I slept like a log last night after my refeed. Scale said I gained 6 lbs lol. I’ll take elusive’s advice and watch the scale daily to see how long it takes to get to my baseline weight. If it takes longer than 2-3 days I overdid the refeed right?
I honestly think I went a bit overboard as my fats were up around 100g and my carbs were around 900! I went with the rationale of I bought the food so I have to eat it!
I will likely do a clean carb up day next weekend if my weight continues to drop after dieting with low carbs this week and leave the junky carb ups for only once a month max.
On a side note does anyone have a good link to find out the benefits of a refeed (written by Berardi or someone of that caliber)? The whole concept is still pretty new to me.
I would suggest reading “A Guide to Flexible Dieting” and “The Ultimate Diet 2.0” by Lyle McDonald. He goes into the science of how and why refeeds are beneficial. There are basically four reasons.
To refill glycogen to sustain intensity in the gym throughout the week. 2) To stop catabolism from dieting and possibly induce anabolism. 3) To reverse the downgrade of many hormones that help burn body fat such as Leptin, Ghrelin, T3, Peptide YY and others. 4) For mental relief from the diet and knowing that your hard work for the week will be rewarded.
On a side note. Due to changing of plans for me, because of my school obligations and other arrangements I won’t be able to refeed this Thursday. The only day I’ll have the time is tomorrow, which is two days early and a workout short. I’m going to try for my all time high and probably not be as depleted as I usually am. This will probably set me back a bit, but I’m WAY AHEAD of schedule and don’t mind. lol.
I’m still going to try to get pictures up or what I eat and how I look/feel. Hopefully tonight I’ll start adding some things on here. Wish me luck!
All right cool. I DL’ed the UD 2.0 stuff and haven’t gotten around to reading it because I’m intimidated by the 70 something pages…I can skim for the refeed stuff.
Thanks for the feedback and looking forward to seeing your grocery list and ensuing potbelly after tomorrow haha. I’m still full from yesterday which is making dieting a whole lot easier today!
[quote]elusive wrote:
I would suggest reading “A Guide to Flexible Dieting” and “The Ultimate Diet 2.0” by Lyle McDonald. He goes into the science of how and why refeeds are beneficial. There are basically four reasons.
To refill glycogen to sustain intensity in the gym throughout the week. 2) To stop catabolism from dieting and possibly induce anabolism. 3) To reverse the downgrade of many hormones that help burn body fat such as Leptin, Ghrelin, T3, Peptide YY and others. 4) For mental relief from the diet and knowing that your hard work for the week will be rewarded.
On a side note. Due to changing of plans for me, because of my school obligations and other arrangements I won’t be able to refeed this Thursday. The only day I’ll have the time is tomorrow, which is two days early and a workout short. I’m going to try for my all time high and probably not be as depleted as I usually am. This will probably set me back a bit, but I’m WAY AHEAD of schedule and don’t mind. lol.
I’m still going to try to get pictures up or what I eat and how I look/feel. Hopefully tonight I’ll start adding some things on here. Wish me luck![/quote]
Throwing in the refeed early may not be a bad idea. Guys like Wake over at IM advocate for switching your refeeds around so your body does not get used to a seven day cycle or anything. I am going to hold my next refeed off for about 9 days instead of the typical 7th day. Gotta keep the body guessing.
On a side note does anyone have a good link to find out the benefits of a refeed (written by Berardi or someone of that caliber)? The whole concept is still pretty new to me.[/quote]
Cheat to Lose Diet by Joel Marion pretty much utilizes this concept.
Also, look up literature on Intermittent Fasting. I think the surge in IGF-1 (?) is due to the fasting immediately prior to the “refeed.”
The Anabolic Diet also advocates a refeed.
Guys,
I am thinking about going low-carb and low-cal for 2 WEEKS straight before my first refeed, and then refeed every 5-7 days thereafter. Good idea?
I have noticed with my own body that it takes roughly 2 weeks for a shift in metabolism given consistent physical activity and eating habits.
I am thinking that at the end of two weeks low-carb and low cal, my metabolism will begin to downregulate (to adjust for the lower food intake), and with a refeed around day 12 or 14, I can hold that off from happening. Plus, I should be super depleted. I am NOT trying to become “fat adapted.”
So, would there be much of a difference between waiting 2 weeks instead of 1 ?
I’d be working out 3-4 days a week.
I look at this as similar to how a battery recharges; you’re supposed to discharge fully and recharge fully on a regular basis to keep the battery life optimal (optimal charge capacity).
On a side note does anyone have a good link to find out the benefits of a refeed (written by Berardi or someone of that caliber)? The whole concept is still pretty new to me.
Cheat to Lose Diet by Joel Marion pretty much utilizes this concept.
Also, look up literature on Intermittent Fasting. I think the surge in IGF-1 (?) is due to the fasting immediately prior to the “refeed.”
The Anabolic Diet also advocates a refeed.
Guys,
I am thinking about going low-carb and low-cal for 2 WEEKS straight before my first refeed, and then refeed every 5-7 days thereafter. Good idea?
I have noticed with my own body that it takes roughly 2 weeks for a shift in metabolism given consistent physical activity and eating habits.
I am thinking that at the end of two weeks low-carb and low cal, my metabolism will begin to downregulate (to adjust for the lower food intake), and with a refeed around day 12 or 14, I can hold that off from happening. Plus, I should be super depleted. I am NOT trying to become “fat adapted.”
So, would there be much of a difference between waiting 2 weeks instead of 1 ?
