Will you power through to the goal or take a break?

If one needs to "power through", they're doing it wrong. It's about sustainability and compliance, forever.

No, I'm not going to be eating at a deficit forever, so sustainability isn't really relevant beyond my goal.

I won't be taking any breaks, but I'll have a few days over maintenance until I get to my loss goal. So, I'll be powering through.

Did I say anything about a deficit, cowboy? I meant in general, whether it be weight loss/maintenance/gain maybe I should have been more specific obviously some people can't read between the lines..

Well that is the purpose of a discussion forum. To read the lines. A little clarification shouldn't hurt nothing. For example are you really saying weight change/maintenance is a breeze? Cos I have many a day I didn't want to work out but did it anyway, or didn't feel like cooking or hand washing a huge pile of dishes (again) but did it anyway because that's what it takes to get where I want

If one needs to "power through", they're doing it wrong. It's about sustainability and compliance, forever.

No, I'm not going to be eating at a deficit forever, so sustainability isn't really relevant beyond my goal.

I won't be taking any breaks, but I'll have a few days over maintenance until I get to my loss goal. So, I'll be powering through.

Sustainability can be relevant. Well you're hugely tall so your calorie needs may always be higher than most. But consider for instance people eating at a deficit of a half pound per week , for whatever reason. When they get to "maintenance" they really won't be eating that much more per day. Their maintenance habits could need to be rather similar to their weight loss habits.

That's fair. If someone is eating close to maintenance and eating in a way they won't be able to continue -- bringing celery and yogurt to Thanksgiving or skipping everyone's birthday parties or whatever -- then sustainability could be relevant. Still, that's different from powering through, IMO.

Maybe someone says, "OK, this holiday season I'm really going to restrict myself substantially in order to meet my goal, but next year I'll be in a better position to indulge within reason." To me, that's powering though, it's probably not sustainable, and it's still an arguably reasonable approach.

I don't see eating at maintenance once in a while as taking a break. You'll be fine.

This, as long as you're still logging.

My primary goal isn't a specific weight. Nor is it a specific shape. These are all secondary and are natural consequences of my primary goal. My primary goal is to eat and live - each day - in as healthy a way as I can. I need to focus on developing better habits and new ways of thinking about food and activity. That in the face of decades of bad eating and laziness. I can't take a break from that. Habits and conversion of thought processes are too hard to form and persistence and consistency are key to those changes. I simply cannot afford to let my guard down until I'm 110% confident I've truly changed.

ive taken a break before and eaten what i wanted, i was a waitress though so still lost 10lb in 4 weeks, as long as youre not gaining youre not going back enjoy :drinker: