The Diet Break.
SideSteel
Posts: 11,068 Member
So this isn't new information for some of you, but I find this is one of those things that people neglect to do even if they know about it.
Rather than go into detail about what a diet break is, I'll leave you with this article:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
Basically, this is a period of time where you're eating at maintenance. How often and how long you should break for will vary a bit, but if I were to make a general recommendation based on my own experiences with multiple people of different demographics, I'd say a maintenance phase of 1 to 2 weeks in length every 6 to 10 weeks of dieting.
Edit: Read the article for reasons WHY to diet break but the really short cliffs are this -- dieting sucks. Some hormones may become a bit disregulated, motivation will dwindle, gym performance can suffer, food focus increases, etc.
My preference with this is to very slightly under-estimate maintenance needs and bring calories up for about a week. If things are going well and especially if weight continues to drop, make another bump to calories for another week.
Surprisingly, I seldom see weight gain as a result of this. In fact, more often than not it's either weight maintenance or a slight reduction in weight. When calories are brought back down to pre-break levels we typically see additional losses even in cases where someone was previously stalled.
I'll note that this isn't necessarily indicative of metabolic benefits of the diet break although it's a possibility. It's also likely that long duration dieting impacts tracking accuracy and diet adherence and so near the tail end of a diet, the difference between what's eaten and what's logged is likely a bit larger (people are eating more than they log) wheres post break that gap is likely a bit smaller.
I will also add this -- I've never had someone I'm coaching take a diet break as planned, and regret the diet break later. I HAVE had people resist the recommendation, thinking they can just willpower through it, only to later regret not taking the diet break.
Anyway, the article I've linked will contain a lot of solid info that I'd suggest checking out. You can also let me know if you have any general questions about this strategy.
I'll note that I pretty much incorporate these as a standard practice in some capacity now, and I'm VERY glad I do.
Rather than go into detail about what a diet break is, I'll leave you with this article:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
Basically, this is a period of time where you're eating at maintenance. How often and how long you should break for will vary a bit, but if I were to make a general recommendation based on my own experiences with multiple people of different demographics, I'd say a maintenance phase of 1 to 2 weeks in length every 6 to 10 weeks of dieting.
Edit: Read the article for reasons WHY to diet break but the really short cliffs are this -- dieting sucks. Some hormones may become a bit disregulated, motivation will dwindle, gym performance can suffer, food focus increases, etc.
My preference with this is to very slightly under-estimate maintenance needs and bring calories up for about a week. If things are going well and especially if weight continues to drop, make another bump to calories for another week.
Surprisingly, I seldom see weight gain as a result of this. In fact, more often than not it's either weight maintenance or a slight reduction in weight. When calories are brought back down to pre-break levels we typically see additional losses even in cases where someone was previously stalled.
I'll note that this isn't necessarily indicative of metabolic benefits of the diet break although it's a possibility. It's also likely that long duration dieting impacts tracking accuracy and diet adherence and so near the tail end of a diet, the difference between what's eaten and what's logged is likely a bit larger (people are eating more than they log) wheres post break that gap is likely a bit smaller.
I will also add this -- I've never had someone I'm coaching take a diet break as planned, and regret the diet break later. I HAVE had people resist the recommendation, thinking they can just willpower through it, only to later regret not taking the diet break.
Anyway, the article I've linked will contain a lot of solid info that I'd suggest checking out. You can also let me know if you have any general questions about this strategy.
I'll note that I pretty much incorporate these as a standard practice in some capacity now, and I'm VERY glad I do.
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Replies
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It's also likely that long duration dieting impacts tracking accuracy and diet adherence and so near the tail end of a diet, the difference between what's eaten and what's logged is likely a bit larger (people are eating more than they log)
Guilty
This very thing happened to me over the last 6mths (winter), and i was unwittingly eating at maintenance, by neglecting to log bits and pieces and handfuls/spoonfuls of this and that. Plus on top of that i was running myself into the ground with exercise which ramped my appetite up even further. I've been on this diet since August 2014, and I'm just flat out diet fatigued at this point.
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Christine_72 wrote: »
It's also likely that long duration dieting impacts tracking accuracy and diet adherence and so near the tail end of a diet, the difference between what's eaten and what's logged is likely a bit larger (people are eating more than they log)
Guilty This very thing happened to me over the last 6mths (winter), and i was unwittingly eating at maintenance, by neglecting to log bits and pieces and handfuls/spoonfuls of this and that. Plus on top of that i was running myself into the ground with exercise which ramped my appetite up even further. I've been on this diet since August 2014, and I'm just flat out diet fatigued at this point.
One major advantage to taking a diet break is that in a diet break you are intending to maintain weight. And so if you implement a diet break and maintain weight, you will feel successful.
