Will a cheat day break my plateau?

Q: Will a cheat day break my plateau?

It might. In a 2017 study published in the International Journal of Obesity , researchers found that obese men who engaged in intermittent dieting (2 weeks of dieting followed by 2 weeks off) lost more fat and weight than those who followed continuous dieting for 16 weeks. They theorized that doing this might have prevented these men’s bodies from adjusting to the diet, thus their metabolism did not slow down ( 16 ). From this, we can infer that occasional “cheat days” or off-periods may help prevent a plateau and even break one.

Question

Accepted Answer

It might. In a 2017 study published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers found that obese men who engaged in intermittent dieting (2 weeks of dieting followed by 2 weeks off) lost more fat and weight than those who followed continuous dieting for 16 weeks.

They theorized that doing this might have prevented these men’s bodies from adjusting to the diet, thus their metabolism did not slow down (16). From this, we can infer that occasional “cheat days” or off-periods may help prevent a plateau and even break one.

Fasting