Probably, almost every person who has ever followed a strict diet has “broken down” and then reproached themselves for their weak willpower. Today, the days of breakdowns have been given a scientific name - cheating (load day), when you can allow yourself to forget about the diet and eat whatever your heart desires. And the best part is that after this you don’t need to suffer from remorse, because even nutritionists approve of such days.
The word “cheating” is translated from English as fraud, scam. That is, a kind of deceptive day for the body that is on a diet. It is simply necessary for strict and monotonous diets. Eating goodies on fasting days should be perceived as a method that helps maintain fortitude and easily withstand further difficulties of food restriction. In addition, this trick allows you to “push” your metabolism and maybe even get your weight off the ground.
Pros of cheating
- The phrase “hungry and angry” is very close to the truth. Strict diets can cause a depressed psychological state close to depression in a person. What if such a diet lasts months? To prevent such an emotional breakdown from leading to discord in the family or at work, you need to somehow replace it with a positive mood. And what can do this better than your favorite milk chocolate with nuts or a huge portion of ice cream?
- Long-term dietary restrictions can lead to a decrease in the production of thyroid hormone (T3), which is responsible for metabolism in the body. A small amount of T3 leads to a decrease in metabolic rate. Agree that this is not the best option when you are trying to lose weight. Loading days will not allow the level of the hormone in the blood to fall. As soon as the body receives a signal that a difficult time has come and you need to put all the few calories you consume in reserve, you will deceive it by cheating.
- Cheat days help avoid so-called “breakdowns”, because they have a positive effect on the level of leptin in the body. Leptin is produced by fat cells to maintain energy balance. When leptin levels reach a certain threshold, a signal is sent to the brain that you have received enough calories and it is time to get up from the table. Diets lead to a drop in leptin levels, which can trigger uncontrolled food consumption and overeating.
- Monotonous diets (especially mono-diets) do not allow you to get enough nutrients from food, as well as fats. Loading Day will help solve this problem.
“Life is too short to chew celery!” — nutritionist Marissa Lippert.
Cons of cheat days
The fragile boundaries of dietary freedom and self-control can break, and instead of benefit, you will only get disappointment from cheating on your diet. What dangers await you?
- Permissiveness in food can “break the roof”, and you will not be able to return to your previous diet the next day after cheating. How to avoid this? Cultivate willpower and fortitude!
- If you take the idea of cheating incorrectly, then you can eat as many calories in 1 day as you will then lose until the next loading day. And this is a vicious circle! What to do? Do not confuse the period of indulgence with the day of gluttony!
Rule No. 3 How long can cheating last?
The number of days and duration of gluttony depends on your metabolism, it is individual for everyone. But nutritionists note the optimal duration of cheating is from 24 to 72 hours once every 1-2 weeks. Personally, I recommend arranging cheating sessions of an average duration of 24-48 hours. During this time, you will be able to speed up your metabolism and let your body understand that it is not worth cutting down on the energy consumption obtained by burning fat.
Loading Rules
It would seem that you eat to your heart's content. What rules might there be? However, everything is not so simple here either. To prevent the loading day from turning into a “belly festival”, after which you will have to lose 1-2 extra kilos that you gain from cheating throughout the next week, it is better to adhere to the following recommendations:
- You can’t spend loading days too often. No more than once a week. Nutritionists advise limiting yourself to once every 2-3 weeks.
- It is strictly not recommended to extend cheating for more than 1 day.
- Cheat days are only permissible during strict long-term diets with a limited diet (more than 1 month).
- “Loading” is not recommended for people who have a large amount of excess weight (more than 15 kg).
- You can't indulge in gluttony these days. You can easily increase the portion by half, but there is no need to eat 2 or 3 times more than usual.
- Although the idea of cheat days is that you have the right to indulge in everything, try to avoid foods that are too fatty, fried, or very salty. Here the point is not so much in their calorie content, but in the danger of this food for your stomach. Such a meal (especially after strict restrictions) can lead to heartburn, bloating and abdominal pain, and intestinal problems.
It is important that the cheat day does not turn into a day of “overload” of your body. Otherwise, unfortunately, you will not see a positive effect from it.
The benefits of loading days
Loading days will make the difficult struggle with excess weight easier. Staying in a caloric deficit for long periods of time is exhausting (even though it helps you live longer).
