Talk to me about "breaks"...

cmeiron

As in, taking a break from eating at a deficit and eating at or near maintenance for a short while?

Do you do them?

How often do you do them? How long do they last?

Do you change your workout habits during them?

Do you adjust your macro goals?

WHY do you do them; under what circumstances would they be recommended?

I guess I'm asking for selfish reasons. Lately I'm just freaking ravenous and would love a valid excuse to eat more without harming my progress overall. I've been eating at a deficit for at least 4 months (longer, really - over a year, but not well-logged); I estimate my TDEE is about 2400-2500, and I've been eating anywhere from about 1800-2150 gross (gradually increased this) during the time that I've logged (since January). When I started lifting 8 weeks ago my weight did a pretty significant drop from 136-130 in the first 5 weeks. It popped back up to 135 during TOM, and since has pretty much stabilized around 131 for the last 2 weeks or so. Although the scale's not moving, the mirror says things are still changing the way I want them to, and I'm progressing well with the lifting, so I'm not too concerned. Right now I lift 3 days/week, do HIIT and core work 2 days/week and run 5-8 km one day/week, walk about 2-3 km most days, and otherwise spend a good 1-3 hours on my feet every day.

Anyways, just interested to hear what people think! Thanks! :flowerforyou:

SideSteel

Tagging as I have opinions on this but won't get to it for a bit.

BeachIron

Why are you asking?

Ron6098

Tag for later

Sarauk2sf

Are you still trying to get your BF% down?

cmeiron

Are you still trying to get your BF% down?

Yes.

Not saying I want to do this necessarily, but I'd like to learn more about the concept.

georgina1970

I take breaks intermittently. Usually when I'm struggling with work, or other life stressors. I eat at roughly maintenance levels for up to a week. Gives you some time to relax and not be so obsessed with logging etc. Getting back into it seems easier somehow.

Lyadeia

I like the idea for a variety of reasons. Here are a couple of articles that explain the reasons that I believe in:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/flexible-versus-rigid-dieting.html

I typically go about 7 weeks or so eating in a deficit and then 1-2 weeks right at or slightly below TDEE. I don't change my protein or fat goals, but I try to make sure I am eating at least 125g of carbs per day (whereas when I am in a deficit, I don't really worry about my carb intake as long as I get my min. fat and protein goals met).

I also have better adherence to a diet when I cycle calories so that at least one day a week I am close to maintenance while in a deficit the rest of the time, but that's a whole 'nother discussion, lol.

Edited to add that I don't necessarily change my workouts during this time, but I may use this time to change up my weight training routines if I feel that it is necessary for one reason or another. When I take a diet break, I am close to TDEE, and if I don't workout, then my TDEE would be around what I was eating when I was in a deficit while exercising, if that makes sense.

pspetralia

Tagging to hear SS and Sara's opinions

BikerGirlElaine

I took a break after about 12 weeks and it was great. I only needed a few days at maintenance before I was ready to go back to a deficit. It helped a ton with the hungry feelings.

But that is purely anecdotal, don't know if that is what you are looking for.

SideSteel

As in, taking a break from eating at a deficit and eating at or near maintenance for a short while?

Do you do them?

Yes. I try to plan them around social events such as vacations/trips etc.

How often do you do them? How long do they last?

That really depends on a number of factors.

Current leanness (Obese people probably shouldn't break as frequently), duration of deficit (for example, this current cut that I am on is going to be the shortest one I've done and as such the only breaks I've taken are over Easter and during this move, and were these events not present during this cut I wouldn't have taken any breaks. I am however, experimenting with refeeds).

Other big factors would include how mentally fried I am, how gym progress is going, and any other lifestyle factors that may be relevant.

Do you change your workout habits during them?

Typically no, but if I'm also due for a training break I would tend to overlap them. Raise calories to maintenance and take a training break to attempt to reduce stress.

Do you adjust your macro goals?

You have to adjust your macro goals if you are changing calories. Typically though, protein and fat would remain the same and the change (at least the majority of it) would come from carbs.

WHY do you do them; under what circumstances would they be recommended?

To improve adherence if the individual is just mentally defeated, to potentially upregulate hormones and potentially reduce some diet induced stresses although this is somewhat of a theoretical topic to my knowledge.

