Of refeeds and diet breaks

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Replies

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    I wonder what increase got from my poison ivy rash, and several re-infections as I missed what the oil must have gotten on?
    And a long bike ride didn't help with the sweating.
    This after 2 weeks since initial contact.



    Yep, you get some cal credit for that. And ow!!!
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    For those not on my friends list,

    Ankle: up 1 cm
    Waist: up 1.5 cm
    Thigh (individual): up 1.5 cm

    Yes, I am a big wobbly mess of water.

    However, the rash is vastly improved, and I was able to get through strength training. Definitely not the energizer bunny I was before that, but that's also possibly lack of food, because what increased appetite???

    Yoghurt and strawberries, and probably a protein shake, is a balanced diet, right??

    :(

    You seem to be handling this exceptionally well @Nony_Mouse... I would have been a mess just from the rash! Hoping it clears up completely and you can get off the meds soon!

    I'm actually really not :\ Y'know how people make their life look fabulous on Facebook? :tongue:

    This is laugh so I don't cry. It's been close more than once.

    I really want to go for a walk, because it helps clear my head, plus cabin fever, but I'm already 300 cals under TDEE with what I have logged.

    And I am stressing myself out over *kitten* sodium. I have never once given a damn about my sodium intake.

    It's water weight, it's water weight, it's water weight. It will go away.

    Oh :( keep laughing on the outside if it helps... If not, let it all out!
    It is water weight, it is, and you know it too (not that it makes it any easier).
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    I actually have a book from my childhood, it was one of my favourites, called 'The Laughing Book', basically all just keep laughing even when everything sucks. It explains sooooooooooo much about me...(thanks, parents).
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    I actually have a book from my childhood, it was one of my favourites, called 'The Laughing Book', basically all just keep laughing even when everything sucks. It explains sooooooooooo much about me...(thanks, parents).

    Thats me on the outside in rubbish situations too...but ive never read the book :p
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Okay, let's make this fun, bets on how much water weight Nony can gain on pred. I'm on day 3 of 5 at twice a day (though I can scale down as soon as the rash has cleared, so may get away with four days), and 5 days at once a day (though if I only do four at twice a day I may be able to do fewer at one as well, need to check with doctor on that. Ovulation around mid next week should also be taken into account. Could be Wednesday, could be Saturday, or anywhere in between.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    I actually have a book from my childhood, it was one of my favourites, called 'The Laughing Book', basically all just keep laughing even when everything sucks. It explains sooooooooooo much about me...(thanks, parents).

    Thats me on the outside in rubbish situations too...but ive never read the book :p

    It should be sub-titled "how to mess up your child and make them hide their emotions".
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited December 2017
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Okay, let's make this fun, bets on how much water weight Nony can gain on pred. I'm on day 3 of 5 at twice a day (though I can scale down as soon as the rash has cleared, so may get away with four days), and 5 days at once a day (though if I only do four at twice a day I may be able to do fewer at one as well, need to check with doctor on that. Ovulation around mid next week should also be taken into account. Could be Wednesday, could be Saturday, or anywhere in between.

    3.6kg
  • maybyn
    maybyn Posts: 233 Member
    edited December 2017
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    For those not on my friends list,

    Ankle: up 1 cm
    Waist: up 1.5 cm
    Thigh (individual): up 1.5 cm

    Yes, I am a big wobbly mess of water.

    However, the rash is vastly improved, and I was able to get through strength training. Definitely not the energizer bunny I was before that, but that's also possibly lack of food, because what increased appetite???

    Yoghurt and strawberries, and probably a protein shake, is a balanced diet, right??

    :(

    You seem to be handling this exceptionally well @Nony_Mouse... I would have been a mess just from the rash! Hoping it clears up completely and you can get off the meds soon!

    I'm actually really not :\ Y'know how people make their life look fabulous on Facebook? :tongue:

    This is laugh so I don't cry. It's been close more than once.

    I really want to go for a walk, because it helps clear my head, plus cabin fever, but I'm already 300 cals under TDEE with what I have logged.

    And I am stressing myself out over *kitten* sodium. I have never once given a damn about my sodium intake.

    It's water weight, it's water weight, it's water weight. It will go away.

