Cheating On Your Diet To Increase Fat Loss.

Howdy folks.... no I have not lost my mind. I have come only bearing gifts! The gift of knowledge. Okay, that sounds totally corny, but this might have you smiling all the way back to the fridge.

So many people hit plateaus. The fat will not go anywhere, and your measurements and scale weight at the same.  My longest plateau was 7 weeks long. Depressing yes, but in my quest for the truth about fat loss, I discovered something..... Cheating once or twice a week, actually helped with moving beyond that plateau.

A fluke? Wishful thinking?  Nope... it is actually based in medical science. It has to do with Neuroendocrinology. Seriously!

We talk about insulin, we talk about testosterone, we talk about estrogen, but have we every talked about LEPTIN?

Leptin? What the, who the huh?

Yup Leptin, a hormone. There not just for sex anymore.

Named after leptos, the Greek term for "thin," leptin is a hormone released by your fat cells. Although it has a number of functions, one of leptin's main roles is to let your brain know how fat you are.  It actually controls your metabolism. Yes I am serious. Leptin is produced by fat tissue and is secreted into the bloodstream where it travels to the brain and other tissues. Leptin causes fat loss and decreased appetite. It also plays a very important role in calorie intake and calorie burning. Hmmm, that sounds pretty important to all this hubbub we are all going through doesn't it?

The bottomline is that by mastering Leptin hormone in your body you will be mastering your body weight. Why?

Leptin causes you to burn stored fat; most fad diets, or unrealistic dieting robs the body of both fat and muscle. When you diet, your body compensates for reduced calorie and fat intake by lowering your energy and metabolism. Leptin can actually enhance your energy and metabolism. What does this mean, well what it means is best diet and exercise plan in the world will not work unless the Leptin levels are correct. Something Nutrisystem does not share with it's customers I assure you.

Leptin levels are related to a number of things, including insulin, your caloric intake, and your current level of bodyfat. Think of it as one of the big ?fat-loss decision makers.? Generally speaking, the leaner you are, the lower your baseline levels of leptin are. Under normal conditions, though, leptin is plentiful. However, while your calorie intake is at sub-maintenance levels, and particularly if you're on a low-carb diet, which lowers your levels of circulating insulin, leptin levels drop.

Decreased leptin levels cause a number of other regulatory changes ? namely, decreased thyroid output and metabolic rate and increased catabolic hormone activity and appetite. In an attempt to become more efficient, your body will try to slow down to make that lowered caloric intake its new maintenance intake. That is, it'll try to do the same amount of work with less energy. And unfortunately, this usually means having to continuously lower calories to maintain your progress, which inevitably makes it very hard to hold on to all your hard-earned muscle. None of this sounds too good to me. However, periodic days of high calorie and carbohydrate intake may help with this.


Remember our bodies want to adapt. That is a good thing and a not-so-good thing when trying to lose body fat. So how do we increase levels of leptin enough to kick start the fat loss again. (exercise is still required here people)

Researchers have identified a system that 'senses' nutrient flux (flux = what's going in versus what's going out) through both fat and muscle cells.  This affects a lot of process. When dieting, more calories are leaving the fat cell than are going in (negative flux). This nutrient sensing system  'senses' this and affects many processes, one of which is leptin production (decreasing leptin production).  So leptin drops.  When overfeeding, more calories are entering the fat cells than are leaving (positive flux). The system 'senses' this and  affects many processes, one of which is leptin production (increasing leptin production).  So leptin increases.  Hence the need for cyclical dieting: when dieting, leptin drops and your body fights back. 

What is cyclical dieting... well to make a long story short. A cheat day. Now I do not mean go nuts with the KFC, I mean, eat more carbs, protein and fat, don't worry. Meaning try 4 days of dieting per week.  Meaning consume 500 -800 Calories less than your Maintainance Level, and then have 2 days at the maintainance level, and one day with maybe an extra 500 calories above your maintainance level.  Keep working out, drink plenty of water... try this for a couple of weeks, and see if this works, remember change it up each day.  mix it up.

Your plateau will start to vanish.  It did for me.

Eat people.... it is what gives us the energy to live.

*bump*

i like what i'm hearing....i've heard it before but not backed up by science. I've just seen it in posts "plateaued?? eat more!!" and the thought kind of freaked me out. It took me awhile to get used to eating less, now i'm supposed to eat more again??

