Natural Freedom

I'm currently on a low calorie diet, and it is going pretty well. I'm not suffering by any means, and I'm eating pretty good food. However, I do miss going to the Chinese buffet and eating a big ol' pizza on the weekends.

When I did the Body for Life Challenge, it incorporated a "free day" where you didn't exercise and I could eat anything I wanted. I more than took advantage of those free days and I lost plenty of weight. However, Body for Life is pretty exercise intensive.

I don't do heavy exercising, but I would like to incorporate a single cheat meal once a week or twice a month. I've heard that it is beneficial to overeat sometimes to reset one's metabolism to high level because after some amount of time of eating a low amount of calories to get a calorie deficit, the body "gets used" to that level of nourishment and will adjust its metabolism to suit that low level of calorie intake. A cheat meal/day is supposed to "keep the body on its toes", preventing the aforementioned metabolism adjustment.

What do you guys recommend I do? Should I incorporate a cheat day? If so, how often?

Also, what do you think of following a cheat day with a fast day? http://www.topfatlosstrainer.com/2009/1 ... -fat-loss/

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“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. . . ."

-Thoreau's Walden

I say once or twice a week is fine just be sure to watch your moderation there is this thing called carb cycling you should follow I am currently on it I will let you know the results later on down the road as I have just started this process not that long ago.

Here is a link to what I'm talking about:http://jasonferruggia.com/carb-cycling- ... sy-part-1/, http://jasonferruggia.com/carb-cycling- ... sy-part-2/

This stuff can get really detailed but this should be a good start for you.
again just watch the moderation of food and you should do this maybe every 4th day of the week and overfeed on that day but considering your on a calorie deficit you should be careful of what you consume because calories are going to matter.
I have also read about this but like I said I'm no nutrition expert but I'm learning about this myself and I just got started. So i can't tell you the results firsthand yet but we will discover this soon won't we.

So check out the links and let me know what you think if you still have questions I will do my best to answer them but right like I said this isn't my specialty I'm learning there isn't a true set in stone nutrition lifestyle its all based on what you are looking for. But it sounds like you're on the right track with that calorie deficit but if I was you I would pick up the intensity of your workouts a little more. That is truly the only way you will see results that along with proper fueling of the body and lifestyle to keep the hormones in check to make sure you are working with the body and not against it, I would also recommend eating more on training days.

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~There's weakness in the hearts of all humans are you afraid to acknowledge yours... ~
Mr. Todo

Also take a look at this Pokemon trainer this should help a lot more

http://www.anaboliccooking.com/welcome/ ... p=pakman00

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~There's weakness in the hearts of all humans are you afraid to acknowledge yours... ~
Mr. Todo

A thousand thanks for your lengthy response. I appreciate your time.

I spent a long time researching free meals/free days, and I finally found some very specific information.

Basically, because of how overweight I am, I need only have 2 cheat meals a month. When my progress slows, I can then have a cheat meal once a week.

_________________
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. . . ."

-Thoreau's Walden

By the way you should start increasing the intensity of your workouts (unless they are working for you as is then don't fix what's broken)

Because after while you will need to add a new stimulus every few weeks to a few months depending on your progress (ie. Periodization) That is if your trying to pack on muscle but if not just ignore this post. Besides I'm not training you so I can't get a proper assessment on you on where to start.

Anyway glad to help good luck

_________________
~There's weakness in the hearts of all humans are you afraid to acknowledge yours... ~
Mr. Todo

Thanks again! I'm going to up the intensity of my workouts in a week or two to boost the calorie burning. I hope to start lifting weights by the end of March. Don't really care about bulking up, but building muscle really saps the fat.

_________________
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. . . ."

-Thoreau's Walden