Is it time for a break from weight loss?

mmapags

meganpettigrew86 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Yep, I'd recommend a full diet break. Have a read of this for the how to

https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

Cheers, going to try this myself, have family history of thyroid issues so could be linked to my slow down.

As the Lyle McDonald article addresses,

TavistockToad wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Chewypraline wrote: »

I think that diet should be a lifestyle not a thing you do once and awhile to loose weight, you need to eat healthy and in the right amounts everyday forever, that's how you loose weight or maintain weight the only difference is you take away calories and increase exercise to loose weight or you stay on the same calories and exercise moderately to maintain weight. The foods you eat should always be healthy and size appropriate. So as for a " diet break" no don't go off your diet unless its not one you like in which case I suggest you research meals you like that you can eat to stay in your calorie and health range and switch to that forever. I expect to be eating the way I am now until the day I die . I don't even know what a diet break would mean? Eating oreos and McDonalds or just eating as much food as you want and not thinking about the nutrition of it ? Either way that's a bad mentality to have. Always be aware of your meals ,making sure they're whole meals,healthy,clean and don't overeat. Simple

@Chewypraline

It means having a break from being in a calorie deficit - it doesn't mean changing the foods you eat now or intend eating for life. Just a period of weeks eating at maintenance, just a pause and not an excuse to splurge. It could be seen as a very good practice for maintenance when you get to goal weight too.
It helps reset and reinvigorate yourself both physically and mentally.

OP - it seems a perfect way to address these issues...

In the last two months, my very consistent weight loss has slowed. My motivation is starting to drift

Much better to take a positive and controlled response rather than risk falling off the wagon.

Yes, entirely different to just going off track and eating whatever for awhile. That's a disastrous idea! As I said above, I'm on a diet break myself atm, all I've done is add a few extra things in to up my calorie intake to maintenance level. My baseline meals are essentially unchanged, and I've still logged everything. And I have very much thought about the nutrition of it.

i often think its as much mental as physical as I straight away feel better with 200 extra cals!

i don't go all the way up to maintenance, i go from net 1600 to net 1800 and maintenance is net 1900. saving that for Christmas week :laugh:

It's both. But the positive physiological adaptations don't happen as effectively without going to maintenance. Not aimed at you personally, but I just don't get all the issues with people being afraid to eat at maintenance for 10 days to 2 weeks. What is going to happen? And to answer the question of the poster who asked is it better to make no progress than slow progress, I'd say that mentality is not seeing the forest for the trees. You make no progress for 10 to 14 days to make more progress afterwards at a faster pace. Read the article people!!

MegaMooseEsq

mmapags wrote: »

meganpettigrew86 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Yep, I'd recommend a full diet break. Have a read of this for the how to

https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

Cheers, going to try this myself, have family history of thyroid issues so could be linked to my slow down.

As the Lyle McDonald article addresses,

TavistockToad wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Chewypraline wrote: »

I think that diet should be a lifestyle not a thing you do once and awhile to loose weight, you need to eat healthy and in the right amounts everyday forever, that's how you loose weight or maintain weight the only difference is you take away calories and increase exercise to loose weight or you stay on the same calories and exercise moderately to maintain weight. The foods you eat should always be healthy and size appropriate. So as for a " diet break" no don't go off your diet unless its not one you like in which case I suggest you research meals you like that you can eat to stay in your calorie and health range and switch to that forever. I expect to be eating the way I am now until the day I die . I don't even know what a diet break would mean? Eating oreos and McDonalds or just eating as much food as you want and not thinking about the nutrition of it ? Either way that's a bad mentality to have. Always be aware of your meals ,making sure they're whole meals,healthy,clean and don't overeat. Simple

@Chewypraline

It means having a break from being in a calorie deficit - it doesn't mean changing the foods you eat now or intend eating for life. Just a period of weeks eating at maintenance, just a pause and not an excuse to splurge. It could be seen as a very good practice for maintenance when you get to goal weight too.
It helps reset and reinvigorate yourself both physically and mentally.

OP - it seems a perfect way to address these issues...

In the last two months, my very consistent weight loss has slowed. My motivation is starting to drift

Much better to take a positive and controlled response rather than risk falling off the wagon.

