Take a Maintenance break?

257_Lag
257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am not ready to do this yet but I have been thinking about it a lot recently.

Can you take a break from weight loss (deficit) and eat maintenance for a short time? What happens? I am talking about a week or two. Say when you hit a small goal. Do you gain? When you go back to a deficit how long until you see loss again?

I am 8 weeks in tomorrow and am thrilled with my progress of about 1.25 - 1.5 lbs per week but I keep thinking about this. My first mini goal will come at a 20 lb loss sometime in April. For the most part I am happy but I miss some foods that I could easily incorporate if I was at my maintenance TDEE of 3000 or so.

Thanks for any opinions or history.

Replies

  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
    Anyone tried it? Thought about it? Think it's a bad idea?
  • madrose0715
    madrose0715 Posts: 463 Member
    I plan to take a break from deficit eating likely in May or June and follow maintenance for 4 weeks. I will not just jump from deficit to my maintenance number, but rather add like 125 calories daily in week 1, another 125 in week 2, another 125 in week 3 and hopefully close to my maintenance number for week 4. Then, I will resume with TDEE -15%. I am doing it more as an experiment in moving back to maintenance and how my body will react.
  • juliekins64
    juliekins64 Posts: 125 Member
    I don't know the science behind it but it is good to change things up, I've heard this from others as well.
    I used to lose a little chunk of weight after taking a break for 3-4 days and then going back to restricting calories.
    I believe this is how some people break plateaus
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    Its good...

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Theres a great article on the topic and how to do it properly.. Its a great way to break plateaus or give your mind a break. I'm on a break because I have family visiting and their time is worth more to me than losing 2 pounds this week.
  • krypt5
    krypt5 Posts: 243 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    EDIT- ^^ Beat me to it.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    EDIT- ^^ Beat me to it.

    good looking out my friend.. at least shes getting the right advice
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    I took a 2 week break from eating at a deficit, ate at maintenance and did not gain. I wasn't at a plateau, I just needed a mental break from being so disciplined. When I began eating at a deficit again, I went right back into losing weight regularly. I haven't read the posted article yet, but from a personal perspective, it was very good for me, and I found myself feeling mentally refreshed and ready to keep going.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    . I'm on a break because I have family visiting and their time is worth more to me than losing 2 pounds this week.

    I love this. It's amazing how a little perspective goes a long way. This week is the Passover holiday, special foods I get once a year made by people I love... Absolutely worth a pound. I think people were confused that the girl who lost almost 100 pounds wasn't avoiding any fattening foods and ate 2 kinds of cake and some cookies. I felt sorry for the women who avoided my moms delicious brisket and who thought eating their special sugar free, bran flake wanna-be desserts was good enough.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Just make sure to recalculate your maintenence after you lose. And keep logging ( I learned from experience). You don't realize how much you are eating when you stop logging.
  • madrose0715
    madrose0715 Posts: 463 Member
    Its good...

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Theres a great article on the topic and how to do it properly.. Its a great way to break plateaus or give your mind a break. I'm on a break because I have family visiting and their time is worth more to me than losing 2 pounds this week.

    ^^ that was a good read and some interesting information for me to consider when planning my break...thanks!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Its good...

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Theres a great article on the topic and how to do it properly.. Its a great way to break plateaus or give your mind a break. I'm on a break because I have family visiting and their time is worth more to me than losing 2 pounds this week.

    Good article, I recommend it as well.

    I've done three diet breaks and they really helped me psychologically. I've done one with tracking and two without. I lost a tiny bit of progress (about 4-5 lbs) when not tracking but I felt like it was more of a break that way.
  • VorJoshigan
    VorJoshigan Posts: 1,106 Member
    Just make sure to recalculate your maintenence after you lose. And keep logging ( I learned from experience). You don't realize how much you are eating when you stop logging.

    Yes and yes, and yes to Lyle McDonald's article. In my experience, I usually gain a little bit the first week, but it usually comes off either in the second week, or very rapidly when I get back to a caloric deficit.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I took a 2 week maintenance break over my summer holidays last year, and another one for 2 weeks over the Christmas holidays.

    I ate at roughly maintenance, but continued my exercise (and ate back exercise calories, as that's what I normally do). I did not gain over either maintenance break. It was refreshing, and a turned out to be a great psychological boost to get back to losing when the break was over. Losing weight can be tedious - the break was good for me.

    Plus, it was nice to have a little more calories to play with over the holidays. :wink:
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    If you eat at maintenance for your current weight, you'll maintain your current weight. That's pretty much how it goes. You should only gain if you eat too much.
  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
    Thanks for the insight and great article. Like I said, I'm not ready to try this yet but I was looking for the proverbial carrot to dangle in my future.

    Hmmmm....speaking of carrots....
  • woodsy0912
    woodsy0912 Posts: 323
    I will be trying this when/ if I hit a plateau. Or in May because I have a nice Caribbean vacation coming up then. :laugh:

    Nice article!

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