Eat at maintenance to stabalise weightloss

JulietAdrina1995

i was talking to about this with a friend the other day we were discussing giving the body 'breaks' and allowing it to get used to a new weight, ie after 12 weeks eating at a deficit eat at the maintenance for the new weight for a couple of weeks to stabilize at this new weight before cutting calories again, anyone done this??, thoughts??

Sued0nim

yeah I read a thread on that a few weeks back and it seemed sensible

After 6 months of religious defecit (although lowering rate of loss) I took a 4 day break at maintenance on a holiday 2 weeks ago- still logged religiously and came back to defecit and I seem to be losing quicker and more able to stick to it

the thread said it was 2 weeks at maintenance to make a difference if I recall correctly

it's an interesting theory - so I'm in for actual experiences

Sued0nim

My understanding of this concept is scant at best - but from what I vaguely remember it could have been more of a mental break than a physical one, in the sense that logging at maintenance for a while frees your mind and helps you renew your journey when you return to dieting

I know there was some physiologically stuff as well - probably about replenishing hormone levels or some such but like you I feel like I'd like to see more information on this

I do remember the guidelines were eat at maintenance for 2 weeks (I didn't do that, I just took a higher calorie log for 4 days) - wish I could find it but searching for 'diet breaks' brings up so much stuff

Liftng4Lis

Had my first "diet break" this last month and it was fantastic. In my case, it didn't mean going hog wild, it meant not weighing and logging. Highly recommend it.

Sued0nim

Did you maintain even when not logging?

JulietAdrina1995

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Had my first "diet break" this last month and it was fantastic. In my case, it didn't mean going hog wild, it meant not weighing and logging. Highly recommend it.

did you have a weight fluctuations over the 2 weeks?

indianwin2001

I am going to be taking a "break" in early December. I am going on a 2 week cruise. No computer=no logging. I plan to eat a little more than I do now,as I will be getting mush less exercise. I will practice "eyeballing" my meals, and hopefully I don't gain toooo much. I am purposely a few pounds under my goal weight just in case and when I get back,I plan to start maintenance.

ana3067

I also took a 1 week break myself at maintenance (or might have been above). It corresponded with my TOTM though. I gained 2lbs, went off the break before my TOTM ended, lost the 2lbs as soon as my TOTM ended.

So if your weight fluctuates up, it's due to other variables such as this, or extra carbs leading to extra water retention.

I do not think I've been losing faster/better since I came back though. I logged the entire week, weighed food, etc. But I do think it helped me to better understand when my body is telling me that I need more food. E.g. my performance at the gym was much better adn I was able to increase a few of my lifts. Being at my deficit again, I was getting hungry between meals more often and my gym performance was meh. So I just upped my cals by 110ish, might up it again in a few weeks if I've lost at the 1lb/week range (as I'd like to aim for a 0.70-.75lb/week range for ~3lb/month). And yesterday? Wasn't hungry between meals.

jemhh

I've taken three one week breaks over this year and now I am on a maintenance break until next year. I still log and my weight remains steady.

RodaRose

There is gov research related to this. After weightless, our metabolisms are different:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673773/