Refeed: best way to introduce carbs?

KatSparks

Full Member
Hi,

I am near the end of the meal replacements journey and am trying to work out what to do next. Been using Avidlite mostly and they don't really give any info on refeed/maintenance. So thought I'd create my own plan based on the ample info posted here by you lovely people.. :D

At the moment the plan is to introduce a protein meal w/salad in the first week and another meal in the second. Then I would like to start introducing carbs but can't work out the best way to do this! What do I start with - fruit? I know CD has some advice on that but couldn't find specific instructions?

Ultimately I'd like to get to 1500 calories a day (any food allowed) and stay there for a couple of months to shift the last few pounds.

Any ideas or from own experience?

Many thanks,
Kat
 
See if you can find a free online food tracker.

There's one called sparkpeople which is quite good, you can track your total cals each day and also a breakdown of your carbs, protein and fat.
 
Thanks yambabe, will definitely use the food tracker once I'm back on food :D. There is a nice google calorie calculator, it's been sitting on my hope page for a while - can't wait to use it! Will have a look at sparkpeople as well thanks for the tip.

Any ideas on introduction of carbs?
 
Yeah, have a browse in the stickies in the forums on here for the more established VLCDs.

There's an especially useful one in the Lipotrim section http://www.minimins.com/lipotrim-refeeding/24170-refeeding-after-lipotrim-total-food-replacement-without-excessive-weight-regain.html which pretty much ties with what exante say in the literature but in more detail, and which I hope to make use of in due course!

Oh and this post has a link to non-carb and low-carb food options, with proportions of protein/fat/carb data too, which is also useful. http://www.minimins.com/lipotrim-re...ydrate-foods-low-carbohydrate-foods-list.html

There's a lot of info in the CD and LL ones too if you dig a bit. :)
 
These are great links - big thank you!

I just spent over an hour reading through various posts on Lipotrim and LL. Very different approaches indeed.

Lipotrim - Refeed lasts just one week then you are on to maintenance with no clear direction. They advise moderation, exercise, low fat, etc but no clear direction so you are kinda on your own after that - all foods allowed but watch yourself. (Please correct me if I got it wrong)

LL - Refeed lasts 12 weeks :eek: with a list of foods to introduce each week. Very clear and detailed plan but oh so long! I wouldn't be able to follow it to the letter as have plans/holidays/house guests from end of March.

Both gave me some ideas though. I might go for 4 weeks for refeed mixing up both plans and getting something tailor-made... ;)
 
On Exante it seems to be a mix of the 2 as well, it recommends approx 4 weeks and gives you a list of things you can add each week.

It starts with 3 packs and 1 meal of just basically chicken, fish, quorn, tofu, cottage cheese, certain green veg, some little fruit and skimmed milk or low-fat yoghurt in the first week.

Following week you drop one pack and have 2 meals, lean red meat, offal, more variety of fruit and veg, pasta is added.

Week 3 1 pack & 3 meals, you can also now have potatoes, nuts/seeds, most veg and fruit, oh and alcohol!

Week 4 bread & cereal and pretty much everything else, but watch the portion control. No packs unless you want to.

So what you are planning sounds pretty good to me. :)
 
Exante way sounds very doable. Just realised I'd only have just under 3 weeks on refeed before we go away though it should be easy enough to avoid the bread/cereal as we are only gone for 4 days. Week 3 food list is pretty much what I'd eat normally anyway.
With one exception... that is cheese! On LL it's not introduced until week 10, after cereal but before bread so not sure what to do. Cheese is my one big weakness..:eek:
What do Exante say about it?
 
They don't mention it either! :(

Which is a bit of a bugger cos I love cheese too. I reckon seeing as I don't do milk maybe just small amounts round about week 3 and see how it goes.

Might ask them, more likely I'll just try it and see if my weight rockets or anything.
 
Hey again, yambabe.. I just had a sneak peek at your blog (well more like read it from start to finish :D) - what a great read! My losses are very similar to yours though I lost a bit more in week 1 but that's because the week before was a major pig out!
I'm also on 4 packs a day rather than 3 so must be more calories, have to say I need every last one of them and don't think would last on only 3..
Your post about cheese counter made me chuckle as I only just posted about it as well.. :)
 
oops, posts crossed over.. yes it's probably a matter of trial and error though I suspect cheese might be my trigger food so could be wise to leave it until the very end. :sigh:
 
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