Of refeeds and diet breaks
Replies
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collectingblues wrote: »bmeadows380 wrote: »had my updated bloodwork done yesterday morning after going 2 months on the new synthroid dosage my endocrinoligst ordered. free T4 was up, but instead of going down, my TSH actually went up, and my free T3 actually went down.
so my endo finally put in an order for a low dose of Cytomel, which I'll pick up on Friday morning. I sincerely hope this helps get me straightened out; I'd like to have some energy, not to mention get off this depression roller coaster I've been on - and this stupid diet plateau!
I'm glad that your endo was able to own that he was wrong, and is putting you on supplementation.
Me too-I'm glad she finally admitted my thyroid, in her words today, levels are a little off. I'm also very thankful for my pcp who was willing to order the other thyroid bloodtest beyond just the tsh when I asked her, and who also doggedly pushed to get my endocrinologist to look at them and respond!5 -
It would be interesting to see some stats on what % of thyroid cases can be handled by the normal simple blood tests to direct the meds needed, and which require the expanded to get a handle on what can work.
Obviously dosage still an experiment, but it would be nice to know you are part of % of cases that always needs better details.0 -
It would be interesting to see some stats on what % of thyroid cases can be handled by the normal simple blood tests to direct the meds needed, and which require the expanded to get a handle on what can work.
Obviously dosage still an experiment, but it would be nice to know you are part of % of cases that always needs better details.
yup!
OH, and I have a big thank-you to you guys for the thyroid discussion in this thread, even if some would consider it to be off topic. I wouldn't have even known to start looking at T4 and T3 and that Cytomel even existed if it wasn't for your candor in your own trials!5 -
Alright so I couldn't get through all 214 pages so I'm not sure if this question has been asked before.
Do you HAVE to take a diet break every 12 weeks? Can you go longer in a deficit if you feel satisfied all the time?1 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »Alright so I couldn't get through all 214 pages so I'm not sure if this question has been asked before.
Do you HAVE to take a diet break every 12 weeks? Can you go longer in a deficit if you feel satisfied all the time?
The first post was edited to answer most FAQ. The answer to your question is to take the diet break. Trust me. And read the very first post.3 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Asher_Ethan wrote: »Alright so I couldn't get through all 214 pages so I'm not sure if this question has been asked before.
Do you HAVE to take a diet break every 12 weeks? Can you go longer in a deficit if you feel satisfied all the time?
The first post was edited to answer most FAQ. The answer to your question is to take the diet break. Trust me. And read the very first post.
Yup, this ^^.
There is more than one account in here from people who thought they were trucking along fine, not feeling the negative effects of dieting, but took a break anyway then went 'ohhhh'. It sneaks up on you. That gradual downtick is barely perceptible until it really is. Kind of how you don't look any different in the mirror from one day to the next, but if you compare photos a month apart you can see the difference.
You're far better off mitigating the metabolic adaptations before you're really feeling them, IMHO.
That said, you're an adult, it's entirely up to you whether to take a diet break or not.9 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »Alright so I couldn't get through all 214 pages so I'm not sure if this question has been asked before.
Do you HAVE to take a diet break every 12 weeks? Can you go longer in a deficit if you feel satisfied all the time?
Do you HAVE to? No, but it depends on your goal and your current bf%. Permacutting isn't very fun, nor is it effective in developing an actual healthy relationship with food. Aside from the adaptive thermogenic properties of a chronic deficit, if you are currently active, there will be a need for recovery to be paired with increased caloric intake, more so if you are involved in a sport that focuses on athletic performance.
Though, if you're severely overweight, you can go for longer periods of time at a deficit before taking a diet break. Nonetheless, a diet break is suggested and effective for fat loss.10 -
Shoot I have no idea when I last posted (just going back to check to see some kind of figures and things)...OK September 3rd, had a whoosh, over a month ago now. So progress report time...
Am eating maintenance this week, have been feeling extreme hunger, so listened to body and decided more calories would help fatigue and everydamnthing...strongman training going well, apart from forearm strain/pull doing chin ups (waaah!)...strength still up, checked my bench press (as have not been doing much of that lift lately) and it is the same as I left it...
