Anyone take a "maintenance break" before you hit your goal?

If you really aren't being restrictive, there would be little reason for a break.

If you're doing something that will be sustainable for life, I doubt that you'd say you were getting burned out.

I totally get it! Halfway there myself. Hit a plateau. Needed a break from thinking about and logging every morsel and every exercise. Stayed eating healthy though, and the break helped! Just make sure you at least log in everyday, cuz it bumped me back to a zero streak and now I'm a little bummed. Because my journey IS ongoing and I just needed to obsess a little less

You could also change up your diet plan. I peaked at your food diary and noticed that you often have small amounts of sweets through the day. It makes sense to log that so you don't get off track on your calories. Maybe you could try a food challenge for the month of September where you try not to eat any carbohydrates (non veg or fruit) that have less than 2 grams of fiber per serving. I promise it won't matter what you eat for a while if you stick to this . I like changing up what I'm doing to give myself new motivation (e.g. try a new sport!).

Sounds like food wise and calorie wise you are doing ok. For exercise, why not take a "fun" break - i.e. skip the running and gym and replace it with new stuff that would not be considered "exercise" but more like "recess". Go to the batting cages one night, hit a bucket of balls at a driving range, try roller blading. You dont have to break completely from running and lifting, maybe lay out a schedule that keeps you from having to think about it much for a month. i.e Mondays is lifting - upper body. Thur is lifting - lower body. Tues is "recess" activity (20 min or more). Wed is longer run. Thur is "recess" activity (20 min or more) . Friday is moderate run. Sat/Sun is rest days, but get a 2 mile hike in someplace new. For the recess activities, create a list of 10 possibilities - 2 per week for 5 weeks. Commit to just trying each.

By spending some time in advance planning your exercise schedule, you dont have to obsess every day or week... Same as food - start preplanning every Sun night or something - even log the whole week ahead of time, then just modify with any changes that day. That makes logging take a lot less time. In fact, you could just set aside one hour per week to lay out food AND exercise for the coming week, prelog it all then just tweak each day. That might be enough of a "break" for you to keep motivation but not feel as obsessive?

In any case, dont let yourself lose the ground and control you have gained! If you choose to take any kind of break, make it a controlled one - set some parameters you have to stick to (i.e. 200 extra calories per day, one more rest day each week, etc). So it is not a "free for all". Or plan a single day where it IS a "free for all". But planned

Good luck!

Yes! I do this a lot and I feel it's really sensible to avoid burnout. It will slow things dowh but slow and steady often wins the race.
Another thing I feel is worth doing is calculating what maintenence for your goal weight, rather than your current weight, would be, and trying eating at that for a while. It's usually only a very small difference if you're getting near but it makes for a small steady loss and gives you an idea of what to expect your eventual lifestyle eating to be- hope that makes sense x

A diet break is a good idea every 3 months or so.

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

You can pace yourself however best meets your needs. When you say you wouldn't track as obsessively, does that mean you would skip some days, but log everything when you track, or does it mean you would log, but not necessarily include everything you eat? I think it would be better to skip some days completely, but log everything on the days you do log. If you want to eat at maintenance calories, or not log everything you eat, your rate of loss will probably slow down, so it is detrimental in that sense. But if that works best for you, that's ok.

I am 14 months into my journey, but I stopped logging after 2 1/2 months on the advice of my trainer because it was stressing me out. I eat in a very similar way every day and have a good handle on calories and portion control, so this works for me. I have lost weight EVERY month. I did log for a week in July to check up on myself, and I was right on track with calories and macros. I am probably the exception to rule and not everyone can do this successfully. But not logging does not mean you have to eat at maintenance. What you do and how is a very personal thing. Good luck!!

I have taken a bit of a "break". I am still logging everyday. I am still working hard to not overeat. Most days I eat a modest deficit but I needed a mental break.

My partner and I just moved 1500 miles across the country to a new place, and started new and more demanding jobs. The stress has been unreal. I have been eating "maintenance" for about two months. My maintenance calculations were a bit off though. I have still lost about four pounds in the last two months.

I am gearing up to go back to a larger deficit.

If you approach it from the standpoint of a "life change" it seems reasonable to go on maintenance if you need to.

I'm all for diet breaks. You really don't want to be in a deficit for long long period of time without taking a little break.

I took a break and ate at maintenance for a month this summer. I had lost 45 lbs, and my blood sugar was back in the normal range. It started out as just a break for a vacation but then I had a couple of injuries that prevented me from exercise. As I have been released to do more aerobic exercise by my physical therapist (still not full workout) I am back to eating at a deficit and am losing again. I needed the break and feel re-energized and fully motivated to keep eating at a deficit until the end of the year, when I intend to eat at maintenance again through the holidays. It was difficult at first, I recommend gradually working toward the full deficit level you are aiming to use in the next leg of your journey.

it will be a mistake for me

there will be other moments like this, so it's up to you, resist and finish it off, or give up

it's not easy, and in theory this journey should last forever, try maybe to change your workout routine

I've done it several times in the last several years, and it's something that's really helped me cement the feeling that the loss is sustainable. I don't count calories, but I still measure portions and stay mindful of when and why I'm eating. I continue to weigh weekly, and keep an eye on how I feel and how my clothes fit. I've never regained (beyond what I consider to be normal 5+/- fluctuations), and it's helped me feel less like I'm being defined by my exercise/eating habits.

I know some people tend to the, "You will be doing this forever!" mindset, but I'm of the opinion that there has to be a balance. Any of us who maintain will always be in a mindset to watch what we eat until it becomes second nature -- but taking a break from cutting to live at maintenance for a while is not giving up.