What is a Refeed Day?

I don't think I have ever had an intake questionnaire, for new PT clients, come in with someone eating ENOUGH in a day.

In fact, when I don't track food I undereat.

And the reality is your body literally DOES NOT know the difference between you unintentionally under eating and intentionally under eating.

It doesn't know the difference between famine and trying to lose those extra pounds.

The consequences are the same.

And many people are stuck in a plateau, or gaining weight, and desperately try keto, intermittent fasting, paleo, and any other diet
du jour when the reality is your body has down regulated to accommodate the low calories.

✨What is a REFEED day?✨

Research shows that if you cut calories drastically for long enough, your body slows your metabolism and reduces your hormone levels.

Whenever you are on a caloric deficit for an extended period of time, your body will begin to slow its metabolic functions in an effort to 'make due' with the amount of fuel that it is being given.

Know what this means for you? Little or no fat loss.

Not a good situation yet so many people end up here either intentionally or unintentionally.

This effect isn’t due to just a single hormone (like LEPTIN, although I will touch on Leptin in this post), but rather changes in your brain, central nervous system, and cells throughout your body.

The technical name for this process is adaptive thermogenesis, not “starvation mode,” as it is often called, but regardless of what you call it, it’s a problem if your calories are too low.

So, your goal in your refeed is to periodically kick your leptin levels back up by consuming a high carbohydrate day. This will help jump start that metabolism! In fact, some clients I see LOSE weight during refeeds!!

Essentially, including refeed days might help prevent adaptive thermogenesis by signaling to your body that food is available.

Refeed days could also enhance your exercise performance during fat loss by increasing the levels of glycogen (sugar stored for fuel) in your muscles. For me I did a refeed day today because I noticed my performance going down. It was planned and strategic!

There is also research to show that temporarily raising your insulin levels with extra carbs may be helpful for preserving muscle mass as you shed fat, too. You guys hear me say ALL THE TIME when losing weight your goal is to preserve muscle mass, not gain muscle mass.

Another advantage to increasing leptin levels is that it will promote a more positive hormonal profile. When dieting, males experience a decreased testosterone level, which I'm sure you know makes maintaining muscle mass particularly difficult.

When you increase leptin levels you will be increasing liver glycogen, which will drive up testosterone, along with growth hormone and t3 while reducing cortisol, the catabolic hormone. This will put you in a much better position to realize your fat loss goals then the stalled position you were in earlier.

✨✨FEMALE LEPTIN LEVELS✨✨

Females should take particular caution when dealing with leptin levels as a halt in reproduction hormones can occur when leptin gets low enough. This is shown through the stoppage of menstruation, commonly experienced by those in the bodybuilding/fitness realm.

Another health benefit that comes out of a refeed is increased immune function. The longer and harder we diet, the more stress we place on our body and the more we risk getting an illness. Without adequate calories, the immune system cannot perform up to par and therefore cannot fight of invading organisms as well.

As we’ve already discussed, Leptin is a hormone at work during a refeed but research also suggests other hormones respond to how much you eat.

Here’s a partial list of important hormones that respond to your food and nutrient intake:

💥 Ghrelin and growth hormone
💥 Insulin
💥Thyroid hormone
💥Testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and other sex hormones

To sum up, temporarily increasing your calories with a refeed day may balance your hormones, which could, in theory, help you get better results.

🔥Refeeding day tips 👇🏻🔥

👑 They require a caloric surplus (start with a daily calorie intake 16 multiplied by your bodyweight, and consider increasing up to 20 times PLUS your bodyweight if you’re an athlete or bodybuilder).

👑 Have moderate or high carbs (40-50% PLUS of calories from carbs).

👑 Are high in protein.

👑 Take place on a rest day with training the next day or weight training days.

👑 Should include minimal cardio and NO FASTING.

Note:

✨ A refeed is not needed if you have plateaued because you are 80% on point with your nutrition. Fix compliance to the diet first! Often we rationalise it is because we need more food but really we need to rein in our nutrition!

✨ A refeed is used when there have been extended periods of dieting and you are getting very lean. Don't use them as an excuse to eat higher calories!!! 

I have a couple spots available to start next week for 1:1 coaching!

If you are ready to stop trying and get radical results check out this link:

https://strongerfitness.mykajabi.com/personalphysiquecoaching

XoAE