Help! Is a refeed/cheat day a good idea for a low cal diet? (I've plateaud)
 

Hello everyone! I'm hoping some of you can advise me please.

I'm on a low cal diet and recently my weight loss has basically flatlined. I've lost only 1lb over the last two months. I am still eating less calories than I use (according to every calculator I have looked at) so I think that my metabolism has slowed down.

From what I read a simple way to speed up my metabolism again is to incorporate a refeed/cheat day that will help release leptin.

The theory goes that having one day of high calorie, high carb food will fool my body into thinking that food is plentiful again so will release leptin which will return my metabolism back to normal. This sounds logical and I've read lots of testimony saying that it works but my problem is that when time I looked this up is it is advice for people on low carb diets, often body builders, and I'm neither. Mostly I eat low calorie and low GL foods (with some choclate daily) so wouldn't have the lack of carb issue. So I don't know if the chemistry/effect will work for me.

Do any of you do this as part of your diet? If so what has your experience been like?

Does one high calorie day per week boost metabolism?

If so is there a recommended amount to take?

Can anyone suggest any reading matter for this?

(Thank you in advance.)

I've heard of people doing that and having it work for them. If you can be sure to keep it to one day, keep things healthy and don't go overboard, it won't hurt to try.

BUT(!)... be sure it's only a day or two (I've heard of people doing 2). I was in the exact same spot as you a year ago. I flat-lined about mid November and only lost about .6 of a pound by mid December. So, I decided to eat "at maintenance" for a week to try and jump start it. One week turned into one year and maintenance turned into binge eating. And now I'm a year later and 45 pounds heavier.

If you track your calories, I'd recommend eating 500-1000 calories more than you do to lose weight and of the same type of foods. One day of this won't do any damage. For people who do this weekly, they have one maintenance level day, if I remember correctly.

I do believe that a high calorie day can interrupt a plateau. I think it's good to mix up your calorie level. That's been my experience.

How low is your low-calorie diet? I'm no expert, but I think anything under 1200 on a regular basis is too low, and puts you into starvation mode. But that's just my opinion.

I agree on the higher calorie time. However, this doesn't have to be higher "bad" calories. Instead of things like pizza, you may want to just increase your calorie intake with healthier foods. I've tried it and I found that not only does it keep me on track mentally but it also makes it easier for me to go back to my lower calorie plan.

You may also want to change your exercise. If you're doing high intensity, try something low to moderate for a day or two.

Have you tried cycling your calories? I've found that I do best if I have a range that I eat within, but vary it up. Some days I'm at the higher end and some days are at the lower end.

YES. For me, this has been the key in breaking plateaus- However, it was by accident that I discovered how well this worked for me.

I had a few events (like a friends wedding) where I knew I just could not stick to my plan. I'd eat on plan exactly up until the event, and eat what I wanted (in moderation), there. I was at least 500 calories over during these times. To my surprise, each time I had days or weekends like this, I dropped 2-4 pounds after getting back on plan.

Sure enough, after indulgent Xmas eating, I've just lost another 3 pounds this week.

I'm going to eat on plan until I stall again, and then do a couple days in a row of upping my calories (ideally with healthy foods, tho). It's worked for me 4 or 5 times now.

Thank you for the feedback! And so quick too!

I'm on an average of 1400 daily at the moment. At my age and amount of movement that's just above my BMR. I should use up about 1750 daily in my slow Winter life. I range naturally (ie with life interfering with my diet planning) between 1250 and 1600.

I will definitely try this now.

I don't have to worry about binging thankfully as I don't exclude any food from my diet so I'm not craving anything. I'm also not emotionally wobbly so no comfort cravings either.

From what I read high carb foods are the best to refeed as they replenish glucose stores which helps to produce leptin so I will try this.

The amount of calories I should take in I'm still worried about though. Does it have to be above the amount of calories used? Right now I'm thinking I should try 2000kcal. What do you think?

I started doing this very thing with a fellow 3FC member. It worked very well when we did it, & I have been at a plateau since July.

