Brandon DaCruz returns: Refeeds and Diet Breaks: What the Research Shows and How to Use Them

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Episode Summary
In the latest episode of our collaboration with the Chasing Clarity Health and Fitness Podcast, Mikki is joined again by online nutrition and physique coach Brandon DaCruz to talk refeeds and diet breaks. These tools have been used in bodybuilding and physique coaching for decades, with plenty of claims attached: that they boost leptin, prevent metabolic adaptation or speed up fat loss. Mikki and Brandon start with definitions. A refeed is a structured, tracked one to three days at around maintenance, with the extra calories coming mostly from carbohydrate. A diet break is one to two weeks at maintenance. Neither is a cheat meal. They then look at why a long deficit gets harder over time, through rising hunger, falling NEAT, poorer training and accumulated diet fatigue.
Brandon works through the research by outcome. When the overall deficit is matched, the trials and a recent meta-analysis show similar fat loss with intermittent and continuous dieting, and any hormonal lift from a short refeed is likely to be temporary. There may be a small benefit for resting metabolic rate and lean mass, with caveats, and the most consistent benefit is for hunger, dietary satisfaction and adherence. Mikki explains how she schedules refeeds in Mondays Matter as practice at eating at maintenance, and how she plans diet breaks around holidays and busy periods. Brandon walks through how he titrates refeeds with lifestyle and physique clients, and why the extra calories come from familiar carbohydrate foods rather than hyperpalatable ones. Both are clear that these strategies can backfire for some people, and that someone who is progressing well doesn't need another intervention.
Key Topics
  • Refeeds, diet breaks and cheat meals are not the same thing. Refeeds and diet breaks are planned and tracked; a cheat meal removes the structure, and both hosts would happily retire the word "cheat" (06:53).
  • Why a prolonged deficit gets harder. Hunger and appetite rise, NEAT drops without people noticing, lower carbohydrate availability affects training, and diet fatigue builds. Brandon likens a refeed or diet break to a training deload (12:46).
  • Refeeds as a skill, not just a physiological tool. Mikki builds three-day refeeds into Mondays Matter every two weeks so people can practise eating more without fear, and both hosts plan diet breaks around holidays and work travel (20:21).
  • Fat loss research. With deficits equated, intermittent and continuous dieting produce similar fat loss. Brandon explains the "whoosh" effect he has seen in practice and why a short-term hormonal boost is unlikely to drive fat loss on its own (28:38).
  • Lean mass, metabolic rate and adherence. There is some signal for better lean mass retention and a slightly smaller drop in resting metabolic rate, with caveats. The clearest benefits are less hunger, more satisfaction and less disinhibition (36:12).
  • Personality matters. Some people will adhere regardless, and for some "abstainers" a single refeed day can turn into an overfeeding week (39:41).
  • Training performance. A carbohydrate-based diet break improved lower-body muscular endurance in one secondary analysis, and Brandon times refeeds around priority sessions for his physique athletes (44:23).
  • How they each structure refeeds. Mikki first rules out non-deficit causes of poor sleep, cravings or low energy. Brandon starts with one day, keeps the usual foods, increases carbohydrate, holds fat and adjusts based on biofeedback (47:46, 50:44).
  • Why carbs go up, not fat. Fat is usually already low deep into a diet, protein often has a buffer, and food volume matters: energy-dense "refeeds" can leave people eating less food and feeling hungrier (59:58).
  • Who benefits most. Long-term dieters who are getting leaner than ever, training hard and struggling with hunger or fatigue. For someone losing at a good rate and adhering well, adding one can simply break momentum (1:13:17).
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and the collaboration series
06:53 Refeeds, diet breaks and cheat meals defined
12:46 The costs of a prolonged deficit
20:21 How Mikki uses refeeds with groups and travel
28:38 Do refeeds improve fat loss?
36:12 Lean mass, adherence and personality types
44:23 Refeeds and training performance
47:46 Mikki's one-on-one approach
50:44 How Brandon structures refeeds and diet breaks
59:58 Why carbs go up, not fat, on refeed days
1:07:28 Benefits seen in practice
1:13:17 Who benefits most, and wrap-up
Guest / Resources
  • Brandon DaCruz, online nutrition and physique coach, accredited nutritionist and host of the Chasing Clarity Health and Fitness Podcast. Instagram: @brandondacruz_
  • Mondays Matter, Mikki's eight-week group fat loss programme.
  • The ICECAP trial: Peos JJ et al. (2021), continuous versus intermittent dieting in resistance-trained adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
  • ICECAP secondary analysis: Peos JJ et al. (2021), changes in performance, hunger and alertness across a one-week diet break. PLoS One.
  • Siedler MR et al. (2023), continuous dieting versus diet breaks in resistance-trained women, from Bill Campbell's lab. Journal of Human Kinetics.
  • Poon ET et al. (2025). Effects of intermittent dieting with break periods on body composition and metabolic adaptation. Systematic review and meta-analysis, Nutrition Reviews.
  • Campbell BI et al. (2020). Intermittent energy restriction attenuates the loss of fat free mass in resistance trained individuals. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. Plus the published comment and reanalysis by Peos and colleagues in the same journal.
  • Dirlewanger M et al. (2000). Effects of short-term carbohydrate or fat overfeeding on energy expenditure and plasma leptin concentrations in healthy female subjects. International Journal of Obesity.
  • Friedl KE et al. (2000). Endocrine markers of semistarvation in healthy lean men in a multistressor environment (US Army Ranger training). Journal of Applied Physiology.
  • Barbara Rolls, research on energy density, food volume and satiety.
  • Lyle McDonald, The Ultimate Diet 2.0.
  • Earlier episodes in this collaboration on rapid fat loss, and on why fat loss maintenance can be harder than fat loss.
  • Find Mikki on Instagram, Threads and X at @mikkiwilliden, on Facebook at Mikki Williden Nutrition, and at mikkiwilliden.com.

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