Of refeeds and diet breaks
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I think I'll try a two day refeed and see how it goes. I've been losing weight for 17 weeks and have lost 8.4kg, so averaging around a pound a week. I'm 48 years, 163cm (5'4'') and currently 61.6kg (136lbs) aiming for 59kg (130lbs). Actually, in the long run I don't really care if I end up higher than 59kg if I am more toned, but that's going to take a while so 59kg is the goal for the moment.
I calculated the net calories I've been eating and it came to about 1450. That's more than I thought I was eating on average actually, but I've been fairly flexible with my calories and upping them on days that I was hungrier. MFP had originally set me 1200, but I found I could rarely get down to that anyway. I thought I was eating around 1350 on average but apparently not.
So I'm thinking I should probably refeed on about 1900 calories. Does that sound about right?
I might try a diet break as well but I've got some psychological resistance to breaking I have to say.
I'll see how the refeed days go first. I haven't felt particularly hungry yet but I kind of like the idea of a preemptive strike, especially since I have started to go off the rails when I reach this point in my weight loss before.
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Love seeing all the awesome progress in this thread
I wonder how bulk cycles play into the whole deficit break. Just when I get pretty lean (after a bit of a painful deficit)... I don't stay there very long, I reverse diet into a bulk and stay in a surplus for quite a few months, which is a huge breath of fresh air.6 -
I can understand your hesitation at doing a full break being so close, @JoLightensUp. I'm planning another one in a couple of weeks, and I could well be within a kg of goal. See how you go with the refeed, you can always extend it out.
And yes, 1900-1950 sounds right if you're averaging 1450 atm.2 -
Day two of Strong Curves done, using my shiny new pull up bar and swiss ball. Working out two days in a row, yeah, I'll shut up now...hammies still a bit sore from yesterday, and arms pretty much just laughed at me when I suggested full push ups (I did manage three), so did a mix of negative push ups and from knees to get full sets.6
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »I can understand your hesitation at doing a full break being so close, @JoLightensUp. I'm planning another one in a couple of weeks, and I could well be within a kg of goal. See how you go with the refeed, you can always extend it out.
And yes, 1900-1950 sounds right if you're averaging 1450 atm.
Thanks @Nony_Mouse. Yes, I might just extend the refeed into a break. I'm going to do the refeeds sometime this week; haven't decided when exactly but looking forward to it now! 1 -
JoLightensUp wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »I can understand your hesitation at doing a full break being so close, @JoLightensUp. I'm planning another one in a couple of weeks, and I could well be within a kg of goal. See how you go with the refeed, you can always extend it out.
And yes, 1900-1950 sounds right if you're averaging 1450 atm.
Thanks @Nony_Mouse. Yes, I might just extend the refeed into a break. I'm going to do the refeeds sometime this week; haven't decided when exactly but looking forward to it now!
I love planning my refeed weekends. I admit to being a bit same same in my day to day food (okay, a lot same same), not really for diet purposes so much as life purposes, so I'm enjoying cooking different things again. This weekend is pizza. Yes, I am somehow going to pull that off whilst keeping my fat around 50g...4 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »JoLightensUp wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »I can understand your hesitation at doing a full break being so close, @JoLightensUp. I'm planning another one in a couple of weeks, and I could well be within a kg of goal. See how you go with the refeed, you can always extend it out.
And yes, 1900-1950 sounds right if you're averaging 1450 atm.
Thanks @Nony_Mouse. Yes, I might just extend the refeed into a break. I'm going to do the refeeds sometime this week; haven't decided when exactly but looking forward to it now!
I love planning my refeed weekends. I admit to being a bit same same in my day to day food (okay, a lot same same), not really for diet purposes so much as life purposes, so I'm enjoying cooking different things again. This weekend is pizza. Yes, I am somehow going to pull that off whilst keeping my fat around 50g...
