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Controlled carbups

catabolicmind
catabolicmind Posts: 19
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Does anyone here on a standard ketogenic diet (i.e. 99.9% of the time you eat low carb and are in ketosis) have a controlled refeed/carb up day? I'm not talking about an "oops, I couldn't help myself and ate lots" meal, but a more-or-less planned day where you eat mostly carbs and/or whatever you want, to a degree. I ask because I'm one of those people who does not respond 100% well to ketosis: my brain fog stays after "keto flu", fatigue starts to set in making workouts really hard, and my metabolism starts to flail a couple weeks in (I can tell because my hands and feet get super cold and it takes me forever to warm up). So, I'm wondering if a controlled refeed might help reboot my metabolism after a while and if it actually works or if it isn't necessary for someone who has as much as me to lose (50 lbs) and isn't an athlete.

Thanks!

Replies

  • tanigrrrrr
    tanigrrrrr Posts: 137 Member
    I dont usually "carb up" however am experimenting with throwing myself out of keto and then coming back in to get through a stall.
    Ill let you know how I go
  • catabolicmind
    catabolicmind Posts: 19
    That would be super helpful, thanks!

    I used to do carb-ups on a much more extreme diet, but with a ketogenic diet the calorie restriction isn't as low, so I'm sure if it would be a necessary thing or not.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    I get cold when I'm not eating enough fat/calories. Are you eating enough? If your energy levels are low I'd double check my calories first -- with a suppressed appetite it's easy to under eat.
  • tanigrrrrr
    tanigrrrrr Posts: 137 Member
    I dont generally feel hungry after eating my calories (generally around the 1500/day mark).. I ate like crap yesterday so Ill definately be out of keto.
    Ive hid the scales away for a couple of weeks whilst i get back in and start loosing again (otherwise ill get depressed after seing the scales climb again) and hopefully.. just hopefully I will have broken the plateu.

    I think your body just gets comfortable being keto adjusted and starts to be a little stingy with its fat burning.As I said I will come back with the results soon!
  • Debbiedebbiey
    Debbiedebbiey Posts: 824 Member
    For me, carb ups = scales up.....like waay up, one day turns into two, then the whole weekend, so no. Once I get a little sugar watch out !!!
  • danimalkeys
    danimalkeys Posts: 982 Member
    I tried doing controlled carb ups for 3 weeks in a row, based on a book a friend lent me. It was "eat as much carbs as you can from lunch til bedtime". I definitely felt the effects of the carbs burning, but I'd gain 5-6lbs of water and it'd take me the whole week to get it back down and I would never get back to where I was the week before, so I guess I ended up gaining weight, even if it was water. It was too frustrating for me, though having a giant pile of pasta was nice.
  • karryann2008
    karryann2008 Posts: 140
    A little late to the conversation. I started a low carb diet a week ago, I plan to have a controlled carb refeed day every tenth day. I know I will gain water weight for a few days but I'm hoping by the time I reach the next refeed I will have dropped some fat too.
    Feel free to add me as a friend if you would like to look through my diary_ thats anyone:wink:

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