I’d be working out 3-4 days a week.
I look at this as similar to how a battery recharges; you’re supposed to discharge fully and recharge fully on a regular basis to keep the battery life optimal (optimal charge capacity).[/quote]
I think it depends on how low of cals you are going for how often you need a refeed. The more extreme your deficit is the more often you will need to refeed. However, I also think it depends on how long you have been dieting. I did not have a cheat or refeed for about the first 3 weeks of my diet and do not think I had any negative effects. Even Thib is talking about how you can kind of get away with a 2-3 week fat loss blitz without losing muscle.
On a side note does anyone have a good link to find out the benefits of a refeed (written by Berardi or someone of that caliber)? The whole concept is still pretty new to me.
Cheat to Lose Diet by Joel Marion pretty much utilizes this concept.
Also, look up literature on Intermittent Fasting. I think the surge in IGF-1 (?) is due to the fasting immediately prior to the “refeed.”
The Anabolic Diet also advocates a refeed.
Guys,
I am thinking about going low-carb and low-cal for 2 WEEKS straight before my first refeed, and then refeed every 5-7 days thereafter. Good idea?
I have noticed with my own body that it takes roughly 2 weeks for a shift in metabolism given consistent physical activity and eating habits.
I am thinking that at the end of two weeks low-carb and low cal, my metabolism will begin to downregulate (to adjust for the lower food intake), and with a refeed around day 12 or 14, I can hold that off from happening. Plus, I should be super depleted. I am NOT trying to become “fat adapted.”
So, would there be much of a difference between waiting 2 weeks instead of 1 ?
I’d be working out 3-4 days a week.
I look at this as similar to how a battery recharges; you’re supposed to discharge fully and recharge fully on a regular basis to keep the battery life optimal (optimal charge capacity).
I think it depends on how low of cals you are going for how often you need a refeed. The more extreme your deficit is the more often you will need to refeed. However, I also think it depends on how long you have been dieting. I did not have a cheat or refeed for about the first 3 weeks of my diet and do not think I had any negative effects. Even Thib is talking about how you can kind of get away with a 2-3 week fat loss blitz without losing muscle.[/quote]
I’ve been cycling carbs (and calories) for many years now. My quick and dirty summary would be that any other method of eating is inferior. Seriously, it works ridiculously well… if planned properly.
I should write an article on the topic.
If you would like to see something included (or a question answered) in the article, please PM me. This will not only help you, but it’ll help me write the article.
[quote]DrClay wrote:
I’ve been cycling carbs (and calories) for many years now. My quick and dirty summary would be that any other method of eating is inferior. Seriously, it works ridiculously well… if planned properly.
I should write an article on the topic.
If you would like to see something included (or a question answered) in the article, please PM me. This will not only help you, but it’ll help me write the article.
Best,
Dr Clay[/quote]
Thanks for replying. Good luck with the article, I would definitly give it a read. I have some questions that come to mind:
How low are your low days and how high are your high days?
What do you think of refeeds and more specifically, GIANT refeeds that are done after very low caloric spurts?
Do you inversely set protein to carbs or fat to carbs?
I’ve seen this done both ways. Meaning, as carbs go up, does protein come down OR does fats come down? Or both?
Basically, as long as the week’s average calorie range lands where it should be (a good enough negative balance for fatloss) does it matter how high or low the swings go?
With out stepping on toes I guess, what do you think of Lyle McDonald’s UD 2.0 set up and Skip Hill’s Skiploading?
This should be a great article, looking forward to your insight.
wow…I cannot wait to see how all that turns out. How many cals are you taking in a day regularly? Are you naturally a leaner body type? I do not think my body would respond well to that many calories but either way I feel like a pussy with my 1000 carb refeed.
I seem to cycle my weekly calories. I eat about 10cals x BW on most training days and 8cal x BW on shoulder days and off days. Well, thats what I’ve been doing for the last 2-3 weeks or so.
I guess I would say I am naturally “leaner”. I was always 12-13% before I got into lifting, not focusing at all on eating. However, I did come to realize that I can lose fat pretty quickly or at least intially. I also handle carbs fairly well. I definitly don’t know how I’m going to handle the above, but we’ll find out!
[quote]DrClay wrote:
I’ve been cycling carbs (and calories) for many years now. My quick and dirty summary would be that any other method of eating is inferior. Seriously, it works ridiculously well… if planned properly.
I should write an article on the topic.
If you would like to see something included (or a question answered) in the article, please PM me. This will not only help you, but it’ll help me write the article.
Best,
Dr Clay[/quote]
I’m stoked to see more interest in this from the big boys! Seems the popular diets are very anti-carb, but for muscular, active folks like us can lead to catabolism and destroy hard work!
I’d like to hear your take on a few issues.
When carbs are included (aside from refeeds), will fat loss be inferior to strictly fat/pro keto diets? And do calories have to be cut significantly lower when carbs are included (UD 2.0 recommends between 900-1700kcal on depletion days)?
What do you consider the acceptable calorie count for a refeed day when dieting? I’ve heard MANY different views on this topic.
What’s the lowest number of carbs one should ingest on cardio/non-lifting days?
Describe the biggest differences in carb cycling for lean gains and fat loss (diet, activity, timing).
Should hydration be sacrificed for carbs on refeed days to prevent water retention?
Can you think of ANY negative physiological effects from carb cycling?
I’m sure I have more questions and I can’t wait for the article so I can post them in the discussion thread.
