Coach assigned Diet Break....

leanjogreen18
leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
edited January 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
So my coach put me on a diet break yesterday. I was thinking about journaling here for those of you like me were/are trepidacious about starting a diet break.

I was swimming along perfect with my diet and losing average of 2lb per week for 115 or so days. I'm not suffering from diet fatigue, or having any issues with adherence. I have a flexible eating plan but I stick within my weekly deficit. So I was surprised that he suggested a diet break now. Especially when I'm litterally 3lbs away from my first milestone:) But I trust him and there is good evidence of the benefits so here we go.

I would like some feedback if ya'll think this is beneficial to others as well as for myself to read my diet break journey?

There is a wealth of information if one searches the forums so this maybe redundant. Thoughts?

Edit: link for diet break benefits...

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

Edit 2: link to lengthy mfp discussion for additional information

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I take a break once per month at my TOM, which is horrendous due to uterine fibroids, but if I didn't do that, sure, after 4 months sounds like a good time to take a break.

    How many more pounds do you need to lose to reach your goal weight?
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I take a break once per month at my TOM, which is horrendous due to uterine fibroids, but if I didn't do that, sure, after 4 months sounds like a good time to take a break.

    How many more pounds do you need to lose to reach your goal weight?

    57 for my 1st goal then we'll reacess after that.

    For clarity I agree with my coach on the diet break. I just wondered if it's beneficial to journal it here for others?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited January 2019
    I think the journal is a great idea. You may want to have this link from the long Refeed thread available if people start asking a lot of questions, most of which would be answered fully in the thread; unless you want that kind of interaction. Good luck with this! Enjoy your food(s) :)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I think the journal is a great idea. You may want to have this link from the long Refeed thread available if people start asking a lot of questions, most of which would be answered fully in the thread; unless you want that kind of interaction. Good luck with this! Enjoy your food(s) :)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

    Thank you, that's a good idea. I added it to the OP
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited January 2019
    I think it's a great idea to journal it here. I think it will be helpful for others to see the impact of the diet break on the scale and on your training, both during the break and afterwards.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Just curious what kind of sport you are involved in, or do you mean more of a personal trainer?

    Looking forward to following your progress :)
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    Ok so I got a little feed back from a couple vetran posters here and I value their opinion so I've decided to go ahead.

    I'll start with yesterday which was Day 1.

    F52 5'4"
    SW 235ish
    (Hired my coach at 219 11.1.18)
    CW 202 (yesterday)
    GW 145ish (will reacess when I get there)

    My coach bumped me up from 1264 average to 1500 calories. I cycled my calories so 1500 was a normal Wednesday for me. I felt comfortable knowing how much food that was. My protien stayed at 100g, fat upped to 50g the rest Carbs. So basically 240ish of extra fat and carbs which is a ok with me:) If I continue to lose weight he will bump it up a bit more and I'm not sure how long I will be on this break. I will still count calories. I'm not weighing everything which I wasn't doing prior to hiring my coach and he is fine with that as long as the scale does what we think it should be doing.

    I'm an excellent dieter but horrible at maintaining so I lose regain. The diet break will be my first ever attempt to maintain while counting calories. I hope to gain the confidence that I can maintain my weight. I'm fully prepared for the scale to go up a little as I understand normal fluctuations.

    My weight loss has been going great since I started 9.20.18 with an average just under 2lb a week loss. I have a flexable diet but I stay determined to stay at my weekly calorie goal. I was doing swimmingly in weight loss before I hired Sidesteel but I knew I needed to add strength training and I liked his style. I was surprised when he mentioned taking a diet break. I thought that would come along when I was getting lax in my tracking or diet fatigue set in. He explained that sometimes catching it before needing to put a bandage on is better. So here we go.

    I will try to log here daily with my stats/feelings so we can see my progress which hopefully will be beneficial to me to journal and get feedback and to others who maybe thinking of taking a diet break.

    I will refer back to OP for links to explain better than I can why's of taking a diet break!

    I'm open to any and all questions/comments and I'll defer to vetrans here if I don't know the answer:).

