Has anyone ever noticed that they lost weight quick for a while after a "cheating" weekend? I had no intentions of cheating last weekend but it happened. I did terrible. I did not gain thank goodness! I was back on track Mon, and on wed my ketostix said I was in Ketosis, and I have lost about 5 pounds already since then. Is this water weight or since the Ketostix were pink is it actual fat? That had really been my first cheat.
Only time will tell! Who knows? I'd just move on (as you are) and get back on plan. I do know that with calorie counting, sometimes shaking things up a bit made a big difference in weight loss for me and some people do "cycle" with calories. Since low carb diets may work on a different metabolic level, I can't say for sure if it works as well.
I know what you mean! If I stay on track at 1500 calories all week with no cheating it's tough to lose weight. Have you heard about calorie shifting/zig zagging? This means you eat more calories once or twice a week, so that your metabolism does not adjust to the lower calorie intake.
A good place I learned about this is: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
After you put in your info and click calculate, then click on 7 day calorie cycle for an idea of what might work for you!
Beth
HM, interesting, I may haveto check that out. I guess it wouldn't hurt to change a bit when you hit a plateau. However, I am not at the plateau yet so i'll stay on plan for the time being.
I results is what you are looking for, cheating will only fool yourself into believing you can lose weight this way. And we all know this is not true, so get back on tarck and allow yourself some treats but try to stay on plan 90% of the time.
For me, I've found that I stall if I don't eat enough.This is part of my problem, getting more than 1500 calories or when I don't get enough fats. Then when I add more calories, coming from accetable foods and fats only, I start losing.
This calorie shifting [interval eating?] is interesting and warrants more consideration. However, I would also not recommend 'cheating' to get your extra calories. Cheating too often can lead to cravings and binges or even all out falling off plan. Try getting your extra calories from the acceptable foods list. Good luck.
It does happen. Even on TBL they said they allow their participants at least one "cheat" day to keep the metabolism from plateauing.
For me though when I am starting off a cheat day only puts me back a pound or two. But when I am out of that stage then once or twice a month really helped to keep things going.
This thread is interesting to me cuz I'm reading a book right now called, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" (really really good book written by bodybuilder). The books says "carb-cycling" is the most effective and quickest way to lose fat. It recommends starting on a 3/1 cycle (which means 3 days low-carb 90 carbs or so and 1 day doubling the carbs). I'm starting my carb cycling tomorrow...so I'll post next week and let you know if it "jump starts" my weight loss (it just took me 3 1/2 wks to lose 2lbs!!) The theory behind carb-cycling is as others here say...to prevent your body from adjusting to your current calorie intake and slowing down to accomodate it, thereby "tricking your body".
BTW - While Carb Cycling - he doesn't mean adding snickers, etc. on your "up" days, but adding beans, brown rice, starch veggies, fruit, etc. However, he suggest that once you reach maintenance level, you can have 1 cheat day/week but not to go too far off the wagon (i.e., alcohol-drinking binges, 5 snicker bars, etc.).
I've heard about this before too; I don't have any substantial research to brandish in its defence, but I tend to believe it - it does seem to make sense.
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While I don't believe Dr. Atkins specifically refered to it as "carb cycling"...he did mention this in the book.
" Still another way to do Pre-Maintenance, is to average out your carb intake for the week. This is how it works: If for example, your CCLL is 80 grams, you might drop back to 60 grams on Tuesday, then deviate with a beef, potato and carrot stew the following night, pushing your daily total to 100 grams (Up until now when weight loss was essential, I have told you to spread your carbs out through the day. If you do have a heavy dose at one meal, make surethere is enough fat, protein and fiber in the rest of the meal to slow the glucose load on your system) However if you find such deviations cause cravings, it is probably best for you to stick to a steady number of carbs spread evenly throughout the day."
The book also mentions a planned "cheat"....Dr. Atkins advised "Perhaps you can plan a "cheat" by cutting back for a few days before an event and then cafefully chosing a few indulgences."
Makes sense to me. The good Dr. was quite a brilliant man!!
Last edited by JerseyGyrl; 03-15-2008 at 12:11 PM.
HappyTeacher, I didn't find your bio so I'm going to ask some questions.
I do not know if you are doing Atkins or something other than Sonoma/South Beach/SugarBusters, who have their own boards, or even your own version. I would serious recommend reading the book that accompanies your diet. This is the BEST source of information for your diet, even if you are doing your own version because you should have a foundation of information and understanding. And you don't have to buy a book, most books, like Atkins/Carb Addicts/Lean for Life are available at the library.
Are you still doing induction or have you moved on to OWL? If you are still doing induction, you should ONLY have food on the Induction level Acceptable foods list on your higher calorie days.
If you are at the OWL stage, there is a specific "ladder" of foods, a group of foods, to add back to your diet one week at a time. Berries are on rung 4, beans rung 6 and whole grains rung 9. You can look at the thread "Problems Adding OWL Foods." JerseyGyrl explains the ladder of foods and what OWL food to add. It is important to notice how your body reacts to certain foods because some foods that are higher carb could cause your cravings to return.
Carb-Cycling has also been referred to in the low carb world as "high-low" and other names. It sounds like Atkins is something different. On Carb Cycling, your actually overloading on Carbs (good ones) on your "high day" and then you're "cutting" down to low carb on your "Low-days". 3/1 = 3 days low carb 90 carbs or less (depending on your body type...mesomorph, endomorph, etc.) & 1 day = 180 carbs or so...and you just repeat this. Tom Venuto's (author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle & all natural bodybuilder) theory in this is that after 3 days our bodies are sooo "smart" that it starts to adjust (slow down) to any calorie deficit...thereby causes "stalls". He says that when you do the 3/1 system you "trick your body" and it then becomes a fat burning machine! I'll see about that...cuz I'm starting today...and Mr. Venturo promises a 2lb fat loss per week doing it this way. So I guess I'll be the guinny pig here!
BTW, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is the #1 rated E-book...just google the reviews and see. I personally love the book as it is not all "scientific", but more "real world" experiences...it doesn't peddle push "supplements" like all the fitness mags and it explains the why's and hows in a not one-size fits all approach. In the book it helps you customize your own eating plans based upon your body type/genes (ie., mesomorph, endormorph, etc.) I would say it's worth every penny!
cheated and lost more weight!