When i hit my plateau last month i got out of it by switching up my exercise routine. I'm not in one now, but things aren't movin as fast as i'd like, so i'm gonna try this. TRICK THE LEPTIN, TRICK THE LEPTIN!!!!

I think that everyone needs to see this post.  I've been seeing a lot of people who are plateauing and I think that this information provides a great starting point for those who don't know what to do.

Thanks for bumping shortcut2k- its definately helpful to know that if you indulge once in a while that it can actually be good for you!

irishmum -- With all of the recent questions about going over a little bit, I thought it would relieve some stress to know that it IS good every now and then :)  Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!

I hope this works because I went for a weekend , did not go that crazy with food (2000 cals x 2 days) and with all the hiking and even a zumba class, I still put on 2.2 lb! It has been 4 days since and got 1.2 lb off, but still want my 1 extra pound to go and hopefully, with the Leptin help, some more? I'll let you know.

This has definitely worked for me in the past (actually, very recently too)! Great info!

bump

 

Just doing my bit to BUMP! This totally bears out my own experience, which until now I couldn't explain.  I just know that I can go several weeks without dropping any weight, rigorously maintaining my deficit, and then, after a day of going to maintenance or over, I drop anywhere from 1-4 pounds. It inspires me to change things up a bit!

Now that I see what zig-zagging is, it very much explains the success stories of people who play around with their daily calorie intake.  I am very motivated to try this out to see how much weight I can lose before the holidays!

Well I must add my experience from last week....

I've been at it for just over a year.  The last month i've been hovering around 100 lbs lost but I can honestly say I've been a little lax recently. 

Went to Vegas for 4 days and WOW I sort of took advantage of the free booze and free food.  I decided I wasn't going to restrict and just enjoy my much needed vacation......

Well I started my TTOM while I was there and ate quite liberally.  I was actually anxious to get home to weigh myself.  Got home on Wednesday and weighed in.....I was 152 up 2 lbs.  Not bad but don't forget...I was PMS'ing.  Waited till Friday to weigh in again....ALL TIME LOW!!!!  146 lbs! 

Anyways, just wanted to share that.  Back at it....:)

~H~

This theory completely explains why the Weight Watchers Flex Plan worked on me... and that I can lose 5 more pounds without signing back up. WW does something called Flex Points, which are basically extra, or splurge points that you are allowed to eat anywhere anytime, in addition to your daily allotment. They equate to between 30 and 110 calories per point, depending on how healthy the food is. What I gather from this article is that their program is using this method of caloric fluctuation to promote faster weight loss (and of course charging you for the use of their program and tools). Now I know the secret... no more paying anybody to tell me how to lose weight.

I was down a pound and a half November 1st, and that was after going wayy over my calories on Halloween--I probably clocked in around 2500 if I were going to estimate. So yes, it does work!

Bump.

I was just wondering why my low calorie intake wasn't working and am so pleased I found this topic this morning.  Will have my cheat day today!

Here I come cheat day! BUMP..

OMG thank you so much for this advice. I will surely do this. Thank you all you wonderful people!

Wow this was really good information!

It's TRUE!!!  I couldn't help myself last month and thought I really blew my diet.  I was almost afraid to weigh myself--I lost 50-lbs so far and haven't had any "plateaus", but I was afraid I gained from that binge.  I actually lost weight and I ate a super-sized, extra sauce roast beef sandwich on an onion roll with french fries and onion rings.  I was amazed--THANKS so much for sharing the science behind that...I just thought it was magic!

 

:)

Hmmmmm....VERRRRRY EEEEEN-teresting! I have heard this...and even passed on the info...but I've never heard so many testimonials!  Of course, I forgot the information.  And I've been on a plateau for over THREE WEEKS! Yesterday, my neighbor brought me three slices of Papa Murphy's Roasted Garlic & Chicken Pizza....and it was SOOOOO GOOOOOD!  I ate TWO SLICES!  This morning I got on the scale and...VOILA!  I had lost a pound and a HALF!  Guess it really DOES WORK.  When this sort of thing happened in the past, I rationalized that I was showing weight loss from two or three days prior to the loss.  But now I know that's not the case! I'm gonna have to make a habit of this "technique" now. Wonder if I can manage to eat chocolate one day a week and then go back to "normal"...