Do you take diet breaks?
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All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
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well i take a break from calorie restriction every 3 months and maintain for a month or 2 then go backelga_thres wrote: »Hi, everyone! I just read an article about how to avoid or fix metabolic damage (here's the link: http://www.burnthefat.com/metabolic_damage.html). There is one thing that makes me even more curious:
"Take Diet breaks: Avoid prolonged periods in aggressive caloric deficits. If you have a lot of fat to lose and it’s going to take more than 3 months to hit your long term fat loss goal, don’t do it all in one stretch. Take a week at maintenance calories after 12 weeks of restricted dieting. This – raising your calories - is the most counter-intuitive of all the metabolism-rebuilding strategies but it’s one of the most important. Even better: the bodybuilder's method of cycling fat loss phases with muscle building phases, ensures that not only are you not in constant deficit, you spend significant time in calorie surplus."
What do you think? Do you take diet breaks? I'm really worried about overestimating my maintenance level and the calories burned when I workout. I really appreciate your help. ☺
P.S. I think "diet" here means eating calorie deficit, not our eating habit.
to making deficits after that time period is over0 -
Yes, I do. I took one when we went on vacation, another for a long weekend family reunion, pretty much the entire period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the week my son and his family was visiting. A deficit every week doesn't fit my lifestyle.0
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No, I don't "take diet breaks", because I'm not on a diet.
I've made permanent changes in how / what I eat, so I can maintain health & lower weight.
I eat what I want, in reasonable quantities, all the time.
(Except oreos... those I can't eat in reasonable quantities.)
below your BMR to damage your metabolism. Think concentration camp
victims, famine in Africa, anorexia.
This is the definition of diet "d : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight <going on a diet". Its great that you have made permanent changes to how you eat but according to Webster you are on a diet.
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barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet0 -
I guess technically I took a break during vacation this summer because I didn't stick to a 250 calorie deficit....but I still logged and still ate at or below maintenance. So maybe not really a break. I will probably eat about the same way on my vacation at the end of the month. I don't know. 250 calories isn't that aggressive. If a break means completely ignoring the facts then I'm probably not going to do it. That doesn't mean someone else shouldn't. It's all very personal.0
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elkhunter7x6 wrote: »No, I don't "take diet breaks", because I'm not on a diet.
I've made permanent changes in how / what I eat, so I can maintain health & lower weight.
I eat what I want, in reasonable quantities, all the time.
(Except oreos... those I can't eat in reasonable quantities.)
below your BMR to damage your metabolism. Think concentration camp
victims, famine in Africa, anorexia.
This is the definition of diet "d : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight <going on a diet". Its great that you have made permanent changes to how you eat but according to Webster you are on a diet.
Some people don't like to say they're on a diet. They prefer to say that they are eating at a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. You get used to it. Whatever works and helps people lose weight! Most of it is mental, so if "eating at a calorie deficit in order to lose weight" sounds better to them than "on a diet", that is what they should be saying!!
I go either way. Here, I can do the calorie deficit thing if someone prefers that and out in the world, I'll say I'm dieting. Both options suck equally for me.
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barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.0 -
"Diet break" is shorter than "break from my deficit where I eat at maintenance," so it works for me. I don't think it's that confusing. ;-)0
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I do have Doctor recommendations in my diet to treat conditions and I do not take a break from those but I recently took a short break in logging. I followed this with an adjustment week and now I feel like I am back on the deficit track of 1% of body weight per week. I did not gain during my break and lost at a slower rate on my adjustment week as expected. I didn't do it with the intent of changing my metabolism but just so I could enjoy my vacation.0
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barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
It's restrictive for me because even eating at maintenance, I'm often hungry.0 -
No, I don't "take diet breaks", because I'm not on a diet.
I've made permanent changes in how / what I eat, so I can maintain health & lower weight.
I eat what I want, in reasonable quantities, all the time.
(Except oreos... )
If I'm eating to maintain a lower weight, am I also eating to reduce weight?"lkhunter wrote:"a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight"
according to Webster you are on a diet.
I suppose it's possible those could be the same thing.
But with the broader term of 'diet' (what we eat), yes, I'm on a diet. We all are.0 -
barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
It's restrictive for me because even eating at maintenance, I'm often hungry.
I've seen you post that a lot. Not to derail, but have you had your hormone levels checked? Except for immediately before my period (and days when I make bad choices), I really don't experience hunger like you describe. There has to be something they can do for you medically.0 -
No, I don't "take diet breaks", because I'm not on a diet.
