[Moving Forward]

I've been on a weight loss plateau now for three weeks. I've been researching possible strategies to break the plateau and came across the idea of a re-feed. My understanding is that you essentially up your calories by approximately 20% for a few day which is supposed to rebalance your weight loss hormones and kick start your metabolism again. Has anyone tried this? Or does anyone know if this really works? I'm tempted to try it because I'm anxious to start losing again, but the last thing I want to do is start gaining because I've upped my calories.

[LockItUp]

It definitely can work! I have done it, well, not so specifically by doing 20% or anything, but I've taken a day or two (or three) diet break and I've seen benefits from it a couple times. Sometimes not. I guess it all just depends on why your body isn't dropping the weight. But if you have been super diligent and you're positive your calories have been in a deficit, it's sure worth a try!

[dstalksalot]

Yes, it has worked for me. I cycle my cals and work in some high and low days. The high days seem to reset my bodys water or something. I usually do my lowest days after a larger day. After a year I have only had one stall for a month and have averaged about a pound per week loss sometimes more.

[pavvie]

I have definitely done this before with positive results. Google Lyle McDonald's "full diet break" if you feel like doing some reading on the matter

[JossFit]

Yep, it can work for sure. I usually find that the leaner I am before doing a refeed/diet break/'cheat day' the more of a whoosh I end up having! I had to start being careful because I ended up underweight from eating clean and doing a 'cheat day' once every 2-3 weeks.

I've never stuck to a specific amount (such as the 20% you mentioned) but rather just indulge on special occasions and not give a crap about what I eat. I find that as long as I only keep it to one day and resume my normal diet and workouts the following day I end up dropping 1-3 pounds at the end of the week.

It's worth a try anyway, right?

[Amarantha2]

Definitely can work and worth a go.

[QuilterInVA]

It takes 6 weeks of staying the same to say you are on a plateau. Changing what you are eating and changing up your exercise can help you get through it.

[TripSwitch]

I used various PSMF's for a week or two a couple of times when I wanted to break through a weight loss plateau... they included controlled refeeds once a week as part of the plan...

Now I use refeeds where I increase my carb intake, while not dramatically increasing my overall calorie intake to work towards improving my body composition and also to maintain my ability to have the endurance that I need for my training...

[freelancemomma]

I recently wrote an article about weight loss tricks & tweaks, for which I interviewed two of Canada's most prominent weight loss specialists (endocrinologists). Both said there's no science behind refeeds. Could these doctors be missing something? (That's not a sarcastic question. I truly wonder.)

Freelance

[avalonmoon]

I think it might be worth trying.

[JohnP]

Not to be negative but I just want to point out a couple of things:

Three weeks is not a plateau. The body can retain water for any number of reasons and look like your fat loss is stuck. Opinions vary but I would say eight weeks and no loss means you're at a plateau.

A refeed is not needed for a female above 20% body fat. A refeed is a period of time where you overfeed your body to normalize your hormones. This is something bodybuilders do on regular intervals but ... they are extremely lean and looking to get leaner. This is done to help keep the body from fighting further fat loss. Bottom line it's not natural for people to be heavily muscled and 5% body fat - so you need some tricks to get there.

All that said ...

You can lose weight from a single meal or a couple adult beverages. Not fat - but water is released. Stress is a big cause of water retention and can freeze the scale even as fat los continues. This is why you often see people posting about how they ate a "cheat meal" and they lose 3 lbs the next morning.

You may want to consider a diet break. No doubt if you've been dieting a while you've slowed your metabolism a bit. A couple weeks of eating higher calories can be helpful to continue losing especially for psychological reasons.

Hope this helps. Personally - if I were a professional and you were my client I would tell you to take a diet break for two weeks if you're not on some specific time frame. Sounds like you need one.

[JohnP]

Originally Posted by freelancemomma

I recently wrote an article about weight loss tricks & tweaks, for which I interviewed two of Canada's most prominent weight loss specialists (endocrinologists). Both said there's no science behind refeeds. Could these doctors be missing something? (That's not a sarcastic question. I truly wonder.)

Freelance

There is science behind it but as far as I unknow refeeds only make a difference to lean people trying to get leaner. For example I know that over feeding increases leptin levels.

That said - any expert on weight loss should be aware of the psychological effects of long term dieting - and refeeds and/or diet breaks can certainly help out a persons mind set - even if they serve no purpose from a physiological perspective. However, context matters. Thus if you're asking the question one way vs another way you're likely to get different answers.

[3fcuser291505109]

i don't know exactly what a "refeed" is but since i have incorporated one cheat day a week (Fridays-definitely higher calorie day) and eat clean and moderately the rest of the week it has definitely worked in my favor as long as i reign it in and not let it continue throughout the weekend or "binge" but i really let myself eat whatever and how much i want that day and i have not gained. Also i believe that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) has also helped a great deal. I'm not able to do much because of CFS but i walk my hill as fast as i can go (which leaves me gasping for breath) and the recovery phase is on the way down and i repeat this for about 20 minutes. This combined with a calorie "free" day has made the difference but you'll have to experiment what is best for you

Some food for thought (whether there's "science" behind this or not, it works for me):

http://www.fitnessbreakout.com/strat...t-for-fat-loss

[TripSwitch]

I just wanted to step back in here a moment and reiterate a point that John just made... I always felt that "refeeds" offered me a very noticeable psychological and motivational advantage to stay on plan and get to my goal... They definitely helped me with my "mindset" as far as dieting goes... That I'm certain of...

[JossFit]

[quote=JohnP;4562255]There is science behind it but as far as I unknow refeeds only make a difference to lean people trying to get leaner...quote]

Yes, agreed. It only started to work for me once I had already gotten fairly lean... about 15% body fat.