Taking a break?

I take "breaks" (Aka eat whatever I want and not log) for holidays, special occasions and the odd day here and there. Keeps me sane and my progress is fine.

I do it on special days like holidays and my birthday but, i go right back to it the next day. But, if you are burned out might as well take a break and try your hand at maintenance

Now that I'm a healthy weight I've found it a lot harder to keep going. I tend to eat at maintenance 2-3 days a week now because I'm just so tired of it (been at it since february last year). Even after a horrible Christmas binge I still lost a pound this week so I'm trying not to worry about it. That said, I'm also working on upping my strength work outs to compensate.

I take "diet breaks" too. Either eat at maintenance or just eat whatever I want for a week. Usually around holidays or whenever I take a short leave from work.

I at least desire to be within, my normal weight range for my height; before I officially take a break. After exactly 6 months (December 22nd) & losing 20 pounds, I was 5 pounds away; from that but currently I am 10 & I plan on the break being 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll lose these 10 pounds (some of which, is only water weight because I'll be having my TOM, in a couple of days) & complete my diet break, before my 36th birthday (April 1st).

AlliRich wrote: »

Personally speaking, I have removed the word "diet" from my vocabulary. I think the biggest issue (at least for me) is thinking that engaging in healthy eating habits means being on a restrictive, unappealing diet as opposed to it being an overall lifestyle change. It seems that now, even when I'm not logging, I'm still mindful of what I put in my body, because it's not just about losing weight, but also how I feel overall. For the first time, after years of losing, gaining, logging, not logging, this new mindset/view of eating has allowed me to sustain better habits, even on those days when I do indulge in one or two chocolate chip cookies. And the scale has still managed to report in my favor :-)

Does anyone else have any thoughts or guidance on this? I'm definitely not an expert, and always looking for positive feedback!

totally agree.
good lifestyle choices goes a long ways.

taracan25 wrote: »

I'm really interested if you guys can give information on the benefits of diet breaks and is there a "best" time to take one? Like after 4 months, 6 months, a year? I don't know if there is information out there but I'm really curious on if this is something that I should consider or just keep plowing along.

I took my first diet break after I reached my first goal. That was all the weight I was going to lose. I was back down to what I weighed in 2011, and within my normal BMI range. Plus I didn't figure I could lose much more than that anyway.

I was also heading to Canada for a month just then, and the last thing I wanted to do was to track my calories while on holiday!

But the last few days before I departed to Canada that little message that pops up when you close your diary was hinting that in 5 weeks I could be a weight I haven't seen since about 2008. So all the while I was on holiday, that was in the back of my mind. Could I really get down to that weight? How cool would that be!

When I returned, I decided to give it a go ... and sure enough, over the next 4 months I dropped to a weight I haven't seen since about 2003!!

As I mentioned earlier, I'm on a diet break again now, and again, I'm at a place where I'm debating what to do next. I'm in the lower half of my BMI range so I don't really need to lose more weight ... but I'd kind of like to drop anywhere from 2-5 kg more. I'd also like to start getting more serious about weightlifting and building muscle and for that I apparently need to eat more ...


So, you have to decide what works for you, but what worked for me was reaching goals first.

Glad it was a success and you are feeling good.

Cheers, h.