    Water weight it is! Try hiding the scales and the measuring tape for the next two days?

    Oh but that won't work with the bet! Right, so I think you'll be up 2.1kg from pred and hormones by wednesday.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Pfft, I can do so much better than that! Especially if my appetite comes back properly and I have my usual halloumi salad for dinner.

    And we need to count the 0.5kg I'm already up.
  • maybyn
    maybyn Posts: 233 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Pfft, I can do so much better than that! Especially if my appetite comes back properly and I have my usual halloumi salad for dinner.

    And we need to count the 0.5kg I'm already up.

    Haha, okay, I didn't want to freak you out with a high number but since you're soo ready for it, I'll up it to 3.1 then. Dunno, not sure if you'll hit above 3.5kg...
  • maybyn
    maybyn Posts: 233 Member
    maybyn wrote: »
    @Nony_Mouse, @anubis609, thank you for your kind words. They help tremendously. I've actually booked a session with a therapist just last week after my really bad episode. It took me seeing what others were going through in this thread and other threads here that prompted me to do it, something I would never have done previously. Fingers crossed!
    psuLemon wrote: »
    maybyn wrote: »
    A small update from me - so much so for the accuracy of my numbers.

    Quite an embarrassing confession to make but in the midst of all the conversions from kg to pounds (which I do for this forum and a couple of others), I had my calculations set up as 3500 cals = 1kg, not 1 pound. So my rate of loss the past 4 months was double what it should shave been if the 3500 cals = 1 pound rule was taken.

    For the science-y people in or reading this thread who may be interested, here are my numbers. And for those who may be scared to up their calories, so many great testimonials already from others who have posted but here's mine. While my monthly numbers do not match projected scale drops each month likely due to water weight, TOM, binging vs whoosh effect etc etc but taken overall, the numbers match (apart from the fact that I need to look at the CO part carefully now since my garmin may not be as accurate as I thought).
    d3jher5d9sva.png

    (ETA: October was the start of the Refeed approach)

    I'm officially on a diet break now (aka maintenance) and will be on this till probably around March next year.

    So you ate almost 1000 calories more and still lost weight.

    Dont let the main forums now, they will freak the hell out.


    Sorry if that has been pointed out, 4 pages behind lol

    :) IKR!

    It was this thread that helped me decide to stick to upping cals and going maintenance (refeed) with a higher deficit. I think it was the whoosh effect which I mentioned right at the beginning (first few pages) of this thread AND not to mention, my training got sooo much better too. That was when I thought Holy hell, something's working here!

    Next mission - finding how high I can go with calories!!

    since starting my extended "diet break"/maintenance period 8 weeks ago, I've been steadily increasing my cals. I track my weight every day so I can follow a trend, and have pretty much maintained, after a minimal increase (300g increase in "Trend weight"). I do macros, so have maintained daily fat and protein grams, with the increase coming from carbs.

    I think I maintain on low calories (but I could be more sedentary than I think, and be affected by other issues - still working on those), but I have increased my carbs from 140g/day to 200g/day in 20g increments. This is the most carbs I have eating consistently for a while. I feel a little bit fluffier around the middle, but i'm putting that down to holding more water due to carbs and eating more food in general.

    I'm doing this for another month, until the program i'm following is finished (Layne Norton's Ph3). After that i'm actually excited to see how I go with a small deficit - i'll be implementing proper refeeds then. (unless the Dr I've started working with has other ideas. )

    Interesting! Can you try going higher you think? See if you can maintain a higher intake and doing another lot of carb increase for the next month? Or even other macros rather than/instead of just carb. Or will this interfere with your program?
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    maybyn wrote: »
    maybyn wrote: »
    @Nony_Mouse, @anubis609, thank you for your kind words. They help tremendously. I've actually booked a session with a therapist just last week after my really bad episode. It took me seeing what others were going through in this thread and other threads here that prompted me to do it, something I would never have done previously. Fingers crossed!
    psuLemon wrote: »
    maybyn wrote: »
    A small update from me - so much so for the accuracy of my numbers.

    Quite an embarrassing confession to make but in the midst of all the conversions from kg to pounds (which I do for this forum and a couple of others), I had my calculations set up as 3500 cals = 1kg, not 1 pound. So my rate of loss the past 4 months was double what it should shave been if the 3500 cals = 1 pound rule was taken.