Yes, entirely different to just going off track and eating whatever for awhile. That's a disastrous idea! As I said above, I'm on a diet break myself atm, all I've done is add a few extra things in to up my calorie intake to maintenance level. My baseline meals are essentially unchanged, and I've still logged everything. And I have very much thought about the nutrition of it.

i often think its as much mental as physical as I straight away feel better with 200 extra cals!

i don't go all the way up to maintenance, i go from net 1600 to net 1800 and maintenance is net 1900. saving that for Christmas week :laugh:

It's both. But the positive physiological adaptations don't happen as effectively without going to maintenance. Not aimed at you personally, but I just don't get all the issues with people being afraid to eat at maintenance for 10 days to 2 weeks. What is going to happen? And to answer the question of the poster who asked is it better to make no progress than slow progress, I'd say that mentality is not seeing the forest for the trees. You make no progress for 10 to 14 days to make more progress afterwards at a faster pace. Read the article people!!

I think this fear of going up to maintenance might be a sign that one's current eating patterns are too restrictive, or at least that one doesn't fully trust CICO. If you think that adding 250 calories a day (or 500 or whatever) is going to cause you to go hog-wild on candy and beer, then maybe you need to work some candy and beer into your deficit.

mmapags

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

mmapags wrote: »

meganpettigrew86 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Yep, I'd recommend a full diet break. Have a read of this for the how to

https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

Cheers, going to try this myself, have family history of thyroid issues so could be linked to my slow down.

As the Lyle McDonald article addresses,

TavistockToad wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Chewypraline wrote: »

I think that diet should be a lifestyle not a thing you do once and awhile to loose weight, you need to eat healthy and in the right amounts everyday forever, that's how you loose weight or maintain weight the only difference is you take away calories and increase exercise to loose weight or you stay on the same calories and exercise moderately to maintain weight. The foods you eat should always be healthy and size appropriate. So as for a " diet break" no don't go off your diet unless its not one you like in which case I suggest you research meals you like that you can eat to stay in your calorie and health range and switch to that forever. I expect to be eating the way I am now until the day I die . I don't even know what a diet break would mean? Eating oreos and McDonalds or just eating as much food as you want and not thinking about the nutrition of it ? Either way that's a bad mentality to have. Always be aware of your meals ,making sure they're whole meals,healthy,clean and don't overeat. Simple

@Chewypraline

It means having a break from being in a calorie deficit - it doesn't mean changing the foods you eat now or intend eating for life. Just a period of weeks eating at maintenance, just a pause and not an excuse to splurge. It could be seen as a very good practice for maintenance when you get to goal weight too.
It helps reset and reinvigorate yourself both physically and mentally.

OP - it seems a perfect way to address these issues...

In the last two months, my very consistent weight loss has slowed. My motivation is starting to drift

Much better to take a positive and controlled response rather than risk falling off the wagon.

Yes, entirely different to just going off track and eating whatever for awhile. That's a disastrous idea! As I said above, I'm on a diet break myself atm, all I've done is add a few extra things in to up my calorie intake to maintenance level. My baseline meals are essentially unchanged, and I've still logged everything. And I have very much thought about the nutrition of it.

i often think its as much mental as physical as I straight away feel better with 200 extra cals!

i don't go all the way up to maintenance, i go from net 1600 to net 1800 and maintenance is net 1900. saving that for Christmas week :laugh:

It's both. But the positive physiological adaptations don't happen as effectively without going to maintenance. Not aimed at you personally, but I just don't get all the issues with people being afraid to eat at maintenance for 10 days to 2 weeks. What is going to happen? And to answer the question of the poster who asked is it better to make no progress than slow progress, I'd say that mentality is not seeing the forest for the trees. You make no progress for 10 to 14 days to make more progress afterwards at a faster pace. Read the article people!!

I think this fear of going up to maintenance might be a sign that one's current eating patterns are too restrictive, or at least that one doesn't fully trust CICO. If you think that adding 250 calories a day (or 500 or whatever) is going to cause you to go hog-wild on candy and beer, then maybe you need to work some candy and beer into your deficit.

Sorry but I can't work in candy and beer because I'd have to lose my ice cream and wine to do that.

MegaMooseEsq

mmapags wrote: »

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

mmapags wrote: »

meganpettigrew86 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Yep, I'd recommend a full diet break. Have a read of this for the how to

https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

Cheers, going to try this myself, have family history of thyroid issues so could be linked to my slow down.

