Diet breaks

Gena575

Those of you who take diet breaks (eating at maintenance for a short time), at what point did you decide it was time? I'm contemplating one as I'm getting frustrated a bit by slowed losses and frankly, I'm tired mentally of the juggling. I'm almost 4 months in, down 35lbs and feel a serious binge brewing. I'd rather avoid a binge. But I'm also terrified if I bump calories that I'll just say eff the whole deal and gain again.

Current stats, if needed, female, 41, 5'5, 212lbs, eating a weekly average (gross) of 1650/day. 3-5 days a week light cardio and average 12k steps per day 5 days a week, 7k per day on off days...not counting steps from exercise.

Thinking of setting to sedentary maintenance and ignoring fitbit adjustments as I do now. Thay would put me around 2050 calories per day (so still a deficit I think around 500/day).

Solid plan? Crazy? Setting myself up to fail? I just don't even know. I've got myself so confused and stressed over the whole thing for some reason. I do have an appointment later this week with my pcp to discuss things (like how tired I've been the past month and maybe run some bloodwork)

arditarose

I took a break when I stopped losing. I know everyone on here says not to eat more when you're not losing, but it made sense for me because A-it got my logging back in check because I wanted to be super accurate in maintenance, and B-it probably helped level my hormones/leptin levels out a bit. I did a two week maintenance break. There's nothing wrong with upping calories for a bit if you're fatigued. Personally I'd just go right to maintenance but if you want to keep a slight deficit there's no harm.

queenliz99

I take breaks from counting when on a vacation, when I'm back home I get back to logging. Breaks are refreshing, you should take one but you must get back to logging.

jemhh

I took breaks when I started getting really hungry and thinking about food a lot. Back then I was not usually hungry while dieting. Nowadays I pre-plan breaks when cutting (every 8th week.)

For me, a break means continuing to exercise and log as normal while eating at maintenance.

Gena575

Oh I plan to log if I do this 100%. If I quit that, I'll be back to a six pack of pop and honeybuns for breakfast in no time lol!

arditarose

jemhh wrote: »

I took breaks when I started getting really hungry and thinking about food a lot. Back then I was not usually hungry while dieting. Nowadays I pre-plan breaks when cutting (every 8th week.)

For me, a break means continuing to exercise and log as normal while eating at maintenance.

I'm always battling over whether I should continue losing or stay at maintenance. I think if I knew a break was coming up maybe I'd be better at staying in a deficit. I think I'd need something more like 6 weeks though. Good idea.

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ogtmama

I took a 3 week break from logging at all after I realized I had been netting far too low for a few months and suddenly the weight loss slowed dramatically.

Now that I'm back to logging, I've decided to take a long slow trip for the second 25 pounds.

I have set my goal to lose 1 pound a week (so a similar deficit to yours) and just not caring if I hit somewhere between there and maintenance...I've already lost a pound and a half over the last few weeks and couldn't be happier.

Your plan sounds solid. Good luck!

GottaBurnEmAll

My breaks coincide with holidays or vacations. I use them to replenish hormone stores and even out cortisol levels. They're important mental focus tools too. I don't log, but I've been at this a long time and am pretty good at vaguely counting calories and estimating intake... enough so to maintain or even lose a little bit. I do go right back to logging.

I also sometimes, like ArditaRose, use a diet break when the scale stalls. Sometimes I get stressed out by that and I know that cortisol is doing me no favors at that point. I eat slightly below maintenance during those breaks and do log.

Gena575

@GottaBurnEmAll I'd planned a Thanksgiving to Christmas maintenance break. Maybe @Little_Miss_Kriss is right and a proper "cheat" night is all I need. The pending binge is freaking Chips Ahoy of all things. Smh at my own self here.

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Gena575

Little_Miss_Kriss wrote: »

honestly, it takes a 3500 calories above your maintenance to gain anything, dunno what your deficit is, but thats a lot of chips ahoy, i think youd either get full or sick of eating them after about a dozen lol before youd actually gain any real weight, one night wont hurt if you pull it together tomorrow. eat some cookies, enjoy them.

My deficit is 1000...and a dozen sounds like heaven lol! But I figure 9 and a big ol glass of milk will fit the bill for around 800 calories. Yep. It's going down Friday (shopping day) Poor hubby will have to take the excess to work Saturday lol!

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jemhh

arditarose wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

I took breaks when I started getting really hungry and thinking about food a lot. Back then I was not usually hungry while dieting. Nowadays I pre-plan breaks when cutting (every 8th week.)

For me, a break means continuing to exercise and log as normal while eating at maintenance.

I'm always battling over whether I should continue losing or stay at maintenance. I think if I knew a break was coming up maybe I'd be better at staying in a deficit. I think I'd need something more like 6 weeks though. Good idea.

