What are your thoughts on taking a break from weight loss before starting again?

ejg1010

Hi

I have steadily put weight on over the last couple of years and so in April I started focusing on weight loss using MFP (I have returned after having success before!).

The trigger for my decision to lose weight is to look and feel great on my wedding day, which isn't until June 2018. I hoped by starting early and losing a steady pound, and then half a pound, per week I would also be able to keep this off after the wedding, rather than crash dieting in the new year and then it all going back on again.

SW - 173
CW - 157
GW - 147 (intermediate)
GW - 133 (ultimate)

I wondered what your thoughts were on taking a break for a couple of months (November and December) and staying at maintenance level and then kick starting again in the new year at half a pound per week? Has anyone found that a break has helped at all? I am currently also doing 5:2 IF which really works for me and am considering dropping to 6:1 for those 2 months to help maintain.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

cosmonew

there are lots of articles about taking a break..saying it is good for readjusting your metabolism. I don't know if you need to take a 2 month break. If you are sure you will come back...or just don't leave as you say you will do Maintenance...then great.
I have treat weekends or sometimes weeks...and it is hard to get back on track to the discipline and restriction but I love the results.

kommodevaran

You have to do what's right for you, but I just found a way to eat and move that I like, and have stuck to that, more or less, the whole time, and my goal is to eat well and stay fit always, not just for some event.

amtyrell

I know I need habits. So 2 months off would break my habit of logging and would get me in the habit of eating more. It would hurt me and my progress. I need and am doing this by changing habits with the idea that at maintenance I will have good habits I can stick with.
You may be different than me but it would stop my progress

tinkerbellang83

I did this last year for about 4 weeks over Christmas, again at Easter for 2 weeks and for the last 2 weeks over my Birthday and Holiday - I just got back to work today, I still logged but ate around or just above maintenance, as I was travelling a lot and visiting family, I actually found it helpful as it gave me a practice run at maintenance, so it doesn't seem so scary when I have to get around to actually maintaining.

I found I still make better choices than I would have previously and I am much better at estimating my food intake now - I just got back from a festival in the UK, I've been drinking every day for most of the day and eating at food trucks and I've gained 0.6kg (about 1lb) which is probably mostly water weight from the alcohol, food and air travel, so I am pretty pleased with that. Today I am back on track with my meal planning/prep.

yirara

Why not? But I would keep an eye on the scales and probably continue logging during this time.

flemmingss

but why?

Why not just reach the goal weight and then go over to maintenance level until the wedding (and after)?

ejg1010

Thanks for your views!
It seems opinions are quite divided on this one but I think you're right in terms of whatever works best for the individual, I think weight loss as a whole is like that!
Maybe I'll see where I am at in the autumn and decide then.

It's good to know that it can be done! And also when you've been eating in deficit for so long maintenance seems slightly daunting so it might be good to practice for a short while.

ladyhusker39

There's nothing wrong with taking an extended break for weight loss. I'd strongly recommend you continue to weight and log everything and not take a break altogether. But if it were me, I'd continue on to my goal without such a long time off only because you have a specific event you're working towards. If you see your loss slow as you get closer to goal and it looks like you're not going to make it that will likely put a lot more stress on you a a time when you definitely don't need it.

As others said you need to do what works best for you and I absolutely agree, but for me I think I'd aim to reach my goal a couple of months early just to give myself some wiggle room and save the extra stress.

Congratulations on your wedding!

nlwrfa

I had stopped losing pounds the past few weeks... I was lucky to lose .25/week. Ate what I wanted for a week (Taco Bell, Culver's, donuts etc... ate about 3000 calories (maintenance I believe as my 2 lbs a week has me at 1800 calories a day). On top of this week, it was the week prior to TOM where I normally gain 2 pounds... low and behold I lost 3 pounds that week and back up to losing 1-2 pounds again per week.

Colt1835

I took a break around that time too. I ended up getting in a funk and setting myself back 6 months. I learned a good lesson though. I should have been focusing on lifestyle changes and not just losing weight. I will eventually have to stop losing weight and all that will be left is the lifestyle changes.

I think the break could work for you, just be careful not to pick up old habits.

ezekielsherrard205735

Two steps forward, 3 steps back, cha cha cha

ck2d

NoraInMt wrote: »

I had stopped losing pounds the past few weeks... I was lucky to lose .25/week.

