Diet Breaks?
kwissten
Posts: 25 Member
Has anyone here had success with a diet break? At this point in my weight loss I am only a few pounds from my goal weight but my weight seems to not budge. My calories are low and I cant drop them anymore, so I have been thinking about either upping them for a while and reverse dieting until I get to a high enough number where I can try dropping my calories again, or giving the calorie counting a rest for a while and just hitting a certain number of fruits and veggies for the day. Anyone have success with this kind of thing or have any advice to kickstart the weight loss again?
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Replies
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That's irrational. This isn't about diet but lifestyle. If a few lbs away your progress will be slow 1 lb a month maybe. But stick with the life1
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Yes, diet breaks can be very helpful. If you are truly within a few pounds of your goal and frustrated about a lack of progress, it may be time to move to maintenance and focus more on body composition than scale weight.7
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I did a "diet break" for about 8months +/- not counting but basically eating at maintenance. Now come spring again I started it back up. As long as youre eating youre not eating a deficit or surplus you could do a diet break every 2 weeks and it wouldnt matter, would just slow everything down but thats not neccessarily bad.
So I just did an "active counting" break but didnt eat at a surplus and it personally helped me keep motivation and getting used to the loss.
Going to maintenance for some time shouldnt ever be a bad thing in weight loss, if thats what a "diet break" constitutes for you (:0 -
Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
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There's no need to slowly increase back to maintenance. Reverse dieting isn't necessary. All it does it prevent rapid water weight gain that freaks people out. The OP can move directly to maintenance without gaining any fat because people don't gain fat from eating maintenance calories.Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
To the OP, diet breaks are extremely useful when eating in a deficit for long periods of time. I usually do a 2 week break every 8-12 weeks of dieting. For the two weeks I still count just as carefully as when in a deficit. The only real difference is the calorie goal is moved to maintenance. After the two weeks is up you can either return to the deficit or focus on gaining lean mass by very slowly adding calories. Sometimes this is best if you are very close to your goal weight and will do more for your physique than losing the last couple lbs. It really just depends what your goals are. Don't be shocked if you gain weight when you switch to maintenance. If you are really at maintenance the weight gained will be water, not fat. It usually goes away as quick as it showed up when you go back into the deficit. This article is an excellent resource regarding diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/3 -
Yes. Once I was relatively little and lean, I struggled losing. My leptin levels were low, fat intake low, and I was stressed. I took a break, it was great for the body and soul and as soon as I started logging again in a deficit, boom. Back on track. That was years ago though.2
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That's irrational. This isn't about diet but lifestyle. If a few lbs away your progress will be slow 1 lb a month maybe. But stick with the life
Why would this be a lifestyle issue? A diet break doesn't mean a person starts eating the way they used to & stops exercising (if they have been). It just refers to a period of eating at a maintenance level (which everyone has to learn to do at some point). Diet breaks are useful because extended periods of calorie restriction take a toll on a person's body & mind. It's not "irrational" to take a step back and live at maintenance for a while, while still maintaining good habits.6 -
That's irrational. This isn't about diet but lifestyle. If a few lbs away your progress will be slow 1 lb a month maybe. But stick with the life
Why would this be a lifestyle issue? A diet break doesn't mean a person starts eating the way they used to & stops exercising (if they have been). Diet breaks are useful because extended periods of calorie restriction take a toll on a person's body & mind. It's not "irrational" to take a step back and live at maintenance for a while, while still maintaining good habits.
Thank you.0 -
There's no need to slowly increase back to maintenance. Reverse dieting isn't necessary. All it does it prevent rapid water weight gain that freaks people out. The OP can move directly to maintenance without gaining any fat because people don't gain fat from eating maintenance calories.Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
I thought the purpose of reverse dieting was to find a person's accurate maintenance level- is there another reason people do it? Is it just to avoid a water weight gain?
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There's no need to slowly increase back to maintenance. Reverse dieting isn't necessary. All it does it prevent rapid water weight gain that freaks people out. The OP can move directly to maintenance without gaining any fat because people don't gain fat from eating maintenance calories.Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
I thought the purpose of reverse dieting was to find a person's accurate maintenance level- is there another reason people do it? Is it just to avoid a water weight gain?
People who have been in aggressive deficits, especially those prepping for competition or yo-yo dieters, can acquire some more serious metabolic adaptations. It's thought that a slow reverse diet might be able to help bring their maintenance calories up a little past where they can currently maintain. At least that's what I understand from listening to some of my favorite fitness people.3 -
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The original hype around reverse dieting was that if you added calories (carbs) back slowly enough you could end up with a higher maintenance than if you simply added back the entire deficit at once. This isn't true and there's no research to support it. If you are eating 1500 calories a day and a have a 2000 calorie a day maintenance and add back 500 calories all at once, you will have a water weight gain, possibly a substantial one. If you instead add 100 calories a week over the course of 5 weeks you'll prevent the water weight gain but actually prolong your deficit another month which is kind of counterproductive considering the reason for the break was to get out of the deficit. If you're really worried about over-shooting maintenance just take whatever you believe your maintenance is and go 100 calories under that and see what happens. Unless you've lost a great deal of weight your maintenance won't be too far off from where it was before the deficit.
There's no need to slowly increase back to maintenance. Reverse dieting isn't necessary. All it does it prevent rapid water weight gain that freaks people out. The OP can move directly to maintenance without gaining any fat because people don't gain fat from eating maintenance calories.Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
I thought the purpose of reverse dieting was to find a person's accurate maintenance level- is there another reason people do it? Is it just to avoid a water weight gain?2 -
Didn't the OP say they had stopped losing weight? They must be eating at maintenance already, right?