Sept 10th - 166.6 lbs
Oct 6th - 164.2 lbs
Oct 14th - 161.4 lbs
Oct 19th - 163 lbs (expected water weight gain)
So I am at my lightest weight yet since last year where I got to 166.6 before my bulk in November...under the 75kg ceiling for weight class...couple more weeks deficit (for leeway) and then back to maintenance for 2 weeks (considering doing a comp in December as well, but will see how I feel after this first one) and probably until year end...can always do more cutting next year and get to goal...I did want to be 70kg by year end, we shall see...
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Status update: I'm maintaining. The partying has eased up, and the scale weight is reflective of that by a few pounds. I'm currently sitting at 183.4 lbs. Body composition is hanging on by a thread at roughly 18-19% bf with training frequency having dwindled down to 2x a week at most. Intensity will always be the primary focus over volume, given that my trainee is pregnant, I have to program her workouts with leniency depending on energy levels.7
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I have switched up my macros a bit and am finding compliance easier, so YAY. I had been basically maintaining, but now I feel I'm on a path where I can lose finally since compliance won't be an issue.
I have acquired a training partner -- my son! Started him with very light weights a few weeks back to work on his form with just the basic lifts, and now that he has that down, we're slowly increasing the weight. He felt awesome th other day to be finally stronger than me on one lift, the dreaded OHP. I'm sure he'll outpace me very soon. He's 16.14 -
That's awesome! I've trained my parents in the basic lifts enough for them to be proficient enough to train when I'm not there. Teaching how to spot was probably the most difficult considering my dad is one of those types who will never admit to needing help, and my mom who doesn't quite know when she does. So, in lieu of spotting, I taught them the concept of progressive overload not necessarily always being to add more weight to the bar (1 more rep or 1 more set was essentially enough to stimulate muscle), or the weight added to the bar didn't always have to be in 5-10lb increments.5
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That's great that your parents lift, it's such an important thing to do to combat aging.
I'm big on adding sets/reps for progressive overload since lifting too heavy tends to trigger migraines for me, so I feel ya for how you went about things with your parents.3 -
I have had surprised rush job start of Sep getting out of house into inherited aunt's house where my dad also grew up - she wanted family house to stay in family if I agreed.
This resulted in a rush move before good packing, before I sold most the stuff from the estate to raise money for creditors, and while trying to remodel old house.
No workouts, my 1 IF meal many times was at midnight or 1 am on way home from old house. Lack of sleep. no surprise comprised immune system and activated shingles last week just as I turned 50 (now I feel old).
And stupid hammy/glute injury still not recovered, though the move and work has used it a lot for lifting.
So a total decline in fitness that will be interesting to measure when able to start - hope I can get 1 more bike ride in this year.
Maintenance level stress eating, though weight has increased by only 5 lbs, fat gain and muscle size loss has been bad trade.12 -
Hey, at the top of my MFP app feed yesterday was this MFP Blog post:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/why-aiming-to-maintain-weight-can-actually-help-fat-loss-goals/
Why Aiming to Maintain Weight Can Actually Help Fat-Loss Goals
It pretty much says in very simple language what's being said in here! Awesome.
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I'm trying to find out who the woman he's referring to in the video at 19:30 is it Anne Lukes? Am I hearing that name correctly? I'm trying to find her online but no luck.
Watch, you'll probably learn stuff.
https://youtu.be/emjl1Uui3Yw[/quote]
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reality7001 wrote: »I'm trying to find out who the woman he's referring to in the video at 19:30 is it Anne Lukes? Am I hearing that name correctly? I'm trying to find her online but no luck.
Watch, you'll probably learn stuff.
Closed captioning shows Anna Lukes.0 -
reality7001 wrote: »I'm trying to find out who the woman he's referring to in the video at 19:30 is it Anne Lukes? Am I hearing that name correctly? I'm trying to find her online but no luck.
Watch, you'll probably learn stuff.