Here is a link to what you may be interested in: Spike Diet

Thank you K9Owner. I'm delighted that this has worked for people. There is hope!

How are the abs going? Can you see them yet?

The link is very interesting but still not specific. He says 12 hours of overeating. That could be an extra 200kcal or an extra 2000. How much is too much?

I'm not sure what he means by overeat for 12 hours either. I'm guessing he means that if I start at 10am that I eat between and up to at 10pm.

I think it will work, Into -- let us know how it turns out. I've done this, but unintentionally -- I get into a situation where I eat much more, just for one day, and then I'm amazed that I drop a couple of pounds the next day (or a couple of days later, if the food included lots of sodium).

I'm relieved to hear that you are eating 1400. I think that is a great level for steady, safe weight loss, for most people!

Well Queen Sarah, what can I say? I don't like being hungry and I don't like sagging skin. Easy does it works for me and 1400 is kind and do-able.

My goal now is to be one and a half inches smaller around the waist. I measure rather than weigh so I think that will be around 12lb lighter from what I remember from long long ago.

I will keep you all posted on how this goes. I'm thinking of trying 2100 on the refeed day. It's just above the biggest maintenance figure I can find for my height, age etc. Please let me know if you think that this is too much/too little. I can't find calorie recommendations for this refeed day.

Thanks again.

Hi again.

Now I think I need to do two excess calorie days a week. Grrrrr.

I did some research and came across something that I'm not allowed to post from the zigzag diet.

It's for a zigzag diet plan. What bothers me here is that it says that if you go 72 hours on lower than needed calories then your metabolism adjusts. Which means that the leptin levels go back and any more low calorie days are pointless after this. So this suggests that I need two days per week eating more than necessary to compensate. Which freaks me out because there is no way I could stick to my weekly calorie goal then unless I eat almost nothing on another day. And I don't do hungry.

So if I do what I can do, I would have 2100 on Sat and Wed and 1400 on the rest. (I should need between 1700 and 2000 a day depending on how much exercise I do, it varies) I still feel like I'm gambling with my body here and could very well gain weight after this. I really really hope that my metabolism bounces back to what it's supposed to use quickly.

So this is the new plan. Two days per week high calorie 2100 and the rest at my personal minimum, 1400. This will leave me with 1400 more per week than what I'm eating now on my plateau. But it will leave me with an average of 1600 per day for the week which according to the calorie calculators (that no longer seem to work for me) is still a little below what I use. So I may get off the plateau but very very slowly. If I start to gain I don't know if I should stick to it. I think I will try this for three weeks anyway.

How long will it take for the leptin levels to adjust? I wish I could find more research on this, or at least research that agrees with other research.

Does anyone know is eating more than daily needs once a week enough to boost leptin levels? One article isn't enough to convince me. If it's twice a week then I'm going to have a really hard time creating a calorie deficit. I really really really hate going hungry. But I will start with twice a week for three weeks and see what happens.

Any hints for coping with one very low calorie day would be appreciated. I think sooner or later I may have to go there.

I was at a plateau before Christmas and had a massive cheat day with the holiday. It helped me get back on track. I am supposed to have a net 1100 as i eat 1800 but burn 700. I probably doubled that day.

actually what i do on weekends is allow myself 300-500 more calories then during the week. I still lose and its a change up for my body. : )

You do this for two days Jessica? That's encouraging.

How do you find you appetite and your body temperature is affected by this? Or is there any change? I'm really hoping that I heat up soon.

I remember when i hit a plateau. I was stuck at 190 forever! (and being that close to the 180's is just taunting...)
I researched "refeed" days, and i tried it, and it worked!
It's different for everyone, but i read, actually, that you should "refeed" for at least 3 days. 3 to 7 days is a good period.
I refed for 7 days, and i was very nervous. I thought after a week of eating more, i was going to gain weight, even if it was food/water weight. but i lost a pound after it all! and then it slowly went down more, from there.
If i recall, i had been at a 1400-1600 calorie intake. I just upped it to 2000, or a little more if i was hungrier.
I strongly recomment the "refeed" theory to anyone on a low calorie diet. Some people recommend that on a low calorie diet, you should diet for a certain number of weeks, (say 4) and then refeed for one week.
:) hope that helps!