Sometimes increasing your daily calories, especially from carbohydrates, can:
1. Reduce hunger! Not only due to the consumption of more food, but also due to an increase in the level of leptin - the “satiety hormone”.
2. Increase energy expenditure despite the calorie deficit. Our body reduces energy expenditure when reducing energy intake. Increasing your carbohydrate intake from time to time will help increase your energy expenditure even when following a long-term diet.
3. Make Dieting Easier: It's much easier to stay in a calorie deficit if you know you can eat more on certain days. This approach to losing weight is much more effective in helping to avoid breakdowns and gluttony. It also allows (if urgently needed) to enjoy consuming your favorite product/dish.
4. Liven up your diet with more carbohydrates, making it more tolerable.
5. Avoid a breakdown: it is difficult to maintain a calorie deficit for a long time. Almost the entire period of following a diet during “drying” a person experiences stress. Therefore, breakdowns very often occur: as soon as the goal of the diet is achieved, the person begins to eat everything. Loading days will make the exit from the diet smoother, without breakdowns.
6. Increase energy consumption and labor productivity. Rapid fat burning occurs with the loss of a small percentage of muscle. You need to constantly fight for their safety and strive for their growth while following a diet. Increased consumption of carbohydrates, which occurs rarely but periodically, allows you to replenish glycogen in the muscles, and therefore preserve muscle tissue.
How to make cheating work for you?
- If during the period when you are on a diet, some festive events are expected (weddings, birthdays), when drawing up a plan for loading days, schedule them for these dates. Such planning will allow you not to feel like a black sheep at the holiday and delight yourself with delicious forbidden foods. However, do not turn pleasure into gluttony!
- Some nutritionists recommend combining cheating with the date of your workout. This will help you immediately burn some of the calories you eat. In addition, many people prefer not to overeat before playing sports, but after them to eat healthier foods.
- Drink plenty of water. This will help “deceive” hunger. After all, people often confuse hunger with thirst. Sometimes you just drink a glass of water and you don’t feel like eating anymore!
- It is perfectly acceptable to consume prohibited foods, but even here some sense of proportion is needed. Would you like some cake? Eat one (or maybe even 2). But you don’t have to overeat eclairs to the point of nausea.
- Don't load up on food. Remember to chew your food thoroughly and enjoy every bite. This will make your meal tastier and healthier. Plus, you'll likely feel full much faster.
- Don't give in to guilt. In no case do not scold yourself for every piece you eat on the day of cheating. “Loading” should charge you with energy for further achievements in losing weight and improving your figure, and in no way make you feel remorse.
On cheat days, enjoy your food! That's exactly what they are designed for. Only then will the loading period be beneficial.
Fasting day - what is it?
All those who have been working on their figure for a long time or have at least once in their life searched the Internet in search of an answer to the question “how to lose weight?” Most likely, you heard about fasting days; many people sat on them.
Well, let’s talk about the fact that “loading” days are very effective and in general, much fewer people know what they are, or someone has heard something, but does not fully understand how to carry them out correctly.
A cheat day or loading day is a time when you plan to eat much more than usual, and you can treat yourself to your favorite foods.
Why is this necessary?
Let me give you an example:
You started to lose weight, first cut calories, saw the result, were happy, came to the gym - again you saw that the weight was getting smaller - you rejoice even more, you have a little left, for example, only 5-10 kilograms, when suddenly your weight stops, you can no longer cutting calories, this will be dangerous to health, and there is no place to train more often either - here cheating comes to the rescue, the purpose of which is to boost the metabolism that gradually slows down in the process of losing weight, such controlled eating of more calories allows our body to understand that everything is ok, we We don’t starve, we don’t need to stockpile any food for future use, we can continue to burn fat again.
Cheating and gluttony are not the same thing
But there is also a flip side to the coin, many people think and confuse cheating with gluttony; cheating is not the uncontrolled eating of everything that catches the eye. Competent cheating has its own rules, violation of which can lead to excess weight gain, which we are just trying to get rid of, and digestive problems.
What can you eat?
You can eat all foods that contain little fat and a lot of complex carbohydrates and protein (for example: vegetables, cereals, fruits, lean meat, fish). That is, in theory, you should eat what you eat every day when losing weight, only in much larger quantities.
