I wish I could at times, but my body wont let me. My stomach hates what would be my "cheat food"

I know this is a little old, but I thought I'd chime in with my experience. I did this for the month of March.. I kept my calories the same, but had a high carb/low fat day once a week. I lost the least amount of weight this month. Four pounds less than the last 2 months, and this is also the month that I have worked out the most/hardest. Could it be natural slowing down? Maybe.. I am going back to strict low carb for April, so I guess I will find out.

I think if anything on atkins your "cheat day" should still be on plan but add 10 carbs or something and should not be done while in induction and ketosis. I think this makes the most sense for OWL when you are not in ketosis and are adding carbs.

I personally would not do it.

Yes, I just started on a "slow carb" diet (based on the glycemic index.) I got it from a book. Prior to that I had tried for 2 months... lost 8 pounds and got stuck. After the first "cheat day", I lost a pound. Tomorrow is my second go at running amok. I literally have a list of crazy cravings to be fulfilled.

The nice thing is, I am not scared. I know it is safe to just go and eat all day. The only stipulation being that I begin the day with a slow carb breakfast. J

I do this... my trainer talked me in to it. I usually have a hamburger or pizza for one meal. I limited the pizza to 2 pieces. Ate a whole hamburger. I have also carb loaded with cereal. I have had next day weight gain that is lost pretty quickly. My trainer said it keeps the body guessing.

You may think it's splitting hairs, but you can't confuse or trick the body or the metabolism. In order to be confused or tricked, one must have consciousness. We have consciousness, our metabolism does not.

I can confuse, trick, and fool my mind, but not my body.

I'm not saying that calorie/carb cycling can't rev metabolism, and it's a worthwhile experiment, but thinking of it as "tricking" or "cheating" your body or metabolism makes it sound like it's more of mind game or a magic trick than a physiological tool.

If a "cheat meal" results in a woosh loss, I know it isn't because I "tricked" my body, so I want to know what about the cheat meal was the effective part. Is it more calories than usual? Is it the macronutrient proportion of the meal/day? Is it some thermogenic property of the specific food choice?

Do cheat meals work? ANd if so, what makes them work (because it isn't "fooling" metabolism, because metabolism can't be fooled).

I've done almost 40 years of experiments and I can tell you that different calorie levels do change my metabolism.

Low-carb eating revs my metabolism more so than any other diet.

Increasing my carbs has the opposite effect (always. I've never had a high carb "cheat meal" do anything but cause weight gain. It's usually water weight gain, so if I choose a "cheat meal" the damage is mostly temporary IF (and it's a big if) I don't make such meals a regular occurrence (because high carb foods tend to trigger hunger and cravings for me). Even if metabolisim were somehow moderately boosted, the increase in appetite would negate any benefit - in my experience.

You can only experiment, and see what works, but if a cheat meal works for you, remember it isn't because you've "confused" your body or your metabolism. It's because your choice has changed the metabolic equation in some way.

I think it's important to understand why and how it works (if it does work), because thinking of it as "confusing" or tricking the body/metabolism in some way makes it extremely easy to jump to the wrong conclusions.

For example, Say I'm following a low-calorie, high carbohydrate diet, and I learn from experience that an unusual low-carb day of the same calorie level every once in a while causes a woosh of weight loss. If I thought of it as "tricking" or "fooling" my metabolism, I could easily (and very mistakenly) think that a high-carb cheat day would be just as well on a low-carb diet (definitely not true for me).

After all if the body can be "confused" on a high-carb plan, (in theory) it can just as easily be "confused" on a low-carb plan or any other plan (I've not found that to be true at all for me. I don't know if that's just as true for others).

I've tried this over the past couple weeks and basically the same thing happened each week. On Fridays I would cheat...def too much though. I'm guessing my carb intake the last two Fridays were around 150 grams within a 2-hour period (5pm to 7pm). Once was pizza and a few snacks. The 2nd time it was honey garlic wings and snacks like bear paws. Each time, I'd have an immediate gain of about 2lbs. This gain would last about 4 days and then I'd drop back down a couple. So, pretty much all this done for me is maintain my weight. I guess it's nice to know for when I get to my goal, but for weightloss, it doesn't work for me. Of course, my carb intake was quite high. I considered a controlled binge where I'd stuff my face for a couple hours and then get back on track like nothing happened.

Anyway, I'm done with these cheat nights until I hit my goal! Just thought i'd share my experience...

These are all really good responses and feedback. Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm on my 10th day of induction. I'm really torn as to whether or not having pizza (without the crust) and birthday cake & ice cream will be worth it. On the one hand, I'm delighted with the progress I've made and don't want to derail it. On the other hand, I have intense cravings and want to satisfy them. Decisions, decisions.

It helps me! I am getting back on WW and when I was on it a while ago and losing a good amount of weight I was eating on plan, and within my daily points 6 days a week, but on Saturday night I would eat whatever I want (not binging though, just maybe a french dip and fries at my fav diner instead of salad and vinegar). I never tracked these and they were only for Saturday night. I would never take home leftovers, because then I would try to rationalize eating it come Sunday. I never ate weekly points of activity points, and I lost weight EVERY week. It kept me sane.

I would highly recommend keeping it to one meal though, preferably on a specific day (I would occasionally trade my "free" meal on Saturday night for Easter brunch on Sunday instead). I think, for me at least, a whole day would cause me to start seeking out things I know I don't need, but would love to eat, like Starbucks Cake Pops (Oi!).

I am also going back to zig-zag eating, because it worked for me. Good luck!

Oops, didn't realize this was an Atkins thread, I'm new. But the gist of my message was that a cheat day may work for some.

I'm finding that "cheat" meals only serve to make me want to binge. Staying on plan and upping calories for a day is better for me.