Thread: Cheat Days!

Hi everyone;
I am new to IM. I recently began a high protein diet w/ 20% fat 20%carbs. I'm doing this to lose body fat & it is working. I had my first chest meal yesterday. I am having a cheat meal every ten days. Does it make sense to eat a higher carb meal for a cheat meal since i'm eating so much protein?:

IMO I would - it would restore the glycogen levels

Originally Posted by Beth1

Hi everyone;
I am new to IM. I recently began a high protein diet w/ 20% fat 20%carbs. I'm doing this to lose body fat & it is working. I had my first chest meal yesterday. I am having a cheat meal every ten days. Does it make sense to eat a higher carb meal for a cheat meal since i'm eating so much protein?:

If your protein intake is too high then your glycogen levels will already be high anyway (excess protein will undergo gluconeogenesis).. So if this is the case then a 'carb up' will not be that useful... Also - if your BF% is really high (>20 in a male or >25 in a female) then re-feeds are not that useful either (your leptin levels will not be low enough to require a 'top up').

Also - % mean little unless they are taken into consideration with your total calorie intake and your weight.... 20% of carbs with a diet of 2800 calories is still an awfull lot of carbs.

If your diet intake was less than 60-80g of carbs (100 at the most), no more than 1.25g protein per pound LEAN mass and the rest of your calories from fats - then yes, a cheat with high carbs would help...



However - with that said - carb cheats have a higher thermogenic loss than high fat cheats... So you will do less damage!

My cheat meal, about every 10 days is all-you-can-eat sushi, followed by a big bowl of cold stone ice cream. I run about 8.5 miles before the meal to minimize the damage, also, it depletes my glycogen storage quite a bit so the sushi (rice) is almost beneficial, as it replenishes it. The ice cream on the other hand....is just for the cheat of it.

Thanks for the advice; I am reconsidering the cheat meal.

dam 8.5 miles is quite alot, and all u can eat sushi and icecream is quite a lot of calories also.... but you look like u can cheat 2 times a week and ur fine

Originally Posted by juggernaut2005

thats a good idea.. so replace one meal with 'cheat food' and then back on track. Do u keep trck of the calories amount for the cheat food? or just go all out for that meal?

I have a cheat meal everynow and then. About 2 weeks ago on a Saturday I ate an entire Dominoes Pizza. Afterwards I felt like shit, physically and mentally but funnily enough, that week I lost 2 kilos