Rate my refeed?

[Freak17]

So, I started cutting about 4-5 weeks ago. I was at 129 lbs and went down to 123-124ish just last week. (Did my cardio and my lift have been fairly consistent--didn't lose any strength although I haven't gained any either-- only in pullups which is probably because I'm getting lighter) so I've been a pretty good girl myself but it wasn't until this Thursday when I really felt the urge to EAT. I was just too hungry to eat on any deficit so I upped my calories, especially CARBS. The bad thing is that it lasted all the way until now. I've been just eating. Not binging but just eating more than I used to. I'm not sure how you guys 'plan' your refeeds and how does the macro ratio look like. But I've calculated everything just now and here is what it looks like.

This is what I ate in the past 5 days:

Tons of skim milk and coffee----1000 calories. (I got finals............)
1 entire bag of whole wheat loafs---90calx20= 1800 calories.
8 packets of regular oatmeal--800 calories.
1 can of black beans--450 calories.
1 small serving of chicken alfredo--about 300 calories.
1 cup of rice--200 calories.
Lots of veggies--500calories?
1 cup of ff greek yogurt with 1 banana--300 calories.


40 egg whites--that's right I love egg whites--- 1200 calories
3 packages of fat free cheddar cheese--YES I like it with egg whites and it's 25 cal 4g protein per serving, not bad!--1000 calories.
20 scoops of protein powder--3000 calories.
20 oz chicken breasts--- I don't know... 1500 calories?


1/4 of almonds--170 calories.



Total: 12220 calories. 1340g carbs, 1200g protein, 228 fats. Percentages: 44% carbs, 40% protein %16 fats.


I actually payed close attention to the macros. But everything I put is an estimation and there might be some miscalculations. But whatever I put there--I ate!


I was smart enough to almost never eat fatty meals--besides the nuts and the alfredo which only had 7g fat anyway so it was just lots of protein and carbs.YES, I do feel a little bloated--not a piggy bloat, more like... a little heavier! I weigh 126 right now. (really hope it's water weight).

PS: I have to admit I LOVED the energy. My lifts went up just like that! I kind of overtrained myself though because I felt energetic, I hit every muscle group once in those five days... no rest. :-) And I burned about 500 cal from cardio.


Any comments?

[Freak17]

+ Dinner today: 2 cups of skim milk, 7 egg whites and 3 slices of bread.....

[Miranda]

you lost 5 pounds in one month, felt hungry and ate slightly above maintenance for five days. what are you asking?

[Freak17]

you lost 5 pounds in one month, felt hungry and ate slightly above maintenance for five days. what are you asking?

It wasn't really planned it just happened. I just want to be smart about refeeds next time. I know refeeds are high carbs and protein and low in fats but I don't know if they're supposed to last that long and how do they typically look like.

[Miranda]

It wasn't really planned it just happened.

then it's not a 'refeed' even if you want to rationalise it as such

you don't refeed because you're hungry and want to eat. you refeed to keep metabolism afloat on a diet and, under certain conditions, to build muscle. it is part and parcel of the diet, not something completely unplanned.

a few things to keep in mind

1/ how long have you been dieting for
2/ how many calories on diet
3/ body fatness
4/ glycogen depleted or not
5/ training around refeed

all the above (and some others probably) affect how much, how often and how long you refeed for. fwiw, the longest i've heard of is three days.

many individuals don't need a refeed in the first place. depending on the above factors, it can bite them in the ass in a bad way.

[Freak17]

then it's not a 'refeed' even if you want to rationalise it as such

you don't refeed because you're hungry and want to eat. you refeed to keep metabolism afloat on a diet and, under certain conditions, to build muscle. it is part and parcel of the diet, not something completely unplanned.

a few things to keep in mind

1/ how long have you been dieting for
2/ how many calories on diet
3/ body fatness
4/ glycogen depleted or not
5/ training around refeed

all the above (and some others probably) affect how much, how often and how long you refeed for. fwiw, the longest i've heard of is three days.

many individuals don't need a refeed in the first place. depending on the above factors, it can bite them in the ass in a bad way.

Ok, thanks for the help. So I just upped my calories for no apparent reason other than being hungry lol. I don't think that was smart but I never know it might've saved me from one big binge--I would rather have a spread out surplus where I can use the energy to train and such. Speaking of depletion, I was eating relatively low carbs for the whole time and I did train with high volume on those days. I'm all sore up until now lol.

Anyway, I guess I would rather plan a refeed than just listen to my body too much lol... Thanks! I hope that weight is mostly water. Also, how much carbs am I shooting in the coming days? I'm pretty sure my entire system is stuffed with glycogen by now lol.

[Miranda]

Anyway, I guess I would rather plan a refeed than just listen to my body too much lol... Thanks! I hope that weight is mostly water. Also, how much carbs am I shooting in the coming days? I'm pretty sure my entire system is stuffed with glycogen by now lol.

depends on what you want to do and how you coordinate it with everything else. there are no clear-cut answers when the information provided is vague at best

dunno - go back to maintenance for a few days or a week, drop carbs and see if you drop water weight. then go from there. i doubt you did any real 'damage' anyhow.

[Freak17]

I wanted to rep but it looks like I need to 'spread the reputation around' before giving it to you lol... Thanks again. :-)