I have been LCing for the past 10 months; no "cheating", staying at or around induction level carbs, working out 3-5 days per week. My weight loss has slowed considerably, and I am considering a "refeed" to shake things up. I know virtually notihng about this, and I have the following questions/concerns:

-Do any of you have experience with a refeed; both good and bad?

- If I do it, what should I eat, and over what time period; one meal, one day?

- I am afraid that after tasting those yummy carbs again, I will not be able to get right back on track. If I knew that I would have no trouble getting back to LC, I would not hesitate to try it.

- Will my body react badly to serious carbs? Will I get nauseous, headaches etc.

Thank you for your replies.

I don't know much about this, but through the different forums on this site I have read that the people who go "carb crazy" to try and lose more weight, succeed. I have read that some do it for an hour all you can eat in that hour. I have also read a full day of carbs or one meal. I would search around on here and see what the other members have to say. As you can see I am not experienced, just relaying what I read.

Brandi

This is a really interesting subject. I'm not ready for re-feeding yet as my bodyfat is way up there, but from what I've read, the drop in leptin as your fatstores are reduced, seems like it may be a primary reason for getting stalled. I notice so many folks stalled at 50% of the weight they want to lose. Last time I did Atkins, that is basically what happened. I lost great to roughly half of the weight I needed to get off and then stuck fast! I hadn't calculated bodyfat and whatnot then, so not sure if I had hit the 20-30% - I wouldn't have thought so since I stuck at 240!, and my goal was 160. However, I'm thinking that I will be remeasuring my BF% as I go down this time, and come stall, or say around 30%, I am seriously thinking of trying to incorporate re-feeding intermittently.

From what I'm reading, it would seem the goal is to reverse your fat and carb - fat down to 5%, and carbs up to 60-70 with protein kept intact, or maybe a bit higher in order to preserve your muscle tissue.

As for ideas of what foods to eat.. low (but good kind) fat meat like fish I guess. Perhaps you could stuff this with sweet vegetables like peas and carrots? and maybe some whole grain rice or something? Wholegrain breads would be low in fat and high in carbs.. put honey on it maybe? I'd be concerned about putting refined sugar (as in candy) back into my system and refined flour basically - I think I'd try to keep to carb foods in their more natural state kind of thing. Without the high fat intake though, it looks like you'd REALLY have to pig out on these foods in order to get the calorie count way up there on the re-feed day.

If I run across any useful ideas as to what dishes would fill the bill, I'll post again. Hopefully, you'll do the same.

Hi, I have been stalled over this 1/2 stone mark, only on my third week, but most of the weightloss was in the first (9 pounds). I was reading a lot on this subject last night and decided to give myself a carb up meal, eaten within the hour, to keep my insulin in check (apparently the body releases a second wave of insulin to compensate for the carbs after this time if you are still eating). Anyway, was really looking forward to the meal, then a patient brought in a box of my favourite dark chocolates!!! I thought sod it, this is my carb up. Far from ideal I know, but I pigged down a whole layer, then felt sick. After an hour, I forced down the low carb lunch I had prepared. At 9pm tonight I was only mildly hungry, and the thought of chocolate does not do much for me. I ate a low carb meal. My LTS stick is still deep purple, and its back on the wagon tomorrow. I shall post my results!!

Did not feel guilty, as I had semi planned it, and have got it out of my system, actually was not that good. Went shopping for clothes and my normal size is loose, although the next one down won't fasten, it goes on, over bum and thighs. My bum has shrunk most. That will deffo keep me on track. Go for it, but maybe include something a bit more nutricious alongside the sugar!!

I have seen a few people try it and they didn't lose anything after but you never know.

Just try to keep your calories low so you only gain water weight after. FYI- It usually takes me 2-3 days to drop water weight associated to carbs.

And also, check your measurements. If you are working out maybe you are building muscle and getting smaller. That has happened to me for so long now that I no longer worry about the scale.

Hi,

I can only tell you about my own experiences.

Over the last 2,5 years I lost about 75 pounds doing lowfat. Needless to say, I was always more or less hungry, counted calories (1500 - 1800/day), did sports, but it worked.

In March I started Atkins, but hated the ketosis (smell and taste) therefore I load up with carbs every 2-3 weeks. I feel fine with it, go back to lowcarb (very lowcarb!!!) right the next day and keep losing slowly. Last week though, I was craving for carbs starting on Wednesday, but did not give in. The craving though did not go away. On Saturday I was ready to pigg out on carbs and bought 2 chocolate bars, 1 box of pralines, 2 big pieces of cake, some chocolate covered raisins. I ate them all except for the cake, I froze half of it, because suddenly it was not interesting anymore, though I am normally crazy about cake. You won't believe it, but the next day I was more than happy to go back to lowcarb (no more cravings), because I feel very comfortable with it, only the next morning till noon I was very hungry.

