Sometimes your body just needs a break

kendanault

November 2015 - I had 100 lbs to loose. During the winter I lost 50 lbs is 5 months. I am so proud of myself. Around April I noticed that I was craving things I hadn't craved in months and slacking on my exercise routine. I was getting tired.

I decided to take a two month break.

Today I'm back and ready to loose my final 50 lbs. I've been watching my weight during the past 2 months and continued exercising nearly everyday. I'm proud to say that I maintained and proved to myself that I have made a lifestyle change.

The journey is different for everyone. I encourage you to listen to your body. Sometimes a break is needed and that is okay. Just know when to push hard again.

cmriverside

While I completely agree that a break is a good thing, I would also ask you if you had done any calorie-intake adjustment when you started getting tired and craving more food. One of the biggest mistakes (IMO) is to start off with 100 pounds to lose and stick with that calorie goal forever.

When I got to a certain point (like within 30 pounds of goal) I had to start eating more. It just was exhausting to be me on such low calories - which had worked well for the first 30 pounds.

Just remember to adjust your calorie goals as you go along. When approaching a goal weight, more food is often warranted. Like you said, listen to your body! If you're too hungry, um...eat!

kendanault

Oh, don't worry I did! I went from 1,400 to 1,700 a day which is where I am now. There were many more personal gory details about why I took a break that I left out. I wanted to keep this post simple and encouraging. Thanks for your concern though!

girl_inflames

I've been contemplating this actually. I started in January on a 1200 calorie diet, and I was doing fine until May.

The whole month of May was exhausting to stick to my diet -- so many cheat days!! I lost 5 pounds still, but the rest of my months I was averaging 8-10. This month I have a feeling I'm going to lose even less.. I really just want a break. If you feel like it worked for you, I may try it myself. Thank you for posting this.

kendanault

Of course! I totally understand where you are coming from. That is exactly what I was going through.

Taking a small break totally worked for me. Although, I continued exercising throughout the two months to help keep me in check. The last thing I wanted was my break to turn into a two month binge.

I wish you the best of luck!

SueSueDio

I've just started my second two-week "maintenance break" today. I try not to think of this as "a diet", and I wasn't severely restricting or cutting out whole categories of food nor was I starting to get tired. I do find myself slacking off a bit after a few weeks and getting a bit sloppier in my logging, though, so I chose to take a short break every 8-10 weeks or so. After the first one, I found that I was able to get back to a lower calorie intake with renewed enthusiasm! This has to be a long-term process for me, and I could see myself not making it to my goal weight due to getting burned out on the whole thing so this really helps.

This thread by SideSteel was the thing that spurred me to start doing this... other people may find it interesting too!

Timshel_

kendanault wrote: »

Sometimes your body just needs a break

More about my mind a spirit needing a break at times than my body. But I feel ya!

Props.

kendanault

More about my mind a spirit needing a break at times than my body. But I feel ya!

Props.

[/quote]

Totally agree. Mind, body and spirit.

mom22dogs

I've been taking a break for the last 2 weeks. I do this about every 6 months. I just get tired of going to the gym every other day and watching everything I eat. I have still been getting my walks in now that the weather is nice, but I needed a mental break for a while. I plan to get back to it tomorrow.