When your weight loss reaches a plateau, are “cheat meals” useful?

Many people who are trying to lose weight have this experience: when they first start to lose weight, they lose weight at a considerable speed, but in the later stages, even if they stick to a light diet and exercise, their weight doesn’t change much, which means they have entered a weight loss plateau. Many people will add some high-energy, high-carbohydrate “cheat meals” to their weight loss diet plan, believing that it can stabilize leptin levels and help metabolism.

So, do “cheat meals” really help you lose weight? How can you adjust your diet to get through the plateau period in a healthy way?

What is a weight loss plateau?

Keywords: energy storage, metabolism

The human body evolved for survival. When you are in a society with abundant material conditions, and suddenly start to restrict calorie intake (especially reducing carbohydrate intake) and increase energy expenditure (aerobic exercise), your body will think you are in a state of "famine". At this time, the body will activate its self-protection mechanism to reduce its own fat metabolism, and at the same time, it will store as much energy from the diet as fat as possible. For example, when your weight loss plan is to reduce the previous energy intake of 3000 kcal to 2200 kcal, and successfully lose 4 kg in a short period of time, your body may be in a weight loss plateau, and it is difficult to lose fat.

Do cheat meals work?

Keywords: high energy, high carbohydrate, leptin, metabolism

During the process of fitness and weight loss, many people will add "cheat meals" to their diet plans. In some weight loss strategies, "cheat meals" refer to eating a high-energy, high-carb meal that you like from time to time during the weight loss process, but which is of no help to fitness and weight loss. It is also called an "indulgence meal." Some people say that a long-term low-energy, low-fat diet will lead to a decrease in body fat percentage, which will lead to a decrease in the level of leptin secreted by adipose tissue, and "cheat meals" can stabilize leptin levels. So, are "cheat meals" really helpful for our fitness and weight loss plans?

Leptin is a protein hormone secreted by adipose tissue. Scientific research has confirmed that after entering the brain through blood circulation, it participates in the production and release of a variety of hormones and signal factors, participates in the regulation of energy metabolism such as sugar and fat, prompts the body to reduce food intake, increase energy release, inhibit the synthesis of fat cells, and thus reduce weight.

In addition to leptin, ghrelin secreted by the stomach also plays a major role in the human diet balance control system. However, the physiological effects of leptin and ghrelin require corresponding cell receptors to be completed. Clinically, it has been found that the obstruction of these receptors and downstream signal transduction is the main cause of dietary imbalance, and the clinical use of leptin has only achieved very limited results. Although a small amount of experimental data shows that normal people can temporarily increase leptin levels by using "cheat meals", due to individual differences among the population, this result cannot be generalized to all people who are losing weight. Therefore, the statement that "cheat meals can stabilize leptin levels" has not been confirmed by scientific research.

Some people believe that "cheat meals" can increase the energy intake, so that the body believes that there is no state of insufficient energy intake, so as to maintain the original basal metabolic level. In fact, even if the diet is well controlled during the fat loss process, it will inevitably lead to a decrease in basal metabolism, because the most important factors affecting the basal metabolic rate of obese people are lean body mass (also known as fat-free body mass, which is the weight of other body components other than fat, and muscle is the main part) and body surface area. After a period of weight loss, if the lean body mass does not increase, then as the fat and water decrease, the body surface area will decrease. In other words, "cheat meals" have little effect, and even if they do, they are very small. Therefore, it is not advisable to use "cheat meals" to ensure metabolic stability.

Is it okay to occasionally "eat and drink a lot"

Keywords: high energy, low nutrition

For people who want to lose weight, there are many foods that they want to eat but have to give up in order to achieve their weight loss goals. If the foods you particularly want to eat include rice, noodles, seafood, yogurt, etc., it means that your diet is too strict. The real "eating and drinking" should refer to eating foods that are very high in energy but low in trace nutrients, such as ice cream, French fries, milk tea, cream cakes, chocolate desserts, etc.

If you don't restrict these foods, it will be harmful to both weight loss and health. But if you can control your intake of these foods and control the frequency, such as eating them 1-2 times a month, it will not have much impact on weight loss.

How to adjust after entering the weight loss plateau

Keywords: exercise intensity, dietary fiber

In addition to the correct methods and means, the most important thing for weight loss is execution. I hope that you who are losing weight can successfully pass the plateau period and stick to the end. Reach your ideal weight.