Pizza is easy - my fave low fat version is chicken, BBQ sauce, mushroom, pumpkin, onion, red capsicum, low fat cheese. We buy pizza dough balls and roll them out ourselves - they have less fat than a lot of the preformed ones2 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
Pizza is easy - my fave low fat version is chicken, BBQ sauce, mushroom, pumpkin, onion, red capsicum, low fat cheese. We buy pizza dough balls and roll them out ourselves - they have less fat than a lot of the preformed ones
Have already bought my delicious sprouted seed pizza bases (gluten free, can't be bothered making my own), have low fat feta, so I just need to control myself with the mozzarella. A mental tote says I should be fine. I could have gotten a different base that's lower fat, but I'm sticking with tried and true (they're actually used by a national pizza chain as one of their gluten free options), cos I don't want to be disappointed! 3 -
Love seeing all the awesome progress in this thread
I wonder how bulk cycles play into the whole deficit break. Just when I get pretty lean (after a bit of a painful deficit)... I don't stay there very long, I reverse diet into a bulk and stay in a surplus for quite a few months, which is a huge breath of fresh air.
Bulk cycles had no impact on me, but I'm going to say I have other stuff going on that makes me not respond in a normal way...
My latest test results are awesome.
Low thyroid, low oestrogen and testosterone, practically no progesterone. I now have to get acth and igf/gh tests....
The Dr was more concerned about my haematology results, which show I'm slightly anaemic (but not due to iron, which was tested and ok), and have slightly low neutrophils and platelets...she's referred me to a haematologist to make sure that's ok first
No real answers, but at least heading in the right direction! (or a direction?)
Also guessing my body isn't doing anything it's supposed to properly... Yay!4 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
Pizza is easy - my fave low fat version is chicken, BBQ sauce, mushroom, pumpkin, onion, red capsicum, low fat cheese. We buy pizza dough balls and roll them out ourselves - they have less fat than a lot of the preformed ones
Have already bought my delicious sprouted seed pizza bases (gluten free, can't be bothered making my own), have low fat feta, so I just need to control myself with the mozzarella. A mental tote says I should be fine. I could have gotten a different base that's lower fat, but I'm sticking with tried and true (they're actually used by a national pizza chain as one of their gluten free options), cos I don't want to be disappointed!
Sounds delicious! I love sprouted grain stuff... We have a local company that makes a range of sprouted grain breads (not the heavy brick type bread, which I also love but isnt really sandwich appropriate)0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
Pizza is easy - my fave low fat version is chicken, BBQ sauce, mushroom, pumpkin, onion, red capsicum, low fat cheese. We buy pizza dough balls and roll them out ourselves - they have less fat than a lot of the preformed ones
Have already bought my delicious sprouted seed pizza bases (gluten free, can't be bothered making my own), have low fat feta, so I just need to control myself with the mozzarella. A mental tote says I should be fine. I could have gotten a different base that's lower fat, but I'm sticking with tried and true (they're actually used by a national pizza chain as one of their gluten free options), cos I don't want to be disappointed!
Sounds delicious! I love sprouted grain stuff... We have a local company that makes a range of sprouted grain breads (not the heavy brick type bread, which I also love but isnt really sandwich appropriate)
These guys do breads too, but I haven't tried them. One has 'paleo' in the name, so I refuse to try that one on principle
Stuck the pizza base and cheeses in my diary to see what it came to for fat, and it's fine. Pizza will also have sauce, garlic, onion, fresh basil, mushroom and red capsicum. I used to do that topping combo when I made my own pizzas regularly, and it's super yum.4 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Love seeing all the awesome progress in this thread
I wonder how bulk cycles play into the whole deficit break. Just when I get pretty lean (after a bit of a painful deficit)... I don't stay there very long, I reverse diet into a bulk and stay in a surplus for quite a few months, which is a huge breath of fresh air.
Bulk cycles had no impact on me, but I'm going to say I have other stuff going on that makes me not respond in a normal way...
My latest test results are awesome.
Low thyroid, low oestrogen and testosterone, practically no progesterone. I now have to get acth and igf/gh tests....
The Dr was more concerned about my haematology results, which show I'm slightly anaemic (but not due to iron, which was tested and ok), and have slightly low neutrophils and platelets...she's referred me to a haematologist to make sure that's ok first
No real answers, but at least heading in the right direction! (or a direction?)
