I lost it!

Ok, I still live at home (can't afford to move out while in full-time
education, sorry) so when my parents went away for the weekend, I lost it a
bit. I had three takeaway meals in as many days and went out for a drink or
two with my girlfriend. I lost count of my calories and everything - I must
have been taking in two to three times what I was on - about 3000 - 4000
calories per day. My metabolic rate is about 2800 kcal/day. So, although I
enjoyed my weekend (and got plenty of exercise, wink wink), I felt
disappointed with myself at failing so easily.

So what to do. Back on the diet as of this week. I stepped on the scales
yesterday morning, and found my weight to be 191lb - I had only gained a
pound! And following my usual diet for yesterday, I stepped back on the
scales this morning (I weigh myself EVERY day), and found my weight to be
189lb!!! That is the lowest weight I have been in ages - and it came after
the weekend's gorging.

Any explanations?

MadJock (trying to find his punishment for the weekend's bad behaviour)
204/189/165

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 15:43:05 +0100, "MadJock"
wrote:

Ok, I still live at home (can't afford to move out while in full-time
education, sorry) so when my parents went away for the weekend, I lost it a
bit. I had three takeaway meals in as many days and went out for a drink or
two with my girlfriend. I lost count of my calories and everything - I must
have been taking in two to three times what I was on - about 3000 - 4000
calories per day. My metabolic rate is about 2800 kcal/day. So, although I
enjoyed my weekend (and got plenty of exercise, wink wink), I felt
disappointed with myself at failing so easily.

So what to do. Back on the diet as of this week. I stepped on the scales
yesterday morning, and found my weight to be 191lb - I had only gained a
pound! And following my usual diet for yesterday, I stepped back on the
scales this morning (I weigh myself EVERY day), and found my weight to be
189lb!!! That is the lowest weight I have been in ages - and it came after
the weekend's gorging.

Any explanations?

MadJock (trying to find his punishment for the weekend's bad behaviour)
204/189/165



Yeah, its called periodic Refeed. Do a google search on "refeed"
and you'll find lots of information.

Yeah, its called periodic Refeed. Do a google search on "refeed"
and you'll find lots of information.

Thanks Jayjay - that helped. So would I be right in saying that this is a
good thing, if you can keep a grip on it? The idea I get from my search on
Google is that by giving my body what it wants (occasionally) fools it into
thinking that it is not going without, thereby maintaining my metabolic rate
at a high level. So, my weekend's eating has actually helped rather than
hindered, by increasing the rate that I burn calories in my sedentary state.

If I have understood the above correctly, then it would seem that (for lack
of better words) a starvation-binge diet would actually be good for you.
However, I have heard the exact opposite from other places.

Should I book occasional weekends in advance where I can go to the pub and
get a chicken pakora and chips on the way home - safe in the knowledge that
it will help me in the long run?

MadJock

"MadJock" wrote in message
...
Yeah, its called periodic Refeed. Do a google search on "refeed"
and you'll find lots of information.

Thanks Jayjay - that helped. So would I be right in saying that this is a
good thing, if you can keep a grip on it? The idea I get from my search
on
Google is that by giving my body what it wants (occasionally) fools it
into
thinking that it is not going without, thereby maintaining my metabolic
rate
at a high level. So, my weekend's eating has actually helped rather than
hindered, by increasing the rate that I burn calories in my sedentary
state.

If I have understood the above correctly, then it would seem that (for
lack
of better words) a starvation-binge diet would actually be good for you.
However, I have heard the exact opposite from other places.

Should I book occasional weekends in advance where I can go to the pub and
get a chicken pakora and chips on the way home - safe in the knowledge
that
it will help me in the long run?

NOT starvation-binge. Eat at a reduced level for long enough and the body
gets used to or adapts to the reduced levels. A refeed keeps the metabolism
going, and also replenishes certain chemicals in the body (leptin
specifically, but that's the extent of my knowledge) which seems to aid in
weight loss. You don't want to starve, because when you do, your body
stores fat and burns muscle - this is VERY BAD for obvious reasons.

det

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 16:15:02 +0100, "MadJock"
wrote:

Yeah, its called periodic Refeed. Do a google search on "refeed"
and you'll find lots of information.

Thanks Jayjay - that helped. So would I be right in saying that this is a
good thing, if you can keep a grip on it? The idea I get from my search on
Google is that by giving my body what it wants (occasionally) fools it into
thinking that it is not going without, thereby maintaining my metabolic rate
at a high level. So, my weekend's eating has actually helped rather than
hindered, by increasing the rate that I burn calories in my sedentary state.

If I have understood the above correctly, then it would seem that (for lack
of better words) a starvation-binge diet would actually be good for you.
However, I have heard the exact opposite from other places.

I would think that starvation/binge is different than diet/refeed.
There are a few key things here. Starvation denotes just that,
starvation. Where as diet, is a calorie restriction.

At some point the is a line drawn between starvation and diet where
the body denotes a difference in how it handles the bodies functions.
At some point in cal restriction the body says "ok, stop using the
fat, we need to protect and preserve those because this will be a long
starvation, instead we will start using muscle and shutting down the
more vital resources." This is where lack of energy comes in, as
well as health problems as your body is turning inwards to slow down
your metabolism to help preserve your body.



Should I book occasional weekends in advance where I can go to the pub and
get a chicken pakora and chips on the way home - safe in the knowledge that
it will help me in the long run?

Many low cal dieters will plan scheduled re-feeds. How people
handle those refeeds is an individual thing. Me, my refeeds tend to
be more like your experience, a weekend or a day where I just go over
board but don't worry about what it is I consume. For other people
it is a strict refeed - by adding one extra meal that is in their
usual diet, but the meal would just increase the number of calories
they consume, but the percentages of carbs, fat, prot remain constant.

For me, refeeds are to keep from binging. I'm the tupe that if I
deprive myself for too long I'll begin craving foods and am more
likely to binge. Whereas if I have regular refeeds I don' thave the
cravings and binge tendencies.



MadJock

NOT starvation-binge. Eat at a reduced level for long enough and the body
gets used to or adapts to the reduced levels. A refeed keeps the
metabolism
going, and also replenishes certain chemicals in the body (leptin
specifically, but that's the extent of my knowledge) which seems to aid in
weight loss. You don't want to starve, because when you do, your body
stores fat and burns muscle - this is VERY BAD for obvious reasons.

det

Yeah, I qualified it with "for lack of better words". I have now learned
the words I meant which are "diet-refeed".

MadJock