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How To Do A Carb Refeed Successfully
Looking to smash a carb refeed but you have no idea where to start?
I get it.... it's pretty daunting at first but this article is going to help you get it right first time.
If you already know about the basics of a carb refeed and you're just looking for my food ideas, you can find them at the bottom of this article.
Why should you have a carb refeed?
Your body has a reserve energy store called glycogen, you tap into that energy during different points of your day, imagine it as a back pack filled with additional energy. Well... because you're in a calorie deficit that back pack will inevitably become depleted.
A good example of this is would be...
Say you're at the gym doing exercise, and you had a pre workout meal of a crumpet and jam. Your body will utilise that available energy first. Once it's burned through that it will start to then tap into your glycogen stores. If your stores are empty you will find your workouts become shorter and shorter. So every now and then it's a good idea to have a carb-refeed.
What is a carb refeed?
For one day only you will be in a surplus of calories, however don't panic... those excess calories won't be stored as fat, as your body knows your glycogen stores (back pack) is depleted, so it will convert those excess carbs into glycogen for your body to use later.
What qualifies for a re-feed? How often should I have a carb refeed?
- Look out for being cranky.
- Low on energy.
- Workouts are a real struggle.
- Looking flat in the gym/with no pump.
- Hungry.
- You must have achieved fat loss in previous weeks. If you’ve not lost then you do not need a Refeed.
The refeed formula you NEED to know...
Before we do anything, I need you to go into your MFP and increase your calories by 1750 for ONE DAY ONLY. The following day goes to your usual calories or whatever new calories a coach has set you.
Below I'm going to write out how to set your macros, but you MUST NOT go over your fat and protein goal. We want majority of your calories to be used up by pure carbs.
You don't need any carb refeed calculators, just use the formula above.
Females, you need to:
- Set your protein goal as close as you can to 90g
- Set your fat goal as close as you can to 40g
- Distribute the rest of your calories towards carbs
Males, this is what you need to do:
- Set your protein goal as close as you can to 150g
- Set your fat goal as close as you can to 60g
- Distribute the rest of your calories towards carbs
Extra tips:
- Don’t log your weight the day after. Expect the scales to fluctuate over a few days before it settles down!
- Hammer the water. More than you usually do!!
- Choose a specific day to do your refeed. This allows you to go and get what you need and meal prep ahead of time.
- When having cereal, its important to consider the milk you are using.
- If you want to try fit the likes of a Pizza in, you need to be super strict with fats on other meals.
Now you have your goals set up for that day, you are probably wondering "What food should I eat on my refeed?" or "I need carb refeed food ideas"
I've grafted out a list of my go-to carb refeed products that you can screenshot or add to your shopping list.
