I just posted this also as a reply on 'Am I The Weak Link Here' thread, but wanted to restart this topic as a new thread as it is a specific topic..
Has anyone got info about the idea of purposefully gaining two pounds of weight in order to jumpstart" weight loss while on a longterm losing plan? Last night I was reading the small diet plan book given out at Curves. It is basically a LC type but I'm an Atkins believer, so I didn't pay much attention to the eating plan itself. What did hit me was the repeated idea by the author (sorry, can't even remember his name.. founder of Curves..) anyway, he kept saying that on any diet plan you will eventually trigger the 'starvation mode' message to your body if you are losing wieght... and that it is neccessary to stop losing and actually gain about two pounds every so often to knock yourself out of starvation metabolism message. I may not be relaying his info correctly (stop in a Curves and grab his book if you're curious), but the thought of intentionally gaining two pounds is a bit of a fright to me!! Still.... he may very well have something there. He puts forth a "scientific" base for this...?? I think this balance between losing and starvation messages to our bodies is critical and very involved with stalls, etc... I'm just not sure I would go to the place of purposefully gaining weight on a routine basis. (Although he says only two pounds and it will come off quickly again. The basic concept does seem to make sense...? Hmmm... wondering about trying it...) We would have to be very careful not to start the cravings again etc... be very motivated to control it all and get back on track.. any ideas or experience with this from any of you?

Cheers,

Hiyah, gardensjoy, not sure who the founder of Curves is, but the idea you've mentioned is actually the basis of LC 'diet' called the CKD (Cyclical Ketogenic Diet), and there's a forum on it under the Exercise headings.

Not quite a 'diet plan' there is also a method used by bodybuilders called a 'refeed' (which is similar to the CKD but not quite) designed to achieve a specific response in the body - greater fat loss once you've reached a plateau.

The theory is that as you diet (lose fat, decrease calories etc) levels of certain hormones in your body change. The two big ones are Lepin and ghrelin. Leptin is called the "anti starvation" hormone and Ghrelin is the "hunger hormone". They are both directly related to your fat mass (the number and size of your fat cells). When you lose body fat leptin levels fall and ghrelin levels rise. Low leptin signals to your body that starvation is imminent. High ghrelin levels signal hunger. The two, together, make for a very difficult time.

By eating a specific amount of food in a specific time you change these levels and set the balance again in favour of fat burning. The foods that trigger a rise in leptin are carbs - the simpler the better. The large quantities of food you eat causes ghrelin to decrease. It's a lot more compliated than this Readers' Digest version.

The weight you gain, however, isn't 'fat' - it's water weight. Typical refeeds consist of 3000-3500 calories in 24 hours, that's only a few hundre caloried above maintenance for most. As it's mainly carbs the water weight is what is reflected on the scale a few days later.

I did a refeed this weekend. 3200 calories, 80% carbs. I 'gained' 4 lbs by Monday. It's gone this morning

If you try a search on this site you'll find a few posts about leptin and you'll find a lot of information about the CKD.

HTH
Nat

I don't know if this relates... but for Valentine's Day I did jump off the wagon (just wanted to enjoy and not think about what I could or couldn't eat). Well... the funny thing is that before then I was at a stand-still in my weight loss, which was a good 2 weeks of nothing. After my Valentine's Day binge I gained back a couple of pounds (which I'm pretty sure was water weight). The pounds were gone in a couple more days, and then my weight loss kicked in again. Now I'm back to losing about a pound a day.

More people need to embrace this idea. Not only if you are an athlete or you lift weights but for general dieters as well. I've noticed that people here sometimes get crazy if they "cheat" one day. GOOD!! It shouldn't be often but, you do need to change things up and challange your matobilism. Its just like lifting weights, if you were to stay on the same program, year after year, your progress would halt. However, changing things up, constantly challenging your muscles to different stresses will help you greatly. Same kind of thing applies to dieting. If you eat a candy bar once a month, you will not get fat again.