I guess I'm asking for selfish reasons. Lately I'm just freaking ravenous and would love a valid excuse to eat more without harming my progress overall. I've been eating at a deficit for at least 4 months (longer, really - over a year, but not well-logged); I estimate my TDEE is about 2400-2500, and I've been eating anywhere from about 1800-2150 gross (gradually increased this) during the time that I've logged (since January). When I started lifting 8 weeks ago my weight did a pretty significant drop from 136-130 in the first 5 weeks. It popped back up to 135 during TOM, and since has pretty much stabilized around 131 for the last 2 weeks or so. Although the scale's not moving, the mirror says things are still changing the way I want them to, and I'm progressing well with the lifting, so I'm not too concerned. Right now I lift 3 days/week, do HIIT and core work 2 days/week and run 5-8 km one day/week, walk about 2-3 km most days, and otherwise spend a good 1-3 hours on my feet every day.

Anyways, just interested to hear what people think! Thanks! :flowerforyou:

Normally I'd caution people from using diet breaks as an excuse to eat a ton but at the same time, you're in this for the long haul. You've also made exceptional progress as of late.

Some potential options for you would be to incorporate refeeds, or incorporate one or two maintenance days throughout each week (eat at TDEE) with the understanding that it may acutely slow down fat loss but in the long term it could serve to keep adherence higher.

Or, you could just take full diet break. As long as you don't believe it's going to derail you, the most you're out is a week and some potential water weight gain, which would fall off pretty fast once you resume your deficit.

Sarauk2sf

^^what he said.


Apart from the fact that I have taken them probably 4 times over the year I was dieting, When I start to get more hormonal (read, more whiny and tending on irrational) then I get bullied into a diet break (naming no names *cough* SideSteel *cough*). I found they were needed more the lower my BF% was and the longer I had dieted. I planned them around holidays and my lifting schedule so I had 2 weeks at maintenance and 1 week of a training break within those 2 weeks.

cmeiron

Thanks to you both (and the other commenters) for your input! Very helpful.

I'm left with one more question: you both mentioned training breaks. Is this different from a planned 1-2 days/week of "rest"? Is it something written into your lifting schedules?

(As an aside, I am feeling decidedly less ravenous as of yesterday and more mentally clear about it - so now strongly suspect my EAT ALL THE FUDZ urges the last little while were hormonal more than anything I'm starting to track this better so I can rationalize my way through it /anticipate it rather than write whiny discussion board posts lol. I also ate at about maintenance the day I posted my original message, and had one super-ridiculous day (like 1500 over maintenance) earlier this week - not sure if that helped but either way I'm feeling better about just sticking to my usual deficit now). Still, this information is very useful and I'll be thinking about how/if to apply it to my own intake.

Thanks as always!!!

Sarauk2sf

Thanks to you both (and the other commenters) for your input! Very helpful.

I'm left with one more question: you both mentioned training breaks. Is this different from a planned 1-2 days/week of "rest"? Is it something written into your lifting schedules?

(As an aside, I am feeling decidedly less ravenous as of yesterday and more mentally clear about it - so now strongly suspect my EAT ALL THE FUDZ urges the last little while were hormonal more than anything I'm starting to track this better so I can rationalize my way through it /anticipate it rather than write whiny discussion board posts lol. I also ate at about maintenance the day I posted my original message, and had one super-ridiculous day (like 1500 over maintenance) earlier this week - not sure if that helped but either way I'm feeling better about just sticking to my usual deficit now). Still, this information is very useful and I'll be thinking about how/if to apply it to my own intake.

Thanks as always!!!

Oop - just realized I missed your follow up question.

What we would normally recommend is to take a training break during one of the weeks of the diet break. It gives your body a break as both dieting and exercising stress your body.

Regarding your intake - it may be a good idea to incorporate refeeds after the diet break as you are at a pretty lean BF%. Basically, you would eat at maintenance for 1 (or 2 possibly) days a week. The higher cals would be focused on carbs as much as possible.

cmeiron

Thanks, Sara. How often do you take training breaks? (I'm assuming you mean an extended break and not just a one-day-a-week rest day)?

SideSteel

Thanks, Sara. How often do you take training breaks? (I'm assuming you mean an extended break and not just a one-day-a-week rest day)?

I think break frequency depends on whether or not you're actively deloading in your training program. I could see much less frequent breaks with proper deloads but even with a deloading procedure I take breaks every 16-20 weeks or so.

I try my best to time them around social events like vacations/etc.

Sarauk2sf

Thanks, Sara. How often do you take training breaks? (I'm assuming you mean an extended break and not just a one-day-a-week rest day)?

I think break frequency depends on whether or not you're actively deloading in your training program. I could see much less frequent breaks with proper deloads but even with a deloading procedure I take breaks every 16-20 weeks or so.

I try my best to time them around social events like vacations/etc.

Is your name Sara?

Must be, as that is my answer also.

cmeiron

Thanks again, Sara! And Sara! :laugh: