The growing world-wide results for the slow-carb diet support the inspiring claims for impressive weight loss and body re-composition results for thousands of people.
However there are a number of unusual and controversial aspects of the program, one of which is the weekly 'cheat day'.
'Cheat day', or as Tim Ferriss calls it in The Four Hour Body, 'Dieters Gone Wild Day', is the one day out of seven you ditch all the rules of the program, and eat whatever the heck you like...
cake, fruit, carbs, dairy, sweets, booze...
all the foods that are controlled or off-limits during the main phase of the program are totally fair game, indeed they're encouraged.
Some people like to call it binge day, even though there's no specific requirements to eat tons and tons more calories than you normally would, some people definitely do so.
Many slow-carb-dieters use a weekend day for it, and you can also get away with tweaking it a day or two either side to cover for any special occasions So, why have a 'cheat day?' Well, there are two main reasons: The first reason is metabolic.
Extended calorie restriction sends messages to your metabolism via the most primitive core of the brain, evolved to cope with fluctuating food availability through long cold winters...
your body becomes more efficient at storing and harboring energy, ie fat, and it also turns down the thermostat - suppressing thyroid function, muscle building, and even literally lowering your core temperature slightly.
Of course if you are restricting your calories precisely because you WANT to spend more energy than you are consuming, this crucial survival mechanism is working against you! On cheat day, when you massively spike your calorie and sugar intake, this resets the thermostat to 'green' again: OK folks, nutrition is abundant, let us party fellow cells, and burn energy with abandon! Have you ever started a weight loss diet and had dramatic results for the first week or so...
but after that the rate of loss decelerates? It's so demotivating, when you continue doing all the right thing, but the returns diminish...
Cheat Day is what you need, to trigger that 'just started dieting' effect, over and over again.
It also offers long-term metabolic protection.
That survival instinct that served our ancestors so well is VERY efficient, and messing around with it can have significant effects.
Ever wondered why yo-yo dieters, who lose and regain weight frequently, often find to their dismay that they return to a higher average weight each time they regain.
They also find it harder and harder to lose the weight in the first place, as the survival mechanism kicks in faster and harder each time...
Cheat Day has more and more to recommend it.
The second reason is more motivational.
You wont get slow carb diet success overnight.
Although Tim Ferriss has had people losing 20lbs in a month, for many people it will be slower, and people have different amounts of weight to lose in the first place.
You have got to stick with it for the long haul, to get the results you deserve...
and sticking with any restricted eating program is boring...
Cheat day can make the difference, for your motivation.
Desperate for cake and know you must not have it? Telling yourself you can have it on Saturday *really* helps.
Make a list of treats to come, and take it to the store.
Heck, you can eat the whole darned cake if you want, in fact Ferriss says he often finds it helpful to scoff his trigger foods to the point of serious sick-feeling excess on Cheat Day, just to get it totally out of his system and help to steer clear in the week ahead.
So, won't cheat day just add back some of the calories you enjoyed losing in the week? Well, yes inevitably it will.
Especially if you like to weigh and track daily.
But remember the two reasons above and go for it...
keep weighing daily, and you will notice that 48-72 hours further on and the scales are dropping back down again, past where you reached before.
It's tough gorging on cake and cookies one day a week, but you can do it!