Yeah, gone are the days when I can cut without a solid end date. That kind of thing was much easier when I was still overweight. (Ow, my diamond slippers are too tight.)

arditarose

jemhh wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

I took breaks when I started getting really hungry and thinking about food a lot. Back then I was not usually hungry while dieting. Nowadays I pre-plan breaks when cutting (every 8th week.)

For me, a break means continuing to exercise and log as normal while eating at maintenance.

I'm always battling over whether I should continue losing or stay at maintenance. I think if I knew a break was coming up maybe I'd be better at staying in a deficit. I think I'd need something more like 6 weeks though. Good idea.

Yeah, gone are the days when I can cut without a solid end date. That kind of thing was much easier when I was still overweight. (Ow, my diamond slippers are too tight.)

Yeah...well...I'm practically overweight again over here.

PinkPixiexox

Only you can decide when it is time to take a short break.

If you feel a 'binge brewing', i'd definitely suggest taking a break from the constant deficit and eating at maintenance instead. Sometimes you just need to refresh and take a breather - you're only human. Its important to look after the mind aswell as the body so please don't feel guilt for doing this. Many of us have a break and we still reach our goals - just a week or two later than expected - no biggie! No rush

trigden1991

After prolonged periods of dieting, a short break at maintenance can help to return hormones to normal levels.

teetertatertango

For me, eating at maintenance doesn't really stop the brewing of a binge. If you expect maintenance to fill that desire to be *full, completely satisfied, not wanting to eat*...it may not do that. Maintenance calories are fairly neutral feeling, sometimes even leaving me a bit hungry. And certainly I would never be able to eat the amount of carbs I would gravitate toward and still be at maintenance.

Maintenance is still a restricted calorie state for those who end up overweight with their "normal" eating.

So, I wouldn't say that a diet break sets you up to fail exactly, but I would be very cautious in what you expect it to do.

Joanna2012B

Little_Miss_Kriss wrote: »

sounds like a nice treat, enjoy it and know you aren't going to ruin all your success with something good once in a while

Agree with this so much!

Once in a while if I want a bag of chips I get a bag of chips. This is my second time around losing weight...the first time I didn't allow myself anything, not even a small piece of dark chocolate. Now if I want chocolate I will have some, but in moderation. I believe that being so rigid with my diet the first time around is the reason I failed. Since then, I have made it a lifestyle change instead of a "diet" to lose weight. I am losing at a much slower rate, but I also know I will be successful this time...it just feels different.

So I say ENJOY those Chips Ahoy Friday night!!!!!

Gena575

trigden1991 wrote: »

After prolonged periods of dieting, a short break at maintenance can help to return hormones to normal levels.

The thing I was looking for was a definition of "prolonged period." 3 months? A year? This whole individual, do what feels right, find your own way thing frustrates me at times lol!

cee134

If you just started, I wouldn't recommend it. Weight loss slows at times and speeds up at other times. It is also much slower near goal weight.

I lost 100 lbs then gained it back, through neglecting my diet, and now am down over 35 lbs since May (so about 4 months). First started over 5 years ago.

The reason I wouldn't recommend it yet, is you haven't been doing it that long. You need to create the discipline to eat in a deficit. I'm not sure 4 months is long enough to really build up a new habit. Eating in maintenance can be a slippery slop to weight gain.

I do understand burn out, which is why I realized the only thing that will get me through to my goal weight, and keep the weight off is discipline. It's much harder to keep weight off at goal weight then lose it.

That being said, I think a month breaks after losing 10 % of your body weight wouldn't hurt either. In fact I would recommend it since it helps people get use to eating in maintenance when they get to their goal weight.

Weight lose is not a race, or even a marathon. It's a journey and it's how you travel that's important. If you keep up what your doing, one day you will be at your goal. It's better not to rush and take your time, let yourself and your body get used to things.

RoxieDawn

Gena575 wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

After prolonged periods of dieting, a short break at maintenance can help to return hormones to normal levels.

The thing I was looking for was a definition of "prolonged period." 3 months? A year? This whole individual, do what feels right, find your own way thing frustrates me at times lol!

OP the diet break to help stabilize or regulate hormones, does not have to be 3 months.. A person can actually take a diet break weekly, bi weekly, monthly to do this. So if you diet really heavy for 5 days and refeed for 2, this is a way. Or you can diet heavy for months then do a diet break that way. Some reach a stall for months at a time and then take a diet break.

Take in mind if you take a diet break during weight loss periodically it can prevent you from getting into a plateau or stall. In this scenario, you can also increase your NEAT and EAT to this as well.