If they have stopped losing and do not want to eat less, then why not declare victory? Our goal weight is derived from estimation (and sometimes wishfull thinking) so why be concerned about hitting an exact number?1 -
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lthames0810 wrote: »Didn't the OP say they had stopped losing weight? They must be eating at maintenance already, right?
If they have stopped losing and do not want to eat less, then why not declare victory? Our goal weight is derived from estimation (and sometimes wishfully thinking) so why be concerned about hitting an exact number?
Not necessarily. You can stop losing weight in a deficit for a very long time. Water retention can be wicked, especially when you are already relatively lean. Fat loss is still ongoing but the scale can mask any losses for weeks. The maintenance break helps resolve some of the hormonal reasons for the water retention and provides a much needed psychological break for people. There is also some metabolic adaptation that can occur with prolonged deficits that the break helps with as well.5 -
lthames0810 wrote: »Didn't the OP say they had stopped losing weight? They must be eating at maintenance already, right?
If they have stopped losing and do not want to eat less, then why not declare victory? Our goal weight is derived from estimation (and sometimes wishfull thinking) so why be concerned about hitting an exact number?
It's different once you get relatively lean. I can be in a deficit for weeks and seem to not lose anything or lose at the pace of death. The stress that a deficit puts on my body plays games with water weight, cortisol levels, hormones, etc. It can all look like a stall on the scale. I have found that though it looks like I'm not losing, I usually am losing inches or weight very slowly, but it's still emotionally and physically draining. This is especially for females.
Now, being 30 lbs overweight, I didn't have this problem.4 -
Ok, that makes sense. Thanks.0
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If you're only a few pounds away from your goal weight it is likely those last few pounds will just come off slowly.
Highly recommend a diet break though where you up calories to maintenance. Eating at a deficit for a long period of time (which I assume you have been because you're close to goal) begins to take a toll not only mentally, but physically as well. I'd eat at maintenance for a couple weeks.0 -
Thanks to everyone for the replys they were all very interesting to read and get different perspectives! I am pretty lean at this point (124 lbs) and my goal is 120. I've brought my cals down quite low for myself and I exercise very hard so it's hard to keep this up and maintain my normal life. If in this next week the scale doesn't budge I'm going to start slowly increasing (the big jump to maintenance and water weight gain would freak me out, I know myself lol).0
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There's no need to slowly increase back to maintenance. Reverse dieting isn't necessary. All it does it prevent rapid water weight gain that freaks people out. The OP can move directly to maintenance without gaining any fat because people don't gain fat from eating maintenance calories.Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
To the OP, diet breaks are extremely useful when eating in a deficit for long periods of time. I usually do a 2 week break every 8-12 weeks of dieting. For the two weeks I still count just as carefully as when in a deficit. The only real difference is the calorie goal is moved to maintenance. After the two weeks is up you can either return to the deficit or focus on gaining lean mass by very slowly adding calories. Sometimes this is best if you are very close to your goal weight and will do more for your physique than losing the last couple lbs. It really just depends what your goals are. Don't be shocked if you gain weight when you switch to maintenance. If you are really at maintenance the weight gained will be water, not fat. It usually goes away as quick as it showed up when you go back into the deficit. This article is an excellent resource regarding diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
My suggestion was to avoid the rapid gains of glycogen replenishing. Personally I find this easier because I know more clearly what my maintenance is before having to wait out that equalization of water weight.
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There's no need to slowly increase back to maintenance. Reverse dieting isn't necessary. All it does it prevent rapid water weight gain that freaks people out. The OP can move directly to maintenance without gaining any fat because people don't gain fat from eating maintenance calories.Increase cals by 100/week till you get to maintenance and chilll there for a month. Sometimes you need it. I would only keep a 250 cal daily deficit going forward after that and when it happens it happens
To the OP, diet breaks are extremely useful when eating in a deficit for long periods of time. I usually do a 2 week break every 8-12 weeks of dieting. For the two weeks I still count just as carefully as when in a deficit. The only real difference is the calorie goal is moved to maintenance. After the two weeks is up you can either return to the deficit or focus on gaining lean mass by very slowly adding calories. Sometimes this is best if you are very close to your goal weight and will do more for your physique than losing the last couple lbs. It really just depends what your goals are. Don't be shocked if you gain weight when you switch to maintenance. If you are really at maintenance the weight gained will be water, not fat. It usually goes away as quick as it showed up when you go back into the deficit. This article is an excellent resource regarding diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
My suggestion was to avoid the rapid gains of glycogen replenishing. Personally I find this easier because I know more clearly what my maintenance is before having to wait out that equalization of water weight.
Those gains in glycogen come whether you go slow or not, they just come on slower with a slower adding of calories, same with water. It might make it easier to find maintenance by adding 100 calories a week but it will add a LOT of time that you are still in a deficit which is counterproductive to someone trying to go on a diet break. Adding a 100 calories a week makes just getting to maintenance take over a month for someone with a 500 calorie deficit. Most people don't want to spend 5 weeks getting to maintenance then another 4 weeks eating maintenance all in hopes of losing the last couple lbs. That's 9 weeks total compared to just adding what you perceive to be the deficit back to your calories and eating it for two weeks. Yes, you will gain weight in water and glycogen but that weight will come right back off when you resume eating in a deficit. Additionally, only jumping back in with a 250 calorie deficit seems like something that's only going to prolong dieting as well. Why not go right back to -500? 250 calories can sometimes be lost to rounding, counting inaccuracies, and non-compliance (either purposeful or subliminal), all things that happen with prolonged deficits. I'd much rather get the dieting over with and have a bit of a cushion than double (or more) the length of time I need to be in a deficit.4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swrul81qco8
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