Cheaters lose weight faster. Yes! In fact, factoring in cheat days in the diet is really important to continue losing weight and avoid the weight loss plateaus that are a very frustrating part of the process.
Foxed? Well, this happens because when you are trying to lose weight, by creating an energy deficit (eating less than what your body needs on a daily basis), your body gets wiser (than you). It learns to make do with a lower number of calories than what you are feeding it. So strict dieting, without giving your body breaks, is not such a good idea. In fact, it is self-defeating. A cheat day can help avoid this calorie-burning slowdown and help you continue to lose weight.
The thing is that blindly, rigorously dieting does not work anyway. What works better is identifying the wrong habits – those that made you put on weight in the first place – and modifying them. This is the key to real and lasting weight loss. Following a too-strict diet (minus any cheating) might work in the ultra short term, but the weight will come back eventually – faster than you had lost it.
The psychological effects are, of course, a no-brainer. To be able to eat a restricted food (like, say, ice cream) after days of noshing on vegetables and fruits can be a huge mental boost, and help you travel further along the weight-loss path.
But the benefits work in the biological realm too. Following a low-calorie and low-fat diet for too long can mess up the hormones in the body. For example, it is a known fact that dieting for too long can lead to a decline in levels of thyroid hormones and leptin, which is a fat-burning hormone, and IGF (insulin-like growth factor), which actually supports muscle growth. And when these hormones go out of whack, you not just don’t lose any more weight, but might in fact begin putting on the pounds.
For example, when leptin levels drop, hunger signals go through the roof, leading to overeating. So naturally, when you stay on restricted calories for a long time, the risk of uncontrolled binging shoots up. Binging on so-called wrong (high carb) foods can help stabilise leptin levels and prevent noshing. Similarly, lowered thyroid levels may lead to a lowered metabolic rate, a situation you definitely want to steer clear of. That’s why a bit of periodic, planned splurging (cheat days) can actually act as a tool for losing fat.
Do It Right!
So how often should one have a cheat day? Don’t cheat too often… in fact, once a week is ideal. One entire day a week should be when you take a break from any regime you might be following – both with food as well as exercise. Muscles get fatigued too, and need rest to recuperate to avoid wear and tear and injuries. So just pick one day every week when you don’t do any calorie-counting or super-careful selection of what to plate, and just eat as you normally would on a normal day. On this day, definitely factor in foods that you have been denying yourself (yes, that includes pizza, too).
Be careful, though: Huge portions are a no-no, of both right as well as wrong foods, even on the cheat days. So eat anything, just about everything, without guilt. But keep the portions small. Enjoy the food, but don’t hoard it or be greedy about it. Basically, I am saying that while one scoop of ice cream is cool, the whole tub definitely isn’t.
Don’t Do Guilt
Also, please don’t eat and then feel guilty, as that spoils the whole purpose. The point of a cheat day is to give both your body and mind a BREAK. So if you feel guilty, it doesn’t help one bit. In fact, stress hormones have a big say in making a person put on weight. So enjoy your cheat day, minus the guilt. It’ll only help your weight loss efforts when done right.
(Kavita Devgan is a weight management consultant, nutritionist, health columnist and author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People.)