Okay...I'm a hypothyroid, type 2 diabetic with past candida issues (I've been clear for several months now), have been 20-25g carbs for months....lost no weight the past 2 months...only one lb the previous six weeks. I have congenital laxity in my left foot...and I believe it's somehow related to the fluid retention I experience...mostly in my left foot/leg. I drink more than a gallon of water and take a lot of supplements daily...and I haven't cheated on Atkins since I started last August. I'm afraid that if I "refeed" or suddenly up my carbs for a day...or even a meal....not only would it endanger my blood sugar.....but I might never be able to return to Atkins. I miss Asian food terribly.....and real bread.......

It sounds like I will never know unless I agree to take that risk. Actually, without knowing it, I did just that on a repeated basis when I was a teenager. It was the late 1960's....and I discovered Dr. Stillman's Quick Weight Loss Diet. All protein, no fat, no carbs.....but I could only handle it for six days at a time. Seventh day, immediately after my weekly weigh-in, I would gorge myself on hot dogs & Miracle Whip...and whatever else my Mom had leftover in the fridge...and maybe top it off with brownies or chocolate chip cookies dipped in Dream Whip or ice cream. Always, the very next day, I'd be up 4-5 lbs....then I'd go six more days on Stillman's....and proceed to lose those lbs plus at least two more.

I'm turning 50 next month...a long way from my crash & binge eating of the '60's....but, healthwise, maybe I should consider it again?????

maybe......maybe......

I want to TESTIFY! that refeeding works for *me*

I have tried it twice and both times it worked.

I had even made a prediction on another lc board that what I called "carb-loading" would become very popular among low carbers in the next 5-10 years. I was VERY excited when I saw this thread.

Anyhoo, this is how I stumbled on refeeding:
My mum sent me ingredients for my favorite meal of all time, which is an imported yam based meal. It is pure carbs(no sugars) -around 120 grams of carbs per half cup. I had not eaten it in six years.
Around the same time, I was stalled at 262. (three days without weight loss for me is a stall since I am eating less than my BMR and less than half of my daily needs.)

When I got the package, I went crazy. I had 3 servings per meal, two times per day, for two days. If anyone is adding up, this is 1440g , yes fourteen hundred and forty grams of carbohydrate in only two days. It also amounted to about 6000 calories in two days, not counting the vegetables and meat that goes with the meal.

I gained 1.5 lbs from that adventure. I did not care. This was my favorite meal and I had not had it in six years. I had expected to gain more and so I was actually happy that this was all I gained.

Then the weight started coming off, and boy did it come off. I lost five lbs in the following 7 days from 263.5 down to 258.5 This was almost twice the rate at which I had been losing before.

The second time I tried refeeding, I had the exact same food but only once per day, then I had snacks of ice cream and a lot of sugar laden foods. That time I gained 5 lbs. When the weight loss kicked in again, it was like magic. I lost the five lb water? gain in two days THEN lost an additional 5 lbs over that in only five days.

For me, the key is to take in a lot of carbs but no sugars. Even for a "higher carb" person like me, sugars are very addictive and can be the cause of a lot of heartache and overindulgence. I still kept my calorie count to under my daily needs, but I raised carb intake to about 90% of my intake. I only did it for two days.

Is it something I would advice everyone to do? No. I would hate for someone to refeed and gain weight only for the weight to stay. Proceed at your own risk

very interesting thread.i went crazy with the carbs today(no sugar,just ate bread).so maybe i shouldn't feel so bad after all...

You're lucky you could get back on the plan, Addie.

I don't dare. I just don't know if I have it in me to make it through another withdrawal. Better that I don't take that first bite.

I've read all 8 pages by now and I have to say that I am deathly afraid of a refeed and will never do it on purpose. That's not to say I won't lose my will/discipline and fall off the wagon, but I just can't see planning a day-long pizza fest (dammit! )

I hope this post doesn't sound judgmental; that is not my intent, but I'm prepared that some posters may interptet it that way.

I started this WOE because I really want to reach a healthy weight. But I also promised myself that I wouldn't treat my journey as a diet -- something I started and then stopped when I became thin. This time my way of eating would become a way of life. I didn't want to eat food that clogged me. I wanted to eat food that cleansed me!

It's not that I can't see myself spending a day or two eating all my favorite "binge" foods (e.g., pizza and garlic bread and Italian food and chocolate). I'm drooling just thinking about it. And I am jealous of every one of you for whom refeeding has worked! But another part of me avidly wants to avoid eating that way because that's what got my weight up to an all-time high of 182. I sure didn't get fat eating chicken and vegetables!

And while I admit an occasional, small treat when I'm at maintenance is reasonable, I am terrified of the binge/gorge thing. What if I can't get back on???

I am wondering if there a way to do a refeed with whole, natural foods. For example, piles of steamed brown rice with melted cheese and beans or mounds of whipped potatoes with garlic, thyme and French butter or masaman curry...

Does it have to be sugar? Has anyone done a refeed with natural foods?

So how did it go MsTwacky? What were your results? Anybody else have an update?