Originally Posted by RookaWins:
I remember when i hit a plateau. I was stuck at 190 forever! (and being that close to the 180's is just taunting...)
I researched "refeed" days, and i tried it, and it worked!
It's different for everyone, but i read, actually, that you should "refeed" for at least 3 days. 3 to 7 days is a good period.
I refed for 7 days, and i was very nervous. I thought after a week of eating more, i was going to gain weight, even if it was food/water weight. but i lost a pound after it all! and then it slowly went down more, from there.
If i recall, i had been at a 1400-1600 calorie intake. I just upped it to 2000, or a little more if i was hungrier.
I strongly recomment the "refeed" theory to anyone on a low calorie diet. Some people recommend that on a low calorie diet, you should diet for a certain number of weeks, (say 4) and then refeed for one week.
:) hope that helps!

Thanks for telling about your experience.

When I was in long-term weight loss mode, I would have a similar experience, but I didn't keep track the way you did. It was more like a couple of days going off plan because of social or emotional situations, and then I'd go back on plan, and would be surprised to see that I'd dropped a couple of pounds. I don't know the calorie counts of my off-plan days, but I'm sure it was high.

I think the key is eating at a reasonable, healthy weight-loss level (1400-1600 is great), occasionally raising it up for a brief period, and then GOING BACK to the lower level.

I'm very close to the weight at which I want to maintain, but I'm in no hurry to get there; I'm in losing mode for the next couple of months. It's helpful to see the results of people's experiments.

I'm going to come back and comment on this thread, uhm......right after I have a little rest. I'm exhausted :faint:

I think some higher calorie days are what caused me to lose a few pounds quickly putting me past goal. When I was 136 pounds I decided to start entering maintenance because I was a pound away, I might as well get going, right? So I started eating at 1600-1700 calories but had several days where I wound up at 1400 because I just wasn't all that hungry.

I quickly got to 135, then 134...then 133.

So I decided I needed more calories. I started eating 1800, but still had days where I would eat less because I wasn't hungry and forgot to eat a snack or something. Before I knew it, I was at 131.

I was doing a form of calorie cycling without intending to and I think those higher days sparked my metabolism and put me past my goal.

I think I need to consistently eat at 1800 (or more, I'm very active) or have days where I go above 1800 to go hand in hand with the days where I wind up eating less.

I have "cheat days" every week, usually on the weekend I eat 1600-1700 calories whereas during the week I eat around 135. I think calorie cycling has contributed to my weight loss.

Ahhhh....completely rested.
So, basically the Spike works like this--from the best of my memory, because MFP automatically deleted the msg :tantrum:

It is based on your BMR--mine is 1330 using MFP. I think you subtract 100 & add 100, so my low days--I ate 1200, my high days--I ate 1400--alternating the 2 throughout the week. On the 6th day--or Saturday for me--you had your Spike Day. You would double the calories on your high #. So for me, it would be 2800. The day following the Spike Day, you would resume the lower day and start to alternate again.

As far as exercising went. (And I may have the 2 backwards--I've asked for the info again, because I hate to keep buying things that I seldom use)
On the low days, you did strength training. On the high days, you did cardio--enough to burn at least 300 cals, and on the Spike Day--you rested.

These, I may have backwards & please, if anyone is using Spike--correct me.

I tried this a week before Christmas and saw 147.6 for the first time since September 22. (Yes, I know the exact date :lol: ) But then, I took 2 weeks off of exercising. I still half-way counted calories, but wasn't near as strict. I ate holiday foods and didn't gain or lose an ounce.