Ideally, you should also limit your consumption of sweets and sugars, drink plenty of water and don’t forget to exercise.
Add something you love
Remember that cheating is not a day of gluttony, you are simply helping the body speed up its metabolism, but I fully admit that + to all healthy foods you can add something your favorite “forbidden”, which is not worth eating every day at all, since it greatly slows down the entire weight loss process.
There is also a positive psychological aspect to cheating.
Guilt
We are forbidden to do something and we want it even more; as a result, a so-called breakdown happens, and the feeling of guilt begins to drive us crazy, and a slight deviation from the diet can turn into gluttony.
But if you have planned in advance that, for example, on Saturday you increase the caloric content of your diet mainly with the right foods + eat your favorite ice cream, then it will be morally easier for you, you will not feel guilty.
You will feel like everything is under control!
The main thing is to use willpower in time.
How often can you cheat?
In the first stages of losing weight, I would not recommend doing this more often than once every couple of weeks, since there is a high probability of returning to the previous lifestyle, the temptation is too great, and in the future, with regular training, you can do it more often, once every 10 days or week. + increase caloric intake by about 20 percent of today’s weight loss norm.
Cheating or loading days can be very effective. But only with a reasonable approach. Remember that you are individual, there is no single super formula for losing weight, all methods need to be adjusted to suit you, but cheating can help some people get their weight off the ground.
That's all for today, please write in the comments whether you arrange such loading days for yourself and how effective it is for you. And I will gladly read it. Let's continue to work on ourselves together, correctly, interestingly, and enjoying the process!
How are stars “loaded”?
Celebrities, who are always in the public eye, very often have to limit themselves in nutrition and “sit” on strict diets in order to look stunning on TV screens and magazine covers. But they are also people with their own weaknesses and desires. What do stars prefer to “load” with?
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson, who is annually included in the ranking of the 10 sexiest women in the world, pleases her fans with a beautiful figure, which she has to work very carefully on. However, from time to time the actress treats herself to her favorite dish - burritos (meat, rice, avocado, tomatoes and cheese wrapped in pita bread with spicy Mexican sauce).
Mariah Carey
The famous singer, who gained weight after pregnancy, is now “on a diet” again. The only dish she cannot deny herself is Italian pizza.
Jennifer Lopez
The beautiful actress, who constantly adheres to her own menu, compiled for her by a nutritionist, and devotes a lot of time to training, periodically allows herself her favorite treats - chocolates and cookies, as well as potato chips with sour cream and onions.
Britney Spears
The singer constantly struggles with excess weight through diets, sports and dancing. But it is impossible to withstand such a difficult regime without small weaknesses. That's why Britney's cheating includes cheeseburgers, chips and popsicles.
Penelope Cruz
The actress, who manages to look stunning at any age, admits that she loses a lot of energy during filming. To replenish it, she can allow herself any fatty and high-calorie foods. Penelope loves pizza and pasta.
Heidi Klum
The famous model loves fast food. That's why she often treats herself to a lunch of a Big Mac and French fries at McDonald's.
Denise Richards
The actress has a terrible sweet tooth. She knows how to limit herself to any food except chocolate. On cheat days, Denise can eat an entire box of chocolates without guilt.
Rihanna
To maintain an ideal figure, the singer trains a lot. But even she sometimes treats herself to fast food, which she adores. For every piece she eats, the girl then “answers” in the gym.
Cheat day in bodybuilding
If we talk about gaining muscle mass, loading days are also used in bodybuilding. However, the concepts should not be confused. Cheating in sports has 2 meanings.
The first is the principle of the founder of bodybuilding, Joe Weider. It consists of deliberately violating the correct technique of performing an exercise in order to increase the number of repetitions and muscle growth. This is a special trick for advanced athletes.
However, we will talk about the second meaning of this word - “loading” with food. This technique in bodybuilding is relevant when an athlete adheres to a special diet with a certain caloric intake and the amount of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates consumed. Of course, athletes need to take cheating more seriously than people who want to lose weight. After all, in addition to losing fat, their goal is to gain muscle mass. Bodybuilders should not load their bodies with “garbage.” On these days, they need to eat more calories, which will energize their body and help make their workouts more productive.
