I weigh once a day for several reasons.

First, my cood and exercise diary calculates calories burned based on my weight, and I want to be as accurate as I can (knowing, of course, that water and glycogen plays a role in my weight).

Second, now that I'm CKDing, I like to see how well my carb-up went, and when that weight comes off again. And what the difference is in fat burned for the week.

Third, I like to know the effects of what I'm eating/doing on my weight. See what may be holding me back, what's working, etc.

Fourth, I'm just plain curious.

For the knowledgeable refeed/carb-up folks here - is a 24 hour carb up long enough? Or should it be 48 hours? I'm 115 pounds, about 18% body fat, right now I'm doing Atkins 6 days and on the 7th day doing high carbs and low fat.

Truthfully, I enjoy the carb-up day but I am very ready to go back to my regular plan the next day. After reading some of the posts here, I'm wondering if that is long enough to raise Leptin levels?

Usually on my carb-up day I have a regular breakfast (eggs cooked in ghee), then high carb lunch and high carb dinner. So really, my refeeding only technically lasts for about 8 hours.

Do you think this is enough to get the Leptin levels raised?

River

i just did a 12 hour carb up today and think i will do that again next week, i took in 700 carbs and 38g of fat in 12 hours, still fit some low fat ben n jerrys yogurt in and some sugar cookies, chocolate milk, sweet stuff, mmmmm, then the regular pasta etc.

i ate 7 meals though, pretty much every 1-2 hours i ate another meal to absorb all the carbs.

i really don't like the carbup day, it makes me sleepy and full

Hi River!

Umm...dunno how "knowledgeable" I am, but I have done a couple of carb-ups now, so I have little experience to speak from. KC and others have more experience and knowledge.

I've been doing roughly 24 hour carb-ups, and I've found that it really isn't a very long time. As long as I eat lots, I know my leptin must be responding and I can tell how glycogenated my muscles are by their hardness when I flex. So that's how I judge the relative success of my carb-ups.

I don't think 8 hours is long enough for leptin to respond with any significant change. I think even 24 hours is a bit of a stretch, to be honest. Which is why I carb-up from the time I finish my depletion workout (around 6-7pm) until I go to bed the following night. (Also, it takes a few hours for insulin levels to settle again, so it's a good idea to sleep before returning to the low-carb stuff, from my experience.)

But this is all general information which may not do you any good.

How much are you eating in the 8 hours, though (calories, etc.)? How many carbs? How much do you normally eat during your ketosis phases?

River,

I cant speak directly to that being long enough to raise Leptin levels.....I think that is a very subjective issue and the leaner you get the more often you have to "refeed".

Personally I dont/cant do a 48 hour carb up due to my basically going hog wild during it. Id much rather limit my carb load so that I can eat how I like and not worry about spillover. For the first 4 weeks of my current CKD I did an 18-24 hour carb load with good results but like Joe felt gross after. Starting this week I do a shorter carb load but 2 times a week.......6 hours each.

Its really a very subjective issue and the best way to figure it out is to keep trying things until you find what fits you. The only thing you will miss by doing a shorter carb load is super-compensation of the muscles.

I resurrected this thread, I have been reading it with interest. I have been on Atkins one year and three months, lost 60 lbs slowly, and have "hit the wall" since October. I was losing maybe 2 lbs a month, was satisfied with it, because it was consistant....but now nothing. I have not "cheated" in all of this time, I am very serious about losing this weight. I have about 35 more lbs to go to hit my goal. I have been following a very strict carb intake (rarely more than 20 grams of carbs) for almost a year now, and feel that my problem of not losing may be helped by a "refeed". This theory makes sense, but I don't mind telling you that it scares me to death after being in total control for over a year. I do feel however that my body truly is in "starvation" mode and needs a kick up. If any of you that have done this with success would help me and be my mentor, I would greatly appreciate it. I need to know what to eat on this "refeed", the duration, and basically someone to hold my hand. Going back into "carb land" is a scarey place for me.

TIA
Juniper