Refeeding and Bloating

Nutrition
1

For those of you who follow a relatively low carb diet, do you get a big scale weight swing after a refeed? Normally on Sunday, I have my biggest day of eating. It doesn’t include lots of bread or anything like that, but I tend to loosen up on my food choices and enjoy. Sometimes I’ll have a little ice cream or candy or something like that toward the end. Either way, long story short, come Monday I am usually like 8lbs heavier than I was on Saturday.

First, is this common? Do any of you guys get this?

Second, is there a good way to get rid of it more quickly? Usually it takes until Wednesday night or Thursday morning before my pants fit ‘normal’ again. I hate the way I feel when I’m ‘inflated’ like that. All the definition in the mirror goes away as well.

Would eating higher carbs all the time help prevent this big swing, or would I just be bloated 7 days a week instead of 3?

Sample day of eating during the week.

Fast all morning - coffee only
BCAA’s before my workout @ 3:00pm.
Post workout smoothie of pumpkin, spinach, cottage cheese, creatine, cinnamon @ 4:30
Roasted chicken from the grocery store, a cucumber, carrots, a tomato, whatever other veggies i can find @ 6:00
“Protein Fluff” (casein protein (roughly 150grams, almond milk whipped up to make the fluff)@7:30
Bed around 8:30

2

I, for the most part, follow the same protocol as you.

Low carb all week (< 100 g a day from veggie/ fruits only) then refeed/cheat on a saturday.

On the day after ( sunday) i do a fast til about 3:00 pm. Nothing but tons of water some green tea and fish oils.

I will fluctuate 3-5 lbs doing this and be bloated on sunday morning but the fast and drinking 1-2 gallons of water will compensate the bloat as well as the water weight gain within 24-36 hours.

3

Yours seems to go away much more quickly than mine. I’m still feeling it today from Sunday…

4

Yeah, try the fast on the very next day following your refeed/cheat, at least 12 hours.

And, drink a TON of water during the fast. Then resume normal diet. In my case paleo(meat/veggies/fruits/nuts). This should, as i said, compensate the bloat and water weight gain more quickly imo.

5

I fast at least 12 hours every day.

6

quote]TheDude84 wrote:

Sample day of eating during the week.

Fast all morning - coffee only
BCAA’s before my workout @ 3:00pm.
Post workout smoothie of pumpkin, spinach, cottage cheese, creatine, cinnamon @ 4:30
Roasted chicken from the grocery store, a cucumber, carrots, a tomato, whatever other veggies i can find @ 6:00
“Protein Fluff” (casein protein (roughly 150grams, almond milk whipped up to make the fluff)@7:30
Bed around 8:30 [/quote]

3 things to consider…

  1. maybe it’s the coffee ? How much are you drinking ?
  2. why do you fast EVERYDAY ?
  3. you need to EAT/DRINK ! food and water that is !

How is your training especially after fasting…EVERYDAY !

7

Saturday and Sunday I only fast until noon or so, so not as long

Training is 3 days in the gym, then 2 days of complexes and springs outdoors.

The food I listed off is a lot to me, you make it sound like its not enough. I would say it is definitely over 2000 calories, no?

I am 5’10" and about 170-175.

I drink a couple cups of coffee and a couple quarts of water during the fast normally.

8

Butcherman already said LOTS of water will help dissipate the bloat faster. Coffee acts as a mild diuretic, so a couple quarts of water won’t really cut it.

9

On second thought, being on a high protein diet is diuretic in nature too. So boost up your water intake.

10

How much water do you consider lots? I’m probably getting .5 to .75 gallons prior to training (around 3 or 3:30), but I get up around 4:30 am

11

With you drinking coffee on an empty stomach and eating a protein dominate diet, your going to need more than an average intake.

I’d say bump it up to a 1-1.5 gallons and see what happens, won’t know until you try.

12

Will do, I’m having some right now!

How did that amount of food sound?

13

Is the scale weight (and jiggle that accompanies it) simply from eating carbs, or do you think it is because of the swing from low to more? My waist fluctuates a whole notch on my belt.

14

Yeah it’s from the swing (you hold more water when you eat higher carbs), but your going to bloat even more eating junk food. Lol

15

Guess i need to drink less beer and eat better food on the weekend… What fun is that?!

If I were to eat higher carbs all the time would I just weigh that 5-8 lbs more all the time or would it most likely fade? After carbs I have no definition, after a normal week of eating I have abs… Carbs the devil?

16

2 Gallons of water minimum. Also, that bloat is perfectly normal if you rapidly increase carb in take for a day, it can be seen as beneficial too as it will help with strength and muscle volume so, which is incredibly important if your wanting to retain muscle.

I may be a little slow today, but is what you listed as food the stuff you eat during the week or during a refeed? It sounds pretty low in both cases regardless!

17

that was just what i ate yesterday. I wasn’t super hungry because sunday was a pretty big eating day… but that is pretty usual for a week day.

18

I was kidding about carbs being the devil by the way… Dont attack please.

19

I’m carb cycling with a refeed on Sunday.

I was 203.7lbs the morning of Sunday’s refeed. I hit 214 by the end of the day. An 8-10lb fluctuation has been normal for me. My refeed day’s are strictly carbs. At home I eat egg white French toast, kids’ cereal, and bagels with jelly. I also spend a few hours at an all you can eat sushi bar. As long as it’s low fat it’s fair game for me. Usually by Thursday or Friday morning I’m back to last week’s weight, and go down another 1-1.5lbs by the following Sunday morning.

20

I will weigh 5-10lbs heavier after a refeed, so I think that is normal. I usually have a little less food than normal the next day, and get more calories from shakes than whole food. The extra water helps me poop out a lot of the junk I ate the day before, and gets my hydrated enough to pee out some of the bloat.