As the Lyle McDonald article addresses,

TavistockToad wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Chewypraline wrote: »

I think that diet should be a lifestyle not a thing you do once and awhile to loose weight, you need to eat healthy and in the right amounts everyday forever, that's how you loose weight or maintain weight the only difference is you take away calories and increase exercise to loose weight or you stay on the same calories and exercise moderately to maintain weight. The foods you eat should always be healthy and size appropriate. So as for a " diet break" no don't go off your diet unless its not one you like in which case I suggest you research meals you like that you can eat to stay in your calorie and health range and switch to that forever. I expect to be eating the way I am now until the day I die . I don't even know what a diet break would mean? Eating oreos and McDonalds or just eating as much food as you want and not thinking about the nutrition of it ? Either way that's a bad mentality to have. Always be aware of your meals ,making sure they're whole meals,healthy,clean and don't overeat. Simple

@Chewypraline

It means having a break from being in a calorie deficit - it doesn't mean changing the foods you eat now or intend eating for life. Just a period of weeks eating at maintenance, just a pause and not an excuse to splurge. It could be seen as a very good practice for maintenance when you get to goal weight too.
It helps reset and reinvigorate yourself both physically and mentally.

OP - it seems a perfect way to address these issues...

In the last two months, my very consistent weight loss has slowed. My motivation is starting to drift

Much better to take a positive and controlled response rather than risk falling off the wagon.

Yes, entirely different to just going off track and eating whatever for awhile. That's a disastrous idea! As I said above, I'm on a diet break myself atm, all I've done is add a few extra things in to up my calorie intake to maintenance level. My baseline meals are essentially unchanged, and I've still logged everything. And I have very much thought about the nutrition of it.

i often think its as much mental as physical as I straight away feel better with 200 extra cals!

i don't go all the way up to maintenance, i go from net 1600 to net 1800 and maintenance is net 1900. saving that for Christmas week :laugh:

It's both. But the positive physiological adaptations don't happen as effectively without going to maintenance. Not aimed at you personally, but I just don't get all the issues with people being afraid to eat at maintenance for 10 days to 2 weeks. What is going to happen? And to answer the question of the poster who asked is it better to make no progress than slow progress, I'd say that mentality is not seeing the forest for the trees. You make no progress for 10 to 14 days to make more progress afterwards at a faster pace. Read the article people!!

I think this fear of going up to maintenance might be a sign that one's current eating patterns are too restrictive, or at least that one doesn't fully trust CICO. If you think that adding 250 calories a day (or 500 or whatever) is going to cause you to go hog-wild on candy and beer, then maybe you need to work some candy and beer into your deficit.

Sorry but I can't work in candy and beer because I'd have to lose my ice cream and wine to do that.

I'm a popcorn and cider girl, myself.

try2again

Just anecdotal, but most of the friends on my list have been at this a long time and have lost large amounts of weight, and the only one that hasn't lost focus at some point, has been able to keep things moving consistently, and is now within a few lbs of goal, is the one incorporating *purposeful* diet breaks. I highlight *purposeful* because a true diet break is not an unintentional period of sloppy eating/logging, but diligent tracking of your maintenance calories with a purpose.

jasummers76

I am not dieting anymore. Been there, took breaks, cheat days, and so forth. All of which never helped me keep any progress I had made to that point. I have changed what I eat how much of it I eat and am more aware of what I put in my body. This approach is taking far longer than my dieting days "which I could never maintain" but when I lose now I am more confident it will stay off. This is only my opinion. Many people have success with other approachs this is the one that has worked for me.

try2again

jasummers76 wrote: »

I am not dieting anymore. Been there, took breaks, cheat days, and so forth. All of which never helped me keep any progress I had made to that point. I have changed what I eat how much of it I eat and am more aware of what I put in my body. This approach is taking far longer than my dieting days "which I could never maintain" but when I lose now I am more confident it will stay off. This is only my opinion. Many people have success with other approachs this is the one that has worked for me.

I don't think you appreciate the term "diet break" in the sense it is being used. A person should eat for weight loss the same way they want to eat for the rest of their lives, just in smaller quantities, and a person wouldn't necessarily need a "break" from that. But a person's body systems can definitely use a break from prolonged calorie deficits.

Aerona85

I started at 241 and am on my way to 165 or thereabouts (maybe 160, we will see). I am plannnig on taking a month or so off deficit and into maintenance once I hit 200. That puts me out of obese and into overweight category, should occur right about when the holidays start, and maybe will get my thyroid happier again (My hypo gets worse with weight loss and we are hoping it will stabilize once I'm eating at maintenance instead. I have been going in every 2-3 weeks for blood checks so my doctor can adjust my medication accordingly).