    For the science-y people in or reading this thread who may be interested, here are my numbers. And for those who may be scared to up their calories, so many great testimonials already from others who have posted but here's mine. While my monthly numbers do not match projected scale drops each month likely due to water weight, TOM, binging vs whoosh effect etc etc but taken overall, the numbers match (apart from the fact that I need to look at the CO part carefully now since my garmin may not be as accurate as I thought).
    d3jher5d9sva.png

    (ETA: October was the start of the Refeed approach)

    I'm officially on a diet break now (aka maintenance) and will be on this till probably around March next year.

    So you ate almost 1000 calories more and still lost weight.

    Dont let the main forums now, they will freak the hell out.


    Sorry if that has been pointed out, 4 pages behind lol

    :) IKR!

    It was this thread that helped me decide to stick to upping cals and going maintenance (refeed) with a higher deficit. I think it was the whoosh effect which I mentioned right at the beginning (first few pages) of this thread AND not to mention, my training got sooo much better too. That was when I thought Holy hell, something's working here!

    Next mission - finding how high I can go with calories!!

    since starting my extended "diet break"/maintenance period 8 weeks ago, I've been steadily increasing my cals. I track my weight every day so I can follow a trend, and have pretty much maintained, after a minimal increase (300g increase in "Trend weight"). I do macros, so have maintained daily fat and protein grams, with the increase coming from carbs.

    I think I maintain on low calories (but I could be more sedentary than I think, and be affected by other issues - still working on those), but I have increased my carbs from 140g/day to 200g/day in 20g increments. This is the most carbs I have eating consistently for a while. I feel a little bit fluffier around the middle, but i'm putting that down to holding more water due to carbs and eating more food in general.

    I'm doing this for another month, until the program i'm following is finished (Layne Norton's Ph3). After that i'm actually excited to see how I go with a small deficit - i'll be implementing proper refeeds then. (unless the Dr I've started working with has other ideas. )

    Interesting! Can you try going higher you think? See if you can maintain a higher intake and doing another lot of carb increase for the next month? Or even other macros rather than/instead of just carb. Or will this interfere with your program?

    i intend on trying to push it more, even just because of my love of food :P I have pushed my calories up a lot more when i reversed a few years ago post-comp. i eat enough protein, but might increase fat a little, or protein - i just like carbs :)

    the program i'm following is just training, and definitely not something that will be affected negatively by more food! (more food should be beneficial!)
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Had the good sense to have my evening pred with dinner instead of bedtime shake, which will hopefully mean less impact on sleep. Not helping with keeping TDEE down in order to hit maintenance cals though, I have my hyper on again. I think we can all agree my diet break is a bust at this point though :D I will try to do better in coming days though, cos repair.

    This is me right now:

    https://youtu.be/ZfusDrdBUpY


    Also, feel free to suggest any rules I must abide by for betting purposes (like must hit TDEE).

    I just took rash progress pics, bit naff b/c of artificial light, I had been doing them in the afternoon but forgot. Holy OMG on the thigh pudge!! It's super obvious, and lumpy as hell. I'd only just gotten those damn things starting to look lean!
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    I am miffed to put it mildly. I don't what my body is doing but it is not what it should. I've been at this 2.5 years, this is not a human error thing or wrong numbers. Ugh. And I am not helping by being annoyed and frustrated and yes I am fluffy so that would explain some of but aaarrrggghhhh.

    Maybe maintenance over Christmas will sort it out but I've had plenty of weeks at maintenance (and surplus) this year. Whatevs. I don't care. Do what you want body. Uh huh..........
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    For those not on my friends list,

    Ankle: up 1 cm
    Waist: up 1.5 cm
    Thigh (individual): up 1.5 cm

    Yes, I am a big wobbly mess of water.

    However, the rash is vastly improved, and I was able to get through strength training. Definitely not the energizer bunny I was before that, but that's also possibly lack of food, because what increased appetite???

    Yoghurt and strawberries, and probably a protein shake, is a balanced diet, right??

    :(

    You seem to be handling this exceptionally well @Nony_Mouse... I would have been a mess just from the rash! Hoping it clears up completely and you can get off the meds soon!

