Re-feed to burn more body-fat!

[JOSEF RAKICH]

OK another question I get multiple PM's weekly about, so I decided to make a thread so I can just link people here from now on.

RE-FEEDING TO BURN MORE FAT!

Time to get shredded like this!



WHAT IS A RE-FEED DAY?

A Re-Feed day is a day where you increase your carbohydrate intake by 100% or more, increasing your calories up to maintenance level or slightly above. (everyones maintenance calorie level is different depending upon many factors such as: height, weight, age, gender, daily activity levels etc..)

WHO NEEDS A RE-FEED DAY?

A re-feed day is only needed to be included in your diet if you are cutting and in a calorie deficit which means consuming less calories than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) In other words less calories than what your body needs/burns on a daily basis which is required in order to lose fat. However when dieting and in a calorie deficit (especially if you have been in a calorie deficit for a long time) then including a re-feed into your diet will really benefit you in your fat loss goals.

The importance of including re-feeds in your diet is a factor of a few things such as:

- Leanness (the leaner you are, the more important)
- Calorie deficit (the greater deficit you are in, the more important)
- Length or dieting (the longer you have been dieting the more important)
- Carbohydrate intake (the lower, the more important)
- Exercise (type/amount/etc.. The more aerobic in nature, the more important)
- Genetics

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A RE-FEED DAY?

The purpose of a re-feed day his is to help boost your metabolism and help restore your Leptin hormone levels. (Leptin is the king of all fat burning hormones!) When dieting and on a low calorie diet, your metabolism will drop (meaning you will be burning less calories) plus your leptin hormone levels will drop in attempt by the body to spare body fat. (safety mechanism for the human body).

The body does not want to lose fat, the body just wants to survive, and when you change your calorie intake to less calories than your TDEE your body is going to adjust, your metabolic rate and metabolism will slow down and soon your TDEE will be a lot lower than what it originally was, resulting in you needing a lower calorie intake to continue to burn body fat.

With a slow metabolism and low leptin levels it becomes much harder to burn body fat. So including a re-feed day into your cutting diet will be really beneficial and allow you to continue to burn body fat at an optimal rate. A re-feed is basically taking 1 step back, but 2 steps forward.

HOW OFTEN DO I NEED TO HAVE A RE-FEED DAY?

Everyone is different and will require different amounts of re-feeding.

Here are my guidelines for you to follow and when to include a re-feed day into your diet.

- If you are above 20% body fat: Re-feed one every month.

- If you are between 15% and 20% body fat: Re-feed once every 2 weeks.

- If you are between 8% and %15 body fat: Re-feed once every week.

- If you are below 8% body fat - Re-feed twice per week.

The leaner you are the lower your leptin levels will be so the more frequent you should include re-feeds into your diet.

HOW MUCH CARBS DO I NEED TO CONSUME ON A RE-FEED DAY?

Again this is different for everyone, but here we will use "Bob" as an example:

Bob's TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = 2500 calories

Bobs current calorie intake (cutting) = 1995 calories (500 calorie deficit)

Bobs current macronutrient split = 170g protein, 160g carbohydrates and 75g fat which = 1995 calories

Now this is what Bob's re-feed day would look like:

Protein = 170g

Carbohydrates = 365g

Fat = 75g

Total calories = 2815 (which is 315 calories over Bob's TDEE, putting him into a slight calorie surplus for this day)

Now I usually recommend that you leave protein and fat intake the same as what they are throughout the diet, but you can drop protein and also drop fat down to consume more calorie from carbohydrates if you wish. However this is not needed and I don't usually do this my self unless doing an "aggressive re-feed" which comes in much later on down the track.

WHAT CARBS SHOULD I CONSUME ON MY RE-FEED DAY?

Any carbs of your choice are fine, low G.I complex carbohydrates and also high G.I simple carbohydrates it does not matter, just consume carbs! Some suggest to try and avoid fructose as it has less of an impact on leptin (which is true), but fructose is still fine to consume in all honestly. Some of the carb choices for me which I like to include in my re-feed days are:

- Rice
- Oats
- Sorbet ice-cream
- Weetbix bites
- Cerials
- Pancakes
- Bananas
- Pasta
- Popcorn
- ANYTHING THAT IS HIGH IN CARBOHYDRATES!

For more information on Re-Feeds check out my website: http://www.josefrakichfitness.com/le...ed-to-burn-fat

[JOSEF RAKICH]

Results of consistent weekly re-feeds.

[Clintw1976]

It seems to be working well for me. I do a refeed every week and sometimes 2 per week.

[ScaleAndSteel]

Perfect. Subbed. Gracias.

[Guydreambody]

OK another question I get multiple PM's weekly about, so I decided to make a thread so I can just link people here from now on.

RE-FEEDING TO BURN MORE FAT!

