![]() The Power Of A Refeed And Leptin! Been dieting for a while and not seeing any results? Feel like your starving all the time but meanwhile fat loss is a foreign word to you. If you are finding yourself in this situation, you are likely suffering the consequences of low leptin levels. Leptin, part of the cytokine family, is synthesized primarily by your adipose tissue, with a small contribution coming from the skeletal muscles and brain. The synthesis rate of leptin is mostly controlled by both numbers of body fat cells as well as size of your current bodyfat cells. Leptin's main function in the body is to play a significant role in regulating both hunger, food intake and energy expenditure. As leptin levels fall, the greater your cravings become for all those wonderful foods that you used to eat when you weren't dieting. So if you are experiencing more intense cravings on a daily basis, take some relief in knowing that this is actually your body responding to a physiological signal, not just your mind playing nasty games with you and making your life miserable. Along with hunger pangs, leptin also signifies a slowing metabolism. Whenever you are on a hypocalorie diet for an extended period of time, your body will begin to slow its metabolic functions in an effort to 'make due' with the amount of fuel that it is being given. Know what this means for you? Little or no fat loss. Not a good situation. Raising Leptin Levels. So, your goal is to periodically kick your leptin levels back up so as to avoid the intense physical hunger and the slowed- to- a- crawl metabolism. Some people will chose to have cheat days in an effort to accomplish this goal, which is basically a meal or whole day of professed binging on everything in sight. This may not be the best course of action however. Leptin is highly responsive to glucose metabolism so when doing a refeed, you will benefit much more if the majority of your excess calories are coming from good sources of carbohydrates that will turn into glucose. When done this way, leptin levels will show a significant rise over if you had eaten a surplus of calories coming from more protein, fat, or fructose. Refeeding. How much should you refeed yourself? This will depend on how long you have been dieting, how intense your diet is, and your current level of bodyfat. Those who are at a lower level of bodyfat will need to refeed more often than those who aren't. Similarly, the more extreme the diet being followed, the more intense the refeed. Basically this has to do with how low leptin levels are. The lower the levels, the more calories above maintenance you will be needed to bring them back up. Usually, a refeed should consist of 2. ![]() ![]() My experience with carb refeeds. This is how my arms looked on the third day.yeah, r/swoleacceptance anyone? IntenseMuscle.com > Main Forums > IntenseMuscle Main Discussion Forum > Keto Diet. AnabolicMinds.com > Forum > Nutrition Forum > Weight Loss > My 'CARB REFEED' day is coming up what to eat??? My 'CARB REFEED' day is coming up what. Weigh yourself in the morning of your.There are so many GDAs and Insulin mimickers, on the market right now.I was just looking to get some thoughts on what might be beneficial for my super high carb/low fat refeed days on Keto?? I've been utilizing Keto dieting.
The higher you decide to bring your calories, the shorter period of time you will want to refeed for. If your leptin levels have almost dropped of the earth, you will want to refeed for a full week, but keep your calories slightly more moderate. The downside to a refeed is that sometimes you will have to accept a small amount of fat gain. But, looking on the bright side, when you go back to your diet, your metabolism will be humming again and you should jump start the fat loss process. In a few individuals, they will actually become leaner during the process; however this is not the norm. You can include some of your more desired foods in the refeed, after all, this is partly to relieve you psychologically from the restraints you feel during the dieting process, however make sure the rest is coming from good sources. Hormonal Profile. Another advantage to increasing leptin levels is that it will promote a more positive hormonal profile. When dieting, males experience a decreased testosterone level, which I'm sure you know makes maintaining muscle mass particularly difficult. When you increase leptin levels you will be increasing liver glycogen, which will drive up testosterone, along with growth hormone and t. This will put you in a much better position to realize your fat loss goals then the stalled position you were in earlier. Female Leptin Levels. Females should take particular caution when dealing with leptin levels as a halt in reproduction hormones can occur when leptin gets low enough. This is shown through the stoppage of menstruation, commonly experienced by those in the bodybuilding/fitness realm. This is