    Edit: Yesterday lifting was normal no noticable difference but it was day 1 of higher calories:)
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    Just curious what kind of sport you are involved in, or do you mean more of a personal trainer?

    Looking forward to following your progress :)

    I hired a fitness coach for strength training and help with setting me up for maintenance.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    leanjogreen18 wrote: »
    Ok so I got a little feed back from a couple vetran posters here and I value their opinion so I've decided to go ahead.

    I'll start with yesterday which was Day 1.

    F52 5'4"
    SW 235ish
    (Hired my coach at 219 11.1.18)
    CW 202 (yesterday)
    GW 145ish (will reacess when I get there)

    My coach bumped me up from 1264 average to 1500 calories. I cycled my calories so 1500 was a normal Wednesday for me. I felt comfortable knowing how much food that was. My protien stayed at 100g, fat upped to 50g the rest Carbs. So basically 240ish of extra fat and carbs which is a ok with me:) If I continue to lose weight he will bump it up a bit more and I'm not sure how long I will be on this break. I will still count calories. I'm not weighing everything which I wasn't doing prior to hiring my coach and he is fine with that as long as the scale does what we think it should be doing.

    I'm an excellent dieter but horrible at maintaining so I lose regain. The diet break will be my first ever attempt to maintain while counting calories. I hope to gain the confidence that I can maintain my weight. I'm fully prepared for the scale to go up a little as I understand normal fluctuations.

    My weight loss has been going great since I started 9.20.18 with an average just under 2lb a week loss. I have a flexable diet but I stay determined to stay at my weekly calorie goal. I was doing swimmingly in weight loss before I hired Sidesteel but I knew I needed to add strength training and I liked his style. I was surprised when he mentioned taking a diet break. I thought that would come along when I was getting lax in my tracking or diet fatigue set in. He explained that sometimes catching it before needing to put a bandage on is better. So here we go.

    I will try to log here daily with my stats/feelings so we can see my progress which hopefully will be beneficial to me to journal and get feedback and to others who maybe thinking of taking a diet break.

    I will refer back to OP for links to explain better than I can why's of taking a diet break!

    I'm open to any and all questions/comments and I'll defer to vetrans here if I don't know the answer:).

    I just wanted to say congrats on your loss thus far and that it's fantastic that you hired Sidesteel. That man knows his business!
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    I do 4 weeks deficit/1 week maintenance, it just makes the deficit manageable.

    Since I have a ways to goal weight I'm wondering what schedule of diet breaks I will be on.

    I suspect he will put me on every 6-12 weeks but we haven't discussed it yet. I'm really ok with whatever:)

    Before I broke my foot in 2017 I was 6 months in a deficit and I felt like I could go on, actually I feel like I can continue in a defict now.

    I'm super interested to see what this break actually does in terms of adhearance, weight, training, hunger etc. even if it doesn't do as much as I think psychologically I do understand the physiological reason for it.
  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    I'm very interested in following your break journal. I am also a terrific dieter but not super great at maintenance. I had decided when I started again to work in diet breaks as well but really haven't been sure how often to take them.
  • shrinkingletters
    shrinkingletters Posts: 1,008 Member
    I only wanted to jump into say WOW you're doing great! I love your approach to this!
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    edited January 2019
    First congratulations on your loss so far. I follow a few coaches that coach people to bodybuilding stage. I’ve seen diet breaks, a few days spent at maintenance or weekly refeeds. The idea is to get your hormone levels back up. In a calorie deficit, your hormone levels change, the idea is to get them back up. Consistently is key. Trust your coach & the process.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    Day 2 - 1493 Calories Protein 119g, Carbs 138g, Fat 52g

    DBSW 202 (SW from here on out will be from Day 1 of my diet Break)
    CW 201.6

    Interesting to see the scale go down. I thought it would go up just from volume but my weekly deficit ended up being 1300ish so that makes since. What it does over the next few days will dertermine what my coach does in terms of raising my calories or leaving them at 1500.

    I woke up very hungry which is unusual for me. I tend to get hungry around 10-10:30 after having a protien coffee around 7-8am. Today I had breakfast and my protein coffee and I clocked in a whoping 863 calories by 8am yikes.

