How often do you go on deficit breaks/eat at maintenance?
ana3067
Posts: 5,623 Member
I'm thinking of eating maintenance from today until this coming Saturday. Do you do breaks every x weeks/months, or do you do them based on how you are feeling - if so what signs tell you that you're in need of a break?
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I haven't so far. I don't think it is a bad idea.0
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I haven't taken a break yet and unless something changes drastically, I don't plan to.
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I do when my schedule doesn't allow me to eat my normal way. I was at a training program for a week with very little ability to provide my own food and no time to exercise. The food they served was awesome! I just let it go.
Took a little to get back into my normal schedule--I also don't eat 3 squares a day, which is what they served.
The break was nice. If you feel you need one, take it! I didn't gain any weight, which was kind of surprising.
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Having my first one after 5 months (2 weeks), its been awesome!0
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I do when my schedule doesn't allow me to eat my normal way. I was at a training program for a week with very little ability to provide my own food and no time to exercise. The food they served was awesome! I just let it go.
Took a little to get back into my normal schedule--I also don't eat 3 squares a day, which is what they served.
The break was nice. If you feel you need one, take it! I didn't gain any weight, which was kind of surprising.
I'm thinking I might, I've been finding myself wanting to eat more than my neat needs (1900), so I'm guessing it's either psychological or my neat needs are a bit too low. A break will probably do me good for either haha.
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Do what works for you. That's what it's all about.0
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Having my first one after 5 months (2 weeks), its been awesome!
How long are you planning on breaking for? 2 weeks would be really nice! I'm really looking forward to maintenance next year, and bulking... I just love food. Never letting myself gain that much fat again!0 -
I take a break when my body tells me to. When I feel like I'm overtired, my workouts are slacking, and I have trouble feeling full on the foods I normally feel full on (my diet is pretty boring), it's time to up the calories for a bit. I usually do around a week, eat at maintenance or maybe a few calories over, ease up on the exercise, and get back to it the next week.0
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Having my first one after 5 months (2 weeks), its been awesome!
How long are you planning on breaking for? 2 weeks would be really nice! I'm really looking forward to maintenance next year, and bulking... I just love food. Never letting myself gain that much fat again!
This is my last day, so day 14. I'll warn you, (cuz I'm an anal logger) the first two days were horrid, because even though I wasn't logging, I KNEW exactly how many calories I was eating. The third day I made myself eat some rice (cuz I couldn't weigh it). OMG...laughs, that pretty much kicked in that I just needed to chill and do this. I'm positive I will do this again! Plus the extra calories kicked my workouts up a notch!0 -
I took a couple weeks' break over the holidays last year, from Dec. 23 to Jan. 7 or so. I kept logging but didn't aim for a deficit. I put on about 0.6 pounds, which I then took off again over the following week.
Right now I'm almost at my final weight (for the moment, at least), so I'm eating close to maintenance. For about the last 3-4 months or so, I've had my calorie goal set to a 250 calorie deficit, but I haven't been too picky about meeting it every day.
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Every 8-10 weeks of eating in a deficit. This is why: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/0
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Every 8-10 weeks of eating in a deficit. This is why: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
AWESOME Vis!0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »Having my first one after 5 months (2 weeks), its been awesome!
Same here. I just finished one. (As was suggested by Vismal) Loved it, but problem is I'm finding it hard to be in a deficit again. I didn't gain, just ate at maintenance.0 -
During stressful times, exams, depression etc. The goal is to keep on exercising and the food is much lower down the priority list. I usually maintain over these times, or lose/gain a kilo at most. I'm ok with that.0
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I take a break when my body tells me to. When I feel like I'm overtired, my workouts are slacking, and I have trouble feeling full on the foods I normally feel full on (my diet is pretty boring), it's time to up the calories for a bit. I usually do around a week, eat at maintenance or maybe a few calories over, ease up on the exercise, and get back to it the next week.
Pretty much this. I don't normally get super hungry or have big food cravings. But when I start feeling like I could chew my own arm off, it's time for a break. I've had 3 one week breaks so far since January.
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I don't take "deficit breaks" per se. However, when I was on a two week vacation recently I made a conscious decision not to track and not to obsess about my diet. I didn't go crazy or anything, just ate what I wanted or what was available (I spent part of the time staying with friends and eating whatever they provided). It was a hiking vacation so I was getting plenty of exercise and ate fairly healthy so, in spite of having a few more treats than normal, I lost two pounds. Unfortunately, it was a bit hard to get back into my groove when I returned home so I found those two pounds my first week back and then had to lose them again. sigh
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I take a break when my body tells me to. When I feel like I'm overtired, my workouts are slacking, and I have trouble feeling full on the foods I normally feel full on (my diet is pretty boring), it's time to up the calories for a bit. I usually do around a week, eat at maintenance or maybe a few calories over, ease up on the exercise, and get back to it the next week.
Pretty much this. I don't normally get super hungry or have big food cravings. But when I start feeling like I could chew my own arm off, it's time for a break. I've had 3 one week breaks so far since January.
This is me also. However, I can usually get by with just a day or two of unlogged eating and I'm ready to get back on track.
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When I was losing weight, I had a weekly free day where I ate anything and everything I desired.I'm thinking of eating maintenance from today until this coming Saturday. Do you do breaks every x weeks/months, or do you do them based on how you are feeling - if so what signs tell you that you're in need of a break?
I lost 93 pounds over 2 years this way.
I have maintained for 3 years with no free day, because I no longer need that huge calorie shock.