I've made permanent changes in how / what I eat, so I can maintain health & lower weight.
I eat what I want, in reasonable quantities, all the time.
(Except oreos... )
If I'm eating to maintain a lower weight, am I also eating to reduce weight?"lkhunter wrote:"a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight"
according to Webster you are on a diet.
I suppose it's possible those could be the same thing.
But with the broader term of 'diet' (what we eat), yes, I'm on a diet. We all are.
You also said you were eating well below your BMR. Is that also the maintenance that you expect at the end of this?
For me, even though I am not eating below my BMR (although I don't think there's anything wrong with doing so), a deficit is going to be below my expected goal maintenance. I assume that's true for many.0 -
barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
It's restrictive for me because even eating at maintenance, I'm often hungry.
I've seen you post that a lot. Not to derail, but have you had your hormone levels checked? Except for immediately before my period (and days when I make bad choices), I really don't experience hunger like you describe. There has to be something they can do for you medically.
Well it's mostly before my period too, and the first few days of it, then I'm typically fine for 2-3 weeks, but that's still close to 2 weeks every month during which I am starving (and doctors say it's normal and there's nothing they can do about it anyway). The issue is that I have to keep a deficit the rest of the time to make for it to avoid gaining, and that's why I get hungry. If I always ate at maintenance, I'd be fine... but I'd gain because of that awful PMS week.
So yeah, it has to be restrictive for me to maintain. If I ate everything I really wanted, I'd gain all the weight back eventually.0 -
barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
It's restrictive for me because even eating at maintenance, I'm often hungry.
I've seen you post that a lot. Not to derail, but have you had your hormone levels checked? Except for immediately before my period (and days when I make bad choices), I really don't experience hunger like you describe. There has to be something they can do for you medically.
Well it's mostly before my period too, and the first few days of it, then I'm typically fine for 2-3 weeks, but that's still close to 2 weeks every month during which I am starving (and doctors say it's normal and there's nothing they can do about it anyway). The issue is that I have to keep a deficit the rest of the time to make for it to avoid gaining, and that's why I get hungry. If I always ate at maintenance, I'd be fine... but I'd gain because of that awful PMS week.
So yeah, it has to be restrictive for me to maintain. If I ate everything I really wanted, I'd gain all the weight back eventually.
That's rough. I think I'd mention it to another doctor too.0 -
I am going to go on a week long vacation in a little under 2 weeks. I intend to eat at maintenance, but continue to log (not weigh).
I won't take another break for ~14 weeks after that, when Thanksgiving hits. I'll then go another 3 weeks until Christmas hits, and then I won't take another break until I hit my goal weight.
This works with my schedule. It allows me to both hit my weight loss goals and enjoy friends/family and food.0 -
I eat just a bit in calorie deficit. I ramp up exercise to burn more fat.
For example: I ride 20 miles at 17+ mph and call that 50 calories per mile, a realistic number, and that is 1000 calories gone. I do that 4 days a week minimum.
I probably eat 400 or so calories per day under what I need.
I don't ever feel starved and I'm losing 1.5 lbs or so a week.
Extreme food deprivation is not how I want to do it.
A little calorie deficit and a few thousand exercise cities works for me.
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My "breaks" generally coincide with vacations. I don't log during those weeks, but I tend to stick near maintenance.0
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barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
YOU said that a 250 calorie deficit is restrictive. So I'm saying that maintenance is also restrictive in that you are imposing limits on yourself. If you were not restrictive at all, you would completely disregard the numbers, which is not the same as maintenance.0 -
barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
It's restrictive for me because even eating at maintenance, I'm often hungry.
I've seen you post that a lot. Not to derail, but have you had your hormone levels checked? Except for immediately before my period (and days when I make bad choices), I really don't experience hunger like you describe. There has to be something they can do for you medically.
Well it's mostly before my period too, and the first few days of it, then I'm typically fine for 2-3 weeks, but that's still close to 2 weeks every month during which I am starving (and doctors say it's normal and there's nothing they can do about it anyway). The issue is that I have to keep a deficit the rest of the time to make for it to avoid gaining, and that's why I get hungry. If I always ate at maintenance, I'd be fine... but I'd gain because of that awful PMS week.
So yeah, it has to be restrictive for me to maintain. If I ate everything I really wanted, I'd gain all the weight back eventually.