Time to get shredded like this!



WHAT IS A RE-FEED DAY?

A Re-Feed day is a day where you increase your carbohydrate intake by 100% or more, increasing your calories up to maintenance level or slightly above. (everyones maintenance calorie level is different depending upon many factors such as: height, weight, age, gender, daily activity levels etc..)

WHO NEEDS A RE-FEED DAY?

A re-feed day is only needed to be included in your diet if you are cutting and in a calorie deficit which means consuming less calories than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) In other words less calories than what your body needs/burns on a daily basis which is required in order to lose fat. However when dieting and in a calorie deficit (especially if you have been in a calorie deficit for a long time) then including a re-feed into your diet will really benefit you in your fat loss goals.

The importance of including re-feeds in your diet is a factor of a few things such as:

- Leanness (the leaner you are, the more important)
- Calorie deficit (the greater deficit you are in, the more important)
- Length or dieting (the longer you have been dieting the more important)
- Carbohydrate intake (the lower, the more important)
- Exercise (type/amount/etc.. The more aerobic in nature, the more important)
- Genetics

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A RE-FEED DAY?

The purpose of a re-feed day his is to help boost your metabolism and help restore your Leptin hormone levels. (Leptin is the king of all fat burning hormones!) When dieting and on a low calorie diet, your metabolism will drop (meaning you will be burning less calories) plus your leptin hormone levels will drop in attempt by the body to spare body fat. (safety mechanism for the human body).

The body does not want to lose fat, the body just wants to survive, and when you change your calorie intake to less calories than your TDEE your body is going to adjust, your metabolic rate and metabolism will slow down and soon your TDEE will be a lot lower than what it originally was, resulting in you needing a lower calorie intake to continue to burn body fat.

With a slow metabolism and low leptin levels it becomes much harder to burn body fat. So including a re-feed day into your cutting diet will be really beneficial and allow you to continue to burn body fat at an optimal rate. A re-feed is basically taking 1 step back, but 2 steps forward.

HOW OFTEN DO I NEED TO HAVE A RE-FEED DAY?

Everyone is different and will require different amounts of re-feeding.

Here are my guidelines for you to follow and when to include a re-feed day into your diet.

- If you are above 20% body fat: Re-feed one every month.

- If you are between 15% and 20% body fat: Re-feed once every 2 weeks.

- If you are between 8% and %15 body fat: Re-feed once every week.

- If you are below 8% body fat - Re-feed twice per week.

The leaner you are the lower your leptin levels will be so the more frequent you should include re-feeds into your diet.

HOW MUCH CARBS DO I NEED TO CONSUME ON A RE-FEED DAY?

Again this is different for everyone, but here we will use "Bob" as an example:

Bob's TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = 2500 calories

Bobs current calorie intake (cutting) = 1995 calories (500 calorie deficit)

Bobs current macronutrient split = 170g protein, 160g carbohydrates and 75g fat which = 1995 calories

Now this is what Bob's re-feed day would look like:

Protein = 170g

Carbohydrates = 365g

Fat = 75g

Total calories = 2815 (which is 315 calories over Bob's TDEE, putting him into a slight calorie surplus for this day)

Now I usually recommend that you leave protein and fat intake the same as what they are throughout the diet, but you can drop protein and also drop fat down to consume more calorie from carbohydrates if you wish. However this is not needed and I don't usually do this my self unless doing an "aggressive re-feed" which comes in much later on down the track.

WHAT CARBS SHOULD I CONSUME ON MY RE-FEED DAY?

Any carbs of your choice are fine, low G.I complex carbohydrates and also high G.I simple carbohydrates it does not matter, just consume carbs! Some suggest to try and avoid fructose as it has less of an impact on leptin (which is true), but fructose is still fine to consume in all honestly. Some of the carb choices for me which I like to include in my re-feed days are:

- Rice
- Oats
- Sorbet ice-cream
- Weetbix bites
- Cerials
- Pancakes
- Bananas
- Pasta
- Popcorn
- ANYTHING THAT IS HIGH IN CARBOHYDRATES!

For more information on Re-Feeds check out my website: http://www.josefrakichfitness.com/le...ed-to-burn-fat

Very Very interesting post..Thanks

[Ahhhmeno]

Awesome post. Inb4 sticky

[Tommy W.]

You need a big enough weekly deficit to earn a reefed. Most do not have this and never get lean because they think they deserve a "reefed" when they really don't.
Using special "vitamins" are always a big help also when getting super lean and holding mass.

[JOSEF RAKICH]

It seems to be working well for me. I do a refeed every week and sometimes 2 per week.

When I got super lean i was re-feeding 2x per week also, just have to make sure the re-feeds do not put you into a calorie surplus, you still need to remain in a weekly calorie deficit.

[JOSEF RAKICH]

Awesome post. Inb4 sticky

Took me a hell of a long time to write lol!

