Refeeds and Free Meals

[ErinBee]

Hey Ladies!

Sorry about the confusing info. When mentioning I was doing a "refeed" what I actually was doing was a "free meal" (I didn't know it would get this much attention.) Anyway, here is the info.

(I am getting this info from my e-book by Lyle Mcdonald)

Free Meals: A single meal that breaks your diet. Main benefits are psychological. Keeps the sanity when dieting like this so long. It also makes the diet work better, in terms of hormone levels. I recommend a one hour dinner, personally. Eating your free meal for breakfast or lunch can make it very hard to go back on Kimkins for the rest of the day. Keeping it within one hour (like suggested in Carb Addicts book) keeps your insulin from shooting high, and prevents your free meal from a all day grazing fest. As far as what to eat, the healthier the food the better of course...but essentially eat what you want to. Period.

When you do a free meal is up to you. Lyle suggests 2 a week if you have a BF% of 25%or more. I do mine after every 3 whole days of Kimkins. You can do yours every 5 or every other day, whatever gets the best results for you.


My example:

Monday: All day Kimkins

Tuesday: All day Kimkins

Wednesday: All day Kimkins

Thursday: Free Meal for Dinner....I start at 6:00pm and end at 7:00pm, I have pizza, salad, some cookies and an ice cream cone.

Friday: repeat above schedule

Refeed: Refeeds are exactly that, refeeding the body. You can do a refeed for 5 hours, a day, a week, or a month. They are the next level up from a free meal. You normally do a "structured refeed" after you come off of a diet to restore muscle glycogen. When we diet we cause "tissue breakdown", the refeed also helps with this. The refeed is basically a long diet break.

I hope this helps...

[Marlad3672]

I do this too every 14 days (especially when I did Atkins). It helps me loose quicker. The only warning that I have is DO NOT eat your trigger food during this time. It will be that much harder to get back to your WOE if you do.

[courtneyallison1]

Thanks you Erin, SO MUCH for starting this thread! Will help for sure!!! Thanks again, you are awesome!

[Ursula C.]

Thanks [COLOR="Magenta"]Erin[/COLOR]!

Now I know what to call what I do: definitely "refeeds". I do a half day refeed when I'm at my goal weight of 120 (like today: I hit that, so had an afternoon/evening filled with fruit, pizza, wine and ice cream). Tomorrow it's back to Kimkins until I'm down to 120 again (usually takes 2 days).

So [COLOR="Blue"]cool[/COLOR] that others are doing some version of this too!!!

[gillygum]

starting induction tomorrow! i'm going to try this free meal every 3 days as well. i also read about a guy who always took weekends off and reached his goal weight that way too. but then again, he's a guy. :-P

i tried meat and eggs a few months ago and hit a stall very quickly, so i think the free meal/re-feed will help! i'll post as i go along.

[oriana]

Hi U! Me again. I may try to do Kim Kims one meal and see what happens.

[oriana]

Hey Ursula and I already were doing this. I think I am switching to this board. I just eat one meal a day though all the time but we'll see. Also I had been eating just fruit on my diet days and bingish one hour meals every 2 days. So what can I have on my lc diet day in one hour. How about 5 boiled eggs? I dont' think anyone can out eat Ursula or me!

[skinnhold]

Doesn't that keep you out of ketosis or make it harder to get back in?

[soon]

So where did the term refeed come from? Is this in a book somewhere??

[DENMW]

Originally Posted by skinnhold

Doesn't that keep you out of ketosis or make it harder to get back in?

I'm curious about that too.

[MiaE]

Originally Posted by skinnhold

Doesn't that keep you out of ketosis or make it harder to get back in?

Originally Posted by DENMW

I'm curious about that too.

[COLOR=olive]It must. I suffer from low blood sugar, so after doing K/E for 3 days, I have to add 1/4cup of raisins on the morning of Day 4. That's enough to knock me out. I can't imagine eating semi-freely for an hour and not having it do the same. I'm interested in reading the reply of someone who's actually done it, though.[/COLOR]

[ErinBee]

It may kick you out of ketosis, but that's the idea. Your back in ketosis very soon though, it does not take the 4 to 7 days. I am in ketosis the very next day.

It's okay if you do get kicked out of ketosis because the "free meal" will be doing what is supposed to be doing, helping your diet work better. So don't let the fear of slowing ketosis keep you from trying the free meal.

