Should I take a "diet break"? Scared..

transvenouspacer
transvenouspacer Posts: 182 Member
edited January 7 in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm thinking about taking a diet break. It's not for weight loss reasons. I've been logging every day since July. I have been at maintenance for a while although I would like to start weight training and maybe lose a few more pounds at some point.

I've been eating at approximately maintenance of about 2000 cals for about a month now. I don't really stick to that. Many days I go over, although usually not by much, maybe 200-400 cals. I've always eaten whatever I wanted within my goal, so no deprivation of my favorite foods.

It's more psychological. I find I'm just tired right now. Tired of logging everything but at the same time, I'm afraid to stop logging. I'm afraid that if I take a diet break, I'll stop keeping track of my food and then I'll go back to my old habits.

On the other hand, I'm hoping a break from tracking will give me a new mindset and will help keep me from giving up altogether and gaining the weight back.

So my question is: should I take a diet break or is it a bad idea? Any advice is appreciated! :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • dukeninja
    dukeninja Posts: 50 Member
    I'd be interested in the responses you get. I'm going on holiday abroad for 2 weeks where I may not have Internet and/or accurate nutritional information and I was thinking of not bothering although the fear of the latter is overwhelming at the moment.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    It was one of the best things I did- I wrote a blog/brain dump on the whole experience:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MoreBean13

    Whole experience gets my full stamp of approval, and the time off ended up not slowing down my weight loss at all- I was caught up within a couple weeks with no extra work.
  • needles85365
    needles85365 Posts: 491 Member
    If you have learned your portion sizes and the food volume that you can eat and not gain then take a break. If you are going to go back to bad habits and let the weight come back then I wouldn't do it. I know that I couldn't do it for any length of time, can't trust myself.
  • RockstarPunch
    RockstarPunch Posts: 203 Member
    check out this link :http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/s...up-your-mfp-go
    and her page and it helps:smile: , I'd say take a day or two off logging if you need:yawn: a minute and start back on monday, or take a break on tomorrow and the day after and start on the new year.:flowerforyou: Eat healthy, make good decisions, if your gonna work out make it fun like a walk with the family or a day at the park, or beach, take a vaca from logging and tracking and then come back and kick butt!:glasses:
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
    I'm currently in the middle of a 2 month vacation abroad. I have stopped my daily exercising and upped by caloric deficit to maintenance. I still write down what I eat and most days I'm up by a bunch calorie wise.

    I say go for it and don't write stuff done but hopefully you have learned good eating habits from your previous time, so that you don't just over eat.
  • transvenouspacer
    transvenouspacer Posts: 182 Member
    It was one of the best things I did- I wrote a blog/brain dump on the whole experience:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MoreBean13

    Whole experience gets my full stamp of approval, and the time off ended up not slowing down my weight loss at all- I was caught up within a couple weeks with no extra work.

    Wow, sounds exactly like me! Did you stay off of MFP altogether or did you still log your food? Was it hard getting back to lower calories at all?
  • Zylahe
    Zylahe Posts: 772 Member
    I've taken a break from logging for about 2 months and i've lost about 1kg ( pretty goodconsidering its xmas). :drinker:
    I find that i still just do a quick mental note of my meals.
    I know which ones are hig in calories (pizza) and which are low ( soup) so i kind ofmentally balance out the week.
    Also as others have noted i now know the correct portion sizes, so sticking to that i know approximately how many calories i am getting.
    I do still weigh in every week and have said that if i get back to 75 kg (3 kg buffer) then i will restart logging..:huh:
  • transvenouspacer
    transvenouspacer Posts: 182 Member
    check out this link :http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/s...up-your-mfp-go
    and her page and it helps:smile: , I'd say take a day or two off logging if you need:yawn: a minute and start back on monday, or take a break on tomorrow and the day after and start on the new year.:flowerforyou: Eat healthy, make good decisions, if your gonna work out make it fun like a walk with the family or a day at the park, or beach, take a vaca from logging and tracking and then come back and kick butt!:glasses:

    The link didn't work for me :cry: I was thinking of taking a longer break but a day or so might be worth a shot. Thanks!

