Is it okay to take a few days off from MFP?

Muriumj
Muriumj Posts: 12 Member
in Motivation and Support
Okay, so i have been logging for 120 days now and i did manage to lose around 14lbs (half way through my target) .. the weight has more or less been fluctuating within a three pounds range for the last four or five weeks now and I've only been logging to keep my mfp account active.. haven't been getting much exercise either (walking is the only form of exercise i can get post-spine surgery) .. Feels like I've just been dragging myself through this recently.. Basically, i'm considering taking a break. Just wondering if starting over in a weeks time would help getting re-motivated (was intending to eat without consciously thinking about it) .. But then, I skipped mfp yesterday deliberately and constantly kept getting the urge to keep logging and it made me wonder whether it's just me or has MFP really taken over my mind now .. :indifferent:

Replies

  • sam308lbs
    sam308lbs Posts: 1,936 Member
    Willow_Dying.gif
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
    I found a few days became weeks quite easily. Don't log for a while if you like but I'd try and keep coming on to support your friends and keep the habit going x
  • CarlaChalk78
    CarlaChalk78 Posts: 60
    I have taken a break here and there since I started but always found it hard to get back into it....no breaks for me now!
  • TriShamelessly
    TriShamelessly Posts: 905 Member
    MFP is loaded with subliminal messages to keep us hooked us here until all eternity. So, No, you may not leave!!!

    :laugh:

    Seriously, though, sounds like you're just in a plateau. I would suggest switching up your calories and macro settings for a couple of weeks - e.g., set it to 0 or half pound weight loss instead of higher - to see if that will jump start you again. That way you can still log and also take a mental break. Good luck!
  • Nettie96fb
    Nettie96fb Posts: 82
    I took off a couple of weeks over Christmas/New Year...not from logging on every day, but to sticking to the prescribed amount of calories...I had plateaued, like you for 3 weeks....and now I"m back into it with a vengenance, and I've lost 1kg..2.2lbs already this week, and I don't weigh in until sunday...so don't not log in, just don't worry about eating over your calories..of course, don't be a glutton by the same token...good luck :)
  • GoddessG
    GoddessG Posts: 171 Member
    Remembering how hard it is to "restart", I'm not ready to choose leaving my diet. MFP isn't the end-all, be-all for me. I could let go of it. But leaving the diet for a few weeks? Too much for me to risk.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I think it depends. I have taken two breaks from logging. Both times I gained back about 5 lbs, but it did make it much easier to lose when I came back. I feel like it's easy to get a little too obsessive about logging, so a break could be beneficial if it starts to get to you. But you have to be in a good place and have enough discipline to pull it off without going off the rails and losing all your progress. I don't know if I'll log forever, but I know that I'm not in a place where I can stop and eat at maintenance naturally right now.
  • Liadora11
    Liadora11 Posts: 35
    Funny this topic should catch my eye today, I have been off for a week and a half now due to real life happening and during that time I still lost weight but it's so comforting to be able to be on here today. Even if I'm not logging, just floating about on the site has a very positive effect on me.

    So if you decide not to log I would still come on, read some blogs and browse the forums.

    Hope everything works out for you :)
  • Mamoonie
    Mamoonie Posts: 328
    I'm taking 3-4 off weeks per year, just about the same time I'm off work (away on vacation) and also off gym. I'm working out with a personal trainer and he puts me on off-time after a few weeks of intensive training. I then take off-of-all-time. I usually think about logging the first day, then get used to not logging, not counting etc, and after about 10 days, restart thinking about logging, and exercising. That's the time I needed to relax and when I'm fully rested I begin looking forward to restart logging and working out.
    I have not had a problem this way, always found my way back into the routine, and even though I usually have 1-2 kgs of weight gain (because I don't pay attention to calories at all that time), I lose them rather fast so that's not bothering me either.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    MFP takes attendance and sends ninjas to your house to shrink your clothes if you miss too many days.
  • Muriumj
    Muriumj Posts: 12 Member
    MFP is loaded with subliminal messages to keep us hooked us here until all eternity. So, No, you may not leave!!!

