🍚 Refeed day basics
What is a refeed day?
A refeed day is a planned, higher-calorie day (usually focused on carbohydrates)
used during a calorie deficit (“cut”). The goal is not to “undo” fat loss — it’s to support performance,
energy, training quality, and long-term consistency. Think of it like topping off your gas tank so you can keep
driving: you’re still on the journey, you’re just refueling on purpose.
The most common refeed approach is: calories near maintenance, protein stays steady,
fat goes lower, and carbs go higher. Why? Because carbs refill muscle glycogen
(training fuel) and tend to improve workout performance and the “I feel flat and drained” feeling that can happen
after weeks of dieting. Keeping fats lower helps prevent the refeed from turning into a huge calorie overshoot.
Refeed vs cheat day (not the same)
- Refeed day: planned, measured, usually near maintenance, carb-focused, supports training.
- Cheat day: unplanned or “anything goes,” often very high fat + high sugar, easy to overshoot by 1,500–4,000+ kcal.
- Diet break: multiple days (often 7–14) at maintenance to restore training and adherence; more structured than a refeed.
If you’re cutting and your workouts are suffering, your mood is dragging, and adherence feels harder than it should,
a refeed can be a useful tool. If you’re already losing fat steadily, feeling okay, and training well, you may not
need one every week. Like most fitness tools: it’s powerful when used with a reason.
Who benefits most
- People in a deficit for 3+ weeks who notice performance dropping.
- People doing high-volume training (strength + cardio) while dieting.
- Lean or getting lean (e.g., body composition goals, sports weight class prep).
- Anyone who needs a psychologically “planned relief valve” to stay consistent.
Reminder: refeeds are optional. If you tend to spiral into binge patterns, it’s smarter to use a smaller deficit,
higher protein, and a maintenance “diet break” with professional support.
🧮 Formula breakdown
How this calculator sets your refeed calories and macros
Step 1 estimates your BMR (basal metabolic rate) using the Mifflin–St Jeor equation:
- Men: BMR = 10×weight(kg) + 6.25×height(cm) − 5×age + 5
- Women: BMR = 10×weight(kg) + 6.25×height(cm) − 5×age − 161
Step 2 estimates your TDEE (maintenance calories) by multiplying BMR by your activity factor:
TDEE ≈ BMR × activityFactor.
Step 3 chooses a refeed calorie target based on your selected refeed style:
Refeed calories ≈ TDEE × refeedMultiplier (0.95 / 1.00 / 1.05).
This keeps the refeed close to maintenance — which is the point.
Macro logic (carb-focused)
- Protein: defaults to 1.8 g/kg (you can override). Protein stays steady to protect lean mass.
- Fat: defaults to 0.35 g/kg (you can override). Lower fat keeps calories controlled and pushes carbs up.
- Carbs: all remaining calories go to carbs (because carbs refill glycogen and support training output).
Macros are calculated with standard calorie conversions:
protein = 4 kcal/g, carbs = 4 kcal/g, fat = 9 kcal/g.
Example (real numbers)
Suppose maintenance (TDEE) is ~2,500 kcal and you’re cutting at 1,900 kcal. A standard refeed uses ~2,500 kcal.
If protein is 1.8 g/kg at 78 kg → ~140 g protein (~560 kcal). Fat at 0.35 g/kg → ~27 g fat (~243 kcal).
Remaining calories: 2,500 − 560 − 243 = 1,697 kcal → ~424 g carbs. That’s high-carb by design.
You don’t need perfection — you need consistency. If your carbs land “pretty high,” you did it right.
If your fats accidentally climb and carbs fall, it becomes more of a cheat day than a refeed.