Test the free meal on yourself and let us know the results. People differ like any other diet strategy. I use the ketosticks, I tested myself right after a free meal and I was still in the pick color range.

If you are deep in ketosis and eating like you should you kimkin days then this meal should not throw you out of ketosis completely.

And when you use your free meal, think of it as a planned meal break that is included on your plan. The free meal is simply part of your diet. If you see it as a cheat and lose control you could possibly binge the next day (as I did).

Remember, the idea is to lose weight. Just because you may be in ketosis does not mean you automatically lose weight. As we have all seen with many people posting about stalls after a week. Some people never feel ketosis and claim to lose weight as well, we are all different.

[ErinBee]

We should all post our results and any tips we may have along the way, that way we can all do this together.

I believe in the power of positive imaging, if you eat your free meal, picture it working in your body and helping you lose weight instead of fearing weight gain. Tell yourself this is all a part of the process. Get on the scale the next day and picture a lower number, and tell yourself "I know this made me lose weight."

Hope this helps

[Ursula C.]

Originally Posted by ErinBee

It may kick you out of ketosis, but that's the idea. Your back in ketosis very soon though, it does not take the 4 to 7 days. I am in ketosis the very next day.

It's okay if you do get kicked out of ketosis because the "free meal" will be doing what is supposed to be doing, helping your diet work better. So don't let the fear of slowing ketosis keep you from trying the free meal.

Test the free meal on yourself and let us know the results. People differ like any other diet strategy. I use the ketosticks, I tested myself right after a free meal and I was still in the pick color range.

If you are deep in ketosis and eating like you should you kimkin days then this meal should not throw you out of ketosis completely.

And when you use your free meal, think of it as a planned meal break that is included on your plan. The free meal is simply part of your diet. If you see it as a cheat and lose control you could possibly binge the next day (as I did).

Remember, the idea is to lose weight. Just because you may be in ketosis does not mean you automatically lose weight. As we have all seen with many people posting about stalls after a week. Some people never feel ketosis and claim to lose weight as well, we are all different.

DITTO!

Thanks again, Erin! I could have never explained it better than that since I don't know the scientific angle; all I know is that IT WORKS to keep me thin AND allows me to indulge in whatever I want every few days.

Re: ketosis -- I wonder if, since we keep our insulin SO low 75% - 90% of the time, the levels don't rise enough after just one meal, or just half a day (like for me) to knock you out completely? (I don't test my levels, but what Erin says makes sense based on my experience.) This would explain WHY I am able to jump right back into Kimkins the next day WITHOUT HUNGER and WITH a speedy drop in weight. Also, all that food must not be converted to fat for the same reason: not enough insulin. Hmmmmm...

[oriana]

Okay so how much exercise. What is your typical KE day?

[LowCarbRachel]

subscribing because this stuff fascinates me

I'm currently incorporating a bunch of different stuff into my eating plan. I consider South Beach to be my "home" but I also eat two meals a day, one around noon, one around six...so I am also someone what of an Intermittant Faster. I tend to eat one very low carb meal and one meal of whatever I like, however, I am also interested in losing my last five pounds.

Anyway, reading and learning! I'll be here quietly lurking.

[flagal189]

I wanted to post that I did a "free meal" last night went on a date with my hubby, it lasted about 90 min, and I gained 2 lbs, but I think this could work for me...I am going to try to water fast until dinner today to help get back into Ketosis...I will let you all know what happens...I was trying to do bootcamp for 2 weeks, so maybe I will do that with one "free meal" on the weekends...thanks for the ideas Erin!

[1groovychick]

Originally Posted by flagal189

I wanted to post that I did a "free meal" last night went on a date with my hubby, it lasted about 90 min, and I gained 2 lbs, but I think this could work for me...I am going to try to water fast until dinner today to help get back into Ketosis...I will let you all know what happens...I was trying to do bootcamp for 2 weeks, so maybe I will do that with one "free meal" on the weekends...thanks for the ideas Erin!

Flagal189:
What did you eat for your free meal? And are you still going to do the bootcamp? Since I started bootcamp I haven't lost any weight. I might throw in a "refeed".

