Taking breaks from losing

starryphoenix
starryphoenix Posts: 381 Member
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone besides me take breaks from trying to lose? Every few pounds I'll eat at maintanrnce for a couple of weeks. I like taking it easy every once in a while. My body seems to respond well to this. I don't mind going slow.

Replies

  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Someone smarter than me at this made this post

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10481830/the-diet-break/p1

    Did one a couple of weeks back and it seems to have helped my mindset a bit.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    About every 6 weeks or so I would take a diet break and eat at maintenance. Now 6 weeks usually gets me to goal so I don't bother.
  • LadyRooster
    LadyRooster Posts: 21 Member
    I've been a little wishy washy lately on reaching and exceeding my goal every day. Some days I'll be 3 calories under, some days 300 over, but only rarely at maintanence. I've had the mentality that this will drastically effect my results, as in seeing the scale number go up, but it's actually helped me lose quicker. I haven't taken any breaks, as in I'm trying to keep a consistent deficit every day, but I think that taking breaks is a really good idea. I feel like this would definitely weed out any plateaus as well. A nice, gentle approach to weight loss that I think is more kind to the body. However, I'm not that patient ;)
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Sounds like a reasonable plan. Sometimes you just need a break, and going into maintenance won't do any harm to your previous progress. B)
  • Unknown
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  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    I may soon that as I usually fall off plan instead I'll just eat at maintence
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    I take breaks, too. The last ones were complete breaks, without mfp logging. I just eyeball'ed plates and thought "yeah that seems a reasonable amount to eat", while I focused on fitness and skill building. The number on the scale stayed about the same, give or take a pound.

    It seems to work well, basically. I've lost weight verrrrrrrrrrry slowly, but I am pretty sure it's going to stay off.

    I should be taking another break soon, as I'm nearly at my next target weight, which may or may not be my final goal, but this time I'll use mfp to record what I eat, just for the sake of having data.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Do what works for you. When I took a break, my appetite increased, and I never managed to go back to a deficit after that without feeling completely deprived.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    I've been puttering away at this for about a year now. I buckle down for awhile, then ease off. I had a number of weddings to go to, and a vacation/family visit planned, and I worked around those so I could enjoy them and enjoy travelling without worrying too much about figuring out calorie counts for catered food and airport food.

    I'm about 25 pounds down for the year, so that's about a half-pound a week, but its more like about 5/month when I was trying and then maintaining when I relaxed. My breaks didn't result in regains. In fact, it's been easier to restart than it was to get going, and my experience is that when I get back to it, the weight moves easier for the first few weeks.
  • brznhabits
    brznhabits Posts: 126 Member
    Yes. Sometimes I take break (go to maintenance) every 6 weeks for about 1 week. Also, this last year I didn't log, just did maintenance (on the weight I've lost). It was nice to know that I could sustain the habits I built over a year, for another year. Now I back at it trying to lose.

    I also take a break from cleaner eating. Currently, I'm doing 3 weeks on and 1 week off. In part because I run out of food ideas and it just stresses me out. So instead, I still log and try to stay under cals but give myself room to eat (mostly) whatever I've been craving. The mental break allows me time to figure out a new meal plan for the next three weeks.
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