Each persons diet break though is personal preference. For those that suffer burnout, etc. it can be two weeks, month or months. It depends on your goals.

If you are looking for scientific evidence that backs up diet breaks, refeeds, etc.. there is a million and one articles and studies on this topic.

elisa123gal

If you have felt this way for many weeks, I'd take a break of some sort. Either eat a maintenance and keep exercising for few months. Add a free eating day and keep doing what you're doing.. I've also heard a lot about reverse dieting..it is supposed to work better than just bumping straight up to maintenance calories.

I find I have a week where i feel like I don't want to continue...then I push through and my resolve actually gets stronger and it seems easy again. So.. if this is a recent feeling.. you may want to push through and the urge to quit for now will pass.

trigden1991

Gena575 wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

After prolonged periods of dieting, a short break at maintenance can help to return hormones to normal levels.

The thing I was looking for was a definition of "prolonged period." 3 months? A year? This whole individual, do what feels right, find your own way thing frustrates me at times lol!

It does all depend on the individual and the size of the deficit. I believe that many people say 12 weeks dieting and then 7-14 days at maintenance. See what works for you.

Machka9

I stuck to my diet like glue for 16 weeks.

At that point I had reached my first goal, and was about to go on a 3-week holiday, so I took a 1-month diet break. I didn't eat at maintenance, at least, not deliberately. I just ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it ... and I didn't log a thing. Interestingly, I discovered I didn't want quite as much of the same stuff I'd been eating 6 months earlier ... and I was ordering things like steamed veggies and salad in restaurants.

I also exercised a whole lot more than usual.

When I returned, I had gained 2 kg.

So I decided to stick to the diet like glue for another 16 weeks. I lost those 2 kg + another 11 kg. Dropped to a weight I haven't seen since 2004.

I've been maintaining since ... almost a year now.

jemhh

Gena575 wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

After prolonged periods of dieting, a short break at maintenance can help to return hormones to normal levels.

The thing I was looking for was a definition of "prolonged period." 3 months? A year? This whole individual, do what feels right, find your own way thing frustrates me at times lol!

Here are two articles on diet breaks:

Diet breaks
* http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
* http://strengthunbound.com/when-to-take-a-diet-break/

DebSozo

arditarose wrote: »

I took a break when I stopped losing.I know everyone on here says not to eat more when you're not losing, but it made sense for me because A-it got my logging back in check because I wanted to be super accurate in maintenance, and B-it probably helped level my hormones/leptin levels out a bit. I did a two week maintenance break. There's nothing wrong with upping calories for a bit if you're fatigued. Personally I'd just go right to maintenance but if you want to keep a slight deficit there's no harm.

Same here. I stopped losing weight and was getting desperate. The diet break kept me from giving up. I figured that it was easier on me to find my TDEE and eat to that level (at least temporarily) than suffer at very low calorie diet and weigh the same.

ogtmama

The op didn't say she wanted to go to maintenance, she said she wanted to EAT at maintenance level while maintaining approximately 500 calories deficit through exercise...just lightening up a bit, and it sounds like a great idea...probably closer to the amount you should be losing in order to prevent muscle loss.

GottaBurnEmAll

teetertatertango wrote: »

For me, eating at maintenance doesn't really stop the brewing of a binge. If you expect maintenance to fill that desire to be *full, completely satisfied, not wanting to eat*...it may not do that. Maintenance calories are fairly neutral feeling, sometimes even leaving me a bit hungry. And certainly I would never be able to eat the amount of carbs I would gravitate toward and still be at maintenance.

Maintenance is still a restricted calorie state for those who end up overweight with their "normal" eating.

So, I wouldn't say that a diet break sets you up to fail exactly, but I would be very cautious in what you expect it to do.

Hmmm... I'd say that this "full, completely satisfied, not wanting to eat" feeling is then something you need to work on if you hope to maintain lasting weight loss.

I know it was for me.

Referring to that feeling as "normal" eating is something that needs to be moved away from. Actively. With purpose. There are several ways I found to do this. The most effective for me were to drink a lot of water, find exercise that blunted my appetite, and to eat very slowly so that my satiety signals could kick in and I could learn to appreciate that pleasantly full sensation as opposed to that "stuffed" sensation I was used to feeling.

Thinking of things like "restriction" is really counter productive to long term success. Embracing your new normal and forming new habits with food is crucial.

I'm not saying that you personally need to do this, it's just that reading what you wrote here gave me cause for concern for people lurking. You may have moved past this.

DebSozo

I think it is important to note that you don't go over maintenance calories during the "break" or you will gain.

DebSozo

Feeling hungry isn't a "bad" thing. I realized that I used to be afraid to feel hunger pangs. But now I embrace them as part of the weight loss experience.