Carb Re-Feed and Thanksgiving Weight Gain page

[deadliftdan]

My weight loss has slowed / stalled and my big lifts at the gym have declined over the last few weeks. I have been toying with the idea of using clean, primal Carb Re-Feeds on my heavy training days coupled with intermittent fasting on my "off days" to bust through a weight loss plateau.

Mark describe it here. Rather than a "cheat" day with trips to taco bell or pizza, I would load up on carb-dense fruits and sweet potatoes.

Had a clean re-feed on Tuesday for the first time. Felt good but will need more time to see if it works.

Had a "cheat" re-feed on Thanksgiving and I'm almost seven pounds heavier this morning. It included a fruit smoothy at Denny's as part of my high-protein (eggs, bacon, sausage only) post workout breakfast and then a SAD Thanksgiving. Couple of micro-brews, chips and dip, and full-fledged thanksgiving dinner with fixings and pie.

And I'm 7 pounds heavier this morning than I was yesterday. . .

Reading that a gram of restored glycogen retains 4 grams of water and contributes to water weight gain during re-feeds. Thoughts?

[Dr. Bork Bork]

It's water weight. I felt like I did really well yesterday. I ate a lot of carbs, but most of it came from veggies (except for a low blood sugar emergency in the morning where I downed some starburst and chocolate covered marshmallows). I only had 1 cookie for dessert. Pie never got made. Fudge never got made. Half way through dinner I was ready for bed and I konked out at 9p. So, yeah, didn't have a whole lot of time to be as naughty as I planned.
Point of the story: I'm 4 lbs heavier today than I was yesterday. Took me all week to drop that 4 lbs, now I gotta do it again.
I just go back to VLC with lots of fat, meat, and veggies, and the occasional piece of fruit, and it comes off again (which is saying something since I'm growing a whole other human being atm, and she's probably gaining an ounce a day at this point)
Also wanted to add that I, too, have a cheat day every week. Thanksgiving was it for me. Sorta sad I missed out on my planned serving of egg nog gelato from Talenti.

[Gorbag]

And I'm 7 pounds heavier this morning than I was yesterday. . .

Reading that a gram of restored glycogen retains 4 grams of water and contributes to water weight gain during re-feeds. Thoughts?

Water weight due to refill of carbs and sodium mostly, but also more weight from increased volume of food that will end up in the feces anyway...

[drjoyous]

oh dr. bork bork--talenti! you said the magic word. Sea Salt Caramel. Ymmmmmmmm. Now i haveta be good.....

[Dr. Bork Bork]

Talenti is AWESOME! I'd get Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, as well, but it's $13/pint (an "only on your birthday and Christmas" sort of treat)

I'm having dirty, rotten, no good, very bad thoughts right now about how a slice of gluten free pumpkin chocolate chunk bread would taste, warmed under a scoop of Talenti's egg nog gelato, and topped with my homemade cranberry persimmon dressing.

[deadliftdan]

Re-feed progress report:

Lost 4 of the pounds I "gained" from the Thanksgiving Re-Feed as of this morning. Either I had a 14,000 calorie deficit on Black Friday or there was something to the posts suggesting my re-feed weight gain was water weight.

Swam fasted (late morning) on the day after the re-feed and felt great. Did just over a mile in the pool, which is about double the distance I went the last time I swam.

Lifted on Saturday (2 days after re-feed). Again fasted (late morning) with a serving of BCAAs (amino acids) immediately before my workout. Felt extremely strong compared to my last few workouts. Did 8 quick singles with 365 pounds (20 seconds rest between each single). Last Saturday, after months of low carb (<100 grams / day) and occasional VLC days, I only got 365 for one rep and it took everything I had.

Wondering how long Thursday's re-feed will produce better gym results? My next lift day is Tuesday. We'll see then.