Refeed days, unlike cheat days, can be a productive way to keep metabolism high and maintain your sanity while dieting.
These are days when you eat a little more than usual in a deliberate, controlled manner while still keeping overall calories and macros in check.
When I’m cutting, I target 1,500 to 1,700 calories per day with a couple of refeed days per week of 2,000 to 2,200 calories.
Does this mean I'll never have a 3,000+ calorie day?
Of course not.
But I'd rather save a day like this for a real occasion like Thanksgiving or Christmas than a random Friday.
On this random Friday, I had a refeed day where I logged about 2,100 calories:
While I did not eat everything I wanted, I did eat plenty of foods I enjoyed.
If I had a free-for-all cheat day and ate everything I wanted, I estimate I would have been closer to 4,000 calories.
Yes, that's right. I would have eaten the equivalent of two entire refeed days.
Instead, I kept my calories under control, was close to my macro targets, and actually ended the day feeling much better than if I would have if I ate and drank whatever I wanted.
Now, it's easy to just say to eat in a controlled manner. But what exactly does that entail?
The last thing I want is for you to become a hermit and confine yourself to your house in order to stick to your diet. If you want to have a life with friends, you're going to need to learn to eat sensibly in the real world.
During my refeed day, I ate every meal out. I went out to lunch with coworkers. Then, I went to happy hour after work. Then, I had dinner. Then, I went to a show.
So, I'm going to break it all down for you. I'll show you exactly what I ate on my refeed day and how much worse it could have been if it were a cheat day.
Let's get down to it.
Morning coffee:
- What I drank: Low-cal pumpkin spice latte (195 calories)
- What I could have drank: Regular pumpkin spice latte (+200 calories)
I get coffee every morning before work. Normally, I just order a medium black decaf and add a packet of stevia, but sometimes on Fridays I like to treat myself to a latte. My favorite latte is pumpkin spice, which is 380 calories if you order the default. So, I make some tweaks to cut the calories in half. You can see the details in my Instagram post:
Morning snack:
- What I ate: Small apple (53 calories)
Since I skip breakfast, I like to eat at least one serving of fruit as a morning snack to hold me over until lunch time.
No swaps necessary here. Fruit is an ideal snack: healthy and satisfying.
Lunch:
- What I ate: Gyro with side salad, 1 piece of bread with 1 tsp of olive oil (784 calories)
- What I could have eaten: Gyro with side of fries, 1/3 order of fried calamari, 2 pieces of bread with 2 tbsp olive oil (+500 calories)
My coworkers wanted to get gyros for lunch, so we went to a Greek restaurant.
First thing they did was bring out free bread with olive oil. I had one piece because I love bread, but I stopped there. I could have easily eaten more. My coworkers ordered a fried calamari appetizer, but I didn't have any.
I did order a gyro because that's what we went for. The gyro came with a choice of side. Instead of french fries, I opted for a side salad. I estimate this saved me about 400 calories. This is something I do regularly now.
Substituting side dishes can easily save you hundreds of calories per meal. While I do love french fries, I decided they just weren't worth the extra few hundred calories during this particular meal.
Happy hour:
- What I had: 2 sour beers, half order of blue cheese chips (550 calories)
- What I could have had: 3 sour beers, half order of blue cheese chips (+160 calories)
We went to a sausage house and beer garden for happy hour and dinner before our show.
Local craft beers and bar snacks were $3 each during happy hour, which is an incredible deal. My wife and I split an small order of blue cheese chips, which were delicious.
I love sour beers, so I had a couple over the course of two hours. I could have easily had three or four in this time span, but I really milked my first one so I wouldn't finish it too quickly.
If you don't want to drink a lot during happy hour, sip your beer like a 12-year old girl. You might get made fun of by your friends, but at least you won't get fat.
Dinner:
- What I ate: Grilled chicken sandwich, side of steamed veggies (537 calories)
- What I could have eaten: Chorizo mac and cheese bratwurst with side of fries (+800 calories)
For dinner, there were a lot of options that looked good.
One that caught my eye was a chorizo mac and cheese brat. Remember, we were at a German sausage house, which is known for brats. Also, mac and cheese is my favorite food of all time. But I decided it wasn't worth it this time. Not saying I'll never order it. It just wasn't a special enough occasion.
I opted for a grilled chicken sandwich with a side of steamed veggies instead of fries. Once again, side substitutions can save a ton of calories. One trick I use to help me make good side dish choices is to just steal a fry or two from someone else at the table. That way, I still get a taste and I'm not completely depriving myself.
A lot of times when we want to order something that looks really good, all we really want is a taste, not to devour the whole thing. You can do this if you have nice friends because someone is always going to order the fries or mac and cheese or whatever looks good.
Theater:
- What I drank: Diet Coke (0 calories)
- What I could have drank: Captain and Coke (+200 calories)
We went to a musical theater show after dinner and they were serving drinks. Usually, I'd order a Captain and Diet Coke.
If you're a Coke drinker, switching to Diet alone will save you a lot of calories. This time, I just held the Captain and ordered a Diet Coke.
I already had two beers earlier and I try not to drink more than three drinks in one sitting (unless it's a special occasion).
Two drinks is the perfect amount for me because it doesn't noticeably impact my sleep and I'm fully functional the next day.
So, there's a recap of my full refeed day of eating.
Hopefully, you picked up some useful tips and strategies that you can incorporate into your meal choices!
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