Don't Cheat on Leptin

Cheat Day - a wonderful and terrible thing. It's hard to come to grips with the idea of throwing away all the hard work and sacrifice you put into the week to get results by binging on stupid foods. But it's also great to be free to eat whatever you want or whatever you have access to without having to think so much. For me, it's about getting to eat fruit, juice and a donut (or 4...ok, that was only 1 time, but it was awesome).

But, still, it doesn't feel right mentally, and you see that you take a half step backward and feel like you've thrown away hard work for what - a donut?  Please.  Not worth it, right?

Well, cheat day is also a bit of hard work with benefit.  Tim Ferriss talks about the benefits in The Four Hour Body, but there's even more to it that people on a forum of Four Hour Body followers have been discussing that's gotten attention in research and on other sites.  It's about Leptin production.  Leptin is a hormone produced by the liver that burns fat and is the lead domino in all sorts of fat burning / healthy functions in your body (like the regulation of the thyroid, inflammation levels, etc).

I wanted to share some really useful links that you should read to better understand Leptin, the value of cheat day, and ways to be smart about it all.  Remember, I'm not a doctor - just a guy who has found this helpful who thinks you might, too.

A an actual doctor is a pro on this stuff, though, and you should look into his work and his site.  His name is Dr. Jack Kruse, and he goes into Leptin in a lot of detail. His site's linked below, too.

Dr. Jack Kruse's website (check out blog posts on Leptin - there are lots, just look through the index, searching for the word "Leptin")
Video on Leptin's Role, Leptin Resistance & Leptin Sensitivity
Cheating / Refeeding & Leptin
Dieting Affects Leptin Levels
Stimulate Leptin Response
Trigger Fat Burning Hormones (4 Hour People Forum)

If you are following the Slow Carb Diet, and find that you're not seeing results in line with the effort, Leptin could be the reason.  As someone on the 4 Hour People forum said, if it's a struggle, it's not working right.