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I take a break when my body tells me to. When I feel like I'm overtired, my workouts are slacking, and I have trouble feeling full on the foods I normally feel full on (my diet is pretty boring), it's time to up the calories for a bit. I usually do around a week, eat at maintenance or maybe a few calories over, ease up on the exercise, and get back to it the next week.
Pretty much this. I don't normally get super hungry or have big food cravings. But when I start feeling like I could chew my own arm off, it's time for a break. I've had 3 one week breaks so far since January.
This is me also. However, I can usually get by with just a day or two of unlogged eating and I'm ready to get back on track.
I had a few days like this a few months ago, worked well then! I just started my break with a homemade poutine 0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Having my first one after 5 months (2 weeks), its been awesome!
How long are you planning on breaking for? 2 weeks would be really nice! I'm really looking forward to maintenance next year, and bulking... I just love food. Never letting myself gain that much fat again!
This is my last day, so day 14. I'll warn you, (cuz I'm an anal logger) the first two days were horrid, because even though I wasn't logging, I KNEW exactly how many calories I was eating. The third day I made myself eat some rice (cuz I couldn't weigh it). OMG...laughs, that pretty much kicked in that I just needed to chill and do this. I'm positive I will do this again! Plus the extra calories kicked my workouts up a notch!
Nice! I'm still logging though, since I plan on logging when I maintain and bulk, but I'm just eating maintenance or above if I feel the need to. I'm eager to see how my workouts feel during the week
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I did it a few times during weight loss, usually just for a few days.0
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I've been thinking about taking a break and eating at maintenance because my workouts have been so hard to push through lately. I was hoping to hold out until the week of Thanksgiving but now I'm rethinking that.0
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I'm currently on a 9 month deficit break. But that's because I'm pregnant.
I still log my food and everything, just not purposely creating a deficit.
Sometimes it's nice to have a break or "Refeed" day. Or just because you want all the foodz. I think what's important is just being mindful of what you eat during that time.
If you want or feel the need for a break, go for it! Just get back to it when you are done.0 -
I'm definitely being mindful in the sense that I know how much I'm going to be eating! But I'm not doing a refeed, since it'd gonna be a week. I have thought about doing a structured refeed once a week but then I just always forget about it lol. Maybe when I am cutting again in the future with way less weight to lose I will try refeeds!I'm currently on a 9 month deficit break. But that's because I'm pregnant. I still log my food and everything, just not purposely creating a deficit.
Sometimes it's nice to have a break or "Refeed" day. Or just because you want all the foodz. I think what's important is just being mindful of what you eat during that time.
If you want or feel the need for a break, go for it! Just get back to it when you are done.
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Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »I've been thinking about taking a break and eating at maintenance because my workouts have been so hard to push through lately. I was hoping to hold out until the week of Thanksgiving but now I'm rethinking that.
What kind of workouts do you do? If you're lifting you might want to consider deloading. And if you mostly do cardio, maybe try doing lighter intensity and/or less time (e.g. instead of 30 minutes, do 15; instead of hard intensity, to light to medium). I had to deload and reduce my volume because I was ovetraining, which really made working out a lot harder than it should have been and made me so squishy
th ankfully I've mostly gotten back on track and am no longer overtraining! Maybe take a diet break now though and then declare Thanksgiving a free day as well. 0 -
I have taken breaks, many of them. Most based on my feelings and only a few structured ones. My longest break lasted 5 months and it was a great way to learn about maintenance. It has given me confidence that I'm able to maintain, and now every time I have an event or simply don't feel like restricting calories I go at maintenance. As long as the weight is going in one direction and one direction only, you will be fine to take as many breaks as you want provided they don't last a lifetime.0
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I stop logging whenever I feel like not logging.
I wanted some Halloween candy the other day, so I ate some.
It's all about what you want.
There is no right way to lose weight. You don't have to follow any special anything.
Do what works for you. 0 -
Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »I've been thinking about taking a break and eating at maintenance because my workouts have been so hard to push through lately. I was hoping to hold out until the week of Thanksgiving but now I'm rethinking that.
What kind of workouts do you do? If you're lifting you might want to consider deloading. And if you mostly do cardio, maybe try doing lighter intensity and/or less time (e.g. instead of 30 minutes, do 15; instead of hard intensity, to light to medium). I had to deload and reduce my volume because I was ovetraining, which really made working out a lot harder than it should have been and made me so squishy th ankfully I've mostly gotten back on track and am no longer overtraining! Maybe take a diet break now though and then declare Thanksgiving a free day as well.
Thanks, Ana I think I am overtraining. I really love exercise and the boost in mood and better sleep I get from it. I tend to worry about rest days leading to rest weeks so I end up burning out.
I lift weights about every third day, bike daily (10-15 miles at about a 13mph pace) and run about every other day. Yesterday on my ride I had to stop just 6 miles in and I didn't think I'd make it back home! I'll take your advice and lighten up the intensity this week.0 -
I do it when I hit a plateau, or if I start to feel fatigued or see physical changes I don't like (irritability, fatigue, dark circles under my eyes). Not sure if it was due to dieting, but at one point some of my hair was falling out! And I never ate under 1300 cal /day, usually it was at least 1600, or more if I exercised. But once I started eating more, I noticed the hair growing back in after a few weeks. Again, I'm not sure if that was the cause, but it makes me much more careful about how much and WHAT I am eating.
I did go to the doctor, and all my blood work was normal, except for being slightly anemic, which I already knew about and for which I take a supplement.0
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