For some it might be too soon to talk about refeeding having just had Christmas and New Years, but it's a very relevant topic which I want to discuss with you today.
Refeeding is often misunderstood and other times mis-used.
What is a refeed?
It's a deliberately planned high calorie day, where often extra calories come from carbohydrates to "spike" your thyroid output which will as a result speed up your metabolism.
When should I use a refeed?
This will depend on multiple things including your calorie intake, your body fat levels, your gender, your pre-disposition to holding/burning fat and timescales in relation to your goal.
Arguably, the leaner you are the more frequently you should refeed. This is because refeeds by nature will induce an aggressive insulin response, therefore you need to have the insulin sensitivity to cope with it - if you're lean the chances are you will. Also, as your leptin levels drop they make fat loss more difficult. They are more likely to drastically drop if you're lean and in a calorie deficit. This points towards the fact that the leaner you are, the more important it is to have a refeed more often.
However, even if you are building muscle in a calorie surplus sometimes there is a case for a refeed for a different reason. Those again who are lean, will find this helps create a larger calorie surplus and adds additional fuel for big workouts i.e. leg day.
Do I have to be lean to have a refeed then?
Not necessarily, it just means that if your fat levels are high (for men anything over 20%) then you don't need them very frequently whilst on a fat loss transformation as a rule. It will depend on your previous body composition and genetics of course, but the reality is the leaner you are the more often you'll make use of a refeed productively. If your fat levels are 20% its more likely there will be some insulin resistance and your leptin levels will not drop too low for at least 6-8 weeks whilst in an appropriate deficit (provided its not too harsh!).
How do I refeed?
This is another subjective question.
Having said that, you'd be looking to increase your carbs anywhere between 50-100% depending in the circumstances. You can reduce your protein by about 25%-35% on these days as additional carbs means your protein requirements come down, as they are "protein sparing."
Which carbs are best for a refeed?
I always see people throw up pictures on IG of their "refeed" which is just a day of eating s*** and binging! Some people can get away with this, but I feel it can also be short sited to be this aggressive with junk. This food is not going to be great for your digestive tract, causing excessive inflammation which means your ability to assimilate nutrients will potentially suffer for days to come. Also remember if you've removed certain foods from your diet your gut will naturally down-regualte naturally occurring enzymes to break certain foods down, which can make digesting them difficult.
In reality, you want to use the same carb sources and potentially add some "cheat" food in but keep it to no more than around 30% of your overall calories for the day (refeed day). For most, this is reasonable.
If you are very lean, and you struggle to get enough calories down (as you're calorie intake is already high) sometimes you may need more calorie dense foods just to get enough calories down in a day, but those in this position are in the minority.
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