[JOSEF RAKICH]

Perfect. Subbed. Gracias.

[Solomonlike]

Subbed as well! Real solid info! Thank you!

[Dudeman258]

As always, great straight up info. Thanks Josef.

Walker

[JOSEF RAKICH]

As always, great straight up info. Thanks Josef.

Walker

Anytime!

[tara19]

You need a big enough weekly deficit to earn a reefed.
Most do not have this and never get lean because they think they deserve a "reefed" when they really don't.
Using special "vitamins" are always a big help also when getting super lean and holding mass.

lol @ bolded.

Interesting read, but seeing as the average users in this sub forum are generally over - weight ... not sure if it's going to help.

[mickgee]

Subbed for updates and new posts.

[fishnbrah]

think i can still get lean by eating higher carbs and lower protein?

[opul3nt]

well-written, straight to the point, love it! thank you.

[fullback52]

I understand refeeds to an extent. I'm wondering does everyone need refeeds? As I've discovered for myself, it is purely personal preference and no doubt helps with the mental state and cravings. I did a refeed once and hated it, and now I've gone 7 months with out one in ketosis. I am leaner than ever and still lose weight like I just began the diet itself.

[jimsmith9999]

You need a big enough weekly deficit to earn a reefed. Most do not have this and never get lean because they think they deserve a "reefed" when they really don't.

Strong this. Count me among those that fell into this trap in the past and wondered my my fat loss slowed to a crawl.

[Tommy W.]

Strong this. Count me among those that fell into this trap in the past and wondered my my fat loss slowed to a crawl.

People that say they eat X cals daily plus a reefed (usually waaay too big) aren't eating X cals, they're eating X + Refeed cals which figured weekly can put them at maintenance or in such a small defecit that they don't lose fat.

Great write up by Josef BTW.

[MrM27]

You need a big enough weekly deficit to earn a reefed. Most do not have this and never get lean because they think they deserve a "reefed" when they really don't.
Using special "vitamins" are always a big help also when getting super lean and holding mass.

People that say they eat X cals daily plus a reefed (usually waaay too big) aren't eating X cals, they're eating X + Refeed cals which figured weekly can put them at maintenance or in such a small defecit that they don't lose fat.

Great write up by Josef BTW.

I have to strongly agree with both of these statements made by Tommy. It's just a shame they won't get much attention because many people will see this thread and see it as a free pass to over indulge. I do support refeeds, just under the right circumstances and done properly.

[Bastiat]

and here I was just thinking about doing a little research on this topic.

- If you are above 20% body fat: Re-feed one every month.

well, its the holidays so I guess these are scheduled for me.

Also, I did notice I had a good bit more energy and strength in the gym the 2 days after thanksgiving.

[MrM27]

and here I was just thinking about doing a little research on this topic.



well, its the holidays so I guess these are scheduled for me.

Also, I did notice I had a good bit more energy and strength in the gym the 2 days after thanksgiving.

You should still do your research.

[Bastiat]

You should still do your research.

haha, you dont know me well. believe me, I research everything. This just gives me a starting point.

[AncientYouth]

Interesting read, however in her book starvation mode Leigh peele says that you cannot restore leptin

Via a single re feed day,

[jimsmith9999]

Interesting read, however in her book starvation mode Leigh peele says that you cannot restore leptin

Via a single re feed day,

Lyle McDonald says the same. But it also depends on leanness, as leptin is higher for those that are carrying more body fat. Lean folks might be refeeding more than once per week (as Josef mentions), those could certainly be back to back days.

Great post btw Josef.

[Masochron]

I have to strongly agree with both of these statements made by Tommy. It's just a shame they won't get much attention because many people will see this thread and see it as a free pass to over indulge. I do support refeeds, just under the right circumstances and done properly.

Over indulge? But...I thought a re-feed meant being able to eat whatever the heck I wanted...say, 6,000 calories in excess?

Way to shatter my dreams, bro... :P

[MrM27]

Over indulge? But...I thought a re-feed meant being able to eat whatever the heck I wanted...say, 6,000 calories in excess?

Way to shatter my dreams, bro... :P

I'm going to assume that was a joke, based on the emoticon. I guess you understood where I was coming from.

Trust me I wish that when I was doing them I was able to get away with having 3 or 4 slices of pizza.

[Masochron]

I'm going to assume that was a joke, based on the emoticon. I guess you understood where I was coming from.

Yeah, t'was a joke of course. It'd be pretty sad if I were serious.

Haha, I would KILL to be able to have 4 slices of pizza!

[JOSEF RAKICH]

Interesting read, however in her book starvation mode Leigh peele says that you cannot restore leptin

Via a single re feed day,

It will boost it, sometimes it may be beneficial to re-feed over a few days or even a week (diet break)