On December 30, I started 1/2 marathon training, b/c I signed up for my first 1/2 set for April 28. At this point, if I lose--so be it. If I maintain, so be it. If I gain...well--by January 4, I actually did gain 3 lbs of water weight, but it was gone by January 6.
My focus now is staying fueled for the runs. I would like to lose more, but I really am terrified to start eating 1600-1900 cals worth of food!

In my weight loss, my husband and I had an off-plan day every week or every other week. For me, it allowed me to splurge a little on foods I was craving (usually pizza or chips). The next day, it was back on plan. It worked for us. Did it really help us lose more weight doing it that way? I don't know. What I do know is that it helped keep us on plan during the week because we knew we would just have what we were craving later that weekend.

Be careful, though, because if you don't get back on track right away, one day turns into 2, 3, then a week of bad eating, then a month. You know how it goes!

Wow! This is amazing. So far only positive feedback. I'm really hopeful now.

Kellost the first thing that I noticed after my refeed Saturday was that I was hungrier than normal on Sunday so you may be right and this could be a slippery slope if I give in to it. However today I had my normal appetite back. Thankfully.

One thing was odd though about the refeed day. I made what used to be a favourite breakfast of mine years ago, brie on batch bread toasted sandwich with green peppers and it didn't do much for me. I have been avoiding high calorie food for so long that I bigged it up in my imagination. I prefer my blueberry porridge! So, if nothing else comes of my experiment I'm not going to miss my high calorie foods as much. The chocolate biscuit definitely doesn't taste as nice either as when I know I shouldn't have one.

So, I decided to have my Spike Day Sunday at 4pm. I hope it will work to my advantage this week. I had eaten about 900 cals between Midnight and 3pm & when I finally took the initiative to get out of bed, I decided to try to consume 1900 cals ( to make the 2800). Uhm.....I didn't quite get there. It would have been easy if I were eating junk, but I am trying to eat things that will help me achieve my fitness goals.
Having a "Spike Day", "Cheat Day", "Off Plan Day", whatever you wish to call it, does not mean (for me) that I get to indulge in :jeno: :cookie: and other high-processed carbs.

Instead, I ate this:

PB2 Greek Yogurt, w/granola, 100 cal Popcorn, Hot Cocoa: 323
Corn Flakes w/skim milk :nono: : 280 (I must STOP eating boxed cereal!)
Bean Dip w/tortillas :nono: , Fresh Pineapple: 440
Double Dense NOW Green Monster, Sushi: 1580
Total: 2623

I had 5 hours to consume 1580 cals--which is what I would eat in a whole day! I was sooooo stuffed! However, I was stuffed with all good food and nothing really processed. If I had thought when I came home from work to do the Spike Day, I would have made wiser choices for breakfast!

Next week, I will!! I'll let you all know how this week goes, if I lose or gain, or plateau! :)

Week 1 review:

My maintenance calorie level should be between 1700 and 2100 according to different calculators.

Sat cal:2,400
Six days following : Average of 1425 per day (high of 1582, low of 1345)
Week average calorie per day: 1564

Result: Weight loss of 300g or .7lbs

This is not a lot of weight to lose but I only lost 1lb over the previous two months eating less than this. So this is working. I will change what I'm doing again because I don't think my metabolism has increased, or if it has it fell back again. I think this because over the last three days I was really cold. (I was reviewing students work in a hall and I was the only one who needed a coat). I do loads of exercise so I think to increase it a refeed more frequently or a block of refeed days may help. I'm following a low cal low GL diet, protein twice daily, with of one snack per day that's none of these.

The way my weight altered over the week was strange.Two days after my refeed day I weighed exactly the same, which I find really weird. I thought that my weight would go up soon after. On the Wednesday though my weight fell and remained at that lower weight each day after. So I seem to have used more calories on the Tuesday and the Wednesday and then maybe my body adjusted down again? So the leptin boost (if that's what's happening) lasted for three days after my refeed day.

Unfortunately I was too busy at work last week to shop for different foods to do a mid week refeed but I am determined to do this next week and see if this boosts weight loss further.