    I had a protien bar around noon of 200 calories

    Early dinner was around 430 calories.

    I was surprised to see my protien go up since I was excited to eat just a bit more carbs (I normally eat plenty of carbs but I was excited to have more). It was cold and rainy out so my normal walk/hike (half my route is on trail other half a paved walkway) was put on hold. I don't know if it was the weather or just me but today was a very lazy day in terms of activity, also a rest day from lifting.

    I don't feel like I'm on a diet break. I'm still logging my calories and still thinking in terms of macros. I don't weigh all of my foods as my diet was progressing as it should so we haven't introduced that yet for everything. Had I not had a 1500 calorie Wednesday during my deficit I can see how this is very good for one to see what maintainance meals would look like and give one confidence and practice with a little more calories. I certainly see the benefits for me.

    I felt pretty full all day but also seemed to make room for more food when the time came:)

    It will be interesting to see what the scale does tomorrow after 2 days at 1500 calories.

    Edit: I will be walking a 5k on Friday.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited January 2019
    I will join the others in the confusion. If you were losing an average of 2lbs per week you should be eating an extra 1000 calories per day during your break. Eating 250ish more may be a treat but it won't be a diet break.

    At your present weight you really need a proper diet break because 2lbs per week will be slightly aggressive very soon.

    ETA: Depending on how much more you have to lose it might be a little aggressive now but that is one of the reasons to take a break.

  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I was thinking of this thread and something is confusing me. I know you don't weigh foods, so that likely figures some into SideSteel's calorie level rec for you, but... you've been losing two pounds a week. And you're eating 1500-1600 for maintenance? Something there is very off, unless we're using the term diet break in a different way. Then again, I don't think we are.

    I can't see how these numbers are adding up with you only having 240 extra calories while you've been losing 2 pounds a week. That amount of deficit would result in a half pound loss if everything was measured accurately.

    It's hard to know exactly what your numbers are.

    How long is this break for? I'm guessing that if it's two weeks or less, your loss pattern will continue if you're only adding very small amounts of food, and you're not actually on a real diet break. It's possible that SideSteel might want to recalibrate your calories.

    Just thinking out loud here, trying to make sense of things. I know he knows what he's doing!

    I think he’s watching the scale to see what it does to give him a better idea. I don’t weigh foods, I eat out a lot and cycle my calories. He left me alone in that I was successfully losing before he came on board and didn’t want to change too much.

    He mentioned 2 weeks to even a month and increasing my calories depending on the scale. He suspected I’d still lose a little.

    So you are correct this is probably the pre diet break and I guess I wasn’t thinking it through. I’ll stop journaling since it isn’t really a “diet break” yet so as not to confuse.


  • ssbbg
    ssbbg Posts: 153 Member
    I think it would still be interesting to read about how you are transitioning into the diet break.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    leanjogreen18 wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    Just curious what kind of sport you are involved in, or do you mean more of a personal trainer?

    Looking forward to following your progress :)

    I hired a fitness coach for strength training and help with setting me up for maintenance.

    Keep in mind that the diet break might also just be to see if you have immediate response in workout performance. It's easy to get used to the lower energy levels you have when you eat at a deficit, because you often don't notice until a hard workout. But when you push for more, longer, heavier, etc the extra calories often get you through it easier.

    Other than that, you said you trust your coach. My advice would be to keep trusting them, and if you are curious as to the why of the diet break, just ask.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    Day 4

    DBSW 202
    CW 202.2

    I had an unremarkable day. Nothing really exciting my walk/hike was short and it is a strength training rest day. I did adjust my calores today to compensate for going over yesterday so that my weekly would average approx 1500 a day.

    I'm traveling tomorrow so more salty restraunt foods I"m sure. My 5k is Friday evening. I've given up hope to make it under an hour as my left foot (broke in 2017) is still giving me some problems. I used to cycle and I have a bike so I may have to switch to cycling however I really enjoy hiking:(

    Over the last 4 days the scale has stayed right within 1lb. Too soon to tell what will happen over the next 2 weeks though.

  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Thanks for the update, and sorry about your foot. I broke my ankle quite some time ago and it took a long time before it really felt right.

