With body fat levels low, clients burn glycogen the storage form of carbohydrates in the muscle for energy at a higher rate than body fat [1]. This requires replenishing energy stores by eating more carbohydrates to top off the tank. A regular menstrual cycle is a necessary part of female health. Leaner female clients, without refeed days, run the risk of losing that cycle and should consult a doctor if this happens. The harder a client trains, the more likely they are to need a refeed day.
Training load and intensity accumulate over the course of a week. Oftentimes, these hard-training clients are unable to eat the volume of food on a daily basis needed to replenish their energy stores. Focusing on more carbs consumed on a particular day can reverse some of that fatigue accumulation.
Be mindful that the hard-training client usually needs to be leaner to utilize a refeed to replenish training deficits. As a coach, it is your job to ensure their expectations are realistic given their plan, adherence, and goals. A refeed could give them a chance to work in a higher-carb treat in moderation and build a healthier relationship with food. If you consider employing a refeed day for psychological reasons, it is important to get on the same page with your client in terms of the goal around this period of increased calorie intake.
In general, we do not recommend employing a refeed day for clients working through all-or-nothing mindsets around food intake. Tackle those food relationships first! In all four of these cases, clients must be prepared to endure the psychological load of a refeed day. This is when educating your client of the benefits of the refeed and what to expect a day or two after can go a long way. It is really important to chat about food quality with your clients. Here are some examples:. Refeeds actually tend to work most successfully for clients with fat loss goals.
A refeed does three specific things to aid in fat loss and for the right client, they work wonders. Now the questions become, how often should I prescribe a refeed day for my client and how many additional carbs does my client need? Most refeeds bring a client back up to around maintenance calorie intake or slightly above [2].
Remember, these calories almost always come from carbohydrates. This may be a great place to start if your client is training intensely.
You could also try splitting the calories into two 50g refeeds throughout the week. If your client needs a refeed day mostly for psychological reasons, you could start around 50g once per week so they have enough wiggle room to fit in a serving of a carb-dense food somewhere in their day without going overboard.
Remember when we talked about body fat percentage? Those with lower BF generally need to refeed more often than those with higher BF percentages. On top of that, women tend to need refeed days more often than men [1,2]. Please consult a healthcare practitioner before making changes to your diet or taking supplements that may interfere with medications. Halfway through your diet, you feel a bit pale. Like … you need a break but not in a way that will mess up your physique … E specially after spending months sculpturing it to look like a Greek figure!
Table of Contents. The Takeaway. So when you start to lose fat, Leptin decreases. The benefits of Refeed Day when Dieting.
Breakthrough fat loss plateaus. Stops cravings and improves mental health. Increase in physical strength. Increase in muscularity. The downfalls of the Refeed Day when Dieting. But why does this happen? When should you do a Refeed day? The scale is not moving. Having low energy and a great drop in strength. Feeling Fatigued.
Mood swings. But by how much? After two months 8 weeks you reach pounds. Use this calculator to figure out your TDEE. You are also restricted to a certain type of macronutrient … Carbohydrates. And not from junk sources. Carbs to Enjoy. Rice and Rice Cakes. Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes. Fruit Juice — No added sugar. Carbs to Avoid. Now off the TDEE, how much carbohydrates should you eat? Macronutrients Calculator.
This should translate to: grams of protein. Other than that, here are the three main reasons:. Less protein and more carbs. Carbs are not burned as fast during the rest days. Recover your central nervous system. If it fits your macros vs. A refeed day when cutting is a planned increase in caloric intake 2 or 3 months into your diet.
It will boost your metabolism as it decreases the Leptin hunger hormone levels in the body. Your calories should be limited to your current total daily energy expenditure TDEE calories. It is recommended that you do your refeed day on a rest day. Finally, it is important to know the difference between the following nutritional regimes and when to use each one: refeed day, reverse dieting, cheat day, reverse dieting, and carb cycling. Share on facebook. Share on twitter. Share on pinterest.
Share on email. Share on print. Sam Andreas. Sam is the content manager and the supplement reviewer for The Fit Wizard. He has been involved in bodybuilding and weight training for over two decades as a coach, nutritionist, and entrepreneur.
Reviews on The Wizard Fitness and Health Supplements. Though, anecdotally, I found they really helped me feel better both mentally and physically while dieting.
The research IS strong, however, on diet breaks during a prolonged period of weight loss. The goal is not to gain any weight other than just maybe some fullness or bloating from increased food consumption. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
And how do you set your macros for a refeed day? Your primary source of extra calories during a refeed should be carbohydrates. What is a refeed day and why use them? Refeeding is a time-tested and extremely popular strategy for weight loss.
This kind of regular refeed helps a lot of people stick with the diet better over the long term. Is a refeed just a fancy version of a cheat day? Well, to me, the difference is extremely important: A cheat day or meal is completely uncontrolled and unregulated. A refeed, on the other hand, is highly controlled.
Is a cheat day better than a refeed day? Well, it might be more fun! Setting your macros for a refeed — how many grams of carbs, fats, and protein do you need? Alright, so what exactly should you be eating during a refeed or diet break? There are a few reasons for that: Carbs give you energy: Low-carb diets are pretty popular, and they can work when done right, but in general, a healthy diet should consist of plenty of good carbs.
Example: If you weigh pounds, your daily maintenance calories or TDEE total daily energy expenditure should be around calories. Your weight loss calories, by the way, should be about calories lower than maintenance, or around 12 calories per pound of bodyweight. Determine your daily protein intake.
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