Next weeks plan: Sat and Wed refeed of 2200kcal, about half high carb foods
I will weigh myself every day this time to see if I can figure
out the pattern of weight loss/gain.


K9Owner, I had a similar problem on Saturday, I was still eating until 10 trying to get enough calories in me. It did not sit well in my stomach eating so late. I'm definitely aiming to eat earlier today.

According to body builders (who regularly get down to 0% body fat) high carb foods are exactly what you need on a refeed day, and they use past and pizza and sweet stuff to get their calories and their glucose levels high. So this may not be what you want to eat but it may be necessary. Protein is high in calories but won't give you loads of glucose and it's both that will cause the body to produce more leptin, according to some theories that I've read on leptin production, and body builders sites and forums, talking to a pro rugby player and one diet book.

One explanation that I read is that the body stores energy in three different ways. Glucose is stored in the liver as glycogen and blood short term, protein in muscle and fat everywhere. Glucose is the first thing that the body accesses, it's the easiest. When the glycogen stores are high then there is more leptin sent out as food is plentiful and our metabolism is raised, or returned to normal after a low cal period. If there's too much glycogen then it gets stored as fat after a time of course, but the body craves high calorie food on a diet because it wants to have this access to easy sources of energy to maintain a high metabolism. Short term doses of high cal food may be good for us. In theory. The day before a rugby match pro rugby players eat tons of high cal carbs, pasta especially, so that on match day they will be able to easily access far more energy than by eating any other food. These men run and wrestle almost constantly for eighty minutes every time they play and of course I don't but what they say and do ties in theories that I've read about leptin release. If the glucose stores are used up within a few days then this high cal food won't get stored as fat, and the metabolism is higher than previously so low cal eating will have a greater effect then.

I'm not sure when the body starts breaking down muscle instead of fat but I did read that there is a minimum amount of calories you can reduce before it does that. Muscle as I'm sure you know uses energy so if we're starving having less muscles means that we will live longer. So for this reason as well there must be a low limit for how little calories to eat and maintain fat loss. Do you know what that is? Right now I'm wondering if this new weight loss I had is due to higher leptin levels or is it because I'm not breaking down muscle to maintain a low metabolism because I'm above the minimum average calorie level for me.

I wish that I could find scientific studies to prove this stuff. At least body builders and rugby players seem to be a good source of information, and from long years of success keeping their fat low and energy high I believe what they say works for them but even then on their forums they have differing theories of when to refeed and how often. And I'm not lifting weights like crazy or playing rugby. I feel like doing a study myself on normal humans.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

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

After the refeed day did you feel like you had more energy?

IntoTouch: WoW, that is a massive amount of info for me to absorb atm. :lol:

I'll just answer the question and let you know how my week went.

Last Sunday was Spike, menu above.
Monday, I was full from Sunday. I didn't have any GI (tummy) issues:
Cals were 1224
I didn't weigh
Exercise Cals: 499

Tuesday
Cals: 1493
I didn't weigh
Exercise Cals: 665

Wednesday
Cals: 1457
Weight: 146.8
Exercise Cals: 406

Thursday
Cals: 1357
Weight: 146.8
Exercise Cals: 561

Friday
Cals: 1289
Weight: 147.4 (Poor sleep(5 hrs)/muscles retaining lactic acid)
Exercise Cals:736

Saturday
Cals: 1421
Weight: 146.4
Exercise Cals: to be determined

Sunday is Spike for me again and I have the food planned out for 24 hours worth of eating, because I work Sunday night. This is defo working for me right now, but I'm NOT eating pasta & pizza on Spike Day. I'm trying aggressively to eliminate the junk & highly processed carbs. I'll continue to follow and let you know how it goes this week :)

BTW: Being 146 has broken the plateau I've been in since July! I am flushed with excitement!!

