Why Weight Goes Up After a Refeed Day Explained

Why Your Weight Jumps After a Refeed Day

You’ve been disciplined all week, hitting your calorie and macro targets perfectly. The scale has been steadily trending downwards. Then comes your planned refeed day. You enjoy the extra food, feel energized, and go to bed satisfied. The next morning, you step on the scale, and your heart sinks. The number is up-not by a little, but by 2, 3, even 5 pounds. The immediate thought is often one of failure: 'I’ve undone all my hard work.'

This experience is incredibly common, but the conclusion is wrong. That sudden weight gain is not fat. It's a predictable and even desirable physiological response, driven almost entirely by water retention. For every gram of carbohydrates you consume, your body stores approximately 3-4 grams of water along with it. The jump on the scale is the result of refilling your muscle glycogen stores, combined with the physical weight of the food still in your system. Far from being a setback, this temporary increase is a clear sign that your body is responding correctly and the refeed is doing its job.

This applies to anyone following a structured diet with planned refeeds. Understanding the science behind this temporary spike is crucial for maintaining a healthy mindset and staying consistent with your fat loss plan. Let's break down exactly what’s happening inside your body.

The Science Behind the Scale Spike

When you maintain a calorie deficit to lose fat, your body's primary carbohydrate stores, known as glycogen, become depleted over time. A refeed day is a planned, short-term, high-carbohydrate intervention designed to strategically refill these stores. This process has profound benefits for your metabolism, hormone levels, and performance, but it comes with a temporary side effect: water retention.

Glycogen Supercompensation and Water

The main driver of the weight spike is a process called glycogen supercompensation. Think of your muscles and liver as sponges. During a diet, these sponges are wrung out and dry. When you introduce a large influx of carbohydrates during a refeed, these sponges soak up glucose and store it as glycogen. The math is simple and revealing. If your refeed day includes an extra 300 grams of carbohydrates compared to a normal diet day, your body will store it with water. Using a conservative 1-to-3 ratio, that’s 300g of carbs x 3g of water = 900g of water. That's nearly 2 pounds from water alone. Using a 1-to-4 ratio, it's 1200g, or about 2.6 pounds. This is the primary reason for the immediate weight gain.

The Hormonal Reset

Dieting for extended periods can downregulate key hormones. The most notable is leptin, the 'satiety hormone' that tells your brain you're full and helps regulate metabolic rate. As you lose body fat and restrict calories, leptin levels fall, increasing hunger and slowing metabolism. A high-carb refeed can cause a significant, albeit temporary, spike in leptin levels, helping to counteract these metabolic adaptations. This hormonal reset is a key reason why refeeds can help break through fat loss plateaus.

Sodium and Food Volume

Refeed meals, even if they consist of 'clean' foods like rice and potatoes, often contain more sodium than your typical low-calorie diet foods. Sodium plays a critical role in fluid balance, and an increased intake will cause your body to temporarily hold onto more water, further contributing to the number on the scale. Additionally, you've simply consumed a larger volume of food. The physical weight of that food and the water required for digestion will be present in your gastrointestinal tract for 24-48 hours, adding to your total body weight.

Tired of guessing? Track it.

Mofilo tracks food, workouts, and your purpose. Download today.

How to Structure a Smart Refeed Day

An effective refeed is a precision tool, not a random free-for-all. It's about strategically increasing carbohydrates while keeping dietary fat low to maximize glycogen replenishment and minimize the potential for fat storage. This is the fundamental difference between a refeed and an uncontrolled cheat day. Here is a simple three-step process to ensure your refeed accelerates, rather than hinders, your progress.

Step 1. Calculate Your Refeed Calories

Your refeed day calories should be set at or slightly above your estimated maintenance level. This is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), the number of calories your body burns in a day. A reliable starting point is to multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 14-16 (use the lower end if you're less active, the higher end if you're very active). For a 180-pound individual who exercises regularly, this would be around 2,700 calories (180 x 15).