Gayle

[1groovychick]

I've been trying to find out all the info I can on "refeeds" How is some info that I've been reading. Before I attempt it, I want to know why/how it works with the body. Just thought I would share.
Gayle

Refeeds are best used when interspersed throughout long periods is calorie and/or carbohydrate restriction. As the name implies, you're acutely refeeding nutrients (calories and/or carbohydrates) into your system after it's been deprived of those nutrients for a predetermined period of time (5 days, 7 days, 2 months, etc.).

It's important to distinguish between a "refeed" and just trying to rationalize going off your nutritional plan (e.g. cheating). Refeeds are strategically placed and when used right are integral parts of your nutritional plan. Cheating on your diet is more often than not an unplanned event brought on by poor planning or exposure to a situation in which your will power is compromised and you succumb to the primal urge to stuff your face!


3 Effective Ways to Use Refeeds
I'm sure other nutritionists have ways they like to use refeeds but here are the ones I've found to be the most popular.

12-48hr Refeeds every 5 days — This method was made popular by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale's Anabolic Diet. For those of you who aren't familiar with the anabolic diet (actually it is now called the Anabolic Solution), here are the basics:
5-6 days of low carb dieting (<30g/d)
12-48 hrs of eating high carbohydrates
Pretty simple, but very effective. During the week of low carbin' it, you'll deplete your glycogen stores and shift your body to using fat as its primary source of fuel. During your carb up, you'll stuff your glycogen stores full (and even a little beyond their normal capacity) and stimulate the release of insulin. Insulin does get a bad rap, but it's an extremely anabolic hormone that when used correctly is very beneficial

Where people go wrong with these types of refeeds is that they don't listen to (or look at) their body. They just carb up for 48 hours. However, Dr. Di Pasquale is very clear that 48 hours isn't a hard recommendation. Instead it's a guideline.

"The important thing is knowing when you've had enough. When you start feeling puffy and bloated and can even sense the fat coming on, it's time to go back to your weekday high fat/low carb routine."

For carboholics this can cause a problem because it's very easy to ignore the above statement and justify in your mind that the rules say you can carb up for 48 hours... if you're feeling puffy on Sunday, then put the deep dish pizza down!

Another strategy that Dr. Pasquale recommends is to eat low GI carbs for the first half of your reefed and higher GI carbs for the second half. This will initially keep your body's secretion of insulin in check allowing you to consume more carbohydrates overall.

One of the things that's unique to the Anabolic Diet is that it's one of the rare (maybe only) times when you can incorporate a reefed into a mass building nutritional phase. Most of the time refeeds are used when calories and carbohydrates are restricted, but with the Anabolic Diet you'll always be restricting carbohydrates (whether trying to lose fat or gain muscle), thus there's an opportunity to take advantage of refeeds with carbs.
If you're not familiar with the Anabolic Diet and the above section has peaked your interested, I suggest you check out the "Diet" thread and the Anabolic Solution Book.

* One refeed day every two weeks — This application of refeeds is probably in the forefront of most as it's the reefed methodology that Dr. Berardi uses in the Get Shredded Diet. The regular two-week refeeds when on a very low calorie diet have a similar benefit to the Anabolic Diet type refeeds as they'll jam your muscles so full of glycogen that you'll think your scale is broken when you step on it the next morning.

One of the benefits of the every two week refeed is that you'll run less of a risk of laying down body fat as the caloric/carb spikes only happen for 12 hours (unless you get up early just to eat) every two weeks. The major benefit to this type of refeed is psychological. Being on a very low calorie diet is draining and taxing. Refeeds every two weeks give you short term "goals" to strive for, making the daily grind of consuming 2000 calories (or less) more bearable.

* One week reefed during a 15-20 week diet period — This novel strategy was introduced to me by Dr. Lonnie "Lats" Lowery as he employed this strategy last time he was getting ready to don the posing trunks.

Here's how you can apply this reefed to your nutritional strategy.

