Diet Break Advice Please :)

LaurenMT96

Hi All,

Abit of background, I started on MFP on 1st Feb 2018 at 259lbs. Today I weighed in at 202lbs so a 57lb loss. Im 22 & 5'7. I'm on 1200 calories a day, strength train 3x a week, cardio 2x, and horse riding Sat & Sunday (i own 2). I always lose every week and its tough sometimes.



In 10 weeks I'm going on a 12 day ALL INCLUSIVE holiday to Egypt, I will expect to be around 185lbs by that time. I'm not sure what my goal weight is, maybe around 160-170.

This will be my first holiday where i have successfully lost weight, i don't want to ruin it but also i do want to enjoy myself. Me and my partner strength train together at our mini home gym, so we have said that we would like to go to the hotel gym at least 3/4 times a week, not because we have to but because we enjoy it.

I have read alot about diet breaks, and how they are beneficial for your hormone balance/metabolism/mental health when you have been dieting for a long time. By the time we go I will have been on 1200 cal/day for 33 weeks. I feel fine right now but i think in 10 more weeks and hopefully 70lbs+ lost I will be ready for a break. Has anyone ever done one? How do you cope with all inclusive on holiday? I'm hoping that my new lifestyle will help me refrain from eating everything in sight

Any advice / tips welcome please

truff69

Great! Go and enjoy yourself.

If you can, make a plan that will allow you to indulge but remain in control e.g. set yourself an allowance of 2500 calories per day rather than eat everything in sight and have no idea how much you've had. Do plenty of walking as you see the sights and the damage will be minimal.

In my experience, the biggest problem or danger with a holiday or diet break is that you don't get back on plan as soon as you get home. Get on the scales straight away, have some favourite diet meals/foods lined up and those holiday pounds will be gone in no time.

LaurenMT96

@truff69 Thanks! All of my logging whilst on holiday will be estimates as I wont be able to scan any packaging etc, I think that is my biggest worry that i will go over without knowing.
I suppose it will be practice for maintenance though!

TavistockToad

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Deviette

At that weight your maintenance will be around 2500 kcal. If you're currently really only eating 1200 a day, then you can eat double the amount you're currently eating, and you should still stay at the same weight.

Ignore weight loss, that's unlikely to happen while you're away, try and just stay the same weight as you will be when you leave. However your goal for the holiday should be to try and not gain too much. Consider it a chance to practice eating practices for when you reach your goal weight. Try and be mindful about what you're eating and enjoy every little bite. Maintain the healthy habits you've developed so far in your journey, for example if you don't normally snack all through the day, why should you start just because you're on holiday? If you normally fill your plate up with lots of salad make sure you do that at your meals. Try and fit these in, while still making sure you get the most out of your holiday.

And most of all: Enjoy yourself!

tinkerbellang83

LaurenMT96 wrote: »

@truff69 Thanks! All of my logging whilst on holiday will be estimates as I wont be able to scan any packaging etc, I think that is my biggest worry that i will go over without knowing.
I suppose it will be practice for maintenance though!

The fact is you may go a little over, but even if you do, it's not the end of the world, I have taken several diet breaks, some I have loosely logged, some I haven't logged at all. You will more than likely see a gain on the scale after a holiday, this is down to many things:

• Eating more food than normal (i.e. more food mass in your system)
• Different macros than normal (most of us tend to eat higher carb on holiday this can cause water retention)
• More sodium than normal (because you may likely be dining out a lot, restaurants tend to use more salt than we would at home - this can cause water retention)
• Heat - Egypt will be hot, if you're not used to the heat, you'll likely retain water as a result
• Flying - flights tend to cause water retention
• Alcohol - causes dehydration and in following days can cause water retention

I have gained around 10lbs almost every diet break I've taken, however within a couple of weeks of getting back I am only up a pound or two and have even lost in some cases where I've been active on holiday. So worst case it's put me back a week or two, but in the grand scheme of things that's nothing.

Enjoy your holiday, be conscious of what you're eating/drinking but don't stress about it and don't freak out if/when you see the gain on the scale when you return.

