Diet Break Help

RPN869

Hello!

So, I recently decided to take a 3-4 week diet break since I plateau'd VERY badly.

So far I'm 5 days in. It's been going well, but I've noticed something...

I've been hitting my maintenance calories, but I'm literally not full at all. Like I have to stop myself from eating more.

Any advice needed? I've been trying to restore my leptin levels lately.

Also, information about me to consider.

I'm 19, about 15-16% body fat.
I've still been staying active through this break (doing HIIT cardio x 6-7 times a week + strength training everyday). I've been eating 'whole/healthy' foods through this break as well. Also, my dieting history goes as follows - approximately 1 year I started to do ketogenic, but I wasn't aware I was consuming at around maintenance calories (I didn't get a food scale yet). My proper calorie cut started in September. I had weekly cheat days which hindered my progress. But come January, I managed to lose around 15+lbs in around 5-6 weeks by lowering my caloric intake further and cutting out cheat days entirely. Then my weight loss completely stopped and on Sunday I began my diet break to restore my hormones and such to allow me to finish the cut.

What do you think? Should I maybe eat until I get full? Or should I just wait a couple more days until hormones return?

L1zardQueen

Your hormones, were they checked with a blood test with your medical doctor?

RPN869

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Your hormones, were they checked with a blood test with your medical doctor?

No. But they're hormones that go down with weight loss (leptin specifically).

L1zardQueen

But how do you know exactly? From what website or from whom are you getting this information regarding your leptin levels?

andyluvv

More than hormones, it's likely to be blood sugar. I'm under Testosterone Replacement Therapy and even though my hormones are fine - my blood sugar is a rollercoaster. This was the advice given by my doctor as just like you - I have issues feeling full. It's a struggle as I don't get hunger queues most of the time.

What works for me is trying to focus on fiber rich foods - I've been trying to have more beans and they seem to keep me more stable throughout the day. But I still feel that I need to eat within 3 hour windows. It's manageable, but I'm not saying it's easy. Good luck

HappyGrape

you have been hitting your maintenance according to MFP or some form of fitness tracker? My maintenance is between 300 and 600 more than what mfp predicts as I am active. 300 winter, 600 warmer months

heybales

One of the first things your body does when you go into diet that is more than it likes is start slowing down daily activity - mostly the fidgeting kind calorie burn.

Eating more has probably restored that if not more, and you are burning more than your maintenance figure.

Watch your weight lightly (don't put too much "weight" on it changing) because water weight should change too.
But watch your waist better if that is indeed the first place you put on fat.

But even if you were accidentally over maintenance by 250 daily - it would still take 2 weeks to even see a 1 lb increase.

I'm more concerned with your workout schedule.

You doing all that HIIT (if it's truly HIIT and not just the label slapped on some fad workout) because you heard it helps burns fat?

And a good workout tears the body down.
But it's the rest for recovery and repair that builds it back up, stronger if diet allows.

Where is your rest?

Perhaps it's possible because you are also doing the faddish lifting of 1 body part a day, which is for experienced lifters, and at your age - doubtful you've got 5 years under your belt to be considered experienced. Could be, but doubtful.

No wonder hormones could be messed up - more than leptin likely.

sijomial

(doing HIIT cardio x 6-7 times a week + strength training everyday)

This popped out at me, think this is a likely cause of the plateau problem.
So much stress on your body and no recovery periods, great way to cause over-training / under-recovery.
And all while in a calorie deficit when your body is less able to cope with the demands.

When I'm peaking for a big cycling event (training is very intense, very high volume, slight calorie deficit) it's not unusual to lose weight steadily for six weeks and then weight loss plateaus.
Taper week when I ease off the exercise and increase cals to maintenance I often drop a couple of pounds.

Stress/inflammation/cortisol are to blame for the apparent contradiction.

My advice would be to review your exercise routine. Start with goals then move on to how best to achieve those goals.

tattygun

Why such a long break? Have you tried a 48hr refeed at any point?

Spliner1969

Generally when I find myself hungry and astonished at the calories I've taken in (and still want more) it's because I was eating badly. Calorie dense foods can blow up your diary but leave you hungry. Take a good long look at what you've been eating. Also weight training every day doesn't sound sustainable, give yourself a rest day or two a week. Sounds like your maintenance calories might be higher than you think.

Rusty740

sijomial wrote: »

(doing HIIT cardio x 6-7 times a week + strength training everyday)

This popped out at me, think this is a likely cause of the plateau problem.
So much stress on your body and no recovery periods, great way to cause over-training / under-recovery.
And all while in a calorie deficit when your body is less able to cope with the demands.

When I'm peaking for a big cycling event (training is very intense, very high volume, slight calorie deficit) it's not unusual to lose weight steadily for six weeks and then weight loss plateaus.
Taper week when I ease off the exercise and increase cals to maintenance I often drop a couple of pounds.

Stress/inflammation/cortisol are to blame for the apparent contradiction.

My advice would be to review your exercise routine. Start with goals then move on to how best to achieve those goals.

^This

trigden1991

It's perfectly sane behaviour to want to eat more once you cut yourself some slack. From your post it does sound like you're doing way too much and are probably over-training.