Good point.
You're assuming a steady loss start to finish. It doesn't work that way. As you get smaller it's harder to lose. Some people, when they get close to goal, it takes them 3 years to lose 5 pounds. And maintenance is harder than losing.
Give it a shot, but keep closely monitoring, because if you "take a break" for two months you might end up gaining 10 or 15 pounds.
It sounds like you're restricting too much now with an unsustainable diet and the way you're putting up with it is to think to yourself, it's only for a little while longer until I can go back to the way I ate before. In other words, until you can put all your weight back on, and more, because fasting (that's what 5:2 is about) can do long term damage to your metabolism.
Maybe a better plan for you would be to look for a more sustainable lifelong diet (which means "the way you eat," not a restrictive punitive thing that lasts for a specific amount of time) that you can start Nov/Dec.

ninerbuff

Just from my experience, I've had clients who "took a break" for a month from training. Guess how many actually come back without gaining? ZERO. The average weight regain was 5lbs, which wasn't bad, but then again that's 5lbs from a goal they were trying to reach.
IMO, you reach your goal, then reassess. Nothing worse than having a timeline, then for some reason you have to do drastic stuff because it wasn't met. We hear this all the time with people getting ready for weddings and not being able to fit into the dress and it has to be altered last minute.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Need2Exerc1se

I think it can be a good idea. I took several breaks while I was losing. But I wasn't in a hurry. I wanted to lose slowly.

Stephen_Lyons

It really depends on what you mean by "taking a break". 2 months seems a long time to go on a break, a lot of bad/old habits could re-establish themselves. Maybe scale back what you are doing a little, e.g. workout 4 days instead of 5, eat 100-200 calories more daily than you are now, but at no time should you stop exercising or eat more than what you need. You have lost 16 lbs so far and have achieved 40% of your target weight loss to date (great job!) it would be a shame to undo some/all of that hard work.

__TMac__

I've had a month here and there where frequently traveling made weight loss more challenging than usual. So I pulled back to maintenance for those months, and practiced what I hope will be life-time habits. My only two changes were raising allowed calories, but still logging, and being less rigid about my workout plan. Because I was still maintaining the habits, it wasn't hard to go back to a deficit afterward.

ckf76

The most important thing is doing what is right for you. What I hear you asking is: “if I decide to take a break, what are strategies that work”. When I started back at MFP I was at my highest weight ever. If I were to get to what the charts said I should be at I would have to eat at 1,200 calories for 2.5 years. That is completely unrealistic and would require discipline that most ordinary people do not have (and I am quite ordinary). What that meant to me was that I needed to think about my life differently and there had to be periods of intense focus then periods of not so much intensity, or breaks if you will.
The first thing I did was buy a Fitbit which I synced to MFP. This allowed me to see how many calories I earned by my steps. During periods of intensity I ignored the steps that I earned but during my “breaks” I usually ate back the 200 or 300 calories. Therefore, I was still eating at deficit but I was rewarding myself a bit with 200 or 300 calories. I slowed my weight loss perceptibly, but it allowed me to enjoy some items that I wasn’t eating during the intense periods. Also, I logged all the time. Both during intense and during break. I learned the hard way that the way you fall of the wagon is by giving up. The day at the fair that I had Fried Dough, YUM! But when I logged it in and saw the results it made me rethink dinner and go for the arugula salad and raspberries instead of a higher calorie meal.
All that to say, I do take breaks. My Dad died in November of 2016, was buried just before the holidays and we rolled into Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Then I went on vacation in Mid-January of 2017. Guess what? I still lost weight. Really small amounts of weight, only 12 pounds in 4 months but for me that was a HUGE success because before my lifestyle change I would have gained 30 pounds during that period.
In summary, I have been using this method now for 15 months and am down 76 pounds and feel totally confident that I can do the next 76 needed because it is a lifestyle commitment not a diet. Long winded answer, but I hope it helps!

ejg1010

Thanks so much everyone for your comments, they have really helped.

If I do take some time at maintenance I will keep going to the gym as I still want to maintain my fitness levels, so hopefully that with only a slight calorie increase shouldn't cause me to gain any weight (I just wouldn't be losing...).

I do take on board that there is a risk that I would go back to any old habits and I'm working towards changing my lifestyle and outlook on food/exercise rather than it just being a short term thing. I think the main reason I've put the weight on is since meeting my partner we've been having wine with dinner, or more meals out etc that I wouldn't have had when I was single, coupled with a big move and stopping my training (I have done running events and triathlons in the past up until last year, which I hope to start again next year).

I haven't been wedding dress shopping at all yet as I definitely don't want to be "that person" who buys a dress a size or two smaller and doesn't reach their goal, or loses too much weight between fittings and it can't be altered small enough.

I think perhaps the best thing for me to do is to carry on until I reach my intermediate goal weight of 147 lbs and then reassess where I am at.

Tacklewasher

I took July off. I knew I had 2 weeks vacation where I wouldn't weigh food or myself, so I just figured I'd take the month off. I still stepped on the scale at home when I could, but did put on ~4 lbs in the 2 weeks holidays (after being up ~7 and dropping 3 in a week).

