Wtf is cheat day?

[Madred]

Hey brahs!
I often see cheat days threads here and there, and always wonder wtf is it?
For example, I am on cut atm, eating 2000kkal per day.
If I have cheat day (if I understand right - i eat all I want and how much I want) - knowing myself its gonna be around 4000kkal on that day.
So how will it impact my cut?

Explain me cheat day thingy pls

[TunaShakes]

Hey brahs!
I often see cheat days threads here and there, and always wonder wtf is it?
For example, I am on cut atm, eating 2000kkal per day.
If I have cheat day (if I understand right - i eat all I want and how much I want) - knowing myself its gonna be around 4000kkal on that day.
So how will it impact my cut?

Explain me cheat day thingy pls

Cheat days are when you convince yourself it's ok to binge eat whatever you want for an entire day because you're tired and hungry from dieting. It's going to set you back 2000 calories worth of dieting to answer the question.

[BDeblo]

Cheat days are when you convince yourself it's ok to binge eat whatever you want for an entire day because you're tired and hungry from dieting. It's going to set you back 2000 calories worth of dieting to answer the question.

Easy there. Watch using the term binge out of context

[Jen0va]

cheat days are something that people who construct a proper diet of foods they like, while implementing moderation rarely feel a need for.

[Hborno]

Basically its a day where u eat all what you want while on a diet , your body starts getting used to either ur low intake of food or high intake of food based on what our doing, so for instance if ur losing weight ur stomache starts shrinking and ur eating less food so ur burning rate of fat starts to get lower , to keep ur burning r ation you have a cheat day its like ur telling ur body dont get used to that im not burning fat so it goes back to normal burning. IMO while cutting u should only have a cheat meal not a full day.

[MikeK46]

^^WTF did i just read???


Anyhow...

Cheat days are a means of psychological cleansing and relief of cravings for people who think they need to eat bland food to get results and those who never allow indulgences in moderation. In other words, for those who've never heard of IIFYM.

[TunaShakes]

Easy there. Watch using the term binge out of context

Lol I think you know what I meant, a proper refeed day is not the same as a cheat day. A structured refeed keeps fats low carbs high for restoring muscle glycogen and helping prevent metabolic slowdown. Refeeds are also dependent on how much bodyfat you're carrying and how big your calorie deficit is. A cheat day is usually an excuse to order a few stuffed crust pizzas and buy a couple gallons of ice cream.

[MikeK46]

A structured refeed keeps fats low carbs high for restoring muscle glycogen...

That's a carb-up, not a refeed. A refeed doesn't have to focus on keeping carbs high.

[Jen0va]

Easy there. Watch using the term binge out of context

Something tells me this was the product of people being over-sensitive to eating disorder related topics. Which I see alot from certain users on this forum that I'll refrain from mentioning.

<---btw recovering from multiple ED's so come the **** @ me for saying it. I dare anyone ^_^

[TunaShakes]

Something tells me this was the product of people being over-sensitive to eating disorder related topics. Which I see alot from certain users on this forum that I'll refrain from mentioning.

<---btw recovering from multiple ED's so come the **** @ me for saying it. I dare anyone ^_^

Ah I've gotcha, I didn't mean it in that context at all to be honest.

[Madred]

Oh wow, thanks for all the replies, guys xD
I just wondered what would happen if I am cutting on 2k kkal daily and eat 4000kkal, say, once per week or two weeks.
So all of these kkals will be digested and they all count, right?

[wdmvp]

What would happen is you would likely lose weight at a slower rate than if you weren't to incorporate a cheat.

[TunaShakes]

Oh wow, thanks for all the replies, guys xD
I just wondered what would happen if I am cutting on 2k kkal daily and eat 4000kkal, say, once per week or two weeks.
So all of these kkals will be digested and they all count, right?

Just add up your weekly deficit and subtract 2000 calories from it to get an idea of what your Total Deficit is for the week. It might slow progress a little, but if it helps you stick to your diet long term then why not.

[donmiller212]

I wouldn't do a cheat day. Like everyone else said it's basically a day off of your diet.

Instead, I would do one cheat meal a week. You get to eat your favorite food, but it will likely only put you a couple hundred calories over your goal, rather than a couple thousand.

[Jen0va]

Ah I've gotcha, I didn't mean it in that context at all to be honest.

HAHA, yes I know you didn't. I was saying that some users are a bit too sensitive to these sort of issues and thus MIGHT.

I had assumed this was what BDeblo was saying, if not supporting. But I may be wrong.

no worries brutha.

[NaLLa8705]

That's a carb-up, not a refeed. A refeed doesn't have to focus on keeping carbs high.

Care to expand on benefits of a carb up vs refeeds? Benefits? Uses?

[TunaShakes]

That's a carb-up, not a refeed. A refeed doesn't have to focus on keeping carbs high.

A Structured-Refeed does :P

[BBqChicken1]

Bulking on 4000-5000 calories here, come at me.


Every day is a cheat day.



lulz

[donmiller212]

Bulking on 4000-5000 calories here, come at me.


Every day is a cheat day.



lulz

lol i am bulking on a little over 4000 cal too, but i still wouldn't consider any of my meals cheat meals.

