| Hey! It's that time of the week again, you're already planning the weekend, and this includes what your planned cheat day might look like. But read this before you get too carried away with the thought of food....
Planned cheats COULD be damaging your chances of achieving your long-term body goals. I say COULD because the fact is for some people targeted cheat days may actually SPEED UP fat loss, while for others hinder it. A big bulk of it comes down to your own psychology when it comes to dieting, and your relationship with food. First though, let me explain a little behind why so many so-called experts recommend planned cheating, and why it's more of a grey area. I'll try to keep the science as simple as possible so bear with me here. It all relates back to a hormone called Leptin. When trying to reduce body fat and get leaner, calorie intake should generally be slightly lower that expenditure. You burn more calories than you eat, meaning body stores of fat are used for energy, hence fat loss occurs. As calories reduce your Leptin levels gradually drop, slowly reducing your metabolism. This all stems back to a series of responses that occur when your body is entering starvation mode, as a protective measure. Both fortunately and unfortunately the body's very clever in this way, since it's very rarely these days our bodies need to panic through fear of not being able to get food. For early cavemen folk this was obviously a different story!! Anyway, imagine your calories are low, the longer you go on this calorie deficit the lower your Leptin levels and metabolism will be. Interestingly some studies show convincingly that a short-term injection of calories in to your diet will significantly increase your Leptin levels. It's a bit like throwing a load of burning wood on to a dying down fire; you get a short-term increase in fire and heat until eventually it dies down again; the wood is your food, the Leptin is fire, your metabolism is the heat it emits. So by injecting a few extra calories here and there when trying to get lean it could potentially help to speed fat loss up a little. But here's the catch; there are typically 2 types of people when it comes to dieting: PERSON 1: Sticks to a strict food plan throughout the week, with the aim to have a planned cheat day at the end of the week. Cheat day happens, and Person 1 is back on the food plan the next day. Happy days! PERSON 2: Does the same strict diet throughout the week, with a cheat day also planned. Cheat day happens, but Person 2 wakes up the next day and does a bit of a 'half' cheat day. This type of person has a problem with their on/off switch when dieting, and basically has a problem shutting off what the brain's craving. Person 2 also likely has a little something the next day too. Do you see the difference!? While Person 1 can enable themselves to have a planned cheat day (because they have an on/off switch and their relationship with food is better), Person 2 doesn't seem to have that off switch. By the end of it Person 2 is probably only sticking to a strict food plan for 65-75% of the week. Which person do you think will achieve their lean body goals sooner, and have the greater success? Pretty obvious I would have thought! WHO ARE YOU? If you're Person 1 then a planned cheat could be a good idea for long term success, and to enable you to feel less restricted when dieting. For Person 2 unfortunately it's just not worth the risk of opening the flood gates and allowing yourself a cheat day. You will rely more on momentum, and sticking to a semi-strict food plan for as long as you can without planning a cheat. If you're planning your next cheat day already just always consider this one essential rule: A CHEAT DAY MUST BE STARTED AND FINISHED WITHIN ONE SLEEP CYCLE! Once your head touches the pillow that's the end of your cheat day. If you can do this then great, if not then cheat days aren't for you! | 
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