I think the closed captioning is a guess. Looking at The Big Pink Book (aka the Women's Book), it's Loucks:
Loucks, AB et al., Low energy availability, not stress of exercise,alters LH pulsatility in exercising women
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.737.1690&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Plus a bunch of others from Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.nz/scholar?q=ab+loucks+low+energy+availability&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart5 -
For those looking for more studies, I found this one in a comment on Lyle's site. This one is for a two weeks on, two weeks off approach. This one was done on obese men. https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2017206?fbclid=IwAR0ZhVzOfmco8x_eNyDZHg5bRDO-udp2wCNJeYm7TjLaSqwCK8DAALxXtJE0
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Hi everyone. Looking for guidance on my refeed strategy. I re-read about 20 pages but am hoping I can get your insights on my data:
5'11F
CW: 161.5
GW: 155
BF ~21-22%
TDEE: 2,500-2,700
Deficit: 500 calories a day
Aiming to eat 2000 (40P/30/30)
Target NET cals Sunday - Thursday: 1350 - I achieved this (avg cals for the week was 2250 gross)
Target NET cals Fri / Dat: 2700 - I achieved this
This week DEFICIT days, I tried to increase carbs:- Saturday: 39% carbs (not 30%) - 236g (Fat was 66g)
- Friday: 39% carbs - 260g (Fat was 53g)
- Sunday-Thursday: 30% carbs ~125-150g
I am "afraid" of big carb numbers. Should I try for 300g and keep fat level?
Any insight and personal anecdata appreciated!
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Hi everyone. Looking for guidance on my refeed strategy. I re-read about 20 pages but am hoping I can get your insights on my data:
5'11F
CW: 161.5
GW: 155
BF ~21-22%
TDEE: 2,500-2,700
Deficit: 500 calories a day
Aiming to eat 2000 (40P/30/30)
Target NET cals Sunday - Thursday: 1350 - I achieved this (avg cals for the week was 2250 gross)
Target NET cals Fri / Dat: 2700 - I achieved this
This week DEFICIT days, I tried to increase carbs:- Saturday: 39% carbs (not 30%) - 236g (Fat was 66g)
- Friday: 39% carbs - 260g (Fat was 53g)
- Sunday-Thursday: 30% carbs ~125-150g
I am "afraid" of big carb numbers. Should I try for 300g and keep fat level?
Any insight and personal anecdata appreciated!
Carbs are the key to the leptin boost, so yes you should aim to get them up on refeed days IMHO. That's the whole point. Otherwise you're just getting the psychological benefit of a couple of days at maintenance, not the hormonal benefits.
Essentially, going by what Lyle has said on podcasts and in the Big Pink Book (without getting it out to check), keep protein grams the same, fat around 50g, the rest carbs. I used to usually end up higher on protein, but always aimed for at least 300g of carbs (that was based on my weight btw, shooting for a minimum of 3g per lb of lbm).3 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Hi everyone. Looking for guidance on my refeed strategy. I re-read about 20 pages but am hoping I can get your insights on my data:
5'11F
CW: 161.5
GW: 155
BF ~21-22%
TDEE: 2,500-2,700
Deficit: 500 calories a day
Aiming to eat 2000 (40P/30/30)
Target NET cals Sunday - Thursday: 1350 - I achieved this (avg cals for the week was 2250 gross)
Target NET cals Fri / Dat: 2700 - I achieved this
This week DEFICIT days, I tried to increase carbs:- Saturday: 39% carbs (not 30%) - 236g (Fat was 66g)
- Friday: 39% carbs - 260g (Fat was 53g)
- Sunday-Thursday: 30% carbs ~125-150g
I am "afraid" of big carb numbers. Should I try for 300g and keep fat level?
Any insight and personal anecdata appreciated!
Carbs are the key to the leptin boost, so yes you should aim to get them up on refeed days IMHO. That's the whole point. Otherwise you're just getting the psychological benefit of a couple of days at maintenance, not the hormonal benefits.
Essentially, going by what Lyle has said on podcasts and in the Big Pink Book (without getting it out to check), keep protein grams the same, fat around 50g, the rest carbs. I used to usually end up higher on protein, but always aimed for at least 300g of carbs (that was based on my weight btw, shooting for a minimum of 3g per lb of lbm).
This is exactly what SideSteel put me at for my diet break that I just started.4 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »
Carbs are the key to the leptin boost, so yes you should aim to get them up on refeed days IMHO. That's the whole point. Otherwise you're just getting the psychological benefit of a couple of days at maintenance, not the hormonal benefits.
Essentially, going by what Lyle has said on podcasts and in the Big Pink Book (without getting it out to check), keep protein grams the same, fat around 50g, the rest carbs. I used to usually end up higher on protein, but always aimed for at least 300g of carbs (that was based on my weight btw, shooting for a minimum of 3g per lb of lbm).[/quote]
Okay, thanks!