[Jen0va]

Bulking on 4000-5000 calories here, come at me.


Every day is a cheat day.



lulz

lol i am bulking on a little over 4000 cal too, but i still wouldn't consider any of my meals cheat meals.

It woul be DOUBLY sad to see someone actively incorperate a cheat day while bulking ^_^

I could only imagine this happening if someone was purely bro-feeding....you know the type....

[MikeK46]

Care to expand on benefits of a carb up vs refeeds? Benefits? Uses?

A carb-up or "carb-load" is specifically that: drastically increasing carb intake to supercompensate glycogen storage for better performance in the gym. It is often done as part of Cyclical Ketogenic Diets. The main aspects to a successful carb-load (to maximize glycogen storage) are the duration of the carb-load and the total amount of carbohydrates consumed during this time period. Something like 70% of calories or more should come from starchy carbs, with fat being kept to a minimum.

A refeed is a temporary increase in calories (during a dieting phase) to maintainance or above. Besides the mental break of dieting, it will increase T4 to T3 conversion, TSH, and TRH. These are thyroid hormones which have a direct impact on basal metabolic rate.

A Structured-Refeed does :P

When I say refeed, it implies that it's structured...otherwise it's a cheat day

[SwiftyX]

A carb-up or "carb-load" is specifically that: drastically increasing carb intake to supercompensate glycogen storage for better performance in the gym. It is often done as part of Cyclical Ketogenic Diets. The main aspects to a successful carb-load (to maximize glycogen storage) are the duration of the carb-load and the total amount of carbohydrates consumed during this time period. Something like 70% of calories or more should come from starchy carbs, with fat being kept to a minimum.

A refeed is a temporary increase in calories (during a dieting phase) to maintainance or above. Besides the mental break of dieting, it will increase T4 to T3 conversion, TSH, and TRH. These are thyroid hormones which have a direct impact on basal metabolic rate.

Aren't you just playing with semantics? They should both be set up in a similar fashion as fat does not acutely help with leptin, and also doesn't lend to any of the other hormonal effects in the short term. Couple that with the fact that fat is easily stored in a surplus and I do not see the need for a separation of terms. Unless you've seen research to the contrary...I'd love to see it because I've haven't come across anything.

[Skoorbmax]

Cheat days are when you convince yourself it's ok to binge eat whatever you want for an entire day because you're tired and hungry from dieting. It's going to set you back 2000 calories worth of dieting to answer the question.

Basically this. It's a day when I get lazy and say by God I just want a gut full of carbs because it feels so good. It doesn't serve a greater good, but it tastes good.

[MikeK46]

Aren't you just playing with semantics? They should both be set up in a similar fashion as fat does not acutely help with leptin, and also doesn't lend to any of the other hormonal effects in the short term. Couple that with the fact that fat is easily stored in a surplus and I do not see the need for a separation of terms. Unless you've seen research to the contrary...I'd love to see it because I've haven't come across anything.

There's some overlap in the "benefits", but they're two different concepts and serve two different purposes. Think about it this way: A carb-up can still be achieved while in a caloric deficit, and a refeed can be done with low to moderate carb intake and still produce the metabolic benefits.

[SwiftyX]

There's some overlap in the "benefits", but they're two different concepts and serve two different purposes. Think about it this way: A carb-up can still be achieved while in a caloric deficit, and a refeed can be done with low to moderate carb intake and still produce the metabolic benefits.

That's true depending on the carb intake needed from a glycogen stadpoint. Just clarifying with you hoping to see something I had not yet picked through ad naseum. haha.

[R31S]

Can be called looser day, too.

[NaLLa8705]

Thank you Mike

[-TheKingPin-]

There's some overlap in the "benefits", but they're two different concepts and serve two different purposes. Think about it this way: A carb-up can still be achieved while in a caloric deficit, and a refeed can be done with low to moderate carb intake and still produce the metabolic benefits.

Do carb-ups also have the same benefit of "increasing T4 to T3 conversion, TSH, and TRH" or does the overfeeding have to be sustained for longer than a day?

[MikeK46]

Do carb-ups also have the same benefit of "increasing T4 to T3 conversion, TSH, and TRH" or does the overfeeding have to be sustained for longer than a day?

Yes, if your carb-ups put you in a caloric surplus then definitely.

[TunaShakes]

A carb-up or "carb-load" is specifically that: drastically increasing carb intake to supercompensate glycogen storage for better performance in the gym. It is often done as part of Cyclical Ketogenic Diets. The main aspects to a successful carb-load (to maximize glycogen storage) are the duration of the carb-load and the total amount of carbohydrates consumed during this time period. Something like 70% of calories or more should come from starchy carbs, with fat being kept to a minimum.

A refeed is a temporary increase in calories (during a dieting phase) to maintainance or above. Besides the mental break of dieting, it will increase T4 to T3 conversion, TSH, and TRH. These are thyroid hormones which have a direct impact on basal metabolic rate.



When I say refeed, it implies that it's structured...otherwise it's a cheat day

It is beneficial to make sure most of the refeed is carbs though with low fats. Carbs have an impact on helping to normalize leptin / thyroid whereas increasing calories from fats/protein doesn't do much at all, but they do taste good.