WORD. I've calculated that at my height (4'11), when I lose another 10 lbs my maintenance will only be 1390. I will still be hungry because I want to eat ALL THE THINGS, regardless of my height and weight. I do eat back calories though, so I estimate my maintenance will in reality be around 1600, but still, it's restrictive because I can't eat everything in sight 0 -
I eat at maintenance level occasionally or slightly over, but I plan for it. I also wouldn't consider my calorie deficit aggressive.
The only time I would say that I had a real "break" from restricting calories was while I was pregnant.0 -
KittensMaster wrote: »I eat just a bit in calorie deficit. I ramp up exercise to burn more fat.
For example: I ride 20 miles at 17+ mph and call that 50 calories per mile, a realistic number, and that is 1000 calories gone. I do that 4 days a week minimum.
I probably eat 400 or so calories per day under what I need.
I don't ever feel starved and I'm losing 1.5 lbs or so a week.
Extreme food deprivation is not how I want to do it.
A little calorie deficit and a few thousand exercise cities works for me.
If you were eating 400 calories per day under what you need you would lose ~0.8lb/week. You are obviously eating closer to 750 calories per day under what you need to maintain your weight. You are either underestimating exercise, or overestimating calories consumed.
I lift 3x/week and play ultimate for 1.5-2 hours 1x/week and eat on average 1750 calories and rarely feel hungry outside of right before a meal and I lose ~2lb/week. Obviously I'm eating ~1000 calories under what I need.0 -
"Avoid prolonged periods in aggressive caloric deficits."- I think aggressive caloric deficits are hard to maintain so I did not choose that path. I chose to lose slowly.
"If you have a lot of fat to lose and it’s going to take more than 3 months to hit your long term fat loss goal"- Yes. This is true.
I've done fine losing 24.5 lbs just giving MFP my stats and choosing to lose 1 lb a week for my goal. I still have 25-30 lbs to lose but don't really want to lower my calories any more so I recently switched my goal to losing .5 lb a week.
I've looked at multiple calculators to see what my maintenance calories for my goal weight will be. Occasionally, I eat closer to my maintenance level because that is life.
It isn't going to hurt you to eat at your maintenance calories for a week every few months if you want but you don't have to. I think people take breaks every now and then due to mental fatigue/stress rather than metabolic damage. If your plan isn't very stressful or restrictive to begin with then you may not feel the need to take a break. I recommend choosing a less aggressive goal.
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I keep these links in my profile. I am a huge proponent of diet breaks.
Diet breaks
* http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
* http://strengthunbound.com/when-to-take-a-diet-break/
Both of these were interesting reads. The first breaks the problem into two parts - physiological and psychological. The second deals more with the physiological response. I think this is an important distinction to make. When people talk about cheat days, they are talking more about the mental side of things. I am fine on the mental side of things, but am quite interested in the physiological side. I read the first a couple months ago (and several others on his site) and keep meaning to buy his book (just haven't got the time to read just yet - maybe at the end of the month). I haven't seen the second before (and thanks for sharing) so I don't know much about the source but will do some further digging on the body chemistry involved - quite fascinating to me actually.0 -
Sometimes my brain sees the word metabolism and just interprets "magic"...like there's way too many theories and contradicting studies for me to even care about metabolism0
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No, I don't do this. I stay as consistent as possible at all times. The only things I change about every 30 days are the types/days/times of my work outs and the spread/break-down of my calories througout the day.0
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I find it incredibly difficult to maintain any kind of deficit for a long period of time. So I listen to my body and take "breaks". Sometimes they are brought about by vacations and such. Other times it's just clear that after so many days or weeks of solid deficit, extra calories are needed. If nothing else, helps with sanity.0
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barbecuesauce wrote: »barbecuesauce wrote: »All the experts I respect agree that diet breaks are necessary in calorie restriction. Note to those above, a diet calling for -250-1000 calorie deficits is a restrictive diet.
I did after 3.5 months (roughly 10 days over Christmas--maintained weight). I did for two weeks about 2.5 months later when my energy began to flag. (Lost 4 pounds while eating at MFP-prescribed maintenance.) I've been eating at maintenance some days and eating at a deficit others for the last few months, and this is what my weight loss looks like:
I have news for you: maintenance is also a restrictive diet
Explain what you think "restrictive" means, because I do not see eating roughly as much as you burn as restrictive at all.
YOU said that a 250 calorie deficit is restrictive. So I'm saying that maintenance is also restrictive in that you are imposing limits on yourself. If you were not restrictive at all, you would completely disregard the numbers, which is not the same as maintenance.
So your definition of restrictive is "any limit at all" and mine is "a caloric deficit." Okay. We're talking across each other then.0 -
Thank you for all your responses!0
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