There is lots of good information here! :) I don't have a lot of experience with this but I know that after a year of a strict calorie counting, I was stuck around 170 pounds. We went on a family camping trip for three days and I decided to take a break and enjoy what I wanted without counting. This included chips, hot dogs and ice cream. I ended up losing three pounds when I was fearful that I would gain weight. I am going to keep this in mind if I hit a plateau this time around :)

K9 Owner that is brilliant! Well done! I'm delighted to hear it.

If you don't mind me asking how much exactly did you lose? Also are you still eating much less than your lowest estimate maintenance level on average per week?

I'm wondering if you are increasing your metabolism yet or do you think that you still need to eat less than normal people who haven't been on low cal diets for months/years. I'd also like to know because I've come across some mad information in the 4 hour body diet and in how much Lance Armstrong was eating. These showed people eating far and above what they should be able to eat without gaining weight.


Week 2 Review:

Sat: 2484cal Wed: 2140cal 5 Day Average: 1409
Overall Average: 1709 per day

Result: Weight loss of 1/3lb

Although this is a tiny weight loss I am still amazed that I didn't gain. Even after reading all the information that I could find on this it seems unbelievable to me. I weighed myself three times this morning and moved the scales to different parts of the floor in case it was unbalanced or not working. I am 100% sure that the last time that I ate around 1700 or even 1600 calories per day the weight just piled on. That was eating more every day rather than the three day gap then refeed. There is definitely something to this.

However my body is still stuck on lower metabolism/ leptin levels. The lowest estimates of my daily needs are above still what I ate I do think that my metabolism is still stuck on low. I was still colder than other people as well last week. And last week was a serious exercise week. I wish I could get my metabolism/leptin levels up really high quickly.

The way that my weight fluctuated during the week was very strange. I weighed myself every morning and my lowest weight was right after Saturday, when I ate the most. Then the highest was two days later after two days eating 1230cal on average. I don't understand this. Perhaps it takes a couple of days for the body to make fat? Does anyone know why should be?

I think if I want to go on maintenance this will be how I do it. Although I don't enjoy large doses of high carb foods, having two days of high calorie may let me live a little more and hopefully keep my metabolism higher. It seems to keep me from gaining weight and eating more which is brilliant.

Now I'm in a dilemma. If the theory that I've been reading is correct then I would be wise to keep eating more calories until my metabolism/leptin levels stay high regularly. But I want to lose weight now!

So, I will go back to one refeed day per week and see how I progress with this. Although the idea of being warm and having more energy is very tempting I want to get thinner more and have been stuck at the same level for months. I will aim for around 2400 refeed then 1400 per day again.

The report of another week of Spike.
Well, it has been more eventful than what I would have liked to report, but here it is…
I'll give the food journal for Spike Day only.

Sun, Jan 15::Worked, 1st day of TOM
Hissho Sushi, Crunchy Roll, Chobani Greek Yogurt w/Frozen Raspberries, 6 Hazelnuts, & 1 tsp Agave, Blue Bunny Health Smart 4 oz Vanilla Ice Cream
1/2 NOW Whey ProteinDouble Dense Green Monster
1/2 NOW Whey ProteinDouble Dense Green Monster, 3 Ritz Crackers w/1 tsp PB, 1/2 Mutilgrain round, 3 slices Smoked Turkey
1/2 c Grapes, Sante Fe Chicken Wrap, Cottage Cheese w/Strawberry Jam
Total 2821
Exercise: 497


Monday (TOM)
Cals: 1223
I didn't weigh
Exercise Cals: 504

Tuesday(TOM)
Cals: 841
I didn't weigh
Exercise Cals: NONE (Chiropractor, lower back issues)

Wednesday (TOM)
Cals: 1615 (tried to make up for Tuesday's poor eating)
I didn't weigh
Exercise Cals: 244


Thursday
Cals: 1245
Weight: 146.6
Exercise Cals: 305
*Massage Therapist after workout*

Friday (Another rest day, did some yoga)
Cals: 1228
Weight: 146.0
Exercise Cals: 76

Saturday
Cals will be ~ 1600
Exercise Cals ? (Running 3-4 miler today)
I will not weigh today

