The claimEvidence C · limited
A cheat day resets your metabolism
The evidence
One day of overfeeding cannot reverse months of leptin and RMR adaptation; it usually just erases the week's hard-won deficit.
The mechanism, in brief
Almost everyone who diets seriously hits the same wall around week 4-8: the scale stops moving. You're still weighing food, you haven't skipped a workout, but the number just won't budge — sometimes it even ticks up.
Sources (2)
- Fothergill, E., Guo, J., Howard, L., Kerns, J. C., Knuth, N. D., Brychta, R., Chen, K. Y., Skarulis, M. C., Walter, M., Walter, P. J., & Hall, K. D. (2016). Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after 'The Biggest Loser' competition. Obesity, 24(8), 1612–1619.
- Rosenbaum, M., & Leibel, R. L. (2010). Adaptive thermogenesis in humans. International Journal of Obesity, 34(Suppl 1), S47–S55.