refeeding sickness

Anyone get “food coma” while refeeding? Is the only way to combat it to split your carb loading meals throughout that day?

Been there, done that…MANY TIMES!!! I’ve had some carb-ups that knocked me out for as many as 4-6 hours, and upon waking I felt like I was somewhat disoriented. I find that this is generally caused by the wrong types and way too many carbs. The longer the refeed goes for me, the greater chance of overdoing it, so I’ve come up with a solution.

I’ve been doing a shorter refeed once a week for the last month with 2-3 meals after every Friday workout session, consisting of 150-200 g. carbs, around 50 g. protein and very low fat. Last night was Surge during/post workout with 6 bowls of Corn Flakes mixed w. water and low-carb Grow, then the next meal was an entire package of fat-free Fig Newtons (I picked this one off of Joel’s list…tough decision between these and graham crackers!). I also took 400 mg. R-ALA with the first meal and 300 mg. with a Glucosol capsule with the second meal, which I find helps CONSIDERABLY.

I also upped my water intake considerably and found that I minimized the “cotton mouth” effect that I normally get with the refeed. I took 64 oz. with the first meal and roughly the same with the second one.

Another thing that helps is to schedule the refeed so that bedtime follows soon after the refeed…that way you can sleep off any of the effects of the insulin coma as I like to call it.

Hope this helps!

I feel you here bro. I havent really gone with the whole refeed plan, as I like to have a cheat meal or session, about once every month or so. The last one I had was a massive session at a breakfast buffet, in which pancakes, waffle boats and coffe cake were the main items on my four plates. Any how it was nuts, at first I was all bubbly and shaky from all of the sugar, then bang I was driving and felt like I could have passed out. Real weird. Any how the R-ALA, does this really help in regards to minimizing fat gain during a big feast?

Yes! Thank you very much! I just ordered straight up maltodextren with aminogen from the protein factory so that I could use it as a carb up alone or add it in my protein shake post workout. Is pasta ok? I’m assuming rice is fine. I had a dream about corn pops, they were calling me. Are fresh fruits and juices ok? I assume oatmeal is cool as well, have you heard of that protein oatmeal? I understand low fat but what kind of carbs? Fast, good sugars? Fast complex carbs? My refeed days are going to be Thursdays and Mondays. Short and long cycle respectively. Both days will actually have morning cardio and no weight training. Is this a bad idea? This way I can have a carb load lunch then a carb load dinner and pass out.

The carbs you should be focusing on during a refeed are high GI carbs. Oatmeal in this case doesn’t really work well, although I suppose an argument could be made for the flavored variety in refeed cases. So in general stick with high GI carbs, but avoid fructose so don’t go overboard with fruit and/or fruit juices. Also, in regards to fructose I believe you’re supposed to avoid foods that contain high fructose corn syrup. I think Corn Pops has a significant amount of it.

Yes, definitely high GI/II and low/no fructose. Review Joel’s Cheater’s Diet for more details.

I use Corn Flakes as a staple refeed food. May not sound as exciting as the sugary cereals, but I’m telling ya…try it with Choc. Low-carb Grow, Splenda and cold water and you’ll be surprised. It fits the bill of a perfect refeed meal…high GI/II carbs, no fructose, and a fair amount of sodium to boot, which is critical on a refeed. Stack it with the R-ALA and you’re set.

You know, it’d be really cool if one of the T-mag writers wrote a “Refeed” article that kinda spells everything out. While the Cheaters Diet article works well it is only, in the end, an article for “cheating.” What we really need is a concise article that lays out all the “refeed” strategies and rules since there is a clear difference between refeeding and cheating.

A refeed article would be especially helpful since I’ve noticed there seem to be more refeeding questions nowadays.

Thanks everyone! I’ve been doing a cheaters diet off and on basically to cut in two to four week cycles. I just began refeeding a week ago (obviously not fully informed). I still did fairly well considering the less than great refeed choices I made. But, I got to experiance how it works. All I have to say is WOW! I’ve gotten to a point in leaness (8%BF) and size (183 lbs) where this practice seems to work for me and is controlled enough to yeild results. My body is running off of fat like it was carbs! Yet when I refeed I wake up gigantic and still lean! The pump is amazing not to mention the extended fat burning with lean mass sparing. I am also still making significant strength gains which I previously doubted possible while depleting. The performance result is astounding. The visual result… WOW! I think I’ve hit the threshold for turning heads! I knew I was looking better and better lately but holey crap I’ve never in my entire life had this many women staring at me… with smiles. Of course its spring and I’m going off on another tangent… but hey has anyone made a quick list of good ideas for refeeds? I’m going to go do some more research on the forums but if it hasn’t been made yet I think everyone should compile one. I’m thinking huge list here! Maybe a faq on the T-Mag web page outlineing this “huge” list.