How many treat days do you guys have?

[soulforge]

I'm super clean with my diet during the week. However on a Friday night I like a nice big junk food meal like a pizza and some desert.

That being said the following day I feel like crap, and it seems like taking a step backwards when your trying to look as lean as possible.

You guys indulge in a cheat day? Or completely avoid junk food altogether.

 

[Westminster]

I have some chocolate at the weekend but try to stay off junk otherwise. Also I don't drink alcohol nowadays, which used to increase my propensity to eat badly - both when drinking and as a rsult of hangovers.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I'm super clean with my diet during the week. However on a Friday night I like a nice big junk food meal like a pizza and some desert.

That being said the following day I feel like crap, and it seems like taking a step backwards when your trying to look as lean as possible.

You guys indulge in a cheat day? Or completely avoid junk food altogether.

Once a week usually to varying degrees. It helps reset leptin levels and rev the thyroid from the extra calories.

Maybe try doing it for breakfast or lunch on a weekend day instead of dinner?

They actually did a study that showed people who took diet breaks of 1-2 weeks every 2-3 months when they were restricting calories to lose weight/fat actually lost significantly more fat by the end of the study than those who did not and simply stayed on the caloric restricted plan.

They also found the people on the consistent caloric restricted diets lowered their metabolic rate by an average of about 450 calories a day while those who took diet breaks showed no negative changes to their metabolic rates.

 

[EyeBRollin]

I don’t have cheat days really. My taste buds adapt too quickly. If I eat clean for 2 weeks, I can taste every gram of salt, sugar, and fat in a cheat meal. Then I feel sick after.

My closest thing to cheat meal is when my wife makes some ethnic food.

 

[mbc0029]

I completely avoid fast food. But sweets and energy drinks (zero or low sugar) are my weakness. I try to keep them away for health and budget purposes , but whenever my brother (roommate) buys sweets like pop-tarts or peanut butter, it takes the upmost discipline to stay away. Doesn't always work.

I'm low income, which for diet purposes isn't a bad thing. It forces me to buy better food and be more efficient with what I eat.

 

[mbc0029]

I don’t have cheat days really. My taste buds adapt too quickly. If I eat clean for 2 weeks, I can taste every gram of salt, sugar, and fat in a cheat meal. Then I feel sick after.

My closest thing to cheat meal is when my wife makes some ethnic food.

Salt is the best

 

[Pierce Manhammer]

I've realized that a treat for me is a nice yogurt or an orange. I do not crave much anymore in the way of food, it's strange.

I mostly stay primal 99% of the time, but I will not limit myself if I'm out to dinner or whatever and see something I want to eat.

Don't overthink it.

 

[EyeBRollin]

Salt is the best

Salt is addictive. I’ve removed added salt from my diet completely. Now I can taste salt content in everything. I use potassium chloride and salt free seasoning now. Try removing salt for a couple weeks and your taste buds will go back to normal.

 

[Millard Fillmore]

I'm super clean with my diet during the week. However on a Friday night I like a nice big junk food meal like a pizza and some desert.

That being said the following day I feel like crap, and it seems like taking a step backwards when your trying to look as lean as possible.

You guys indulge in a cheat day? Or completely avoid junk food altogether.

I don't need treat or cheat days because my diet is on point. Mostly fresh produce with some starch and proteins. So I can mix in whatever I want when I feel like it and it doesn't have to be a reward because my habits are good. That said I don't ever feel the need to go overboard - again, out of habit. If I want french fries or ice cream it's not a problem for me.

Also, pizza isn't necessarily junk food. Are you going to a Neapolitan restaurant that uses fresh dough and ingredients? Or making the same at home perhaps? Same goes for dessert. Big difference between a small bakery-fresh pastry and, say, Little Debbie.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I don't need treat or cheat days because my diet is on point. Mostly fresh produce with some starch and proteins. So I can mix in whatever I want when I feel like it and it doesn't have to be a reward because my habits are good. That said I don't ever feel the need to go overboard - again, out of habit. If I want french fries or ice cream it's not a problem for me.

Also, pizza isn't necessarily junk food. Are you going to a Neapolitan restaurant that uses fresh dough and ingredients? Or making the same at home perhaps? Same goes for dessert. Big difference between a small bakery-fresh pastry and, say, Little Debbie.