    I'm actually really not :\ Y'know how people make their life look fabulous on Facebook? :tongue:

    This is laugh so I don't cry. It's been close more than once.

    I really want to go for a walk, because it helps clear my head, plus cabin fever, but I'm already 300 cals under TDEE with what I have logged.

    And I am stressing myself out over *kitten* sodium. I have never once given a damn about my sodium intake.

    It's water weight, it's water weight, it's water weight. It will go away.

    It's water weight. It sucks, and it's horrible, and anyone who claims otherwise is a lying fool, but it will eventually go away and stop sucking as much.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    It's 3.30 am and I am up before I rip my skin off. Stupid heat. I have managed some sleep, I think, and will be attempting more. Just applied some chilled aloe gel to soothe it and took another antihistamine.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    This is coming from someone who is completely clueless when it comes to fitness :smile:

    I've seen the acronyms TDEE and NEAT thrown around all the time, but really had no idea what they meant or how you could even calculate them, and the spreadsheets that some of you have been keeping I can't even wrap my mind around how you got those numbers. I googled the terms TDEE and NEAT- and found that apparently, there's a huge controversy in the MFP forums on TDEE method versus NEAT method.....

    1) So the TDEE is what I should be subtracting the 500 calories for 1 lb weight loss or 1000 calories for 2 lb weight loss, correct? Or, would it be NEAT? I came across a thread here

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1183428/tdee-vs-neat

    that was supposed to define the two terms and it was very specific on using the correct terms, but I'm still confused - sorry!

    2) I looked around for some formulas to calculate BMR (I at least get this term), and came across this, described as the Katch-McArdle equation:

    BMR = 370 + (21.6 x LBM) (where LBM is the lean body mass in kg)

    I have no idea what my LBM is, but considering I'm morbidly obese, I figured 50% would be a safe place to start. At my current weight of 279.3 (down from 375 lbs), my LBM is around 140 lbs or 63.3 kg, putting my BMR around 1737, if this is the right method to use.

    3) There seems to be a huge argument over what is TDEE and what is NEAT, and this is where I get confused. I don't have a regular exercise program yet - its a willpower issue I haven't figured out how to win, coupled with some pretty bad depression issues compounded by thyroid problems and probably other hormonal issues that my endocrinologist seems to think should be fine since she's got me on a high dosage of Synthroid to push my TSH way low as a treatment for thyroid cancer - and when I told her I was still feeling lethargic and tired all the time even with my TSH at 0.01, she told me that was because my metabolism was revving so high - even though I was setting my calorie goal 100 calories UNDER what the calculator gave me to achieve that 2 lb loss a week I was averaging when I started (and yes, I'd love to change endo's, but there's not exactly a lot of choice in my area).....

    However, I also have been working on remodeling a house and will typically work on it, like painting ceilings and walls, for about 2 hours a night, around 3 nights a week (unless my dad comes over, which then requires us to stop what we need to do so he can do what he wants to do.......) and then several hours on Saturday. If I'm not painting, then I'm constantly crisscrossing the house to get things for Dad, carrying 2x4's, paneling sheets, or hammering things, and the like. Otherwise, I have a desk job that is very sedentary, though I have spurts of lots of drive time.

    If I want to calculate daily caloric need by not factoring in regular exercise, would that be considered NEAT? And what multiplier should I be using? Most places I see give a calculator for TDEE and say to use 1.2 If you exercise between 1-3 hours per week. I have a hard time considering my activity to even be that - especially as I don't have a set exercise program - unless you want to count the 2 hours a week I spend crisscrossing Lowes Hardware for materials......

    Since I don't have a regular exercise program, would I really be calculating NEAT instead of TDEE? And what multiplier should I be using?

    If I go with the 1.2 multiplier, I get 2084 - so if I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week, I should be eating around 1100 or so calories a day, right? (which I know myself well enough to know I'd never be able to slash to that anyway, even if it could be considered safe - which I know its not). My current 1400 calories a day will then probably result in something more like a 1 lb loss a week - right? But would the 1.2 multiplier even be right, or would it actually be lower than that, considering I do a LOT of sitting during the day?


