you assume its fat. But without special testing you would never know. *So perhaps without the cheat you lose 1lb of fat but with the cheat you only lose .9lb fat VISUALLY you could never tell the difference but you did in fact make less progress.*
> 
> ...


That is how i thought of it.


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## Lois_Lane (Jul 21, 2009)

Dig said:


> That is how i thought of it.


 I am sure that's how it is mate.

Afterall ever notice ALL bb's stop the massive gorge cheats a few weeks out. If it really kept helping then you would do it all the way up to a week out


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

Lois_Lane said:


> I think so yes.
> 
> Look at it this way when you step on the scales and you are 2lb lighter and you look leaner you assume its fat. But without special testing you would never know. So perhaps without the cheat you lose 1lb of fat but with the cheat you only lose .9lb fat VISUALLY you could never tell the difference but you did in fact make less progress.
> 
> ...


im learning this the hard way here after firt years competing. 25lb in under two weeksained for a small guy thats a lot. Im breathing out my **** a lot. Went swimming and was out my **** after 6 lengths today. A few weeks ago i was in the condition of my life and as fit as ive ever been too

Goign for blood work and pressure etc tomorrow out of curiosity and to learn lessons.see what it all emans for myself and for future note


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