I am thinking of doing a refeed and would be grateful if anyone can share their experiences, comment on my proposed food choices & method, and/or recommend any other foods.

I’ve read that a refeed must last 24-48 hours, so I am going to do it over 2 days. I’ve also read that it should start with high glycemic / sugary carbs and move on to more starchy ones, and that it should be around 60% carb, 20% fat (low fat) and 20% protein.

Day one choices:

Coca-Cola
Lucozade
Sweets
Marshmallows
Cappuccino / Hot Chocolate (low-fat version)
Chocolate (i.e. Double Decker – more sugar, less fat than pure chocolate)
Ice-cream
McDonald’s McMini's (Donut, Brownie & McByte) (197cal 3pro, 27.4carb, 8.3fat)
Yoghurt/Mousse

Day two choices:

McDonald’s Regular Choc Milkshake (403cal 11.5pro, 66.6carb, 10.2fat)
Crisps
Bread
Potato
Pasta/Noodles
Rice
Sweet & Sour Sauce

In order to meet the protein requirements I will be having chicken and a protein shake on both days, as these are the only things I can think of (that I like) that are low-fat.

I’m not sure if I’ll definitely do this or not, but since I heard about it around 6 months ago, I constantly think about it and wonder if it would work. I plan on doing it at the end of Feb / start of March, as I’m taking a few days off work, so I don’t have to worry about being in pain & bloated!! And moody!!

Thanks

Julie

A refeed can be several hours, it doesn't need to days. Why don't you try a day and see how it goes. A one day refeed will make you feel crappy enough. Of course two works as well.

The goal is to have carbs (sugar), but not fructose which does not raise Leptin levels and causes other problems. So, Coke or any soft drink is not so good since they most stopped using sugar a while back. High fructose consumption is one of my personal theories on the obesity epidemic.

In a refeed, avoid fat and fructose. Your menu looks fine but have a look at the fructose amounts. Kids breakfast cereals are sweet and low-fat with lots of other healthy stuff.

This may sound silly, but as long as you are refeeding - why not cheat and have something you have been missing, like pizza.

Thanks Gregg!

Although I wasn't aware that coca-cola no longer contained sugar - could this just be in USA perhaps?

As for Pizza, I have this weekly, I just order a 16" thin base with extra cheese, pepperoni & chicken tikka but only eat the toppings! (my partner eats the other half!) I think eating pizza would put my fat levels up too high.

I didn't realise it would work if I did less than a day. I thought it should be 24-48 hours, therefore a day really is only 12-16 hours (of waking/eating time). I'm planning on doing this around 1/2/3 March so I'll see how I get on!!

Julie

ntntntntntntntnt

It must be a U.S. thing as I checked the ingredients at the weekend and sugar is one of them.

Coke has as much sugar here in the US as it does anywhere else!


I did a 36 hr refeed two weeks ago, with carbs and sugary foods. I had been stalled for about 2 months. I have lost 4 lbs. since then, and feel like it really did get me started again. The only ill effect I had was not being able to get too far away from a bathroom the day after the refeed, if you know what I mean.

Liz

do you have to do induction after the re-feed? or just back to your normal levels?

I personally went back to induction levels afterward, but from what I have read you don't have to. I did it that way for my own "mental health" - I was afraid that I might not get back to LCing if I didn't, after all the warnings I had read about the danger of a refeed! I find that I need lots of structure to lose weight, so going back to induction was part of that.

By the way, the day after the refeed I was UP 3 lbs, then lost that after another day or two, then lost 3 more pounds over the rest of that week. (Net loss of 3 lbs.) I lost an additional pound the next week.

Liz

i just finished along weekend--including today--where i just kind of ate some things i normally wouldn't. i didn't feel bad, didn't feel like i cheated, but believe me, i didn't FEEL good! i was in bed last night by 9:30 pm, just trying to get rid of the biggest bellyache! anyway, i will be back on track as of today! i don't know what a real re-feed is, but we'll see what happens! i have been stuck since before Christmas at almost the very same weight, and have been really good with the plan....i just let loose a little (ok, quite a bit!) over the weekend. i suppose i was giving in to a little frustration over being stuck so darn long!

Hi sjkling -

I think you should start back strictly LC, give yourself 2 weeks and see what happens. Drink all your water, you might be pleasantly surprised at the end of the 2 weeks! Good luck! I hope you let me know how it goes.

Liz

I guess I am not sure about the Coke thing. I read in some news story recently that soft drink manufacturers including Coke stopped using sugar in favour of fructose a few years back. High-content fructose is sweeter and much cheaper.

The ingrediants of Coke: Carbonated water, sugar/glucose-fructose, caramel colour, phosphoric acid, natural flavours (vegetable source), caffeine.

Maybe there is some sugar in it, maybe but from what I have read probably not much.

I am so stressed! I've been reading about refeeding and would like to try it.

Here is my situation: I did Atkins in Sept. 03, I was 136 and went to 129 in less than two weeks. I was thrilled! In Nov. I went to Mexico for 2 wks. and them came home to Christmas! Before I knew it I was 145...the highest I've been in years!
I started back on induction beginning of Jan. First week I went down to 136, and I have not budged since then.
I work out daily and don't cheat or go over 20g carbs.

Any tips or ideas.....would having pizza and some candy be enough to maybe jump start my metabolism!?

Hi Lady,

I think that because you have such a small amount to lose, it's just going to take you longer. You seem to be shooting for a really low weight, and I have no experience with that!! Don't mean to tell you you should or shouldn't lose weight, but if I read your profile correctly, at 5'9" tall, you are really quite slim! Maybe you should check out some of the bodybuilder sites, those people have all kinds of ways to get their body fat percentages down. Good Luck!

Liz

Hi lizwhip!

Thanks for replying....I don't know what to think anymore, my first attempt at Atkins worked so well, too well, that I am frustrated that I cannot even get to my pre-atkins weight after all this time on induction.
Prior to doing LC I ate small amount of whatever I wanted and never had a problem. I only did the LC thing to support a family member and now don't know what to do. I have become obssessed with what I eat!
I have a strong will though, so I will just keep at it

If you do a search on refeed, Leptin and bodybuilding you can fine lots of information about refeeds. Body builders get into ideas like 6 hour refeeds every 36 hours. With less fat your Leptin levels are naturally lower so that could be a problem. Also if you have been eating less to try and loose weight, it is even more likely your Leptin levels are low, putting your body into starvation mode.

For proper refeed, a piece of candy doesn't cut it - eat the whole bag and make yourself sick. A refeed doesn't need to be a whole day, but it should be lots of calories, high carb, low-fat, low fructose.

Last Friday, I ended up in a situation where all I could eat was high-carb or nothing. So, I decided to go along with it (I sure love banana bread) and do a refeed for the rest of the day. I gained 3 pounds on my regular morning weigh-in. This morning I was down 4 pounds since last Saturday, a nice little surprise.