RefeedDiet break · Refeed day

A refeed raises intake to around maintenance for a day or two, with most of the increase coming from carbohydrate. It differs from a cheat day in being planned and bounded: a target, not a licence.

It matters because prolonged energy restriction has psychological and physiological costs. Refeeds and the longer diet breaks they resemble refill muscle glycogen, temporarily lift leptin, restore training quality, and — the best-supported benefit — make a long diet easier to stick to. Evidence that they meaningfully prevent metabolic adaptation is weaker than the marketing suggests.

In practice the water retention that accompanies glycogen refilling will show on the scale the next morning. That is not fat, and expecting it saves a lot of unnecessary alarm.