Get great weight loss results with a cheat day
Understanding what the leptin hormone is will help you achieve your desired body weight. Why? Because leptin causes your body to burn stored fat.
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. 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 and plays an important role in calorie intake and calorie burning.
In general, the leaner you are, the lower your standard levels of leptin are. Under regular circumstances, leptin is plentiful, but when on a low calorie diet for an extended period, your body will begin to slow its metabolic functions in an effort to adjust to the decreased amount of energy that it has been given. If this happens it can mean little to no weight loss, which can be upsetting to any dieter who has played by the rules and followed their plan without deviating.
As leptin levels fall, the greater your cravings will become for those foods that you used to eat when you weren’t dieting. If you experience more intense cravings on a daily basis, take relief in knowing that this is your body responding to a physiological signal and your mind playing tricks on you. Always remember that our bodies want to adapt to change and that is a good thing usually, but an annoyance when trying to lose body fat.
How do we increase the amount of leptin in our bodies, so that it is enough to kick-start the fat loss in our diet? Simply put, the answer lies in cheating, or rather by employing a cheat day into your weekly diet where you ‘overfeed’ on double the amount of calories. Numerous studies have shown that if you significantly increase your food intake once per week, you can boost the fat loss process by ensuring that your metabolism doesn’t slow down.
Researchers have identified a process that ‘senses’ nutrient fluctuation through both fat and muscle cells. When dieting, more calories are leaving the fat cells than are going in. This nutrient sensing system, ‘senses’ this and affects many developments in the body, one of which is decreasing leptin production, causing that all important fat hormone to drop. Conversely, when overfeeding, more calories are entering the fat cells than are leaving, causing the system to increase leptin production.
You might be thinking: “Why don’t I just spread out my calories over the week?” If only we could! Sadly, this does not work because it fails to stimulate the leptin production needed to help your body burn fat.
All this explains why a cheat day is so important, but what exactly does a cheat day entail? It means you should allow yourself to eat more carbohydrates, protein and fat, much more so than you would during the other days of the week.
Here are a few of my tips for a successful cheat day…
> Ensure you drink plenty of water and if you can, try working out on your cheat day.
Indulge in some whole grain foods such as oatmeal, whole-wheat bread and brown rice. Their increased fiber content will help control hunger pangs and aide in fat loss.
> Leptin is highly responsive to glucose metabolism therefore, you will benefit much more if the majority of your excess calories are coming from good sources of carbohydrates that will turn into glucose, such as bread, potato, pasta, etc.
> Keep your fruit intake to no more than 3-4 servings, as you don’t want to overload your liver with excess sugar. If your liver is unable to convert fructose to glycogen, it becomes fat.
> See your cheat day as a reprieve from the diet you’ve stuck to over the past few days, but remember that hitting your system too hard with things like sugar and alcohol is never a good thing, therefore be sensible about what you eat. By all means, enjoy a desert, add a few more carbs to each meal and savour a few alcoholic drinks if you feel like it, but do not binge!