Gut-Bustin’ 101

Is cheating helping me lose fat? Have to post this cuz it’s really freakin’ me out. So for the past 5+ months I’ve been eating pretty clean nutritionally - 6 meals a day, clean foods, plenty of water, and only one weekend dessert (not even a full cheat meal.) Saw consistent results in the form of inches off my waist up until late July- early August, when my waist measurement hit a plateau. Kept eating well, but not much has happened since then, even with pretty consistent workouts, and cardio 3 - 4 times a week.

The thing that’s weird is that recently, after about a week of "slipping" a bit (it was bithday week after all!) - less water than I was used to (only 2-3 liters instead of a gallon or more), SEVERAL cheat meals and a few days where I only ate 4-5 meals instead of 6, my waist measurement has started to move down again. What’s up with that?

I noticed this phenomenon a few other times during the past several months, where I would see improved (or greater) waist-loss results after a night of adding an extra late-night meal, or indulging in a little more dessert or simple carbs than normal. I’m racking my brain trying to figure out why this happens. Could I not be getting enough calories, and my body sees these extra calories as a sign that it’s not starving, so it’s burning more fat? I’ve heard about the "re-feed" concept, could that be related? Could adding in some different foods (as opposed to the same food I’ve been eating for over 5 months straight) maybe confuse my body and get things moving again? Has this ever happened to anyone else here? Will I ever stop asking so many questions?

*whew* Well, guess there’s not much left to do but head to the kitchen for some late-night snacking lol