Why does cheating sometimes help???

[daquix]

I can't get my head around this. I am a very "why did this happen" type of person, and I just can't understand this. I could not lose weight for 3-4 days and then eat something bad and then the next day, I dropped 2-3 pounds and continue to lose weight for days after. And it happens pretty much without fail. My brother-in-law tried it and it worked for him, as well as my sister. I go online and I searched for a while and I found a lot of posts from other websites talking about how a cheating day helps a lot of people to jumpstart their weight loss. The one thing I don't like about it, is after the cheating day the hunger pangs come back and you are hungry for a couple of days. Anyway - I know this is not conventional wisdom, and if youre simply going to respond with a "do the diet right. period." then don't bother responding. If someone has actual information as to why this would work, I would like to hear it.

[gottalose70]

I'm a member of the bodybuilding.com forum and I've heard of body builders doing something called "re-feeding" where every once in a while, they'll eat twice as much as they have been and that somehow gives them a big boost in terms of fat burning. How that ties in with low-carbing and then high carbing one day...I don't know. But, I definitely know where you're coming from. I also have a friend that does Weight Watchers and we were just talking about how the weeks when she doesn't cheat, she thinks she'll do good at weigh-ins and will only lose 1 pound and the weeks when she cheats and thinks she'll gain weight is the week she loses 5 pounds.

I'd kind of like a medical explanation myself. Good question.

[sadie147]

Sorry i can't help you....I gain at least a couple of pounds of water weight if i eat off plan. :-( I wish i experienced what you do though! LOL

[julirama723]

Generally the people who do a "cheat day" are bored with the plan because they haven't moved on to OWL or increased their carbs. It works because by adding extra carbs, you're eating less fat, so your body is able to burn more body fat, rather than burning the fat you've eaten.

THAT IS WHY ADBB MEMBERS STRESS MOVING UP THE RUNGS OF OWL!

By adding GOOD carbs, HEALTHY carbs, you have this same "jumpstart" effect, but without the bad side effects, i.e. going out of ketosis, cravings, headaches, nausea, etc. When you force yourself out of ketosis, it takes a couple of days to get back into the swing of things. Keep in mind that many people aren't so lucky to have this dropoff effect--too many people GAIN a couple of pounds of water weight from their cheat!

I foolishly stayed on induction an extra two weeks thinking I'd lose more weight. I didn't lose a thing. Finally I took the advice of the members here, moved up to Rung 1 of OWL, and dropped 3.5 pounds my first week.

Do the plan as intended, and you'll never even want to consider a cheat day.

[Dropzofjupiter29]

I have had this happen too. But continuing to do it alot wont keep helping tho obviously lol. Seems to work when u get in a stall for a long period of time.

[daquix]

I'm a member of the bodybuilding.com forum and I've heard of body builders doing something called "re-feeding" where every once in a while, they'll eat twice as much as they have been and that somehow gives them a big boost in terms of fat burning. How that ties in with low-carbing and then high carbing one day...I don't know. But, I definitely know where you're coming from. I also have a friend that does Weight Watchers and we were just talking about how the weeks when she doesn't cheat, she thinks she'll do good at weigh-ins and will only lose 1 pound and the weeks when she cheats and thinks she'll gain weight is the week she loses 5 pounds.

I'd kind of like a medical explanation myself. Good question.

Exactly. Thanks for the post.

Originally Posted by julirama723

Generally the people who do a "cheat day" are bored with the plan because they haven't moved on to OWL or increased their carbs. It works because by adding extra carbs, you're eating less fat, so your body is able to burn more body fat, rather than burning the fat you've eaten.

THAT IS WHY ADBB MEMBERS STRESS MOVING UP THE RUNGS OF OWL!

By adding GOOD carbs, HEALTHY carbs, you have this same "jumpstart" effect, but without the bad side effects, i.e. going out of ketosis, cravings, headaches, nausea, etc. When you force yourself out of ketosis, it takes a couple of days to get back into the swing of things. Keep in mind that many people aren't so lucky to have this dropoff effect--too many people GAIN a couple of pounds of water weight from their cheat!

I foolishly stayed on induction an extra two weeks thinking I'd lose more weight. I didn't lose a thing. Finally I took the advice of the members here, moved up to Rung 1 of OWL, and dropped 3.5 pounds my first week.