I haven't heard of purposely gaining (up-ing calories, yes, gaining weight, no) but I have heard of people taking a break from losing and just maintaining for awhile. That makes more sense to me than, gaining. Just up-ing calories enough to stop any weight loss (or attempting weight loss) keeping at that level for a while then lower cals again.
N.

This is a great thread! I will have to keep this in mind when I inevitably stall. I know in my third week of induction, I upped my calories from about 1350-1550 to 2600 for a few days and lost 2 pounds. I didn't gain except for the usual daily fluctuation, but I was at the third week stall for sure, so it was really a pleasant surprise. I'm in my fourth week now, and I've lost an additional 2 pounds for a total of 15 pounds in 31 days.

What would you recommend one eats during a "refeed"? What types of carbs....I need specific examples or else I might just eat a donut and call it done.

Would it be more salad and veggie stuff?

What's the caloric limit on it?

Don't follow my lead... I had bread and chocolate cake! I wouldn't recommend that at all for the the simple fact that it may up your cravings!

Unfortunately I can regain weight by smelling high carb food and at this point Atkins is working for me so I will continue on the way I am going. 17 pounds in 3wks is good for me and if my body decides to slow down ok- I know that it is good to remain at one wt for a bit then it becomes the new "set point" for me. Our bodies need to adjust to what is happening. My problem would be would I stop at two pounds or would I be back here at another time trying again to make this my wol. I want to do this right this time. Before I have stayed on induction forever-well, until I start to cheat for variety- I am determined to do this right this time. But everyone is different and that is what life is about-all I can speak from is my own point of view
Jan Patterson

Silvergrl, 'refeeds' are pretty much a science in and of themselves.

The macronutirent ratio works out to 75-80% carbs, 15% protein, the rest fat. The carbs are what are important, as they have a bigger impact on Leptin levels. The quantity would differ from person to person. You want to eat roughly 300-400 calories above maintenance. What maintenance is for you is going to be different than what it will be for me. Its a little guesswork sometimes. My last refeed was about 3200 calories in 16 hours

Those carbs, btw, should be simple and high G.I. We're talking sugar, dextrose, malto dextrin. Startches don't effect leptin as much, and fat doesn't effect it at all. Check out the CKD forum; you'll find all kinds of threads on which foods to use, favourites are Smarties (US version - called Rockets in Canada), Sweet Tarts, Pixie Stix, Skittles, Sugar Crips cereal, Gatorade, etc etc. Bascially a refeed isn't as much fun as it sounds.

HTH
Nat

Would it be ok to do a refeed of nearly 4000 calories? That's where I'm headed today! I always workout at the gym every day for about 45 minutes on the elliptical. For the past week I have been swimming. These are intense 2 hour practices! I have been eating between 1500-1700 calories. I have definitely been losing. I'm trying to brak a stall, just trying to get some energy and not kill my body! Soo, I gave in to the hunger today. I've decided to eat and eat and eat because I'm soo hungry! I'll go back to the low calorie diet tomorrow. Anyway, I just need some reassurance!

I read an article in Muscle & Fitness magazine a few years ago that's similar to this idea. They basically put people on diets, and cycled them with something like 10 days low calorie and then a few days high calorie, continually repeating the cycle. The participants who added high-calorie days lost more weight in the long-term.

I think this also applies to low-carbing, since I'll always lose a few pounds after a small cheat. (Maybe 100 carbs)

I haven't done a lot of research (as some others have done very well here), but it just makes good sense to me. Once your body gets used to being on a certain program, it seems as if it would adjust and get comfortable there.

A good example (and also a terrible one) would be the way that I actually GAINED all of my weight. I gained very quickly for a while eating a bunch of high fat, high carb, high calorie foods. I continued to eat this way for years, but haven't gained a pound in 3 years. (haven't lost any either. lol) I think that my body got used to eating this way and I just didn't gain the way that I did in the beggining. I think this is why you lose so much in the beginning of induction, also. Say, the first week or so. Your body hasn't adjusted to the sudden change in diet, so it just goes with the flow.

Of course, this is just my own personal experience and very UN-scientific explination. LOL.

~Angi~

LOL!..

Ahh.. that had me laughing for a bit...