If you do not implement a diet break, and attempt to diet but end up eating at maintenance due to poor adherence, you will feel like a failure.
In both examples the end result is eating at maintenance, but the outcomes are far different psychologically.46 -
Christine_72 wrote: »
It's also likely that long duration dieting impacts tracking accuracy and diet adherence and so near the tail end of a diet, the difference between what's eaten and what's logged is likely a bit larger (people are eating more than they log)
Guilty This very thing happened to me over the last 6mths (winter), and i was unwittingly eating at maintenance, by neglecting to log bits and pieces and handfuls/spoonfuls of this and that. Plus on top of that i was running myself into the ground with exercise which ramped my appetite up even further. I've been on this diet since August 2014, and I'm just flat out diet fatigued at this point.
One major advantage to taking a diet break is that in a diet break you are intending to maintain weight. And so if you implement a diet break and maintain weight, you will feel successful.
If you do not implement a diet break, and attempt to diet but end up eating at maintenance due to poor adherence, you will feel like a failure.
In both examples the end result is eating at maintenance, but the outcomes are far different psychologically.
Maaan you nailed it perfectly! So very true.7 -
Appreciate this. I'm familiar with the strategy- have a friend who continues to make substantial progress using it- and I think it's a good idea. I've been unwittingly *maintaining* for many months, and though I resigned myself to that for a while, I still have the mindset that I should be restricting. I've left my calories at a deficit, even though I clearly haven't been hitting them, and I realize that's been detrimental mentally. One thing I wonder, if I commit to more precision tracking, even at maintenance, will that contribute to the "diet fatigue"?1
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Appreciate this. I'm familiar with the strategy- have a friend who continues to make substantial progress using it- and I think it's a good idea. I've been unwittingly *maintaining* for many months, and though I resigned myself to that for a while, I still have the mindset that I should be restricting. I've left my calories at a deficit, even though I clearly haven't been hitting them, and I realize that's been detrimental mentally. One thing I wonder, if I commit to more precision tracking, even at maintenance, will that contribute to the "diet fatigue"?
It could if the meticulous nature of tracking causes you stress.
However I think even without intentionally gluing yourself to the food scale, moving to maintenance for a week or two will likely do you some good. Please see my first reply in this thread if you've not already as I think it may be relevant to your situation.5 -
I've been cycling my calories so that one day a week I eat just under maintenance (1500) but my weekly deficit averages out to 1250 cal a day for 4 months so far.
I'm hoping this will keep hormones in check but I'm not finding much research on doing it one day a week or if it works while I'm still in an overall deficit.
I keep doing it because it gives me days I can eat higher calorie things like french fries and chocolate:). Oh and wine don't forget the wine.6 -
well I took several breaks over the last 4 years. this last break I took a month or so off(still logged but ate in maintenance). didnt help me out one bit,I lost 1.2 lbs,it took me 4 months to lose that much after dropping calories. all my blood tests came back normal as well. The only issue I have is a metabolic disorder and I should still be losing weight(CICO and all that). but nope.Im also not at a healthy weight. Im about 10lbs from the high end of a healthy weight/BMI.I only have about 25-30 lbs left to goal. rate Im going I will never get there.4
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My approach was this:
First, I stuck to my diet for 16 weeks ... unwaveringly and absolutely.
At the end of 16 weeks, my husband and I had plans to go to Canada to visit my family. I didn't care how much I lost by then, I just wanted to lose something. Happily, I lost 15 kg.
The moment we entered the airport to begin the trip, I went on a diet break and for the next month, I ate whatever I wanted and logged nothing. I had all sorts of grand plans ... heaps of donuts, bags of chips ... turns out my tastes had changed a bit. I managed one bag of chips but found them way too salty for me to want to have another. I did have some donuts, but maybe about half what I've had before. And I found myself ordering steamed veggies and salads in restaurants!!
Although I took a diet break, I didn't take an exercise break. I actually increased the amount of exercise I do.
I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with the diet or not, but when I returned from the holiday, I decided to stick with it for another 16 weeks just to see if I could lose a few more kg. I lost another 11 kg.
And I've been maintaining since, but I do go on the diet for a week or two now and then to help keep things under control.
For me, having a finite limit worked well. "Forever" is completely daunting ... even "a year or two" is too much ... but I can do 16 weeks.
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I love this thread so much.7
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I always see a good amount of weight gain during my diet breaks, but that's because my diets are nearly carb-free, so it's all glyco/water that I put back on. It's a beautiful feeling to see the scale going up by four pounds per week, but vascularity and musculature popping all over the place while shoulder and chest measurements swell.2
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I usually track calories during a diet break and do not see weight gain. When I was first losing weight I went 4 or 5 months before taking a break. After that it was every 2-3 months that year, but rather than pre-planning them I had one when I started feeling hungry all the time. Now I'm at a point where pre-planning is the better choice for me.2
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I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.6 -
I never took a diet break. For me, I felt it would put me back into my old habits especially if I did it every few weeks. Now I have IDGAF days which are mentally refreshing.6
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.
