# FITNESS and NUTRITION FORUM > DIET AND NUTRITION >  Cheat meal & High carb day .. During cutting

## Jix

What's the difference between cheat meal and high carb day ?

Can i make high carb day with 1 cheat meal together ?

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## sjamal1023

High carb day is just that- a day where you eat high amounts of carbs. Keep fats to a minimum on this day to avoid gaining back what you lost so keep fat under 50g. Protein moderate, just get the usual 1g/1lb body weight. Carbs around 6-8g/1 lb body weight. Try to keep carbs complex (bread,pasta, milk). A cheat meal on the other hand is just one meal where you have whatever the hell you want. I don't recommend these on low carb diets because they can easily ruin or the quality of your results and make you gain far back. I only recommend these for normal reduced calorie diets. Maybe once a week or two weeks.

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## Tron3219

> What's the difference between cheat meal and high carb day ?
> 
> Can i make high carb day with 1 cheat meal together ?


A cheat meal is usually one meal a week that is not always the best for you. It's purpose is to help keep ur sanity. 

A high carb day is usually a part of a carb cycle or refeed. 

And yes, that's the best time for it.

-Chomp Chomp Chomp-Clink Clink Clink-

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## gbrice75

> High carb day is just that- a day where you eat high amounts of carbs. Keep fats to a minimum on this day to avoid gaining back what you lost so keep fat under 50g. Protein moderate, just get the usual 1g/1lb body weight. Carbs around 6-8g/1 lb body weight. Try to keep carbs complex (bread,pasta, milk). A cheat meal on the other hand is just one meal where you have whatever the hell you want. I don't recommend these on low carb diets because they can easily ruin or the quality of your results and make you gain far back. I only recommend these for normal reduced calorie diets. Maybe once a week or two weeks.


I agree, with parts of this anyway. 50g of fat is an arbitrary number as macros are relative to the diet/requirements of the person running the diet/refeed. Therefore, 50g might be perfect for one person while another (person requiring higher caloric intake for instance) might be fine with 100g. 

As stated though, a carb refeed is typically implemented as part of a cyclical carbohydrate diet; i.e. there is typically a period of very low carbs (depletion phase) followed by a high carb day refeed. The purpose of the depletion phase is to burn up glycogen stores and begin optimally mobilizing and utilizing fatty acids for fuel. The refeed is simply to offset loss in LBM (from being low carb/in a caloric deficit for too long), and/or to promote a brief period of growth. Refeeds are usually followed by training the bigger muscle groups (e.g. legs, back, etc.)

IMO, a perfect refeed day will simply have you eating more of the same carbs you typically eat throughout your cut diet. Protein will remain moderate, fat will remain low-moderate. 

A cheat meal is just that - a cheat meal. Something you wouldn't typically eat as part of your everyday regimen. A cheat meal isn't physiologically necessary (but may be psychologically necessary for some people); a carb refeed is, IMO, if one is looking to maintain LBM while cutting/cycling carbs. 

Hope this helps.

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