My plan was to take July and August off from logging, but I changed that and am logging again. But a month off was still a good idea for me.

cheryldumais

I only took a break once. I took one week at maintenance because I couldn't seem to lose anymore (3.5 month stall) after dieting for over a year. It was really difficult and I ended up increasing my calories afterwards. I had been doing 1200 and bumped up to 1350. I couldn't seem to get back down to 1200 afterwards. On the upside I started losing again and it was worth it. I should probably have done 2 weeks but I was paranoid I would gain.

rmgnow

If you have to take " a break" I think the whole approach is wrong.

I'm not saying you can't eat over your calories or you can't eat what you want. Is that the break you mean?
No breaks

heybales

Truly eating at maintenance, meaning you are still logging, and doing your workouts (likely better now eating at maintenance) - can be a great de-stressor for the body.

Not sure if 2 months is needed at maintenance - could find the weeks where it would be hardest to keep in a diet anyway and do those weeks - so could be a week here, week there, 2 weeks there, ect.

Since a diet usually has some level of stress associated with it - that break is very useful.

Like if it can be placed at point where the amount of deficit should really be changing to lower amount anyway.
With only that much left to go though - should be on 1 lb weekly already.
At 10 lbs left, switch to 1/2 lb weekly.
So maybe that won't work.

steveko89

If you want to make a commitment to being healthier (you phrased it as "keeping the weight off") I suggest a change in mindset. Rather than viewing this weight loss period as a phase, strive for continuous, sustainable improvement. If what you've done to achieve the weight loss in the past and what you've incurred so far resulted in "bounce-back" weight gain and this desire to take a break, your methods aren't truly sustainable if you can't bring yourself to keep doing them.

Goals are important and it's helpful to have them, but they're checkpoints, not finish lines.

cqbkaju

Still log but eat at maintenance for 1-2 weeks and keep up with your workouts.
That is the only "break" you should allow yourself if you truly want to hit your goals.
After the 2 week "break", resume your deficit.

If you stop logging for a month or two and fail to hold yourself accountable you will regret it.
It might feel great to take "a break for a couple of months" over the holidays but come January you will almost certainly be lamenting how you are so much farther from your goal and so much closer to your wedding.

This is probably not what you wanted to hear but much more realistic advice.

Just asking for our "thoughts" seems like seeking validation for your desire to stop doing the work.
Once you are at your goals, then you can probably afford to take a "real break" by going over your maintenance / TDEE calories once in a while.
A high-calorie meal or snack once a week or so when you are where you want to be can usually be countered by more exercise and maybe eating a bit less on other days - but you STILL LOG EVERYTHING.

If you do not have the necessary discipline then you can easily get out of the habit of doing what is necessary when you "take a break", especially if you are thinking of 2 months!

ejg1010

Realistic advice is just what I wanted, thank you. Perhaps "break" is the wrong word to use for what I was thinking - I would definitely remain accountable and continue to log everything (food and workouts), and just allow myself a little more on the calorie front. At the moment I'm not eating back any exercise calories so maybe doing that first is a good place to start as I'm not risking any gain that way.

cqbkaju

emilygray10 wrote: »

Realistic advice is just what I wanted, thank you. Perhaps "break" is the wrong word to use for what I was thinking - I would definitely remain accountable and continue to log everything (food and workouts), and just allow myself a little more on the calorie front. At the moment I'm not eating back any exercise calories so maybe doing that first is a good place to start as I'm not risking any gain that way.

Don't eat over your TDEE, just eat at maintenance.
Your body will probably do unexpected things when you first add more calories anyway.
It is also too easy to over-estimate how many calories you are burning with exercise.

CaliMomTeach

I tried a break this summer (and part of the spring), basically whenever I went away, whether for a couple of days or a week. I gained back about 8 pounds. This is not a major deal to to me because I know I can get it back off, but know that it would be a big deal for some people. I find eating at maintenance harder than eating at a deficit and losing. I was not, however, eating at maintenance on my "breaks". I was just eating, lol.

try2again

That's still quite a ways off, and I agree with other posters that you will likely not continue to lose at your planned rate and may want to reevaluate when the time comes. In fact, if your calorie allowance is 1200 right now, that may or may not get you your 1.5 lb/week goal- it's simply the default minimum for women- so you won't be able to adjust calories downward as you lose. With 40 lbs to lose, 1.5 lbs/week is a bit aggressive. But here is my favorite thread on the topic of a diet break:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10481830/the-diet-break/p1

fiercefit76

I think it's a wonderful idea. I plan to do my own diet break every 12 weeks. It helps with your leptin levels and is easier on your metabolism. My diet break will be 2 weeks only eating maintence calories of mostly microrich foods with the occasional treat meal here and there.