Taking regular diet breaks may help you loose more weight and keep it off!

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elfin168
elfin168 Posts: 202 Member
in Motivation and Support
Taking regular diet breaks may help you loose more weight and keep it off!

I thought I would share this as I have decided to take a break from my eating plan to reboot as I am simply very tired at the moment. And I found some articles online that suggest taking regular diet breaks actually works to help loose more weight and keep it off over the long term.

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  • shaf238
    shaf238 Posts: 4,021 Member
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    Would be good if you shared your sources, always happy to learn things :)
  • ValeriaMVilla
    ValeriaMVilla Posts: 13 Member
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    For how long and how often does the diet break needs to be?
    Thanks!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    ValeriaVilla wrote: »
    For how long and how often does the diet break needs to be?
    Thanks!

    Check out the link above
  • thecurlyqueen
    thecurlyqueen Posts: 1 Member
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    There are suggestions that one day out of every week should be a day ‘off plan’. Not only does it help keep you sane (!) but also stops your body from down regulating the metabolism because of calorie restriction.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    It can help you with the mental game, but it is not necessary physiologically unless you have been losing too fast and thus eating way under the recommended amount.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    thecurlyqueen wrote: »
    There are suggestions that one day out of every week should be a day ‘off plan’. Not only does it help keep you sane (!) but also stops your body from down regulating the metabolism because of calorie restriction.

    and that one day off for many can throw them out of their deficit for the week.your metabolism doesnt slow down too much unless you have been dieting for a length of time which in that case adaptive thermogenesis then kicks in,a diet break can help get back on track but a break is 1-2 weeks out of every 8 weeks or so,and eating at maintenance..at least thats what Ive read is recommended
  • tk2222
    tk2222 Posts: 199 Member
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    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    thecurlyqueen wrote: »
    There are suggestions that one day out of every week should be a day ‘off plan’. Not only does it help keep you sane (!) but also stops your body from down regulating the metabolism because of calorie restriction.

    and that one day off for many can throw them out of their deficit for the week.your metabolism doesnt slow down too much unless you have been dieting for a length of time which in that case adaptive thermogenesis then kicks in,a diet break can help get back on track but a break is 1-2 weeks out of every 8 weeks or so,and eating at maintenance..at least thats what Ive read is recommended

    That's also what i've heard - its about letting the body reboot for 1-2 weeks, particularly to stop certain hormones slipping too low, as well as the psychology and motivation of it (which I assume are related anyway). I'm planning to take breaks to maintenance for 10-15 days out of every 50 or so. It just seems more reasonably sustainable that way - but taking a day off weekly doesn't seem like it would speak to the same logic.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Yep

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/42543516#Comment_42543516

    Clicking that will take you to the last post in the thread...then you won't be able to read the thread chronologically (or at least, have a "bookmark" to where you left off if you want to read the whole thread.)

    Here is Page One of the Refeed thread - start there :)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    tk2222 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    thecurlyqueen wrote: »
    There are suggestions that one day out of every week should be a day ‘off plan’. Not only does it help keep you sane (!) but also stops your body from down regulating the metabolism because of calorie restriction.

    and that one day off for many can throw them out of their deficit for the week.your metabolism doesnt slow down too much unless you have been dieting for a length of time which in that case adaptive thermogenesis then kicks in,a diet break can help get back on track but a break is 1-2 weeks out of every 8 weeks or so,and eating at maintenance..at least thats what Ive read is recommended

    That's also what i've heard - its about letting the body reboot for 1-2 weeks, particularly to stop certain hormones slipping too low, as well as the psychology and motivation of it (which I assume are related anyway). I'm planning to take breaks to maintenance for 10-15 days out of every 50 or so. It just seems more reasonably sustainable that way - but taking a day off weekly doesn't seem like it would speak to the same logic.

    you dont reboot the body but it can help with hormones.If Im thinking correctly one is leptin? but its not a reboot. its just getting your levels back up to optimal I guess you could say.
  • tk2222
    tk2222 Posts: 199 Member
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    Yeah, 'reboot' may be a silly word in this context. Leptin and Ghrelin, IIRC, can affect appetite, and when eating at a deficit for a while slip low. Upping calories for a while helps to bring them back up.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    I took a diet break after 11 weeks of cutting, for about 10 days. It was fantastic and I'm so glad I did it. Being fairly lean already and having a longer cut, it really helped reset and get me motivated for the last leg of this.
    I didn't do it last cut and by week 16 I was completely burnt out.
    This time I feel good! I do incorporate plenty of refeed/higher cal days which helps too

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