Refeed

A refeed is a short, controlled break from a calorie deficit, commonly lasting 24 hours, often once a week.^{1Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 122.} Calories rise to roughly maintenance, mainly through carbohydrate, to restore glycogen, possibly raise leptin and offer a psychological break that could support training and muscle retention.^{1Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 122.}

Evidence for reversing metabolic adaptation is limited: in women, one day far above maintenance didn’t undo diet-related hormonal changes, while 48 hours at about maintenance began to.^{2Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 123.} Norton and Baxter note that most research finds no fat loss advantage to alternating high and low days.^{3Norton and Baxter, The Complete Reverse Dieting Guide, p. 27.} Three days of carbohydrate overfeeding raised leptin by 28% and energy expenditure by 7%, only about 140 calories for someone burning 2,000 a day.^{3Norton and Baxter, The Complete Reverse Dieting Guide, p. 27.}

In practice

• Account for the refeed in the weekly deficit: for a 1.5 lb weekly loss, that means six diet days at 875 kcal below maintenance instead of seven at 750.^{4Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 124.}
• For clients tracking macros, keep protein and fat at diet-day levels and add carbohydrate until calories reach maintenance.^{4Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 124.}
• Helms and colleagues suggest two consecutive refeed days once a client is lean, below about 12% body fat for men or 20% for women.^{5Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 126.} In a 7-week study, five diet days and two refeed days preserved more lean mass and resting expenditure than daily restriction with the same weekly deficit.^{6Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 125.},^{5Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 126.}
• Norton and Baxter consider diet breaks of one to two weeks at maintenance more promising than refeeds.^{3Norton and Baxter, The Complete Reverse Dieting Guide, p. 27.}