I know your struggle. Ive been trying to lose this weight for the last 4 years(i have to eat low fat due to a health issue). my weight will go down,then it goes right back up to a certain area no matter what I do.your weight will fluctuate hr by hr,day by day depending on a lot of factors,when you lift heavy you do retain water to help with muscle repair so that could be it along with the extra sodium.I need to lose some fat off my legs too but,its been very very slow1 -
It's been 11 months now for me, I recently had a few weeks where I only seemed to maintain as I was eating a bit more and it was sort of semi-maintenance except I hadn't originally planned it.
I will be honest...I am feeling a bit tired of dieting right now. Not in a permanent way - I never think about "just quitting" before getting to goal, or pigging out at goal or anything - but...for now. Just...tired out. Over it, for the moment.
So I'm considering maintenance until after the holidays.
The one thing I'm NOT considering is a free-for-all. I don't want to go up from here. It's just that I'm thinking it might not be such a bad thing to stay the same for a month.
We'll see. If you decide to do this, maybe make a winter maintenance club on here? LOL. I'd join.6 -
I have a planned break coming up from the second week of December. It coincides with me re-entering treatment of my health with meds so I'm hoping if what they prescribe is an appetite spiker I can mitigate the effects by naturally having more to eat than is currently usual due to be being at maintenance for a bit. I'll probably still log, if not all the time at least some of the time and keep a close eye on things (side effects permitting, psych med side effects are often brutal at first!).
I properly started last April, took a break in December and May and had the odd week here or there that has been accidental maintenance this year.
I never continue to lose and I have never had any "back to the deficit" whooshes but the psychological benefit is the big plus for me. Working out at maintenance also feels so much better!4 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.
I know your struggle. Ive been trying to lose this weight for the last 4 years(i have to eat low fat due to a health issue). my weight will go down,then it goes right back up to a certain area no matter what I do.your weight will fluctuate hr by hr,day by day depending on a lot of factors,when you lift heavy you do retain water to help with muscle repair so that could be it along with the extra sodium.I need to lose some fat off my legs too but,its been very very slow
Well, I lift as heavy as I can lift, but I doubt anyone else would call it heavy!2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.
I know your struggle. Ive been trying to lose this weight for the last 4 years(i have to eat low fat due to a health issue). my weight will go down,then it goes right back up to a certain area no matter what I do.your weight will fluctuate hr by hr,day by day depending on a lot of factors,when you lift heavy you do retain water to help with muscle repair so that could be it along with the extra sodium.I need to lose some fat off my legs too but,its been very very slow
Well, I lift as heavy as I can lift, but I doubt anyone else would call it heavy!
hey if its heavy for you and challenges you and you struggle with the last few reps then its heavy for you. who cares what others think right?6 -
I wonder if it might be time to do this. I've been going over my calories more often, or I'll neglect to log for the second half of the day. It's a stressful time of year in my world, so I'm sure that's part of it, but I wonder if trying a week or two of seeing what maintenance feels like might be the thing I need. Thanks for the post!1
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I don't think I've ever done a full maintenance week. The maintenance days in 5:2 have been very beneficial mentally.
I think I'll end the year with a few weeks of full maintenance.0 -
I've been restricting calories since August 2015 and have lost about 125 pounds thus far. I took one break this past April--about 10 days of eating roughly at maintenance while my mom visited from out of town (she lives outside the US and wants nothing more than to eat alllll the American food when she comes back!). I still logged and did not gain, and went right back to eating at a deficit.
These days, I admit I am having some pretty serious diet fatigue. I moved, changed jobs, am revisiting some serious knee issues and just want to EAT. Re: the OP, my motivation has definitely dwindled (I now weigh less than I ever have in my adult life) and I have definitely been more food focused, lots more snacking, (but also walking a lot more). After losing 8-12 pounds a month, I've adjusted my goal to a mere .5 pound per week loss. I still have about 30-40 pounds to go to a healthy BMI, and some days it seems far, far away.
Once again, mom is visiting for the next week and I absolutely plan on maintaining or even gaining a couple pounds while still logging, even if not with absolute precision. Then I will go back to a tighter eating plan and get back on track.
As was said above, this feels like I have a plan, as opposed to just aimlessly eating my way to maintenance. Am I a little afraid that this might be the start of drifting back to my old ways? Oh, yes. The siren song of baked goods is strong for me! But I've made it this far, and proven to myself that I can do this, so I am going to push on and see what I can accomplish.4 -
I'm on week two of a diet break, and lemme tell you, I feel about 1000x better and much more prepared for the last leg of my weight loss13
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ticiaelizabeth wrote: »I'm on week two of a diet break, and lemme tell you, I feel about 1000x better and much more prepared for the last leg of my weight loss
Really?