I had to rest my back this week due to prior back injury. I don't want to re-injure it for the training of this 1/2 mary. So, a couple of days, I did minimal exercise--nothing like last week.Also, TOM always brings lower back pain for me--sometimes it is bearable, sometimes--like this past week, it was not. Thereby forcing me to rest. I'm still satisfied with a 1.4 lb loss.
Also, I am going to a girl's night out tonight and reserved some of my cals for vino :yay: which is why I've had a couple of 1200 cal days back to back. I shouldn't have any of these issues next week & will know for sure if my plateau has finally broken by next Friday :)

IntoTouch: From when I started--last April--I weighed 160.2 (August 2010, I weighed 167). I lost down to 149.4 by July 29, 2011. So from April-July, it was coming off really well, safely-roughly 1 lb/week. Then, I started going back and forth between 148-151 ever since then. But I have been on holiday. I took a cruise for a week in October. Then the holidays--which I didn't count calories and exercised minimally and still plateaued--no gains or losses despite not counting or exercising for about 3 weeks.

IntoTouch: I can't send you PMs, so I'll post this link on here, just let me know if you can't view it.

Plateau Nutrition Story

I personally am not doing a cycling type thing... I just stay with my regular 1600cal per day routine for 6 days.. and on sun or sat i forget about it and eat w/e i want i however much of it :). So far (3 times) it has been fine. So since its not cycling I am not sure if it will actually help with my metabolism (which i think dropped due to my 1600 routine).

I read in one of my diet books to do one week of 1200 calories, then 3 weeks of (I believe) 1500 calories and cycle like that until you hit your goal weight. When at goal weight, eat approximately 2000 calories to maintain and keep metabolism going. If you go above 3 lbs of goal weight, cycle again on 1200 calories for 3 to 4 days. I'm still just starting this though!

Jessica, Good luck with that diet. I hope that it works for you. It would be brilliant if it did.

This won't word for me unfortunately. I probably tried this accidently for the past decade or so. I would put on weight quickly when I went anywhere near 2000 calories a day or the lowest estimate of my calorie needs. (1750) So now I'm suspicious of any diet that suggests that I could go back to normal amounts of calories just like that. I've basically had to be on a low cal diet all the time since I first did one. This is the first time that I have eaten more than 1500 to 1800 on average and not gained weight. However that's just me.

K9Owner, thanks for that. I will check it out.

I'm going to post about this week's Spike Day mid-week instead of waiting until the end of the week.

I HAD a great plan with last Saturday's attempt at a 1600 cal day with vino, but it did NOT turn out according to plan :cry:
I ended up having to use Saturday as my Spike Day rather than Sunday.

Saturday Spike Day
Cals: 2840 (Junk after Merlot:chips, dip, cookies) **Caused MAJOR cravings for Sunday
Weight: Did not weigh
Exercise Cals: 631

Sunday (Cravings ALL day)
Cals: 1405
Weight: Did Not weigh
Exercise Cals: 421

Monday
Cals: 1228
Weight: 147.6
Exercise Cals: 309

Tuesday
Cals: 1877 :fr: ( I wasn't at home for dinner)
Weight: 145.6
Exercise Cals: 565

Wednesday's Unofficial Plan
Cals: ~1200
Weight: 144.6
Exercise Cals: TBD

The guy who wrote the Spike Diet Book is on MFP. I have read many of his posts, which all seem to make alot of sense to me, especially after having experienced a 6 month plateau. When people tried to tell me to eat more, I was extremely reluctant to do so for fear of gaining back to 153-155 after being at 149-150 for so long.

It was only after it became my last resort that I had to try some sort of different approach. I'm not sorry I did it this way though. It has taught me alot about being in maintenance mode and eating at maintenance calories & how to make the BEST selections of food for nutrient denseness while the cals are low.

K9 Owner, sounds like you had a great Saturday! Isn't it weird when going over your diet is a good thing?

