Experiences with ''Diet Breaks''? Anyone?

mariejoy1995 · July 2014

Just curious to read people's experiences with taking a so called ''Diet Break''.
Many people have claimed that this is effective for maybe breaking a plateau (Speeding up the metabolism) by eating more.
In my opinion a Diet Break is for 2 weeks-3 weeks you eat at maintenance, Splurge a little and hardly workout. I know it sounds silly and why on earth would you want to do that?

I had done one last year - I have lost about 6kgs in the period of a Month and injured my foot seriously so became sedentary - In other words healthy eating + exercise + calorie counter went down the toilet. I guess It wasn't a planned diet break but I had felt worn out from working out so much and eating so little. When I went on this ''Diet Break'' (lasted 6 weeks) I came back to sart another Weight loss journey and hadn't gained not a single pound I had actually lost + Plus I had the motivation + energy to endure the journey once again.

So I have now since starting my 2nd WLJ (Jan 2014) lost 30 kgs but have been at a plateau for a month. I have decided to stop dieting for 2-3 weeks not workout as much and just give myself a rest. I find Diet breaks so beneficial even If this time I do gain a few pounds.

So I'll quit the rambling. Has anyone done a Diet Break (Eating at Maintenance, Not counting calories religiously + Not working out as much) A break for the body + metabolism.

Anyone?

aedreana · July 2014

I cannot diet for more than weeks at a time. A couple of months, at best. I can't stand it longer than that. I don't allow myself to get fat enough to where it will take longer. I am one of those folks that if I cheat on my diet, I am done, so I can't cheat. But one time, when I was in my late 30s, I allowed myself to gain up to exactly 200 lbs.! I had never been anywhere near that weight before, and have never been anywhere near it since. As soon as I hit 200, I knew I had to Diet with a capital D. I had to do it in stages. No way would I have been able to diet long enough to lose that much weight all at once. I remember that the first 20 pounds came off in no time-- it was like I blinked my eyes and suddenly was 20 lbs. lighter. I lost weight SO fast, because I weighed SO much. But because I was still young, I lost 82 pounds and didn't end up with loose skin back then. I believe that long slow dieting impairs metabolism. I attribute my fast metabolism to the fact that I diet hard for a short time. It is not because of exercise because I have avoided exercise my whole life.

mariejoy1995 · July 2014

This. Thank you for your reply :flowerforyou:

mariejoy1995 · July 2014

BUMP! Anyone else?

darrensurrey · July 2014

My diet break became permanent. Not as terrible as you'd think. I reevaluated what was going on with my body and decided to eat 1000 calories more a day than I was eating back then. Much happier with the results and the way my body's heading. Also, exercise is a lot easier when you're fueling up!

Oh, I did have a couple of diet breaks that lasted two weeks and eating the crap I ate was enough for me to think that I didn't need that ****.

SrMaggalicious · July 2014

In my experience, one feels they need a diet break if they are depriving themselves of certain foods/food groups. I rarely ever feel I need a 'diet break', as I don't let my body become deprived of most of the foods that I love. I just eat them within my cal/macros, and life is good! Trying to reassess what you've been eating on a regular basis, and replacing some foods with ones you enjoy, but still fit in your daily range could rid you of this need to go on a 'break'. Once in a blue moon I get tempted, but the focused me asks: 'How badly do you want this?"

As far as working out, I will take a break when my body feels tired. i can usually tell when it needs a day (or maybe two or three) off. But that rarely happens as I do Tabata and HiiT programs, which are extremely short time-wise but super intense training-wise. My philosophy is I should be able to go all out for 20-30 mins a day if I'm healthy enough.

lacroyx · July 2014

I took a 2 week one during vacation. I still logged but was more flexible with what I ate and went over my calorie allowance almost everyday. I also was quite active. Walked a ton and went swiming a few times. Nothing strenous, just lesuirely. After my 2 week vacation I came home having lost 7 lbs.

mariejoy1995 · July 2014

Thank you for sharing

mariejoy1995 · July 2014

Bump:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

jemhh · July 2014

I've taken two diet breaks. I eat at maintenence for a week and keep up my normal exercise. I average 1800 calories while losing weight and eat ice cream, chocolate, etc. regularly so it definitely isn't a matter of feeling deprived on the regular. The majority of the time I don't get hungry other than "oh, it's supper time." When I suddenly have a few days when I think about food a lot and have cravings, I take a break.

luckypony71 · July 2014

I don't take diet breaks. I eat what I want within my MFP guidelines, and yes there are days like yesterday that I eat 2000 calories. These are the days that I allow a splurge. Most of my days are spent eating foods that my husband cooked. We are good most of the week and allow for a treat on occasion.

