The Refeed

By Rebecca Maslin

Today has been my cheat day, or as I am looking at it a chance to refuel and feed up my muscles after my demanding training today (LEGS and PT with Ryan) and also to prepare for the next big workouts coming up over this weekend. I am using the term ‘cheat’ very loosely as I am sure some will see my food plan and wonder what is so special or naughty about today. I will not pretend to be holier than thou and can openly admit to some serious carnage with food in the past on my days off from my normal eating routine: a bottle of wine or three, G&T’S, percy pigs, caramel slices, pizza, takeaways, bags of kettlechips and spending a million pounds on pick ‘n’ mix at the cinema are a few of my indulgences on previous cheat days and at times whole weekends! In these final stages of my preparation however my cheat days are high in complex carbohydrates and calories and serve a more purposeful role than my normal sugar fix!

These last four weeks I am following a food plan that personally works well for me that consists of rotating my carbohydrates so I have higher carb days such as today (when I am training legs) and the last four days have been low consumption days (See Tuesday 10^th April Blog) My fat intake on the low carb days has been higher so my calories do not drop too low. Today, I had the pleasure of really enjoying some good quality carbs in the form of fruit, two servings of baked sweet potato as well as my normal oats. This was a real treat for me and I knew I was ready for the reload for two reasons: The first was that I wanted a hot lunch yesterday (a sign of comfort food for me) and despite looking for something out in Angel, I came back with my tail in my legs to my trusty cooler bag and had my Tupperware chicken and veg! The second sign is that I bought oatcakes and made my way through a couple packs (Not boxes which is surprisingly doable!) This was not part of the plan. My body was craving the most efficient energy source (carbs) and I tried to combat that with what I thought would cause as little damage as possible. What I needed was real food and I am now feeling very satisfied. This is how I am viewing cheat meals over the next few weeks- a necessity- more calories, more good carbs.

The benefits of cheat days/meals:

You re-set your metabolism: Thyroid hormones are activated when we reefed/overload/cheat on our normal clean diet and these in turn elevate our metabolic rate and this produces increased heat generation when the body is working efficiently.

The body is working hard for the next 24-48 hours post cheat: The elevation in calories means the body has to work harder than normal and the body is burning fuel fast.

They are good for you psychologically: You can justify following a restrictive food plan when you know that at some stage you can have a day off from it. Following a diet can sometimes be very tough mentally and the cheat day provides you with the opportunity for some guilt free indulgence.

They are enjoyable: A three course meal with good wine and good friends.. Bliss.

The cheat day is earned and is most successful if you have followed a clean eating plan for the other six days in the week. It is also worth remembering how your body will react to your cheat on both your digestive and hormonal system when you are eating very well for the majority of the time.

THURSDAY12TH APRIL: Food Plan & Training

5am: Black Americano

5.30am: 1 apple and Yakult

6.45-7.30 Leg Circuit: 3 circuits, 3 exercises in each, 15 reps each exercise x 3 (bike sprints to finish)

7.45: Post training protein shake, 1/3 cup oats made with water,1/3 cup blueberries, small banana

11.45am: sweet potato, chicken breast, salad

2pm: Cardio Circuit and 20mins ABS with Ryan (Sipping BCAA mixture)

3pm: 1 small banana, 6 pack plain oatcakes (Straight after training)

5.30pm: Sweet potato, chicken breast, salad

8.30pm: 2 hardboiled eggs

This is a high-carb day which will set me up until my next one in a few days’ time. I ingest the majority of my carbs straight after training, especially the fruit which has high sugar content and will help restore the body to a fat-burning state. I take a high carb day when I train legs as they require more energy than any body part when trained so will naturally benefit from the additional fuel. My fat intake is lower today so I don’t ingest too many calories. I am really looking forward to my training tomorrow to see how the boost in calories will have a positive impact on my performance.