So are you doing maintenance (for now)?0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.
I know your struggle. Ive been trying to lose this weight for the last 4 years(i have to eat low fat due to a health issue). my weight will go down,then it goes right back up to a certain area no matter what I do.your weight will fluctuate hr by hr,day by day depending on a lot of factors,when you lift heavy you do retain water to help with muscle repair so that could be it along with the extra sodium.I need to lose some fat off my legs too but,its been very very slow
Well, I lift as heavy as I can lift, but I doubt anyone else would call it heavy!
I'm insanely proud of my 15kg deadlift... which is probably pathetic for some. 1 year ago I couldn't do it. So I'll stick to being insanely proud of what I can do
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ladyreva78 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.
I know your struggle. Ive been trying to lose this weight for the last 4 years(i have to eat low fat due to a health issue). my weight will go down,then it goes right back up to a certain area no matter what I do.your weight will fluctuate hr by hr,day by day depending on a lot of factors,when you lift heavy you do retain water to help with muscle repair so that could be it along with the extra sodium.I need to lose some fat off my legs too but,its been very very slow
Well, I lift as heavy as I can lift, but I doubt anyone else would call it heavy!
I'm insanely proud of my 15kg deadlift... which is probably pathetic for some. 1 year ago I couldn't do it. So I'll stick to being insanely proud of what I can do
I did 70 pounds deadlifting today. New max. I'm so weak, but it was good. It's my favorite lift. I doubt it's my 1RM (I've never tested it), but it's progress.6 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ladyreva78 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I'm at the point where it's diet break time, and I think I'm going to gain. At my margins of calories because I'm short, and already eat low fat, and a decent amount of protein, I tend to add more carbs. Oh well. More glycogen will happen. No biggie.
The thing is, I had my weight drop to 116, and this morning the scale bounced back up to 120 for no reason other than I lifted yesterday and had soy sauce and popcorn last night. I'm sick of this ridiculousness. My weight keeps gravitating to 120 no matter what I do and it's been doing that for, oh, I'd say six months.
Do I log every bite? Nope, but I'm vaguely aware of the calories of what I'm not logging and I leave a hefty chunk of exercise calories on the table every day to cover for it.
I'd love to lose some fat off my legs, because they are just chunky. I honestly don't know if I can at this point and it's frustrating.
I know your struggle. Ive been trying to lose this weight for the last 4 years(i have to eat low fat due to a health issue). my weight will go down,then it goes right back up to a certain area no matter what I do.your weight will fluctuate hr by hr,day by day depending on a lot of factors,when you lift heavy you do retain water to help with muscle repair so that could be it along with the extra sodium.I need to lose some fat off my legs too but,its been very very slow
Well, I lift as heavy as I can lift, but I doubt anyone else would call it heavy!
I'm insanely proud of my 15kg deadlift... which is probably pathetic for some. 1 year ago I couldn't do it. So I'll stick to being insanely proud of what I can do
I did 70 pounds deadlifting today. New max. I'm so weak, but it was good. It's my favorite lift. I doubt it's my 1RM (I've never tested it), but it's progress.
Most powerlifters will tell you that they never actually max at the gym, and save that stuff for meets. You'll usually see a pretty crazy spread in the weight between their three (or four if going for a record) attempts at a given lift in meets.1 -
ticiaelizabeth wrote: »I'm on week two of a diet break, and lemme tell you, I feel about 1000x better and much more prepared for the last leg of my weight loss
Really?
So are you doing maintenance (for now)?
Yep, I've been at maintenance calories for a couple weeks now. Ready to take them down a bit again to lose this last 10 pounds. I'd been stuck for months anyhow, all the while eating several hundred calories less, so I'm hoping this has been a good reset for my body.3 -
ticiaelizabeth wrote: »ticiaelizabeth wrote: »I'm on week two of a diet break, and lemme tell you, I feel about 1000x better and much more prepared for the last leg of my weight loss
Really?
So are you doing maintenance (for now)?
Yep, I've been at maintenance calories for a couple weeks now. Ready to take them down a bit again to lose this last 10 pounds. I'd been stuck for months anyhow, all the while eating several hundred calories less, so I'm hoping this has been a good reset for my body.
I'm curious, because I'm sort of in the sameish situation. When you upped to maintenance calories, what did the scale do?1 -
I'm in the same situation aswell, trying to lose the last 6-10lbs, I upped my calories yesterday to (sedentary) maintenance calories. What a freeing and happy feeling it was! It's like the pressure and weight was lifted off my shoulders. Like @ticiaelizabeth I've been stuck for months too.3
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