Do the plan as intended, and you'll never even want to consider a cheat day.

Interesting. I have been on Induction for now going on my 6th week. That is something I am going to have to think about. Good post.

[CassiesMomma]

I have heard this before. *Don't quote me* but I have heard it can boost your metabolism back into weight loss...

My hubby, dad and I are all on this diet. Occationally we will go to a buffet and just fill up.. Not cheating, just a few more veggies than usual and lots of meats and it seems to help keep us focused and the weight to keep coming off. HTH

Julie

[dreamof145]

I agree that one should move up the rungs of OWL rather than eat off plan. I believe that Julirama gave you a great answer for your question...

You'll always hear about people who cheated and said they lost xx amount of weight from that cheat. But more often you'll hear from people who had xx amount of gain.

Instead of planning a 'cheat' it is far more beneficial for you to plan how to stay on plan and expand your food choices with the acceptable food choices. The point of the program is to change your habits and learn how to eat healthier.

Cheat days tempt you and don't teach you to make wise choices. Rather they give you the false impression that you can cheat time and again and not suffer consequences. I believe that people who do plan a cheat make up for it the following days by either gaining weight, suffering guilt and many times starve themselves for days following trying to keep from gaining from that cheat.

Why not find substitute foods for the items you intend to cheat with or just moving up a rung so that you are satisfied and not having to worry about what the consequences will be.

There are no guarantees that a cheat won't start you on a rampage of eating or that it won't knock you out of ketosis. But there is a guarantee that if you continue to eat on track and learn to make plans to stay focused, then the program will continue to work for you. Its about learning and educating yourself on going through the phases of Atkins so that you can make life-style changes, not trying to cheat the program and make your own rules and hope that it doesn't backfire. Put your effort and creativity to work making life-long plans to stay healthy and fit....not ways to cheat and live in fear.

[Chicklady]

My theory----a cheat throws your body for a loop. Just when it thinks it's got it all figured out (and you stall, cause your body has stabilized) you throw a kink into the works. I think that's also the same reason that those of us who have "done" Atkins several times lose with more difficulty the upteenth time around.....our bodies say "I've seen this trick".
Sounds real scientific, no?

[kate58]

I've heard this stuff said about cheating by lots of people, lots of times and there does seem to be something in it. I've done it myself in the past with low cal/low fat dieting and seen it happen.

However..... I didn't have anything other than a series of temporary short-term successes in dealing with my problem that way and left that whole approach behind and came to low-carb at my highest weight ever. Which I think says at least something.

Why does it happen? Here is my theory.

People who are enthused by the whole weight loss thing actually working, and are keeping excellent control over their eating, often end up eating too little - whether inadvertently or just because they can and they think it will help. Then they give in and pig out and although it may not be long term healthy, in the short term their body thinks "Whoopee! Food!!!" and permits itself to let go of weight it had been hoarding during the eating too little times.

I don't think that can ever be a long term thing though and I believe it happens to two categories of people: first, those at the start of a weight loss journey, especially those who have a lot to lose, and second those who are pretty much at their goal weight, lose weight relatively easily, have never been very overweight and who can tolerate a wider variety of food.

I've been eating like this for almost 6 months now, and have not cheated at all. Well, I've overeaten legal food occasionally, but no going off plan. And I have done it absolutely by the book: just 2 weeks on induction, assiduously climbed the OWL ladder, upped my carbs carefully and gradually, eaten at least up to my BMR most of the time, in fact not bothered much about calories at all, just eaten to appetite.

Doing it this way I have lost over 60lbs in those 6 months, plus I've learned an awful lot about what I can and cannot eat and developed some good eating habits that will hopefully stand me in good stead in the future. Just like the reports of the "cheating method", if you want to call it that, I've had times of little loss followed by rapid dumps of pounds.

If there is somebody out there for whom the cheat/diet/cheat cycle has worked as well as that I'd love to hear from them. If there is anyone who used the cheat/diet/cheat method and actually got to goal and maintained, I'd love to hear about that too.

In short, I think it works on some level, but only for a while, only at a certain stage in weight loss. But in the end for the vast majority of people it mitigates against long term success.