I bet that title got your attention. Who doesn’t like pizza ?! Seriously though, I want to show you how you can have pizza and still lose fat. It’s all to do with a hormone called ‘Leptin’ also known as the ‘anti starvation’ hormone.

Leptin is a protein that’s made in the fat cells, then circulates in the blood, and goes to the brain. It tells your brain that you have enough energy stored in your fat cells to engage in normal metabolic activities. Everyone has a certain leptin threshold which is to an extent genetically set. When your leptin level is above that threshold, your brain senses that you have enough energy, which means you can burn energy at a normal rate.

What happens when you diet – decreasing fat burning, increasing fat storing

The problem arises when people diet. Let’s say you go on a diet and reduce your calorie intake. Your leptin levels drop and go below your set threshold. Your brain picks this up and senses ‘starvation’. Your body’s primary goal will be to get your leptin levels back up. So how does it do this? Well, the vagus nerve which runs between the brain and the abdomen is stimulated which makes you feel hungrier. Your body wants you to take in more calories so it can store it in your fat and therefore produce more leptin.

Let’s relate this all to the typical fat loss pattern. When they begin dieting the majority of people lose weight to start with. Correct? Week after week you consume less calories and exercise BUT then things slow down and plateau. Sound familiar?

Well that’s because your body is a clever piece of kit, and it will do everything to stop you from starving it. It goes into survival mode because body fat = heat and energy which are very important.

The problem is that you and I see what you are doing as ‘dieting’ BUT your body interprets this as ‘starvation’. It cannot tell the difference. All your body sees is that you are feeding it less calories. Your body will respond in various ways such as slowing down your metabolism , decreasing your fat burning hormones, and increasing your fat storing hormones such as insulin. It’s not fair is it?

Leptin plays a major role in this process so much so it’s often referred to as I mentioned earlier the ‘anti starvation’ hormone. Leptin is regulated by calorie intake. More calories = more leptin. Less calories = less leptin and a slower metabolism.

The burning question is ‘how do I diet without leptin lowering and so slowing my metabolism?’

Cheat days

This is where the strategic use of cheat days comes into play. Research has shown that it takes about 7 days for leptin levels to drop by 50%. This means you are 50% slower at burning fat. Not good ! But here’s the good news…

You can use cheat foods (ice cream, crisps, pizza etc) to get leptin back up to its full fat burning potential within 24 hours. So with strategic use of your cheat days (basically higher cal days) you can outsmart your body (obviously with moderation in mind). The key is don’t let your body get into a pattern. The strategic use of these cheat days does mean you have to be ‘on point’ the other days for the cheat day to work. No sneakies allowed and a maximum of 1 cheat day per week top end !!!

On your cheat days I want you to choose mega cheat foods that have simple carbs and fat in there at the same time. High glycaemic index foods with fat such as pizza, burgers, ice cream and biscuits etc.

So proper junk food ! Why ?

How junk foods and cheat days can help you lose weight

Because these foods cause your leptin levels to rise (by increasing the levels of insulin which is closely linked to leptin)

I can remember the day when I read some of the research on this. It nearly brought tears to my eyes – so much so that I went straight down to my local Pizza Express.

To summarise: If you diet 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year weight loss will plateau and eventually stop. In simple terms what you are doing is shocking your system and re setting your metabolism. We want to give it a wake up call and say ‘I’m in charge’ !

So go and plan your strategic cheat days and ENJOY them to the full !

Until next time,

Alex