Thread: Lucy's Refeed (Are we almost there yet? Yes we are!)

Well it's finally arrived, I'm at goal and about to move on to refeed! It's been a journey of two parts (both slow, the second particularly so towards the end) but I've loved knowing that if I stuck to plan I would get there. It's exciting, and a bit scary! Okay, very scary.

Since I want something slow and specific for refeeding, my plan is to follow the Cambridge version, with a few minor adjustments of course. I've upped my protein over the last weeks of the diet, not quite to 810 all the time - but near enough. All along I've just omitted the milk allowance since I had no real urge for it, but the last 3 weeks have also seen the inclusion of almond milk without any damage on the scales.

In accordance with the CD plan, the next step will be to drop to 2 meal replacement products a day. I should also have a 150 kcal breakfast from a list supplied in the CD book (bought off eBay hurrah!), a salad lunch and a 400 kcal meal. In addition I can have 1/2 pint milk allowance or 150g of low fat yoghurt. Seems like an awful lot when I write it out - hope I'll manage it all. This should be 1000 kcal daily though, so not much of a leap from 810. I plan to stick to this for 2 weeks, then move up the next step.

Although I will be following the Cambridge refeed, I am developing plans for my eating post-refeed. The VLCD products have been great but I can't wait for proper healthy food (particularly more fruit and veg!) and I feel the way forward for me is 'clean' anti-inflammatory eating. I don't believe it's good to be too rigid, but my plan post-diet is to avoid processed foods as much as possible - sticking to basic untampered with foods. This means supermarket shopping will mainly be in the fruit, veg, meat and fish aisles - simple food prepared from scratch is the aim of the game. This isn't to say that I will never have a Chinese takeaway again I'll try to stick to a 90-10 rule (90% good, 10% naughty) though will probably average more of an 80-20 at best haha.

In regards to anti-inflammatory eating I'll explain a little more. At 22 years old I'm not incredibly healthy from a medical standpoint, with a host of autoimmune complications. I keep hearing that an anti-inflammatory diet is the way to go, so have been and continue to research that. There's a lot of information out there both in the form of research papers in the medical field but also in more popular culture diet books such as Optimum Nutrition by Dr. Weil and various books by Dr. Perricone. The key idea is to avoid lots of refined sugar and eat a Mediterranean-esque diet full of fruit, veg (particularly leafy greens) and wholegrains - and, very importantly, to get a lot of Omega-3. This is best found in oily fish like salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel. Apparantly it gives a healthy body and gorgeous skin - I certainly wouldn't complain

I will be updating with more information on it as well as my tales of how I get on with it at the Maintanence stage. I may find it unsuccessful it keeping my weight stable, and may go onto something else entirely haha!

Exercise-wise, I'm not rushing in too fast...honest! I'm back rowing and want to build up to practising on-water at least 2 hours 4-5x a week by the end of the year. Oh, I want to get back to competitive level too... I'm not asking too much am I? I will be doing quite a bit of practise to get back to that level both on land and sea... and I'm also taking up Yoga classes twice a week.

From 14 stone 5 to 8st 8 - I am so grateful to Slim and Save for getting me here, and it is my intention to still be here a year from now keeping you all updated (and bored) on the continued journey that will be maintenance. Hurrrah!

Wow, wow, wow! Well done you! xx

So looking forward to seeing how you get on with refeed!

6 stone, that's amazing - well done you. I'm 5ft 4 and started at 16st. My 'ideal' weight for my height is around 9.7/10st but I would be happy at 12/13st. I can only remember being 11.7 at my lightest in adult life, but this diet make me think that maybe a 10st goal is possible.
Have u done it with 4 packs a day or 3 can I ask ?
Well done & good luck with AI diet - I too have heard good things about that WoL x

Thanks for all your supportive comments I've been working full-time this week at a new job ('international policy consultant' - I'm loving the title), so it's all been a bit crazy juggling the refeed and the new role - hence my lack of posts!

Cambridge refeed suggests that you have 1x VLCD product with your breakfast at this stage, plus either a 150 kcal fruit option (which you can have throughout the day, doesn't have to be with the breakfast) or a 150 kcal breakfast chosen from the following:

- 40g no added sugar muesli (plus milk from your 1/2 pint allowance)
- 2 Shredded Wheat
- Bowl of porridge (40g of oats)
- One boiled egg & 1 small slice of granary bread plus a scraaape of low fat spread

Lunch should include 1 x VLCD product and 1 x small salad bowl (green leaves eg rocket, spinach etc)

Then for dinner you chose a small portion of starchy foods + a source of protein + 80g of allowed veg + up to 50 kcal of fruit.

