A diet break means eating at TDEE for a week or two. However some people take a diet break AND a rest week from exercise at the same time. If you are just taking a diet break, you are eating TDE but you are still doing your normal activities. If you are doing both, then you are eating at TDEE and no exercise.
Some people choose to take the week and go ful out, eating TDEE and no workouts, while others choose to either eat at Cut and no workout, or eat at tdee and still workout.. (Confusing you yet?:)) So you need to figure out if you are taking an exercise break, or a food break, or both.

Considering how much you have gained on reset and still struggling to figure out what is going on, I would suggest just taking a rest week from your exercise but still eat at Cut. See what happens.

This isn't a "diet" it's a lifestyle. So there's technically no breaks.

^^^^ LOVE this. :happy:

But for those that just need to understand the general ideas behind the 'break' mentality:

In regards to 'breaks' there are three ways of doing it:

1. Diet break: eat at tdee, but continue to exercise
2. Exercise break: continue at cut, but reduce exercise to light or none
3. Diet and Exercise break: this is like a vacation for your body and mind...no intentional exercise and eat at tdee**. (no deficit at all and possibly a slight surplus in cals which can be used by the body for healing and building muscle and damage from working out, or to just enjoy for a short time and give your body a sense of 'plenty' which helps keep your metabolism running high)

** (usually you stay at your regular exercise tdee during a diet & exercise break since it's just a short time frame even though you aren't exercising deliberately, plus you might be surprised at how many cals you burn on a non-exercise day if you are still active with housework, playing with your kids, on vacation, etc. I personally find I can burn the same or MORE cals on a non-exercise day quite often simply because I have the time and energy to do other things. However, if the possibility of a few days of surplus bothers you, you can always adjust your daily cals down a tiny bit - it's really a personal choice)

When or which you chose to do at any given time is a personal preference but usually an exercise break is every 4 - 6 weeks, and a diet break is at least every 8 - 12 I believe. A full "vacation" (#3) is optional and can be done whenever you feel you need it, or when you actually go on vacation! :happy:

This isn't a "diet" it's a lifestyle. So there's technically no breaks.

Love!!!

Thanks to all of you!!!! :flowerforyou:

I've decided to continue eating at cut (15% of my lightly active TDEE) through my vacation. It's 2150, so I'm hoping I'll be able to calculate some splurging to fit in there! My boyfriend and I have packed lots of healthy snacks and lots of water, so we should only be splurging on a couple meals while we're there. We plan on doing tons of walking on the beach, too! Ahhhh, I can't wait!!

I'm planning on returning to "lightly active" the week after vacation and doing only cardio (probably HIIT and maybe a spin class). The following week I'll add weights back in and reduce my cardio back to normal. I'm interested in how my body will respond. We shall see!

Thanks again!!

Hi Leigh~

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for vacation until Sunday. I'll be in Vermont, home of all foods organic and delish but also the home of the beautiful Green Mountains and some hilly countryside.

Heaven forbid, I'm not going to "label" what I'm doing:laugh: but it will "look like" this: eat at my current TDEE even though I won't be doing weights or my cardio classes, I'll be walking/hiking a LOT more than I do now.

I intend to be mindful of what I'm eating and try to get the most bang for my calories~ like I'm sure not gonna waste them on chips, etc when there is some fine Vermont cheddar! Did I mention we're touring the Ben & Jerry's factory????:blushing:

I tend to NOT drink enough water on vacation since we all know what that does to us but I am REALLY gonna try to drink some when we are not out and about.

So that's my plan.

Good Luck to you doll~ I just packed all my brand new, bigger clothes and i think I'm gonna look just fine and so will you:flowerforyou:

way to go. that's awesome!