Especially my mind was then satisfied, no more thoughts about carbs and candy. And you won't believe it, the next day I had lost several pounds, my skin looked and felt more tight (less cellulitis) and much nicer.

I think it is not only the refeed with carbs that makes a difference, but also a load of calories which made my body start to burn faster again. It has been the change in calories (I normally don't eat more than 1500 and go inliner for 1,5 hours each day), which probably took my body out of energy saving mode (starvation). It woke my body up again.

I have done this refeed in carbs/calories several times over the last years dieting and it always kept me from stalling and pulled my weight down further!

Tallbella

Tallbella great story! You have really come a long way!!!

Wow tallbella, that makes me feel much better. I am not excersising yet, but have taken my measurements. I am afraid that next time, I may pull the tape tighter, or breathe in and out, and cheat myself though! I can virtually levitate on scales! Anyway, this morning, the scales showed a two pound reduction! 3 meals of tofu may also have helped though? However, had a bad days eating. Scalded myself in the early hours when the shower explode on me! Missed breakfast, had to grab a handful of walnuts (small handful). Found myself getting hungry before lunch, which has not happened on this WOE, but nothing I couldn't handle. Had low carb lunch of tofu and veg from last night, THEN!!! Someone found the remains of the chocs from yesterday when I pigged all that was worth having!! It was 4.00pm and I had one, then 2, then 3, then 4. This was not planned and NOT necessary so I am feeling rather disgusted with myself, especially after the weightloss. I wondered if I would have resisted them before my binge, or if psychologically, binges will encourage me to become more "flexible" in my picking!

Its mealtime again

my 2 cents....(wink) (sorry it's a little long)

i'm not on Atkins, i'm on a CKD plan but i think it's appropriate to your situation...i'm supposed to carb up every Friday night after my last workout, but sometimes I get a little gungho and have gone 2 weeks (10-11 days in ketosis) before carbing up....one thing i've notice (for myself) is that when I'm on the longer stretches of LCing, the more days I go, the slower the weight loss is. After carbing up for the weekend , I start LCing again and the weight comes off like it did before. I think if I were to continue LCing over 3 or 4 weeks I'd probably stall-out. So this is the reason I'm on a CKD plan....but as it goes, what works for me, doesn't necessarily work for anyone else.


but if you do plan to carbup (re-feed) your system, a few things to remember:
1. regardless of carb type, there is a maximum amt of glycogen that can be absorbed in a given amt of time, and depending on the type of exercise done before carbing up, the rate of glycoden resynthesis can vary.
2. you want to fully replenish your glycogen levels in the least amt of time so you don't spill over of carbs to fat storage
3. (from BO) if your glycogen levels are zero (following a depletion workout), within a 24 hr period,it's recommended that the amt of carbs is 8-10 gm of carbs per kgm of lean body mass(LBM) (8-10 g/kg). (i.e. if LBM = 150 lbs ~ 68.04 kg, than 10 gm of carbs X 68.04 kg LBM = 680.4 gm of carbs in 24 hours)
4. i usually eat small meals every 2 to 3 hrs all day on my carbups for 24 to 36 hrs (i can definitely feel/notice when the glycogen resynthesis begins, a little nausea but not enough to make me dizzy or vomit, just a little weird feeling)
5. my first carbs ingested after my Fri workout is always in liquid form, quicker absorption.
6. it's recommended to eat simple sugars or high glycemic index (GI) foods during the 1st 24 hours.
7. if there was a particular carb treat that you kept thinking about while LCing than eat it now and see how quick you get sick of it, your mind likes to play with you....damn brain...

i'm not saying that everyone should do this, i just wanted to let you know how it works for me....


i hope this helps you in making an informed decision......

Thats really interesting, thanks. I liked the bit about the simple sugars and high GI foods in the first 24. I think my weekends may be a little more interesting...... However, I'd be scared to go for 36 hours, and I admit to not exercising at this point. That said, one re-feed would be fun, and may help prevent the stalls. Let you know how I go.

that's the key to life, keep it fun! good luck

i also found some good pointers on another post: Meat Fasting....you could try that if you don't want to carb up and start Induction over..

Thanks for all the replies. Now, or course, I am totally confused. The science really isn't easily comprehended by me.

In any event, I do think that physically, it couldn't hurt to shake things up with some carbs. Psychologically, however, I am a little reticent; I fear that once I eat carbs I won't stop. Perhaps this is an irrational fear, perhaps not. I am so frustrated right now with my (2 week) plateau, and general slowness of loss; on the other hand, this WOE has been so good for me in the greater scheme things (longer term perspective). I would hate to act rashly.

Anyway...I appreciate all the knowledge and experience sharing; it is extremely helpful.

One other thing... just remember that in the Atkins book and on the website it is mentioned that each time you up carbs and revert to starting at induction the losses will be slower.

I really think the refeed should be used as a tool when you are working out hard or doing weight resistance exercise.

Just going off the diet and calling it a refeed may cause issues with ongoing weight loss.

Just another 2 cents....