Also guessing my body isn't doing anything it's supposed to properly... Yay!
Damn![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
. But, at least something to work with. 2 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »
These guys do breads too, but I haven't tried them. One has 'paleo' in the name, so I refuse to try that one on principle
Same. I might be missing out on some pretty good products, but there's an irritable part of me that just says oh please. I thought paleo was all about natural and unprocessed, just like our ancestors did? If you want bread, have bread. Bah. Humbug. You flintstones get off my lawn. (wanders off grumbling)2 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »
One has 'paleo' in the name, so I refuse to try that one on principle .
You mean, Paleo people couldn't get bread at the store?
And one of my personal favorites is women protein powders and BCAA's. Essentially, you pay for underdosing at 2x the price of males. All because it's pink.
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »
One has 'paleo' in the name, so I refuse to try that one on principle .
You mean, Paleo people couldn't get bread at the store?
And one of my personal favorites is women protein powders and BCAA's. Essentially, you pay for underdosing at 2x the price of males. All because it's pink.
I also don't get the deal with pink. I hate pink. Are women supposed to like it?4 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Also, diet break and refeed are two different things, it's not that diet break isn't 'true'. The much higher carbs on refeed are necessary because you're doing it over only a couple of days. On diet break, you still need to have carbs above 100-150g to bring leptin back up, but it sounds like you're doing that anyway.
I had thought they were different, but wasn't sure if they did the same thing or if it was necessary, especially for someone who isn't exercising as much, to do a true "refeed". I definitely get between 100 - 150g carbs every day - when I look at my 90 day report, I'm pretty well averaging around 130-140g. I'll definitely get over 150g if I do a full diet break!2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm another sloppy logger, so I leave a buffer too. It's my way of staying sane after three years of logging.
Diet breaks are recommended for everyone as part of deficit eating because of the body's adaptations. They just need to be less frequent the more fat you have to lose. You've been at this a while, a diet break could make sense for you IF you stop stressing about it
As far as figuring out your maintenance calories, you've been losing 2 pounds a week eating 1400, so that would make your maintenance around 2400 (a two pound a week loss is a 1,000 calorie deficit). You could leave a small buffer for your sloppy logging.
Thank you!
I think I will try it, though I might keep going until I hit the 100 lb loss just for principle - I'm 4 lbs shy! Thanksgiving week seems like a good break week, though lol
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amusedmonkey wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »
One has 'paleo' in the name, so I refuse to try that one on principle .
You mean, Paleo people couldn't get bread at the store?
And one of my personal favorites is women protein powders and BCAA's. Essentially, you pay for underdosing at 2x the price of males. All because it's pink.
I also don't get the deal with pink. I hate pink. Are women supposed to like it?
Greatest marketing ploy overall through time. Slap some pink or purple on it and mark it up 50%. Women will buy. I will admit I'm a sucker for a pretty pink disposable razor, I just need to stop being stupid and buy the mens ones.
But yeah, "fitness" products aimed at women. Stop falling for it!3 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »Also, diet break and refeed are two different things, it's not that diet break isn't 'true'. The much higher carbs on refeed are necessary because you're doing it over only a couple of days. On diet break, you still need to have carbs above 100-150g to bring leptin back up, but it sounds like you're doing that anyway.
I had thought they were different, but wasn't sure if they did the same thing or if it was necessary, especially for someone who isn't exercising as much, to do a true "refeed". I definitely get between 100 - 150g carbs every day - when I look at my 90 day report, I'm pretty well averaging around 130-140g. I'll definitely get over 150g if I do a full diet break!
Yeah it's not really about activity but more duration. 2 days = refeed with only raising carbs. 1 week + = diet break and you can do what you want with your macros as the extended period means regular carbs are fine.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »
One has 'paleo' in the name, so I refuse to try that one on principle .
You mean, Paleo people couldn't get bread at the store?
And one of my personal favorites is women protein powders and BCAA's. Essentially, you pay for underdosing at 2x the price of males. All because it's pink.
I also don't get the deal with pink. I hate pink. Are women supposed to like it?
Evidently. I offered to buy my wife a pink Glock. She told me If I did, It would be mine.9
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