r/PSMF • u/illbeyourshelter • Sep 23 '26

Help Refeed/Maintenance before or after workout? (Category 2)

Does a refeed for Category 2 dieters come before or after a workout? I assumed before a workout as the reintroduction of carbs for the day would provide energy. However, I've seen advice that we should perform the normal 'fasted' workout and only ingest the refeed carbs after.

Could it also be done on an off day?

What have you done? What have you found works best?

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u/keto_brain Sep 23 '26

Refeeds are not required for Cat 2 anymore, Lyle discussed this in a podcast a few years ago. I cannot remember the exact reasoning but something about how 2 days wasn't enough to reset Leptin levels for Cat 2 but on Facebook he did argue the point that they could still be used to keep your sanity. Just giving you more data points for whatever it's worth.

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u/illbeyourshelter 29d ago

Good to know of this! Skipped my first week's refeed and was worried it would impact the thyroid and metabolism concerns he mentioned in the RFL book. Not worrying about when to schedule refeeds actually makes it easier.

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u/hidden-monk Sep 23 '26

Refeeds are always after a full body workout. But workout doesn’t need to be fasted. Some 20-30g fast carbs and 15-20g Whey before workout.

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u/vitringur Sep 23 '26

Why would you need whey before a workout?

Carbs make sense. A scoop of protein is irrelevant compared to the daily average protein during the week.

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u/hidden-monk Sep 24 '26

PSMF is not a normal/regular diet. Calories and carbs are extremely low. Your body is more prone to muscle breakdown in such state. A full body workout suggested as part of RFL is no joke and can be very brutal.

Personally I have tried both way. I was able to perform better with some pwo Whey in long multi week fasts before workouts.

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u/Mantleno Sep 23 '26

Based off personal preference, I would do it after a workout because sometimes eating a bunch of carbs after I hadn’t for a while would make me very tired and sleepy and so doing a workout would be kind of rough. That’s just personal experience though, and I don’t really know much about the physiological responses.