The inevitable question I get when I send a diet over to a new client is: do I get a cheat day?
The truth is, most people don’t need a cheat day. Typically, they need a refeed day which consists of an increase in carbohydrates while keeping protein and fat constant or slightly lower. The purpose of this is to boost metabolism, replenish muscle glycogen, and improve workout performance without the extra calories spilling over into fat gain.
Difference Between Cheat Days and Refeed Days
A cheat day is a day to go nuts and eat whatever you want. There is a definite increase in carbohydrate intake, which is what we want, but also an increase in fat consumption. Fats are not bad of course, but this high concentration of both fats and carbs typically resides in foods that are extremely palatable and easy to overeat. This can lead to a massive calorie surplus, way more than what was intended. If you think you can’t add considerable body fat in one day, think again.
There is massive appeal to the idea of a cheat day. On YouTube you’ll find numerous 10,000 and 20,000 calorie challenge videos with millions of views. What’s worse is you see guys like The Rock and Juan Morel pounding pancakes and ice cream while looking completely shredded. Even guys who are not anabolically enhanced like Alberto Nunez maintain a lean physique eating 4,000-5,000 calories per day.
The problem is that this is the exception, not the rule. These people are metabolically gifted. They have a unique ability to eat massive amounts of food without consequence. People think ‘if they can do it, so can I’ or ‘this guy is jacked and he eats a box of pecan sandies every day so that’s what I need to do.’ You may be one of these people, but the odds aren’t in your favor.
A refeed day is much more structured and strategic. Protein typically remains the same. Fat could remain the same or is sometimes lowered. Carbohydrates will be increased. How much depends on your tolerance, which can vary wildly from person to person.
The Purpose of a Refeed Meal
Being in a calorie deficit, whether it’s via dieting or cardiovascular exercise, is the only way to lose weight (ideally in the form of body fat). Basically you are eating at a level below your metabolic rate. The problem is that the body is dynamic and eventually will lower its metabolic rate to adjust to this new level of calorie balance. The next logical step is to lower calories even further so that your weight loss does not stagnate.
This process can work for awhile but eventually you will reach a level where your calorie intake is at a dangerously low level. At this point people can experience hormonal dysfunction, particularly thyroid hormone for women and testosterone for men (but not limited to just that).
Rather than taking this linear approach to dieting I’ve always been a fan of refeeds and carbohydrate cycling. The idea behind it is simple: before your metabolism can decrease and adjust to your new diet intake, we give it a temporary boost via an increase in carbs. In the process we also restore glycogen, increasing the volume of muscle cells giving a fuller and more impressive look. By doing that, we’ve also given the body the fuel it needs to improve workout performance moving forward.
Structuring Refeed Meals
How often should you have a refeed day? In a perfect world we would do it ad libitum, meaning only as needed and not on any particular schedule. This requires an incredible amount of self awareness, honesty, and discipline with respect to one’s physique and exercise performance, which most people don’t have (neither do I, don’t worry).
The rate at which you have a refeed depends on your goals and current physical status. An obese individual can remain in a calorie deficit for a very long time; weeks or even months. They typically won’t have to worry about metabolic downregulation or hormonal dysfunction unless they have a history of crash dieting.
Most people could use a refeed every 3-10 days while dieting (wide enough range for ya?) depending on how lean they want to get and how much muscle they carry. Typically the leaner you want to be the longer you’ll have to be in a deficit, and thus a lower refeed frequency. By the same token, a person who carries a lot of muscle may need them more often unless they are an endomorph who has a hard time losing body fat.
Next comes the question of: how much? How much do I get to eat on these days? Again, there is major variance from person to person. This range will likely encompass a 100-300g increase in carbohydrates in a given day.
What Types of Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates can be stored in the body in the form of glycogen in two places, muscle and liver. Muscle has the larger capacity to store carbohydrates but it is still limited, and excess carbohydrates can be stored as fat. Glucose based carbohydrates tend to restore muscle glycogen while fructose based carbohydrates tend to restore liver glycogen. Excess fructose in particular has a propensity to be converted to triglycerides and stored as body fat.
As a result, the majority of the carbohydrates in your refeed should come from food sources proportionally higher in glucose like potatoes, pasta, rice, and other grains. It’s okay to have some fructose and carbohydrates that contain sugar, since your liver glycogen is likely depleted at this point as well. But as we mentioned, muscle is the more desirable destination and has the larger capacity to store carbohydrates. For refeeds I would recommend an 80/20 ratio of glucose to fructose.
Another focus should be on digestibility. Obviously if you have an issue with gluten don’t feel the need to try to force down bread just because it’s 100% glucose. You also have to play it smart if you’re one of the lucky ones that has to pack in an extra 300g of carbs in one day. Potatoes are great but a large potato is only about 50g of carbs and can be very filling.
I’ve found cereals to be an easily digestible carbohydrate source for many people. Remember that we want to stick with glucose based carbs so be sure to choose cereals that aren’t loaded with sugar. Corn Flakes would be a good choice (exciting I know). Remember that some sugar is fine, I just don’t want you going out and buying a box of Lucky Charms. From a digestibility standpoint, I’ve found that cereals derived from rice and corn as opposed to whole grains go down easy for most people.
Refeed Meal Mistakes
Aside from eating too much or choosing the wrong foods, many people do one thing to completely defeat the purpose of the refeed in the first place. They’ll go and do a two hour leg workout followed by an hour of cardio because they know they’ll be eating more that day. But, the whole purpose of the refeed is to be in a caloric surplus. If you circumvent that with cardio and a longer workout, then it doesn’t serve its purpose.
Is There a Situation Where You Need a Cheat Day
As mentioned earlier, certain people have the ability to have a cheat day and experience no ill effects. The fun of a cheat day is that you get to eat whatever you want, and this often includes foods that you’ve deprived yourself of for a long period of time. Listen I get it, you’d rather have pizza and donuts than my recommendation of pasta and cereal.
I can’t bring myself to say that a cheat day is ever a good idea if you’re serious about dieting. But a cheat meal can provide a psychological benefit. Let’s say someone’s diet is absolutely killing them. They’re stressed, having bad workouts, and the results are slowing down. If I let them have some nachos and ice cream, knowing that this will get them back on track for the next month, of course I’m going to do it. Sometimes people need just a little something to keep them going. Whatever mental games you have to play to reach your goal, do it.
How to Tell if Your Refeed is Working
Unfortunately, the outcome of a successful refeed is based on many intangible variables. I couldn’t care less about weight, because you are almost guaranteed to add weight due to carbohydrates’ ability to hold water. If your muscles look full and dense, then it was a success. If you look bloated and watery, then you ate too much. If you look flat and stringy, you ate too little.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell, so I always recommend that people take pictures. Same location, same lighting, and always first thing in the morning on an empty stomach after using the bathroom. At that point it’s just a matter of being honest with yourself.
There’s no mathematical equation to this whole thing, it’s a lot of trial and error. Sometimes you may wake up looking puffy and panic that you screwed up, only to lean out in the next few days. In that situation maybe it was just too much sodium. Between food choices, carbohydrate totals, refeed frequency, sodium, and water intake, there are tons of variables to play with.
This is an inexact science, so don’t get frustrated if it takes a few tries to get it down. Unless you’ve totally gone off the rails, any mistake is nothing that can’t be fixed in the short term.