Diet breaks

lisaw19855

The past 10 days I have completely written it off as being a bad time. As you know I had my wisdom tooth out and lost 3lbs in a week as I was thrown off my routine and lost my appetite. Tried to exercise and ended up in pain so clearly I wasn't ready.

I know I have lost weight but it's not been in a healthy way eg skipping meals. So has anyone taken a week or so of a diet to re focus?

I plan on putting things in place so I am ready to re focus on Monday as my activity levels (work) get back to normal too.

Liftng4Lis

I have a diet break every 6 months.

jemhh

Diet breaks are a healthy part of flexible dieting. I have used them several times over the past year and recommend them highly.

malibu927

I took one the week of Christmas, and I'm going to do it again at the end of April/beginning of May (two birthdays, a weekend in New York, and some dinners/banquets in that time).

fat2strongbeth

I have taken a few breaks too. Sometimes it gets to be too much to keep up with the level of logging, etc. I always set a time limit on my breaks so I know I will get right back to strict logging after. Usually only a week or so at a time.

Serah87

I will be doing it when I go on our cruise in May, anyway I think it's good for your body.

TheVirgoddess

I just took a week off - it was a really nice break and it felt good to get back to logging.

arditarose

In for diet breaks. I take one once in awhile for sanity.

amusedmonkey

I take breaks every now and then. In fact, I only recently started dieting again after a 4 month break. It teaches you how to maintain and gives you some time to gather your thoughts again.

AllonsYtotheTardis

While I was losing weight, every 6 months I took 2 weeks off and ate at maintenance (or slightly above, at Christmas). It was a great mental boost to get back at working on losing.

honeybee_kisses

I'm so envious of this lol. When you say you take a break are you ignoring calories completely or are you still mindful? I don't think I could do it (much as I'd like to!) I know if I did I'd come back like 'heyyy, just back from my 12 month break' lol

arditarose

honeybee_kisses wrote: »

I'm so envious of this lol. When you say you take a break are you ignoring calories completely or are you still mindful? I don't think I could do it (much as I'd like to!) I know if I did I'd come back like 'heyyy, just back from my 12 month break' lol

What? it doesn't have to be 12 months. In fact, if you're dieting for a long time-diet breaks are suggested. You should still log, and eat at maintenance for at least 2 weeks. You could do a month or longer, but two weeks is good for me.

47Jacqueline

If you stop thinking of being on or off a diet, and instead think of changing the way you relate to food, then whether you eat a bit more during one period or less during another ends up being less of a drama episode.

malibu927

honeybee_kisses wrote: »

I'm so envious of this lol. When you say you take a break are you ignoring calories completely or are you still mindful? I don't think I could do it (much as I'd like to!) I know if I did I'd come back like 'heyyy, just back from my 12 month break' lol

I was a little more lax on portion sizes, but not going overboard. Like, I still weighed my cereal and ice cream to keep to appropriate portions, but not much else. The break I have planned is going to be close to impossible to keep up with as much as I'll be eating out in that time, so I'll just hope to not gain more than a couple pounds. Giving a set timeframe helps too, so once Mother's Day is over I'll be back to the grind.

honeybee_kisses

What? it doesn't have to be 12 months. In fact, if you're dieting for a long time-diet breaks are suggested. You should still log, and eat at maintenance for at least 2 weeks. You could do a month or longer, but two weeks is good for me.[/quote]

I know it doesn't have to be 12 months! It was a joke at my own expense, lack of control. As I said, diet breaks sound wonderful things but I think I'd end up falling back into really bad habits. Maybe I just need to be into this new way of thinking and have it come naturally before I consider any kind of break

arditarose

honeybee_kisses wrote: »

What? it doesn't have to be 12 months. In fact, if you're dieting for a long time-diet breaks are suggested. You should still log, and eat at maintenance for at least 2 weeks. You could do a month or longer, but two weeks is good for me.

I know it doesn't have to be 12 months! It was a joke at my own expense, lack of control. As I said, diet breaks sound wonderful things but I think I'd end up falling back into really bad habits. Maybe I just need to be into this new way of thinking and have it come naturally before I consider any kind of break [/quote]

Oh. I don't know. When I was on a diet break I was anxious to get back into my deficit, so I cannot identify with you.

jemhh

I log and eat at maintenance when I'm on a break. It's not an excuse to get fat again. Just a break from eating in a deficit.

softblondechick

I took a two week break. I am fine with it. I lost my focus, and it showed. But, now I feel energized and motivated again. And really felt sluggish the last two weeks. Back to positive energy.

Francl27

Well in your situation you didn't really have a choice, and I wouldn't call that a break... but life.

My diet break was last July, we went on vacations for a week and had to eat out for every meal every day, and was eating about 25% over my maintenance calories most days (and that was with pretty good self control, but there were not healthy options everywhere)... Truth? I gained 5 pounds, 3 I lost very fast, 2 that took a few months to go away, and I haven't lost weight since. I actually haven't hit my lowest from June again. I think it got me used to eating more calories again and it's been a struggle since because I get hungrier.

So yeah, if you ask me, diet breaks are fine but its a very slippery slope... and you should really just eat your maintenance calories.

momma2teacher

I take a break about every 10 pounds. I seem to get stuck around that time so a week off...but not going overboard with eating...and it jump starts the weightloss again.