very dangerous, as females who go long enough in this state risk a whole host of problems such as decreased bone mass and density along with a risk of osteoporosis. Therefore, women should be refeeding on a regular basis to ensure this does not become an issue. ![]() Immune Function. Another health benefit that comes out of a refeed is increased immune function. The longer and harder we diet, the more stress we place on our body and the more we risk getting an illness. Without adequate calories, the immune system cannot perform up to par and therefore cannot fight of invading organisms as well. If you are finding that you are constantly getting sick and aren't really showing signs of getting better, this could be a good indication it's time for more calories. Take It Easy. One final note should be made that on the days of a refeed you should not increase your workout volume at all or else you will be partly defeating the purpose of this process. It may be psychologically tempting, you may think you should try and burn off all these extra calories, however by doing this you will just set yourself back further and won't accomplish much. ![]() ![]() ![]() Try and take it easy and let your muscles suck up all these extra nutrients, storing them for later use and getting your metabolism back running. Conclusion. When you see a drastic improvement the following week - once you resume your training and diet plan - you will be convinced that refeeds aren't a scary thing and are absolutely necessary if you hope to achieve all your goals. Reference. Leptin: The Next Big Thing I. ![]() ![]() Cyclical Ketogenic Diet: An In- depth Look. Instead of ingesting small amounts of carbohydrates around your workouts, the cyclical ketogenic diet devotes one to two FULL days of high carbohydrate consumption in order to fully refill muscle glycogen stores. This means that CKDs are not for beginners that are not able to perform the necessary amount or intensity of training. You must completely deplete glycogen stores each week in order to have a successful CKD. CKD is used for maximum muscle growth, but the downside is that you might gain some body fat. If you’re a beginner or intermediate trainer, then a Targeted Ketogenic Diet is recommended. ![]() The standard format for a cyclical ketogenic diet is 5- 6 days of ketogenic dieting and 1- 2 days of high carb eating. Others have also experimented with 2 week cycles, where 1. The 2 week split has also had good results, but it doesn’t fit around everyone. A good workout example would be: Monday/Tuesday . Monday could be legs and abs, and Tuesday could be chest, back, and arms. Friday . If low rep, heavy weights are being used, then 2- 3 sets should be necessary. Conversely, if high rep, moderate weights are being used, you would need to do 5- 6 sets. How do I do the CKD? The low- carb portion of the cyclical ketogenic diet is identical to that of a Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD). The nutrition is as follows: Calories for gaining mass: 1. Calories to lose weight: 1. Calories to maintain weight: 1. Carbohydrates: 3. The fewer consumed, the faster you enter ketosis . Afterwards, set for your goals (1. Fats: Remainder of caloric needs. Beginning the Carb- load. To gear yourself toward an anabolic state, you will want to begin your carb loading 5 hours prior to your final workout. At this time, 2. 5- 5. The Carb- load. Most commonly, people just consume whatever they want during their carb- loads. Although quite haphazard, it still provides results. For those of us who want a more scientific approach, I will go through the guidelines for proper nutrient intake while doing a carb load. Nutrient Intake. Your own experimentation is the best thing to recommend here, but I will provide you with some guidelines to help: First 2. Carbohydrates will make up 7. Higher GI foods should be consumed. Second 2. 4 hours: 6. Lower GI foods should be consumed. Re- entering Ketosis After Carb Up. Emptying the store of glycogen in the liver will ensure your merry way to ketosis. The easiest and most foolproof method to do this? Simply follow these steps. Day 1: Do not eat after 6pm. Day 2: Wake up and perform HIIT or intense weight training on an empty stomach. Begin strict ketogenic diet with 0- 2% carb intake. Day 3: Wake up and perform MISS (medium intensity steady state) or medium intensity weight training on an empty stomach. Return to normal ketogenic diet with 3- 5% carb intake. The longer you have been on a ketogenic diet, the more your body is adapted for this. Resistance and conditioning will provide better results than aerobic training. Also, the better the carb choices (lower GI), the easier it is to re- enter ketosis. The more consistent you are with your cyclical ketogenic diet (proper carb ups, not cheating, etc.), the easier it will be to come back . Carb loading to get 2 more reps of your 1.
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