    *sigh* this is all very, very confusing and discouraging, truthfully. I'm already fighting a losing battle with myself not to snack over the 1400 calories, so I know I'm just not going to be able to sustain myself on much less than that. I'd consider dropping to 2 meals a day, but again, the willpower isn't there to maintain a schedule like that - that drive to snack is extremely strong, and my will power is severely lacking......

    I know the simplest and most obvious answer is to start exercising to earn back extra calories, but I just can't seem to find the willpower to force myself to do that (and the guilt of not doing what I know I SHOULD be doing doesn't help)....... I'm usually so tired of an evening, mentally, that some days I have a hard time evening fixing dinner because it seems to take too much energy. I know I'm depressed and that's a large part of my exhaustion and lack of motivation, but since my job is pretty much a huge contributor to it, but I have to have a job to pay the bills and have no way to work towards a career change - and have no idea what I'd be suited for even if I COULD change careers - I spend most days just closing my eyes and moving forward.

    Sorry - I know I need to quit whining and making excuses and to buckle down and force myself to do something, and that people can't really help me if I can't get myself to do what is the obvious answer - and if the calculations above are right, then I'm definitely to the point where if I want to not plateau and keep losing weight (and I know that even at 94 lbs down from my highest weight, I'm not even close to victory in this area and obviously still have a long way to go to get even close to healthy), I'm going to have to start upping my CO somehow.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    You may be making it more complicated than it needs to be. A lot of us do! First, TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. That means all the calories you burn in a day. NEAT is Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Basically, all activity that burns calories that is not BMR and not intentional exercise.

    Have you plugged the number into MFP? That will take a lot of the guesswork and having to understand all the variables out of it.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Lol! I saw Vintage's post pop up just as I was finishing mine and thought, "she beat me to it and said what I going to say!" Aaaand I was right.
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    I have found that this premise works. Partly I think because our body gets used to what we are doing fairly quickly so the more you can "shake it up" the better. I prefer to also shake up the refeed days by alternating what micro group I eat more of . . . one week I will up my carbs on that day, the next week protein, the next week fat. I admit that I don't do a refeed day every week but often your body is more hungry the day after an intensive workout so it is a good day to eat a bit higher, but only up to maintenance level. I NEVER go above that number and never consider it a "cheat". Im only listening to my body and giving it the fuel it craves some days.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Everything Vintage said is spot on for you @bmeadows380.

    Just use what MFP calculates for you. It's a good starting point for most people.

    At this point, I know that you'd like to lose weight at the rate of 2 pounds a week, but I think it's best to just let go of that notion. See how many calories you get scaling back to losing at the rate of 1.5 pounds a week. It might be a more sane option. If you're still having trouble with that, scale back to a pound a week.

    It's better to lose slowly and consistently than to be plagued by hunger and potentially face giving in to that hunger.

    There may come a time down the line when you're in a better place regarding the issues surrounding your ability to exercise now, and you can always reevaluate things at that time.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    lutzsher wrote: »
    I have found that this premise works. Partly I think because our body gets used to what we are doing fairly quickly so the more you can "shake it up" the better. I prefer to also shake up the refeed days by alternating what micro group I eat more of . . . one week I will up my carbs on that day, the next week protein, the next week fat. I admit that I don't do a refeed day every week but often your body is more hungry the day after an intensive workout so it is a good day to eat a bit higher, but only up to maintenance level. I NEVER go above that number and never consider it a "cheat". Im only listening to my body and giving it the fuel it craves some days.

    What you're doing sounds interesting, and potentially beneficial from a psychological stand point.

    It should be noted, however, that the concept of the refeeds as outlined in the links provided upthread has specific macro recommendations and lengths (definitely longer than a day) for a reason. The hormones that you want to rebalance (due to eating at deficit) are sensitive/responsive to carbohydrates and need at least two days at maintenance caloric intake to respond.

    *fistbump*
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Okay, let's make this fun, bets on how much water weight Nony can gain on pred. I'm on day 3 of 5 at twice a day (though I can scale down as soon as the rash has cleared, so may get away with four days), and 5 days at once a day (though if I only do four at twice a day I may be able to do fewer at one as well, need to check with doctor on that. Ovulation around mid next week should also be taken into account. Could be Wednesday, could be Saturday, or anywhere in between.

    7.5 kilos