1) Plan out a 20-week diet that will allow you to gradually lose body fat at a reasonable rate. The diet period is very long so you don't have to shoot for a very large caloric deficit.
2) Plan a week long carb/calorie reefed for week 10. This week of increased calories isn't an abrupt injection of calories like the previously two described refeeds. Instead it's a 400-600 calorie increase with a good portion of it coming from carbohydrates. Another difference is that your caloric increase comes from clean calories not pizza, wings, and coco puffs.
3) At the end of week 10, return back to your prior diet.
This application of a reefed is the most likely to have an influence on increasing your metabolic rate back to normal and boosting thyroid hormone output due to the duration of the refeed. Increasing your caloric and carbohydrate consumption for 7 days is most likely going to allow for a resetting of your thyroid and metabolic rate to some extent, if not completely.
One of the problems that many people run into with this kind of refeed is that it takes a lot of planning. How many people do you know that plan a 20-week diet period? I bet you can count them on one hand. This reefed (like the others) will provide a well deserved break from the world of caloric restriction. This benefit should not be overlooked as it may be the most important.

To wrap up this look at refeeds:
1) Always Plan Them
2) Stop when your body begins to smooth out
3) The more body fat you have, the shorter your reefed period should be.

[HBGal]

This is fascinating! I've been cycling Kimkins with Atkins on the weekends. Man, after seeing this, I "could" have had that ice cream at the fair yesterday, LOL. I think I will try this. I never use the word cheat in relation to dieting. I think that just sets us up for failure. "Off-plan" is usually my word of choice, but now it'll be "refeed".

[rhlong]

I might try this method once I am closer to goal.

[Divinity]

Hi, I did an involuntary refeed yesterday (hehe...meaning I didn't plan to do it). I'll spare you the details, but it started with my boss taking us for chinese food. Anyway, I was shocked to find a 6lbs gain this morning!!! If I didn't feel guilty before, I most definitely do now!

In your experience, does the weight come right back off when you get back on plan. I hope so. I was so happy about the progress I have so far.

Any help you could offer would b e greatly appreciated.

[Jake]

tag for later

[oriana]

Okay, this is what I have been doing on my own all along only my plan is a little different. I eat one meal a day in one hour. On my diet days it is low fat and low cal and it is 3 lg. apples. I can't function on protein only meals. AND I lose the same. On my refeed day I eat all my food in an hour. The only difference is that I use 3 apples on my diet days.

[Ursula C.]

Wow Gayle: that's fantastic info!!!

I try very hard to ONLY have PLANNED refeeds (though I've slipped now and then during TOM; but the beauty of this WOE is that I can recover VERY fast).

Another thing: I agree with the doc to start refeeds with low GI carbs; I think I would pass out if I went from a Kimkins meal to straight sugar!

Thanks again!

[oriana]

My 3 apple meal is low GI right? Maybe that is why I have not problem with it on my diet day.

[Ursula C.]

Originally Posted by Divinity

Hi, I did an involuntary refeed yesterday (hehe...meaning I didn't plan to do it). I'll spare you the details, but it started with my boss taking us for chinese food. Anyway, I was shocked to find a 6lbs gain this morning!!! If I didn't feel guilty before, I most definitely do now!

In your experience, does the weight come right back off when you get back on plan. I hope so. I was so happy about the progress I have so far.

Any help you could offer would b e greatly appreciated.

Hi Divinity (btw: you're such a cutie!): Those 6 pounds are WATER and they got there from the Chinese food IMO (super salty plus MSG most likely added). One thing about refeeds is that you HAVE to be able to deal with a jump in the scale the next morning, and I'm talking a jump UP!

That's why I NEVER weigh the morning after a refeed. Why torture myself needlessly? I drink LOTS of water and diet soda and by the end of the second day of Kimkins, I'm back to normal. By day #3 it's weight-loss CITY!

Later!

[oriana]

Oh, and I do my refeed day every other day. This is what I do and my one meal a day is one hour only.

Monday: 3 apples
Tuesday: refeed meal
Wednesday: 3 apples
Thursday: refeed meal
Friday: 3 apples
Saturday: refeed meal
Sunday: 3 apples

Now if some fun event comes up I can do two refeeds but not two refeeds in one day. Just one meal a day.

[1groovychick]

Originally Posted by Ursula C.

Wow Gayle: that's fantastic info!!!

I try very hard to ONLY have PLANNED refeeds (though I've slipped now and then during TOM; but the beauty of this WOE is that I can recover VERY fast).

Another thing: I agree with the doc to start refeeds with low GI carbs; I think I would pass out if I went from a Kimkins meal to straight sugar!

Thanks again!

Ursula:
What do you eat during your refeeds? And do you do it by the day or hour?
Thanks!
Gayle

[Jayelgee]

Subscribing! I'm really interested in this.