What were you craving the day after your spike day? I haven't experienced cravings yet, but the day after I'm much hungrier than normal.

Week 3 results:

Sat 2403 calories, 6 day average: 1332 calories
Overall average: 1485 calories per day

Weight loss: 0 Weight gain: 0

Back on the plateau! Aaaaaargh!

So I ate far less this week. And this is the week that I lost nothing. My weight varied the same way as it did on the first week. It peaks the Tuesday after the refeed Saturday, drops to it's lowest again on Thursday and then stays there.

Why have I stalled again? Maybe I need to eat more every day again? I don't know. This is frustrating. And confusing.
Next week I will eat above 1400 per day again and see if this helps. There's no way that I'm eating less than what I ate this week. That would send me into constant hunger and craving territory.

Week 4 results:

Sat: 2408 6 Day average: 1492
Overall Average: 1623

Result; Weight gain of a half a pound.

So eating a little more made me gain this week. And yet the week that I had two refeed days and ate far more. I lost a little bit. I'm still confused.

Next week I will try to eat a little less again and also include more calcium rich food.

I don't know... I've always found it impossible to believe that one could eat, say, 1,500 calories/day and not lose weight, then bump it up to 2,000 for a day or two and start losing. The strategy may appear to "work" for a couple of weeks because of random weight fluctuations, but I just can't believe it could work long-term. I also haven't seen any credible scientific studies supporting this approach.

I guess my intuition/common sense tells me there's no such thing as a free lunch and that the fewer calories you eat, the more weight you'll lose (though the rate of weight loss may be lower than expected in severely restricted diets). The Weight Watchers research team appears to agree: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/a...1&art_id=35501


F.

IntoTouch: I gained 0.4 the 4th week as well :( But it was because I ate poorly throughout the week, had way to much alcohol on Spike Day & ate Taco Bell (yuck) that day too. I also didn't exercise as much. Double Whammy!!
So, here is the breakdown of last week.

Sunday (Spike Day)
Cals: 3158
Weight: 145.4
Exercise Cals: 85

Monday
Cals: 1228
Weight: 147.6
Exercise Cals: 338

Tuesday
Cals: 1446
Weight: 146.4
Exercise Cals:510

Wednesday
Cals: 1747
Weight: 146.4
Exercise Cals: 527

Thursday
Cals: 1369
Weight:146.6
Exercise Cals: 306

Friday
Cals: 1195
Weight:145.8
Exercise Cals: 441

Saturday
Cals: 1227
Weight:No WI
Exercise Cals:176

Total Weekly Cals: 11370
Total Exercise Cals: 2383

Another thing that hindered my weight loss this week was over-eating on Spike Day. As far as the cravings from the alcohol, I craved more highly processed foods--like tortilla chips, bread, crackers, etc.

It will be a long time before I drink vino again. It sets me back to far. At this point, even 0.4 is too far for me!

FreeLanceMomma: I will not discredit the WW approach to helping people lose weight. All I know is I did their plan with my MIL and followed it to a tee! She lost 25 lbs. I didn't lose 1 ounce!!
However, this statement
I guess my intuition/common sense tells me there's no such thing as a free lunch and that the fewer calories you eat, the more weight you'll lose (though the rate of weight loss may be lower than expected in severely restricted diets). The Weight Watchers research team appears to agree: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/a...1&art_id=35501

I don't really know who calls working out and training for a 1/2 Marathon daily and NOT eating the calories back that you burn "free".
Furthermore, if you've been at a plateau for 6 months, you're almost willing to try anything--except QUITTING!
I would add, this isn't a mere "eating 1500 cals per day, then upping it to 2000 for 2 days". For me, it's supposed to be 1200/1400 alternating Monday- Saturday, then eating between 2600-2800 cals on Sunday.
Also, perhaps science has not had any clinical trials, but there are a host of people who have had success with Spike84 on several forums & My Fitness Pal. And, this approach DID allow me to break through a 6 MONTH plateau after trying several other ways!