Starchy foods offered are:
- 40g of brown or basmati rice, couscous or wholemeal pasta
- 150g sweet potato
- 180g baked potato
- 200g new potatoes


The protein options they offer are primarily in uncooked amounts, but definately larger - e.g. 330g of Quark!!!!! I haven't measured the cooked weight of their 245g of chicken or turkey breast against the 100g Slim & Save amount but suffice to say the protein amount is increased, much like I was doing at the 810-esque step.


So what have I actually been doing?: Haha, I can't do anything without playing around with it. Whilst I know that adding in small amounts of 'proper' carbs twice a day is hardly pushing the boat out, I've been taking it a little slower. I decided to start off with having just the carbs at breakfast and err... moving things around a bit.

Initially I was thinking of going down the egg + toast route to ensure I kept up my protein intake, however I think adding toast at this stage might be a bad idea - I might find it a little bit of a trigger food. Instead I've opted for the sugar free muesli route, since that's something I love and always used to find it kept me going throughout the morning. Before 40g might have seemed a bit of a small portion.... now it seems a real treat haha!

In case anyone decided to follow in my footsteps, I've been having 'Oomf Bench Pressed Oats' which I adore. Their composition is: Jumbo Oats (35%), Soya Flakes (31%), Sunflower Seeds (8%), Seedless Raisins (6%), Chopped dates (4%), Corn Flakes (4%), Blanched Peanuts (4%), Linseeds (3%), Shelled Hemp Seeds (2%). There's no sugar and enough fruit for sweetness but not too much. Great texture, high protein and got a bit of fibre in there too for anyone who has difficulty err... 'going', on SS. I think this will be a keeper! I've had it with unsweetened almond milk, plus 50 grams of strawberries from my dinner allowance CD puts 50g of strawberries at 13.5 kcals so I'm not going tooooo crazy!

At lunch I'm having my green leaf salad which I really enjoy, plus a Slim and Save packet which for me is generally a shake as I enjoy the ease of a 'liquid lunch'.

Dinner has been either white fish (330g uncooked), Quark (330g) or tuna steak (190g uncooked). I have to struggle a bit to get it all down, so generally have a dinner of err 'two parts' - a bit of protein when I come in, then the rest later with my veggies as a proper dinner. It's worth noting they specify just to have 80g of veg, I like more so have been going quite a bit over that. I haven't been having the rest of my 50kcal dinner fruit allowance, except on Quark nights when I have about 30 kcals of berries (gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!).

What you all want to know is weight right? Well, I'm still the same - hurrah! Wasn't expecting any losses during refeed as I'm at the lower end of my weight range, but I have eaten out twice this week and it's my TOTM so I'm pretty pleased. After 7 days of this I'll move on to including the carb allowance with my dinner too, and see how that treats me.

Also, things I've been reflecting on this week are -

I will make sure to keep drinking lots of water, it's so easy to slip up but I think it's something good I want to take out of this and apply to my lifestyle in the long term.

I will try to keep up my protein intake! I know eating a lot of protein was always hard for me (I had to be constantly nagged by my rowing coach), and I find it hard to digest red meat particularly, so I can see myself slipping up here outside of mealtimes. However, coming across Quark has been great and this will always be a fallback choice for me now when I need a good protein-based snack.

How interesting to see the CD refeed info. It does seem to jump in with the carbs doesn't it?! I think you're taking the right approach of avoiding your trigger foods at first. This is about your mind and body both adjusting to eating a wide range of food again.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by weasey

How interesting to see the CD refeed info. It does seem to jump in with the carbs doesn't it?!

It does! I thought I would follow the CD refeed since it was over the course of weeks rather than the S&S refeed which seemed far too quick, but I would definately recommend people take a little more time even still with the carbs especially if they have the potential to be a bit of a problem food That said, I'm really enjoying my muesli without any carb cravings - I think maybe it's down to the fact that it's complex carbs and also 20% protein thanks to components like the soya flakes and hemp.

I went a bit protein crazy at a BBQ this afternoon - chicken and turkey galore, but I also did some really intensive rowing practise in the morning so I'm thinking I probably needed it! I'll swap my day around slightly so that I have a green salad + shake for supper instead.

It's been a few days since I've checked in - I haven't fallen off the wagon (excluding one milk chocolate digestive ahem) but I have been away on business so the last couple of days I haven't been able to update. Since I knew it can be harder to stick to plan when abroad, I took small pre-weighed bags of muesli with me for my breakfast. Since I didn't have any bars left and wasn't prepared to take my blender with me in hand luggage - I brought along packs of spag bol, porridge & a few Atkins bars although I know they're not officially meal-replacement.