I am a "to the point and brief" type of guy, so here I go. I have been on atkins since Sept. 2, 2004. I started at 212-215 lbs., then after 4 weeks dropped to 190 lbs. I then stalled for 2 weeks. I know 2 weeks is not a true stall, but decided to interpret it as a stall. I stayed under 20 carbs, but on a few days went over 20 grams of carbs but under 40 grams of carbs after the 2 week induction period before the refeed. After reading all the posts on this thread, I decided to do a one day refeed on Sunday which was Oct. 24, 2004. I ate candy corn, marshmallows, pop tarts, pizza, pancakes with a lot of syrup and peanut butter, and hamburger helper. On my refeed, I believe I went over 300 grams of carbs, but under 600 grams of carbs. I went back to induction on Monday morning, however. I also weighed myself first thing Monday morning and went from 190 to 194. Today is Wednesday, and I am back to 190 while doing the traditional induction under 20 grams of carbs. If I go under 190, then the refeed worked. Only 3 days after the refeed, and I am back to my stall weight. I feel I will break my stall weight of 190 lbs. since I am only on day 3 of induction. We shall see... I will keep you posted if I go under 190, trust me.

Yes, I think what you are talking about is carb cycling, and currently there is a long thread about it in the Tips and Stalls section...but I don't think anyone on that thread is doing between 300 and 600 carbs on their "carb up" cycle...I am in agreement with you about eating healthy foods during the "refeed"...
hidingfox

Well, my last post will explain my refeed and now I have the results. This morning I weighed myself and I may have lost half a pound past my stall weight. I have to add that I have started a crunches and situps routine. Good luck!

This sounds like good fun I haven't stalled just a really slow loser, but, really looking forward to a stall and a woosh now lol. I don't really want to ask because I'd rather eat the pizza but isn't there any other way we can get Leptin?

Please, please, explain a blow-offf meal. I really dont like adding all those vitamins everyone write about L-P,L-C etc,etc, I would really love to eat whole food. I would also love a good Chinese meal once in a while. Please explain how to, when to,What can I eat. thank you.

Well, after a 3-day binge from Friday to Sunday, I am 10 pounds heavier. I have done this before, but only for a day and gained 4 pounds. Last time, it took me about 3-5 days for the pounds to come off, then I started losing again. Also, I did not exercise on my last binge. This time, I will workout like I have been doing for the past 3 weeks, and go back to induction like I did before. I do this every month, but will now do it every week or two for one meal only. I know it will come off because it is water weight, but the number on the scale can be depressing. If one is not disciplined, they can fall back into the nasty way of eating, rather than low-carb eating. I will do another update this weekend.

Physically, I did not feel good last weekend as I hate everything I wanted. I gained 10 pounds after the 3 days of eating until my heart's content. Today, a week later, I am at my weight before I started eating to my heart's content. I have decided to do a reward meal once or twice a week, but not 1-3 days of non-stop high carbohydrate eating. I am happy that I experimented to see what works for me. I am even more delighted to be at my current weight.

These forums have been the coolest thing I have found in a million years!!

I developed my own theory on glygocen replenishment being the WHOLE DEAL and the entire key to weight and body manipulation and I narrowed this down based on my own bodies experience and reactions as I have been very disciplined and have been tracking everything. Fat %, body water % lean mass %, measurements, all calories, all vitamin intakes, weight, you name it, every single day.

I KNEW just KNEW after my repeated losses and stalls and different trial and errors with atkins on different levels of carbs that it HAD to be all about glycogen. All my trainers said I needed carbs for glycogen and I would never gain or retain muscle without aduquate carbs to do it and i would go into starvation mode.

Eventually I put 2 and 2 together. It HAD to be all about glycogen stores. Once they are used up completely..your body stalls. Period. Your body needs the glycogen and starts going after your muscle for energy and glycogen and not the fat, and stalls weight loss as it needs glycogen so bad. you feel worse, get tight and stiff, have less energy, have less stamina for workouts...it alll makes perfect sense. Once you carb load, you replace the glycogen, and the regular atkins ketosis fat loss starts all over again as if you has just started the diet the first time. You have adequate glycogen stores, and burn fat again and retain muscle. This is IT!!!!

Massive carb loading will take a long time to burn off for those who do not have a very healthy and regular work out schedule tho. The excersize is very important. For those doing frequent heavy workouts, more carb loading is allowed, and for those more sedentary, it would probably be better do do it a bit more moderately.

Everyone would significantly benefit by reading posts from trainer Dan on this place, he is AWESOME!! wow I have never met anyone so knoweldgeable on fitness and nutrition. He is like an accountant of nutrition or something.

I am totally adopting this and I KNOW it will work for me because I KNOW it has worked for me in the past, i just didnt know it. I can not even count the times I went on binges and instead of getting fatter and looking worse, I felt good and looked better and my muscles were bulging more then ever before and I had no idea why, I just thought maybe there were more hormones in the food I ate or something. But I remember specifically at least 10 times off the top of my head even where I was when I thought this. Just this xmas I had a big dinner, lots of carbs, had been going to the gym, and for the next week I felt just awesome and lost even more fat! I just thought it was the regular atkins I was doing but now I see.

This is SOOOO COOOL..I just KNOW now that I will gain muscle and get to that 9% body fat mark. I am stocking up on my favorite hamburger helper and going to buy some liquid carbos too. And part of the best thing is I get to eat more yummy stuff!

Im going to be in such kickass shape..trainerDan I owe you oone buddy, you rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, gosh, I've read all these re-feed messages and I'm actually scared. I am in a BIG stall. I'm starting my 5th week on Atkins and have NO weight loss or even inches lost for 3 whole weeks. I am also exercising.
I suspect I am starving according to my body - but I SO don't want to refeed! Every fiber of my being says NO NO NO!! There must be another way! It seems like "starting all over!" I have put so much energy and effort into thse 4 weeks, I have been so focused on joining my husband in 5 more weeks, thinnner and sexier! At the moment I am really discouraged...