Very short duration VLCDs - still a "no no"?

laurens47

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

laurens47 wrote: »

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

Intentional_Me wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

midwesterner85 wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

midwesterner85 wrote: »

Yes, I know this is an old thread with new discussion, but...

Has anyone seen the show Naked and Afraid? My understanding is that they have medical personnel on hand to monitor and respond to issues. Not the same as eating very little yourself without such help.

But I've done versions of IF with days where MFP would complain I'm eating too little, but alternating days would be plenty high calories. In fact, last time I did that, I was eating in a huge surplus overall because the eating days were without calorie restriction. So if I eat 500 calories on a fasting day and 10K-12K calories on the next day, that just doesn't work for me.

Why would you think that eating 10-12k is a good plan for any situation?!

That wasn't the plan... the plan was to eat very little on alternate days, and then not have any restriction on the other days - just eat to satisfaction. I have an incredible appetite, so the 10K-12K was eating to fullness as best as possible within my schedule.

This was done during a plateau. A calorie deficit keeps me very hungry because I have an incredible appetite. Calorie maintenance keeps me hungry. A small surplus keeps me hungry. At that point, I had successfully lost weight for months (very slowly) with a small deficit; but that had stopped seeing results about 2 months prior. I could mentally withstand the hunger for awhile when losing, but when the results stopped, I just couldn't take it. Instead of quitting altogether (which is what I was about to do), I compromised with myself by staying hungry every 2nd day and eating as I wished on the other days. I could at least put up with that. I did that for 6 weeks. I didn't see any sustained gains (because I was in a true plateau), just larger day-to-day fluctuations (at the fastest change, I gained 9 lbs. in just a few hours). After 6 weeks, I returned to a small daily deficit. After another 2 months (so almost 6 months total plateau), I finally got the "whoosh" of several lbs. of sustained loss in just a few days. The 6 weeks of experimentation obviously decreased the eventual "whoosh," but at least it kept me from giving up altogether.

Interesting as I am doing something similar but with RFL calories on 4 days, 2 days in a slight deficit and a re-feed (which normally ends up in the region of 10k calories). Only 4 weeks in but seeing good results, significant fat loss, no negatives from leptin/glycogen being depleted because of the re-feeds and I get to eat to my hearts content on 1 day a week.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds putting away 10-15k calories easy. I have to hold back as I have no fear I could do more.

I always find it odd when people comment that there is surely no way someone actually consumed 3, 500 calories over their maintenance in 1- 2 days.

Wellllll, they probably could have. It's not that difficult

I used to do that in a single refeed. One medium pizza and an order of breadsticks and there ya go.

Yes to the Yes on the pizza and the breadsticks. It's my go to on re-feeds! However, I go into a carb coma.

That's probably for the best. You can't smell what your body is doing with that stuff. My girlfriend told me she wants to bottle it and sell it as an aerosol paint peeler.

Lmao! That's for damn sure!

trigden1991

VintageFeline wrote: »

Out of interest, do you use a refeed "window" or just eat throughout the day as normal? I can't eat the way I used to and have a refeed tomorrow but am a little anxious about packing it all in in 5 hours!

I use the whole day at the moment because trying to fit in over 1000g carbs in 5 hours would be horrific. As I am creating an 8k deficit over 4 days, I think I can cut myself some slack and not time myself to intake those carbs haha

My piece of advice for the RFL refeed is bagels, potatoes and sugary cereal.

Intentional_Me wrote: »

I always find it odd when people comment that there is surely no way someone actually consumed 3, 500 calories over their maintenance in 1- 2 days.

Wellllll, they probably could have. It's not that difficult

It really isn't that hard no. However if you dig down into it further, after glycogen replenishment, TEF and an increase in NEAT, I don't think I would be that far above maintenance at all.

VintageFeline

trigden1991 wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

Out of interest, do you use a refeed "window" or just eat throughout the day as normal? I can't eat the way I used to and have a refeed tomorrow but am a little anxious about packing it all in in 5 hours!

I use the whole day at the moment because trying to fit in over 1000g carbs in 5 hours would be horrific. As I am creating an 8k deficit over 4 days, I think I can cut myself some slack and not time myself to intake those carbs haha

My piece of advice for the RFL refeed is bagels, potatoes and sugary cereal.

And that's exactly what I have waiting for me in the kitchen! Well, no potatoes because they fill me up way too quickly. Prelogged and it's intimidating me but I'm likely overthinking it.

Gallowmere1984

VintageFeline wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

Out of interest, do you use a refeed "window" or just eat throughout the day as normal? I can't eat the way I used to and have a refeed tomorrow but am a little anxious about packing it all in in 5 hours!

I use the whole day at the moment because trying to fit in over 1000g carbs in 5 hours would be horrific. As I am creating an 8k deficit over 4 days, I think I can cut myself some slack and not time myself to intake those carbs haha

My piece of advice for the RFL refeed is bagels, potatoes and sugary cereal.

And that's exactly what I have waiting for me in the kitchen! Well, no potatoes because they fill me up way too quickly. Prelogged and it's intimidating me but I'm likely overthinking it.

If you eat the potatoes completely plain, it's actually not too difficult. I usually can make it through two redskins and two sweet potatoes (around 1kg) in a single sitting. It's actually the bagels that end up biting me a bit.

Gallowmere1984

Also, I am amused at how quickly this shifted from "gaaaahhh, they's be starvin' themselves" to just how many calories we can fit into a single refeed.