    :laugh:

    Seriously, though, sounds like you're just in a plateau. I would suggest switching up your calories and macro settings for a couple of weeks - e.g., set it to 0 or half pound weight loss instead of higher - to see if that will jump start you again. That way you can still log and also take a mental break. Good luck!

    Makes sense! thanks! :)
  • Muriumj
    Muriumj Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks y'all!! :) support really means a lot! :)
  • Muriumj
    Muriumj Posts: 12 Member
    MFP takes attendance and sends ninjas to your house to shrink your clothes if you miss too many days.

    Hehehe OMG! That should keep me on track! :D
  • rsharper97
    rsharper97 Posts: 242 Member
    MFP takes attendance and sends ninjas to your house to shrink your clothes if you miss too many days.


    Love this!
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    MFP takes attendance and sends ninjas to your house to shrink your clothes if you miss too many days.

    So that's what it was - I thought I just got fatter. Thanks for sharing.
  • edryer123
    edryer123 Posts: 502 Member
    I think taking like one day a week might be good for you. I got to the point where I obsessed about logging and I ended up taking in total almost a year off and I gained back the weight. :( So try your days off during the week. I work retail so my days off are rarely the same week to week. So I pick those days off sometimes. Right now I am still getting my groove back, but I wouldn't take more than a couple days here and there.
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
    Set your cals to maintenance for a week, and log, but with no restriction.
  • BabyJago
    BabyJago Posts: 15 Member
    I feel better when I'm logging in every day, after every meal and weighing myself every day. But, sometimes life and work just take over and you can't fit everything in. My job has been very stressful since the new year started (corporate re-organization going on) and staying employed and viable has been my first priority.

    But, I'm back at it. I don't go crazy with eating, etc. when I'm not logging in, I just need a break from the process since I'm so focused on other things.

    I would say do what works best for you. When fitness in any form becomes a chore or another obligation, I find it becomes a source of stress in my life. You have to do it because you want to. So, take the days off and go back when you're ready, like I just did.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    432 days without a break, I'd miss the entertainment :love:
  • MrsSWW
    MrsSWW Posts: 1,585 Member
    700+ days here. I'd rather skip Facebook tbh... :noway:
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
    I wish I could but I'm in too deep now to "take a break". I tell myself all the time I need to take a break but it never happens.....something won't let me :laugh:

    Day 375 here. *blinks*
  • Cinflo58
    Cinflo58 Posts: 326 Member
    I am afraid that if i leave MFP I will become the fat slug that was previously me. When I slack off with the exercise, I eat less and when I eat more, I force myself to exercise more so at the least I maintain my weight loss. I think that if i stopped logging I would get lazy and eat too much.

    BUT, you have to do what's right for you.
  • Nette_54
    Nette_54 Posts: 265 Member
    Set your cals to maintenance for a week, and log, but with no restriction.

    That is a great idea ! As everyone has said it is hard to get back into the flow if you have a break. Over Christmas I had no intentions of "dieting " but I still logged in each day to see how my friends were going and I just logged Quick Calories each day but adding an extra 500, 600 calories so I still went back into the food section. Now I am back in the flow of logging again.

    520 days for me, I would miss my friends

    Good luck with your weight loss
  • tallvesl99
    tallvesl99 Posts: 231 Member
    I took a few days off during the holidays....Just make sure you come back....I am more than half way to my goal. Just be good to yourself in the meantime and remember how important being 'HEALTHY' is vs. what tastes good/feels good. I know how hard it is to be in pain and try to stay active. We'll be here when you come back if you do take a break :).
  • Muriumj
    Muriumj Posts: 12 Member
    So guess it's a brand new day an a brand new start here.. :)

    Thanks everyone for support .. :) Means a lot!

    Love my MFP family loads!
    :heart:
  • swimmchick87
    swimmchick87 Posts: 458 Member
    Every time I've "taken a break" I end up gaining all the weight back.

Categories