This has been working for me.

honey_tequila · July 2014

I don't take intentional "breaks" but for some reason I occasionally feel like eating more - so I do. I still make reasonable choices that aren't too different to what I'd usually eat and I try not to go over maintenance calories. This is always followed by a loss, so intentional or not, breaks work for me

CassieReannan · July 2014

I took a month long one back in September as I was busy (2 hrs away from home on clinicals as a nursing student) and I gained 3kg at the end of it but easily went back to my routine and lost it in about 3 weeks. In saying that I wasn't really watching what I ate and just ate convenient foods. The break was nice though.

sijomial · July 2014

My idea of diet breaks is a bit different to yours but I do think they are a good idea to refresh yourself mentally and physically. Really I lost my weight in a series of steps or cycles of deficit and maintenance.

Lost my first 23lbs over 5 months. Spent a few months maintaining then dropped another 5lbs. Repeated the cycle after a few months and dropped another 2lbs.
Maintained for 6 months and decided to drop another 4lbs to assist my cycling goals. At some stage I might nibble a few more pounds off but for now I'm happy at my current weight.

I still log at maintenance and my exercise if anything increases when maintaining - your body can perform better when you aren't in calorie deficit. My exercise breaks are completely separate from my diet breaks and are taken for training and recovery purposes.

In addition holiday and vacations are diet breaks - in my view to have a sustainable long term lifestyle special occasions are to be enjoyed.

lemurcat12 · July 2014

I haven't done it yet this time, but it seems a perfectly reasonable concept to me. But for me it would be basically acting as if you are at maintenance for a while. Since I intend to log and workout while at maintenance, I'd do that, but just not eat in a deficit. It doesn't seem at all counterproductive to me, since you aren't going to be gaining if you do it right.

I lost a bunch of weight once before and after the first 40 lbs (I lost 60 total), which ended around Thanksgiving, I took a diet break that lasted through Christmas and then a vacation I took in Janaury. I wasn't logging, but I was careful to remain active and eat as I planned to for maintenance and did not gain any weight. Then in late January I started again feeling refreshed and lost the rest (at a slower pace and focusing more on increased activity and less on cutting calories, although I'm sure I did both). I'm open to doing something similar again (although ideally not for so long).

Francl27 · July 2014

Yeah, during my vacation for a week... Now 10 days later I'm still 1.5 pound over my lowest weight. So nope, no miracle 'eat and be lazy and you'll lose weight' solution for me.

elliej · July 2014

I did this last summer for 2 weeks, at Christmas I'd just hit my target weight and thought 'what they hey' so had the old Cmas splurge then started maintenance as soon as I was back home - and I keep the same attitude through maintenance. I still track through the week (to make sure I hit my protein macro mostly) and then logging tends to go out the window on weekends.

Even on my 'breaks' I would still work out and try to eat healthily, because that's my lifestyle choice, I like to do those things.

IllustratedxGirl · July 2014

I haven't taken a diet break yet.. But I am about to go to Europe for two weeks where I won't be able to log my foods. I think it will become an unintentional diet break

I do workout pretty hard.. Earlier this week I burned 1880 calories and ate 2880! When I'm able to eat so much food that I love.. I don't really need the need to take a break from dieting.

However, I might need a break from working out lol I think Europe will be a good break with eating at maintenance and lots of walking

ekat120 · July 2014

I've lost weight in "stages" of 5-10 lbs with breaks, usually of several months, in between. I know that the idea of a "set point" weight is controversial, but I feel like I have one and like breaks help me re-set my set point. When I would try to lose weight all at once, if I had a couple bad days or a bad week, my weight would shoot up. That doesn't really happen now, and if it does, it's easier to lose the weight again. I feel like breaks give my body (hormones, etc.) and mind a chance to regroup and normalize. Then I'm ready to drop a few more pounds.

Experiences with ''Diet Breaks''? Anyone?

Replies

Categories