    How do you gauge your portions for logging? Do you use measuring cups? Eyeball? Gauge by a metric like your palm, fistful, thumb? I think this info especially will be helpful for people who find very detailed logging challenging but would still like to see progress like yours.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Thanks for the update, and sorry about your foot. I broke my ankle quite some time ago and it took a long time before it really felt right.

    How do you gauge your portions for logging? Do you use measuring cups? Eyeball? Gauge by a metric like your palm, fistful, thumb? I think this info especially will be helpful for people who find very detailed logging challenging but would still like to see progress like yours.

    Eyeball what I think is a cup, 1/2 etc. over the last few months I pull out the scales to recalibrate my eyeballing. For example my pinch of shredded cheese is a little under 28g but I check it maybe once a month.

    Eating out unless it’s something i eat often I only eat half and I round up 100 calories from higest mfp database entry just in case. I almost always measure cashews because they are so high.

    Edit: I eat approx the same 20ish meals and weight daily to make sure everything stays on track.
  • gogetemrogue
    gogetemrogue Posts: 80 Member
    Take the diet break! I thought I was chugging along good with my 2lbs a week goal, even when MFP threw 1200 cals at me after I saw good loss. And then I went on a diet break due to a vacation and I realized I wasn't doing as well as I thought. I was paranoid for a while of maintaining and even losing a a verrrrrrrrry slow rate that I was actually gaining and that the scale was lying. I had to start measuring myself more often to convince myself I wasn't gaining. My hairdresser commented on me having a lot of baby hairs a few months into my extended diet break. Due to the length of the hair and my knowledge of how fast my hair grows, I would say I has some hairfall at the end of my first deficit run and it started growing back a bit into my break.

    I'm back on a deficit again and I'm set to 1.5 lbs a week and I have two week diet breaks scheduled in on my calendar for every 12 weeks. I will evaluate to see if I need to do them more often as I lose more...I'm ready to be in onehundredland already!
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Day 5-8

    Long weekend mini vacation over. I had a great strength training day Friday then we flew to our destination and walked the 5k that night. My GPS was sketchy so I don't know my official time but it was right around an hour so not bad. I felt strong and my pace was pretty good even the bad foot didn't protest too much with airport walking, standing around at the start of the race etc.!

    Food choices on vacation were of the yummy kind. I ordered banana cream pie and shared it, I ordered a second beer one night, a third glass of wine one night, a couple of pinapple fruity drinks one day, french fries & pizza slices, all foods I normally eat but not night after night:) I usually reserve those for maybe a once a week thing.

    I went over my 1500 calories, in fact after a full week (Mon-Sun) my average intake was approx 1700. I tracked and knew I was going over but we celebrated my first 5k after the broken foot and I enjoyed every minute of it:) I felt in control. I was totally prepared for the scale to go up when I returned home from extra volume, salty foods from eating out and I wan't disappointed I went up to 205 on Monday morning. I'm down to 203 today so really only a 1lb difference from the start of my "diet break".

    I'm beginning week 2 strong with Monday clocking in at 1495 calories. Even if this isn't a real diet break the increased calories have really given me increased confidence in maintaining my eventual goal weight. I haven't flucuiated more than 3lbs this last week even going over my calorie goal by a lot.

    I will stay I can't wait to get back into a larger defict because I'm like most of us impatient and want to get another big chuck of weight off:) but this has been really, really good for my confidence in expectation of maintainance.


  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    Thank you for posting this. It's interesting to read others' experiences.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited January 2019
    One thing I did notice is that my appitite seems increased.

    Is it my hormones returning to normal (usually takes 2 weeks I believe from Lyle Mcdonalds blog, see OP for link). Is it because I was eating breakfast on my mini vacation which usually makes me ravenous the rest of the day? Was it increased alcohol intake? My choices of food? Or the thoughts of "I'm on vacation" and "I'm celebrating"?

    I honestly think it might be all of the above. Because individually I know those have had an effect when in my larger deficit, add them all together and it could have been disastrous. I'll be keeping this in mind in the future because when not logging I don't pay attention to these things. Maybe logging helped me to see it?

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