I prefer it to be a single day binge. When you make sure you are on point other days, your body down regulates it's fat storing ability so a single day binge will have as little as possible effect on any excess calories being stored as fat. I then follow it with a fast day which then takes the leptin reset that cheat day gave and the thyroid boost it gave from an influx of calories and use it to fuel highly efficient fat burning throughout the fast day.

Win-win with no losses anywhere to be found.

 

[mbc0029]

Salt is addictive. I’ve removed added salt from my diet completely. Now I can taste salt content in everything. I use potassium chloride and salt free seasoning now. Try removing salt for a couple weeks and your taste buds will go back to normal.

Would added salt be the salt you buy from the store?

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Would added salt be the salt you buy from the store?

I'd say so...I add the pink Himalayan salt sometimes and also started taking some electrolytes, especially when fasting as I still get after it and sweat a lot.

Some things have sodium naturally but most people don't need to worry about salt, it's the sodium in the foods they eat, especially in processed foods and at restaurants where things are loaded with sodium, especially the sauces and marinades.

 

[mbc0029]

I'd say so...I add the pink Himalayan salt sometimes and also started taking some electrolytes, especially when fasting as I still get after it and sweat a lot.

Some things have sodium naturally but most people don't need to worry about salt, it's the sodium in the foods they eat, especially in processed foods and at restaurants where things are loaded with sodium, especially the sauces and marinades.

Do you know the foods that have natural salt? Is it safe to assume the more natural the food, the better?

Also, I get the sweating part. I've had times where I had to add a little extra salt from working out during the spring/summer, or in the middle of the day outside.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Do you know the foods that have natural salt? Is it safe to assume the more natural the food, the better?

Also, I get the sweating part. I've had times where I had to add a little extra salt from working out during the spring/summer, or in the middle of the day outside.

Cottage cheese is loaded with sodium. Canned mackerel and sardines have good amounts. Chicken/vegetable/beef broth for making soups/stews or putting in recipes is loaded with sodium.

Sauces and condiments can be loaded with sodium as well. Hot sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, etc.

 

[mbc0029]

Cottage cheese is loaded with sodium. Canned mackerel and sardines have good amounts. Chicken/vegetable/beef broth for making soups/stews or putting in recipes is loaded with sodium.

Sauces and condiments can be loaded with sodium as well. Hot sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, etc.

It's almost like they put it in everything

 

[BackInTheGame78]

It's almost like they put it in everything

Pretty much.

 

[EyeBRollin]

Would added salt be the salt you buy from the store?

Everything in the store except the produce aisle has sodium in it. BITG78 nailed it, all your packaged foods and sauces are loaded with salt. I try to read the label on everything that isn’t produce. If I want to “salt to taste,” I’ll use potassium chloride instead of table salt.

 

[zekko]

I've heard cheat meals are less harmful than cheat days. I may have a couple of times a week when I eat what I call "normal food", but I try to pick the least harmful thing I can find, like say a can of soup with relatively low calories, carbs, and saturated fat. That's just my current diet though, I've been a lot more free in the past, but I realized I need to clean things up.

 

[mbc0029]

Everything in the store except the produce aisle has sodium in it. BITG78 nailed it, all your packaged foods and sauces are loaded with salt. I try to read the label on everything that isn’t produce. If I want to “salt to taste,” I’ll use potassium chloride instead of table salt.

A lot of times I'll drink a zero sugar energy drink (Monster Zero, Reign, etc.) and I'll notice one of the ingredients is Salt. It's amazing what you find when you pay attention to what you're consuming. I knew added sugars weren't good for you, especially in large amounts, but it never occurred to me that added salt had a similar effect.

I might be addicted to salt. Sugar, I don't have an issue with. You can get natural sugars from produce.

I think I might be addicted to salt, as funny as that sounds. Whoever sells products with added salt, aren't going to complain.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I've heard cheat meals are less harmful than cheat days. I may have a couple of times a week when I eat what I call "normal food", but I try to pick the least harmful thing I can find, like say a can of soup with relatively low calories, carbs, and saturated fat. That's just my current diet though, I've been a lot more free in the past, but I realized I need to clean things up.

Cheat days aren't harmful at all. They are actually helpful. If you do them right and understand how to use your hormones to your advantage.

I used to literally eat close to 8-10K a day on cheat days...ice cream for breakfast, pancakes with whipped cream, taco bell 10 packs of tacos and a couple of burritos, piling in food all day.

Then the next day I fasted and all the weight I gained during the cheat day was lost and then I just kept on losing the rest of the week.

If done right it acts like a slingshot for weight loss.