    Lots of great responses. You've all made some good points: I think I have learned a lot about portion control so that would be helpful. Also in the long run, keeping an eye on the scale would definitely help keep me honest haha. If I just take a short break though, I agree with Bean's idea to stay away from the scale. Thanks guys you've been so helpful!!
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I have been at this for over 40 months now and let me tell you there are time it just get so monotonous and I just down right do not want to count another calorie or watch my main macro's so when that time comes I know it is time to take a break. Its not a break from the way I eat ( I know what to do and that will never change) but a break from track everything. The one thing that I have always done is keep a hand written journal ( I am an IT specialist so I love computers but this hand logging is something I will always do) of what I eat. Even when I take a break from logging, I continue to write down what I ate just don't track macro's and calories. This still holds me accountable by logging what I intake but gives me a break from the other side of it. I do the same now with the scale, use to weigh in weekly (and would get obsessed) so I started only weighing in every other week and right now I have been off the scale since my Body lift surgery back in September. If you are set in your lifestyle and know what you need to do to maintain it then you should have no problems stepping back for a bit and recharging so to speak and then get back at it when you feel comfortable... Best of Luck,...
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    It was one of the best things I did- I wrote a blog/brain dump on the whole experience:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MoreBean13

    Whole experience gets my full stamp of approval, and the time off ended up not slowing down my weight loss at all- I was caught up within a couple weeks with no extra work.

    Wow, sounds exactly like me! Did you stay off of MFP altogether or did you still log your food? Was it hard getting back to lower calories at all?

    I still logged, but that's a personal choice- you don't have to if you don't want to. I have OCD and kind of like logging, lol.

    It was not hard to get back to lower calories afterwards, because it was planned and I knew it was coming- it was sort of like the end of a vacation, where even though you don't want to go back to real life, you're a little relieved to get back to normal. This past month I've been letting loose and eating at maintenance and just went back to a deficit the day after Christmas, and I've found it MUCH more challenging this time around than it was after the planned break.
  • BigBigBertha
    BigBigBertha Posts: 208 Member
    Personally I take a day off every week, all the logging makes me tired so it's nice to have a day not thinking about food. I find I'm not tempted to go overboard on the eating while I'm not logging because I always have my hard work from the rest of the week in the back of my mind.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    It seems like you are looking to take a logging break rather than a diet break. I think taking breaks from logging is a good thing for 'sanity's sake' if it is something that is 'getting to you'. Try it, keep track of your progress, after a month or so assess whether intuitive eating is keeping you on track or not.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    Bad idea. Did it and gained 15 lbs ugggg starting weight watchers 1/3/13. Looking forward to getting back on track. I feel horrible.
  • andeey
    andeey Posts: 709 Member
    Took a "break" in the sense of eating at maintenance for about 12 days or so. I still logged all my food and continued exercise. Felt great and it was pretty easy getting back to the deficit straight away when I was done. Highly recommended! From a psychological aspect, it was great. Physically, I had better strength training sessions. Overall, win-win for me.
  • aliciab307
    aliciab307 Posts: 370 Member
    It was one of the best things I did- I wrote a blog/brain dump on the whole experience:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MoreBean13

    Whole experience gets my full stamp of approval, and the time off ended up not slowing down my weight loss at all- I was caught up within a couple weeks with no extra work.

    Thanks! Awesome study you did, I bookmarked for future reference
  • aliciab307
    aliciab307 Posts: 370 Member
    Bad idea. Did it and gained 15 lbs ugggg starting weight watchers 1/3/13. Looking forward to getting back on track. I feel horrible.

    Did you go back to old habits, continue exercising, etc?

    I think when you get a sense of portion size for foods, and think of this as a new lifestyle it can be easier. I know when I first dieted and I got off track i gained all the weight back that I lost, about 20 lbs. The second time I made up in my mind that I was not going to do this again and since then I have committed to making this a lifestyle change and it's been so easy ever since.
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
    I take logging breaks most weekends, and also when I am on holiday - right now I am on a 3 week break!

    I still mentally calculate my calories ( after 2 and a half years it is pretty easy) - and if I do have treats I understand the potential implications. Occasionally I jump on here to check the calories of something I am not quite sure of....

    I still log onto MFP most days - my friends here keep me accountable - even when I don't log.....just when I think to throw all caution to the wind I see how good some of my pals are over this holiday period, and it spurs me on to try my best.

    I might pick up a few kg's over this break - but you know what - come 14 January I will be right back here logging!

    Will I ever stop logging completely - hell no - I like knowing where I am - but don't need to do it every day anymore!
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