Step 2. Set Your Refeed Macros

This is the most critical step. The goal is high-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, and low-fat.

• Protein: Keep your protein intake the same as a normal diet day. A good target is 0.8-1.0 grams per pound of bodyweight (or 1.6-2.2g per kg). For our 180lb person, this is about 180g of protein (180 x 4 = 720 calories).
• Fat: Keep fat intake very low, typically around 15-20% of total calories, or about 0.25g per pound of bodyweight. For our 180lb person, this is about 45g of fat (45 x 9 = 405 calories).
• Carbohydrates: Fill the rest of your calories with carbohydrates. Using our example: 2700 total calories - 720 protein calories - 405 fat calories = 1575 calories from carbs. Since carbs have 4 calories per gram, that's approximately 394g of carbohydrates.

This macro structure ensures the vast majority of calories are partitioned toward refilling glycogen stores, not being stored as body fat.

Step 3. Track Your Intake

To execute a refeed properly, you must track your intake. Guessing can easily lead to excessive fat intake or a total calorie count that is far too high. You can use a spreadsheet, but this is time-consuming. A faster method is to use an app like Mofilo, which allows you to scan barcodes, search a verified food database of 2.8 million items, or even log a meal from a photo. This turns a tedious task into a quick 20-second check-in, ensuring you hit your targets with precision.

What to Expect After Your Refeed

Understanding the post-refeed timeline is key to avoiding panic and trusting the process. The scale will be up, but it will come back down. Here is a typical day-by-day breakdown of what you can expect:

• Day 1 (Morning After Refeed): This is when your weight will be at its peak. Expect an increase of 2-5 pounds (1-2.3 kg). You may also feel fuller and slightly bloated. This is completely normal. The key is to not react emotionally. Do not drastically cut calories or add excessive cardio. Simply return to your normal diet plan and training schedule. Your performance in the gym will likely be significantly improved due to full glycogen stores.
• Day 2: Your weight will likely still be elevated above your pre-refeed baseline, but it should start to drop from its Day 1 peak. The excess water and food volume are beginning to process through your system. Continue to stick to your plan, focusing on hydration to help flush out any remaining sodium and water.
• Day 3-4: This is typically when the 'whoosh' happens. You should see a significant drop on the scale, with your weight returning to your pre-refeed level or, very often, hitting a new low. This indicates that your body has flushed the excess water and your metabolism has benefited from the hormonal reset. This is the payoff for a well-executed refeed.

If your weight remains elevated for more than 4-5 days, it may suggest your refeed was too high in total calories, fat, or sodium. For your next refeed, consider a small adjustment, such as reducing total carbohydrates by 50 grams or being more mindful of sodium intake. The process is about learning your body's unique response.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much weight gain is normal after a refeed?

A weight gain of 2-5 pounds (or 1-2.3 kg) is completely normal and expected. This is primarily water weight from glycogen storage and increased sodium, not fat gain.

How long until my weight goes back down?

It typically takes 2-4 days for your weight to return to its baseline or drop to a new low. As your body utilizes the stored glycogen for energy and excretes the excess water and sodium, the scale will drop back down.

Is a refeed day the same as a cheat day?

No. A refeed is a structured, high-carbohydrate, low-fat, and moderate-protein day designed to support metabolic and hormonal function. A cheat day is unstructured, typically high in both carbs and fats, and is more psychological in nature. The high-fat content of a typical cheat meal makes it much more likely to result in actual fat gain.

How often should I have a refeed day?

This depends on your level of leanness and the size of your calorie deficit. Individuals with lower body fat percentages (e.g., under 15% for men, 25% for women) may benefit from a refeed every 7-10 days. Those with higher body fat have more robust leptin signaling and may only need one every 2-4 weeks.

You read this far. You're serious.

Track food, workouts, and your purpose with Mofilo. Download today.