TavistockToad

regardless of your diet break, you should look at reducing your deficit anyway with only 30-40lbs to lose.

Jackie9003

I'm doing a trip of a lifetime all inclusive at the end of the year too, for me it will be managing expectations. I'm not going to count or log or restrict myself at all but will try to be sensible with portions, and do plenty of swimming and walking. I know I will put on but I also know it's a complete one-off so won't fret about it and will just get back on plan when I'm back.
Have a lovely time and don't worry about it, you're not going to ruin all your hard work in the space of a fortnight.

fb47

Just enjoy your vacation. I am not saying that you should stuff yourself with food, but eat when your hungry and stop when you know your full. You will probably come back with some weight gain, but it will be water weight and it will be easy to flush it back out when you come back to your regular diet.

I went on a cruise this year and gained 8 lbs in 7 days. 2 weeks after I came back, I was already back at my pre-cruise weight.

Panini911

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

LaurenMT96 wrote: »

@truff69 Thanks! All of my logging whilst on holiday will be estimates as I wont be able to scan any packaging etc, I think that is my biggest worry that i will go over without knowing.
I suppose it will be practice for maintenance though!

• Eating more food than normal (i.e. more food mass in your system)
• Different macros than normal (most of us tend to eat higher carb on holiday this can cause water retention)
• More sodium than normal (because you may likely be dining out a lot, restaurants tend to use more salt than we would at home - this can cause water retention)
• Heat - Egypt will be hot, if you're not used to the heat, you'll likely retain water as a result
• Flying - flights tend to cause water retention
• Alcohol - causes dehydration and in following days can cause water retention

I did not know any of this - and it may actually explain a stall I had in early June (followed by a sudden rapid drop). I didn't overeat that much but i DID work in more alcohol, possibly more carbs and salt and there were two flights in three days!
Thanks!

Hamsibian

I have nothing else to add, but where in Egypt are you going to visit???

LaurenMT96

Thanks everyone, this has helped put my mind at ease alot!
Im going to Hurghada @Hamsibian
And @TavistockToad What do you mean? I have heard about eating more when you're trying to lose the last few lbs??

TavistockToad

LaurenMT96 wrote: »

Thanks everyone, this has helped put my mind at ease alot!
Im going to Hurghada @Hamsibian
And @TavistockToad What do you mean? I have heard about eating more when you're trying to lose the last few lbs??

1200 cals is a deficit of 2lb per week? as you get closer to your goal weight, you don't have the excess fat to enable you to run that high a deficit and you risk burning muscle.

if i was you i would change your deficit to 1lb per week and then when you're on holiday just enjoy yourself and get right back on track when you return.

Hamsibian

Ooh I've never been there, but there should be a lot of opportunities to do active things. Definitely check out snorkeling and scuba diving as the Red Sea is absolutely stunning. Your hotel might have some offers for snorkeling at least. Yoga is also something Egyptian hotels tend to offer for free (but if they charge you, I wouldn't try hard to barter. It's harder in establishments than say the bazaars). And of course swimming and walking along the beachside. Enjoy, you'll have a blast!

Oh, and just enjoy the food. While you probably won't enjoy true Egyptian homemade food, there will be fresh seafood and tasty desserts.

NovusDies

If my math is correct your rate of decline has been too steep anyway. At a 57lb loss in 22.14 weeks you have averaged 2.5 lbs per week and at most that should have been 2lbs per week. This means you have been running a 1500 calorie deficit per day between diet and exercise.

This puts your maintenance calories for your diet break at around 2700 calories if you maintain your exercise. I would suggest no less than a 2 week diet break and when you resume your diet eat 2200 calories per day to safely lose 1lb per week until you get to the last 15lbs or so and then recalculate then.

tinkerbellang83

NovusDies wrote: »

If my math is correct your rate of decline has been too steep anyway. At a 57lb loss in 22.14 weeks you have averaged 2.5 lbs per week and at most that should have been 2lbs per week. This means you have been running a 1500 calorie deficit per day between diet and exercise.

This puts your maintenance calories for your diet break at around 2700 calories if you maintain your exercise. I would suggest no less than a 2 week diet break and when you resume your diet eat 2200 calories per day to safely lose 1lb per week going forward.