I'll have to work harder at the carbs then - maybe a pasta dinner. I guess I'm so used 150ish g of carb, 250ish felt like a lot.
Will give it a whirl.
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Awesome mega-thread.
I've been tracking calories on MFP since October, lost about 12kg (26 lbs) in 17 weeks with another 7kg (15) to go. Has gone pretty easily considering Xmas and New Year but have started to feel hungrier these past few weeks, sleep has gotten worse (hasn't been great on a deficit at the best of times) and generally started to feel a bit crabby. Googled around for strategies, wound up on Lyle's site and am sold on the idea of a diet break. On the other hand, it's a bit scary going to maintenance calories. I think it's going to take a while to figure out what my maintenance actually is so will have to increase calories slowly and see what the scale shows. I know weight isn't a reliable measure during a transition as water retention is likely to be an issue (or I might be blessed with a whooosh) but what is everyone's experiences with weight gain (or loss) when you first switched to maintenance?0 -
nickasheppard wrote: »Awesome mega-thread.
I've been tracking calories on MFP since October, lost about 12kg (26 lbs) in 17 weeks with another 7kg (15) to go. Has gone pretty easily considering Xmas and New Year but have started to feel hungrier these past few weeks, sleep has gotten worse (hasn't been great on a deficit at the best of times) and generally started to feel a bit crabby. Googled around for strategies, wound up on Lyle's site and am sold on the idea of a diet break. On the other hand, it's a bit scary going to maintenance calories. I think it's going to take a while to figure out what my maintenance actually is so will have to increase calories slowly and see what the scale shows. I know weight isn't a reliable measure during a transition as water retention is likely to be an issue (or I might be blessed with a whooosh) but what is everyone's experiences with weight gain (or loss) when you first switched to maintenance?
I have a pretty high carb diet, so switching to maintenance is really a non-issue for me if I'm eating enough fiber to keep things, um, regular. There's maybe a pound or so added to my normally wildly fluctuating weight, but that calms down after a few days.
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Day 1 of diet break
Holy Harry, feels weird to be eating so much damn food after cutting for the best part of 4 months. I'm easing into this and working up to what I think is my maintenance calories but just had a pasta lunch that was actually difficult to finish (how I've missed you, pasta). It's quite unnerving to eat so much and I'm fighting every urge to just plough on with the cut.5 -
Hey I'm on day 2 of a diet break after 12 months of caloric deficit (lost 79 pounds) and about 2 months of plateau. I know something has to change and I'm not willing to reduce calories more. I've literally gone from a size 18 to a size 6 in jeans so I know that my body probably just needs a chance to catch up and kick start the metabolism. It feels weird just going up 200 calories in my day but I'm willing to give this a go for at least a month at maintenance. The resources in this thread have been great.7
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nickasheppard wrote: »Day 1 of diet break
Holy Harry, feels weird to be eating so much damn food after cutting for the best part of 4 months. I'm easing into this and working up to what I think is my maintenance calories but just had a pasta lunch that was actually difficult to finish (how I've missed you, pasta). It's quite unnerving to eat so much and I'm fighting every urge to just plough on with the cut.
For those of you just starting a diet break for the first time, it's going to feel weird/odd/sacrilegious, but boosting calories (mostly via carbs) up to your new body weight maintenance is beneficial for a variety of reasons, both physiologically and psychologically. More food = less murdery thoughts. And use that time to understand that it's probably no different from your normal diet when you're cutting. Assuming you created a calculated deficit and didn't do a crash diet like PSMF or RFL or something outlandish, just adding an extra serving of starchy carbs and/or an added dessert should be enough to put you back to maintenance.
And like most things, your body will take an adjustment period of roughly 3 days to understand that it's going to be seeing more food, which should start upregulating signals to boost metabolism such as increased NEAT, satiety, reduced stress, etc. After the diet break period is over, you go right back to your calculated deficit if it's needed. Then rinse and repeat.8 -
Day 3
I have just transitioned off Keto so the amount of carbs is a big adjustment, but great to eat pasta, potatoes, and toast again. I've just made a rough plan of my meals for the day and basically realised there is no way I can eat 220g of carbs in three meals, so I've gone full Hobbit and thrown in a second breakfast.
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This is the forum I needed to let me know I’m still on the right track 😅1
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