Lean protein wasn't an issue, and I had a variety of lovely salads (just as well Italy is more than pizza & pasta!) - I'm actually back to find myself 2lbs down! I'm upping my carbs to include the small portion of starchy carbs from Monday, so I imagine it'll even back out again to 8st 8 or so. I'm actually quite happy where I am at the moment on the refeed but I know I need to keep following the steps up Now the weather's getting a little cold I'm dreaming of all the yummy 'real' soups I'll be eating soon!

2 hours of rowing this morning, plus a yoga class at 6pm - exercise is even greater I'm lighter again, I feel so capable and full of energy! Thanks for all the support everyone, it's great when I'm trying to resist temptation

Well done you! Away on business and coming back lighter is a fantastic result. I look forward to seeing how you get on through the rest of your refeed - have fun!

Really interesting reading your journey, well done whilst you were away. Your so disiplined & organised taking things with you, well done! And it's paid off too - all the best with the coming week

Thanks Weasey!

Hopingtobesmaller - I think it's easier to be disciplined during refeed because I don't want to go through a VLCD again haha

I haven't lapsed in posting already (I promise) - I've just been a bit unwell this week, plus overworked although isn't everyone? As a result I haven't done much exercise over the last few days and I've eaten off-plan a little, so it's interesting to see that I've gone down a pound weight-wise again. This actually feels quite encouraging as it suggests I can up my calories quite a bit before getting to the point where I can easily maintain - or so I hope!

I've introduced more carbs this week and it's been pretty much the same thing every day - 40g of brown rice or 50g quinoa (the latter being technically off-plan). I've decided that I should always mix my carbs with veggies (a) to bulk it out and (b) to make it look more colourful lol. Also for those who are a bit prone to carb binging, it seems less likely that rice mixed with bell peppers, courgette and mushrooms for example would trigger that same pure craving. In regards to eating slightly off-plan, it's not been awful tbh. It's mainly been in regards to including off-plan veggies like yellow and red peppers - and also increasing vegetable quantities (for instance I'm consuming massive amounts of spinach - I might just turn green). I've also been pretending that a few edamame beans here and there could be considered as on-plan veggies rather than extra protein, but they don't seem to be doing any harm so I'll probably carry on.

I must confess that there's been a few Atkins bars over this week again because I've needed something on the go and I haven't gotten around to picking up any Biggest Loser bars or more S&S ones. I'm not actually a particular fan of any of the bars across the Atkins, Biggest Loser or even S&S ranges - I was never really one for chocolate bars anyway. They've been useful whilst doing VLCD for the sake of convenience, but I've decided I'll probably cut them all out starting next week since I've increased my carbs.

Anyways, at least another week on this level of calories & carbs. I may increase the time I spend here to allow myself to test out different carbohydrates and identify any which might trigger off cravings. I haven't had any problems in that respect so far - long may it last

Oh dear, not updated for a week or so! Things have felt a little harder these past few days. I've been juggling a heavy work schedule, still feeling pretty unwell (checked with my doctor and neutrophils are low, which probably explains it) and surrounded by biscuits, cakes and desserts at various work events. I haven't upped my carbs yet as I just haven't felt up to thinking about it, so indulging hasn't been an option - although I have had some lovely fruit throughout the week which really has felt like a nice treat.

I've been feeling tempted by the unhealthy choices, although my head logically has been telling me that I don't even like the things on offer - and probably wouldn't even enjoy eating them. My TOTM did come this morning though (two weeks early) which probably explains that crazy/logic divide that's been playing out in my head. I'm due a blood transfusion next Friday, and I've decided that I'll probably just buy prepared stuff from Whole Foods if I don't feel up to cooking in the meantime. Having that off my mind is making me feel more positive about next week already. Mostly I really enjoy cooking and making healthy choices, so as soon as I feel a bit better I'll be back to enjoying the refeed journey properly.

Quick note, Whole Foods offers a range of pre-cooked meat, fish, tofu, cooked vegetables, salads, tofu etc to buy - almost like salad bar style. It's all cooked very simply and without additives, sugars or excess oil - so don't worry, I'm not going off the rails take-away style

Hello!

Congratulations on your amazing weight loss and huge praise for keeping it off successfully so far too! so inspiring!

I've been contemplating the CD refeed approach when I get to goal so it's interesting to see its working well for you!

Will be following