To be fair at 257lbs 2.5lbs isn't too much it's around 1% of OPs starting weight, but she should definitely be dropping the rate of loss now she has lost a significant amount.

Spliner1969

truff69 wrote: »

Great! Go and enjoy yourself.

If you can, make a plan that will allow you to indulge but remain in control e.g. set yourself an allowance of 2500 calories per day rather than eat everything in sight and have no idea how much you've had. Do plenty of walking as you see the sights and the damage will be minimal.

In my experience, the biggest problem or danger with a holiday or diet break is that you don't get back on plan as soon as you get home. Get on the scales straight away, have some favourite diet meals/foods lined up and those holiday pounds will be gone in no time.

That's good advice. Honestly in 12 days (less than two weeks) you're not going to gain all that much even if you eat everything in sight. Keep in mind 1 lb is 3500ish calories, so let's say you gain 5 lbs.. that's 17500 calories over maintenance you'd have to eat. Divide that by 12 days and that's almost 1500 calories/day over maintenance (not your current 1200) that you'd have to eat just to gain that much. I say enjoy yourself, and as soon as you get back hop back on the wagon. Life is too short not to enjoy something like a vacation to Egypt. If you gain more than 5lbs it'll probably be water weight from all the high sodium foods in restaurants. Don't sweat it, or rather when you get back.. do sweat it. Drink lots of water, exercise like normal and it'll go fast.

nutmegoreo

I didn't track at all on my last 4 vacations and lost weight on every single one of them. Stay active and just don't eat like mad. Do your best to make good choices. Seems better than spending your vacation fretting about food.

After those long flights, for me, it took about a week for the water retention to settle out. So, for example when I came home from Thailand, I weighed the same my first day back. By the end of the week, my weight was down 15 lbs.

kshama2001

TavistockToad wrote: »

LaurenMT96 wrote: »

Thanks everyone, this has helped put my mind at ease alot!
Im going to Hurghada @Hamsibian
And @TavistockToad What do you mean? I have heard about eating more when you're trying to lose the last few lbs??

1200 cals is a deficit of 2lb per week? as you get closer to your goal weight, you don't have the excess fat to enable you to run that high a deficit and you risk burning muscle.

if i was you i would change your deficit to 1lb per week and then when you're on holiday just enjoy yourself and get right back on track when you return.

Another vote for:
1. Reducing weekly weight loss goal to 1 lb per week
2. Eating at maintenance while on vacation
3. Getting back on track when you return

LaurenMT96

NovusDies wrote: »

If my math is correct your rate of decline has been too steep anyway. At a 57lb loss in 22.14 weeks you have averaged 2.5 lbs per week and at most that should have been 2lbs per week. This means you have been running a 1500 calorie deficit per day between diet and exercise.

This puts your maintenance calories for your diet break at around 2700 calories if you maintain your exercise. I would suggest no less than a 2 week diet break and when you resume your diet eat 2200 calories per day to safely lose 1lb per week until you get to the last 15lbs or so and then recalculate then.

At the start i was losing 3lb per week every week for about 12-13 weeks, then it slowed to 2lb a week I think that is why it averages out to 2.5 per week, I think i will change to 1lb a week when i get back, hopefully i will be in the low 180's by then Thankyou

LaurenMT96

Thanks everyone, I think i will be okay and hopefully have a great holiday! Wow @nutmegoreo I bet that was fantastic, what a bonus!

NovusDies

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

To be fair at 257lbs 2.5lbs isn't too much it's around 1% of OPs starting weight, but she should definitely be dropping the rate of loss now she has lost a significant amount.

That 1 percent rule is confusing to me in some cases but it doesn't seem like someone at 250ish who won't stay at that weight more than a month or so should be targeting the upper safe amount, should they?

When is that rule unsafe? Can a 400+ lb person really safely run a 2000 daily deficit assuming it is over the minimum for their gender?

LaurenMT96

UPDATE: 3.5 weeks until the holiday and currently sitting at 188lbs, hoping to be 182 and then I'm so ready for a good break !