THE TRUTH ABOUT BINGE EATING AND CHEAT WEEKENDS

With obesity on the rise in India as well as the rest of the world, there is a greater awareness about eating sensibly and healthily. However, continuous dieting can create other problems like depression from deprivation. Your number one priority therefore, before jumping into a diet plan, is to seek expert guidance from a registered medical expert, doctor or dietitian.

The fact is, a lot of people feel that maintaining a healthy diet through the week and binge eating or having “cheat week-ends” over Saturdays and Sundays, could be the answer to maintaining a healthy weight. However, it pays to remember that this does not always work.

One study conducted by medical experts suggested that if you follow a healthy lifestyle on a regular basis, then the occasional day of binge eating isn’t harmful. The study concluded by saying that this doesn’t give you license to binge every weekend.

Our bodies just aren’t designed for large amounts of consistently unhealthy foods, experts say, and the damage to the system can be considerable. The body can cope with short periods of overeating with additional carbohydrates, and makes adjustments by shifting metabolism towards utilizing these excess carbohydrates, say experts. Chronic overeating, however, increases total body fat and visceral body fat, while producing higher levels of blood sugar and insulin response after eating.

Other points of view conclude that if your goal is to maintain your weight rather than lose weight, then additional weekend calories might not make too much of a difference. Conversely, if weight loss is your goal, then a cheat weekend could cause problems.  The good news is, there is a way to make a cheat week-end plan work.

To lose weight at a moderate pace of 1-2 pounds per week, you are advised to adjust your energy balance to create a deficit of at least 3500 calories each week. Which basically means consuming 500 calories less per day, everyday, or 250 calories less with physical activity each day. However, if you adjust your energy balance perfectly from Monday to Friday and then eat a little extra on the week-end, you probably won’t end the week with a calorie deficit high enough to lose weight, particularly if you also skip your workout. In this case, using Saturday and Sunday to binge eat or overindulge, could cause calorie surplus and weight gain.

If you want to enjoy your cheat week-end and still lose weight, you need to manage your total weekly calories very carefully, so that you end up with a significant calorie deficit – one that ensures a few extra week-end calories won’t add to your weight. You need to get the calorie balance exactly right, however.

Intermittent Fasting is a carefully designed weight loss program that has gained popularity recently.  It involves fasting on certain days and then eating what you want on other days; consuming a low calorie diet on certain days and then balancing it out with more calories on other days. Consult a medical expert and find out which diet plan can give you a safe way to have cheat week-ends while losing/maintaining your weight.

Meanwhile – eat healthy to stay happy!