![]() You see, cheat days aren’t just about taking a “break” from dieting they’re a tool for helping you lose fat. The other side of that coin is positive: if you increase leptin levels, you can start losing fat again usually pretty quickly.Īnd that, my friends, is where cheat days come in. (I addressed the others in this article on hormonally influenced fat storage and how to fix it.) This is why losing the last 5 pounds is in many ways harder than losing the first 50: leptin is one of several hormones that come into place when trying to drop those last few pounds. Obviously, this doesn’t bode well for your fat loss efforts the more fat you lose, the more difficult it will be to lose fat. The long and short of it is: lower calories -> lose fat -> reduce leptin -> stop losing fat. As mentioned, this is a surefire way to tank leptin. As a result, when you take in few calories, leptin levels decrease, helping you to survive the famine.Įxcept there is no famine there’s just your diet. And when you’re on that diet, you are decreasing fat mass and have a reduced caloric intake. Keep in mind, leptin is known as the anti-starvation hormone it’s evolutionary function was to slow the metabolism and conserve energy (and fat) during times of famine. Your total fat mass influences leptin because leptin is produced in the fat cells more fat equals more leptin. You see, leptin levels are influenced by two major factors: the amount of fat on your body, and your caloric intake. And, as you may have guessed by now, leptin levels drop when you’re dieting. Put in the most basic terms possible, the relationship is like this: when leptin levels are high, you can lose fat quickly when leptin levels are low, fat loss slows down. Known as the “anti-starvation hormone”, leptin more or less controls the rate at which you lose fat, because it controls a few other hormones that also affect metabolism and fat loss (most notably the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 more on that below). There’s a hormonal called leptin that dramatically influences a number of mechanisms related to fat loss. While you may have lost 5-7 pounds in the first few days, you lose about half of that over the next several weeks. So, let’s talk about the science and physiology of the entire thing.Īnyone who’s ever been on a diet can tell you that although things tend to start out well, that doesn’t last long after the first week or so, your rate of fat loss slows down dramatically. ![]() With that in mind, we should first cover the very basic question: Why cheat? Do cheat days work?Īs I said earlier, the short answer is yes, they work–in more ways than one. Now, you’ll have a place to send them to get the information in brief. Secondly, if you do decide to use cheat days, you may find yourself in the position of being asked why you use them and how this works. And so today, instead of talking to you about my favorite foods, I thought I’d just give you a break down that can serve a few purposes.įirstly, if you’re still on the fence about whether or not to cheat, this post will help you decide if it’s for you please note that his particular point is made in a different manner in my article defending cheat days, so you should check that out, as well. I’ve become known for my love of such days. In fact, I believe it so much that I have the cheatiest cheat days around. But for now, the important thing to know is that, if done correctly–for example, the Feast/Fast model–taking a planned day off from your diet can help you lose fat much, much faster. Mainly, I’ve been getting asked if they actually work. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about cheat days.
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