Taking a Break From Diet ?= Boosting Metabolism

Hi everyone.

I may be thinking a bit ahead of myself at the moment. I am currently on a grind to lose a pound a week for the next five weeks. This will take a lot of focus for me, as I don't have much to lose, so I know that I will need a break after these 5 weeks.

Does anyone have experience taking a week or two pause to eat at (or slightly above) maintenance to prevent yourself from pooping and killing your metabolism?

I know that the pound a week for 5 weeks is super aggressive, and I would like for this to be sustainable and then to continue to lose another 5-10 pounds.

Here is an article that touches on taking diet breaks.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
  • imtrying3
    imtrying3 Posts: 28 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Your metabolism is not that fragile. Your BMR may decline after a prolonged deficit and a diet/deficit break will reset it back but that is just normal functioning. Damaging your metabolism requires more effort.

    Breaks will not improve the sustainability of a "super aggressive" plan. They will help an already good plan.

    Why is losing a pound a week highly aggressive for you? Are you already in your healthy range of weight? Will this cause you to eat below the minimum nutrition line (1200 calories)?

    Thanks for popping in. It is super agressive by my standards because I will have to be consistant about eating slightly above my BMR (aiming to eat 1500 a day with BMR of 1430) + exercise/movement to bring me to 2000 calories a day. I am on the smaller side (about 21.9 BMI), but I want to start off with a bang. I will be okay with myself if I don’t quite hit the 1lb per week average, but it is what I am aiming for! I also decided to add in a full day water fast every 2 weeks.

    This used to me nothing for me, but it takes a lot to keep myself away from the pantry now that I’m not in a dorm:(

    By most standards this is a pretty sustainable plan. After losing these 5 pounds I am going to go for a slower rate.
  • imtrying3
    imtrying3 Posts: 28 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Why the aggressive rate?

    Another option would be to lose half a pound a week, longer term, and use a weight trending app to make sure it's happening (still gonna require a month or more to see, BTW). The plus is less worry about "metabolism", and it's good training for how to eat long-term to keep weight where you want it permanently.

    I've been working on doing that (or slower ;) ) since before Christmas, to lose a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, and am down about 8 pounds without really even noticing that I'm limiting eating.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Why the aggressive rate?

    Another option would be to lose half a pound a week, longer term, and use a weight trending app to make sure it's happening (still gonna require a month or more to see, BTW). The plus is less worry about "metabolism", and it's good training for how to eat long-term to keep weight where you want it permanently.

    I've been working on doing that (or slower ;) ) since before Christmas, to lose a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, and am down about 8 pounds without really even noticing that I'm limiting eating.

    My thing is that I’m also trying to get a bit fitter (I lost a lot of muscle along with fat at college from not having time to hit the gym), so I just want to make sure that I’m not exhausting my body and mind.

    I was losing at an even slower rate than you and was happy with it, but I am anxious to get quickly back to where I was before COVID so I can feel good again:)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,722 Member
    imtrying3 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Why the aggressive rate?

    Another option would be to lose half a pound a week, longer term, and use a weight trending app to make sure it's happening (still gonna require a month or more to see, BTW). The plus is less worry about "metabolism", and it's good training for how to eat long-term to keep weight where you want it permanently.

    I've been working on doing that (or slower ;) ) since before Christmas, to lose a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, and am down about 8 pounds without really even noticing that I'm limiting eating.

    My thing is that I’m also trying to get a bit fitter (I lost a lot of muscle along with fat at college from not having time to hit the gym), so I just want to make sure that I’m not exhausting my body and mind.

    I was losing at an even slower rate than you and was happy with it, but I am anxious to get quickly back to where I was before COVID so I can feel good again:)

    You would do your fitness level (CV or strength) a better service by adopting a small deficit. Then, feel free to take maintenance breaks from that regimen.

    WIth so little to lose, and your goals, recomposition might even be a smarter strategy:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    . . . although that's even slower.

    But sure, do a more aggressive loss rate, and add some fasts in there. That will be better conversation-fodder, if nothing else.

    It seems like your goals are from one playbook, and your methods from another.

    Even as a li'l ol' lady, and a moderately athletic one, at your exact same BMI (21.9), I wouldn't think of eating as low as 1500 for 5 weeks. For me, it would be counterproductive to both my health and fitness goals. And, on average, a woman at BMI 21.9 is likely to be less near emaciated than a younger man at 21.9, though I don't know you.

    Your life, your body, of course. 🤷‍♀️
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,393 Member
    Auntie @AnnPT77 is not firing on all cylinders today.

    Come on, I was counting on you to do better, because I admit to having a headache, and being unable to articulate things with my normal level of patience and understanding! :lol:

    You know the reaction you guys would have if I were to state that I am going to launch the newest, biggest, social influencer empire without any understanding of the 18 to 29 crowd, no comprehension of marketing, no funds, and no programming, or internet knowledge???

    ME --> Internet Empire
    ME --> Plan
    This means that ME don't get to Internet Empire!

    Now, if I had billions of dollars in VC capital, a well funded company worth billions of dollars, a team of programmers and marketers, possibly even some government backing and the support of Da Party, and a name that sounds like TIK TOK...

    ME --> plan --> Internet Empire
    SEE, there exist a path for ME to get to Internet Empire!

    I'm just saying that we need a better plan here and success will be had!

    <I'm off to take some aspirin or something!!!>
    <sorry>
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,393 Member
    edited April 2020
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    So you're BMI 21.9 and want to feel better about yourself, fast, amidst the COVID lockdown.
    Manipulating your weight cannot and will not make you feel better amongst the COVID lockdowns. I wish I could tell you WHAT would make you feel better. But all that I CAN tell you is that the answer does not involve losing weight given your mid point of healthy BMR starting level. About the only thing that you might be able to accomplish by losing weight aggressively is to trade worldwide problems for actual personal health problems-- just don't go there!
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    And in order to accomplish this, you are planning to lose weight aggressively for about 5 lbs and then continue losing weight in order to get fitter and increase your muscle mass that you lost while at school and unable to hit the gym.
    If you have excess fat available (which is iffy at your start point; but let's pretend that you do), then eating at maintenance, or losing at a rate even lower than 0.25lbs a week, would allow your existing muscles to show through more. But it would be very hard for even a young female to grow muscles while at a deficit. And the more aggressive the deficit the less actual muscle growth we would have.

    Maintenance level eating is what would give you your best chance to build muscle and what would allow you to train most effectively!
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    **Hold on: missed this the first time: you are also adding a 24 hour water fast every 2 weeks
    Well, we already discussed larger deficits, and this one is as large of a deficit as you can apply. So... counterproductive.
    Now. Some people say that a 24 hour water fast confers great feelings, clarity of thought. This that or the other. Well... so do drugs. You don't see me going around suggesting you should take drugs, do you? Just because it FEELS good... it doesn't mean that it IS good.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Fair summary of the current starting point, goals, and plan of action?

    improving your current fitness level and abilities at maintenance (i.e. retaining the same weight level) is probably a valid method to improving your health

    Your other plans, as articulated, have a higher chance of decreasing rather than increasing your overall health. There exist side effects to applying deficits and even more so larger deficits and even more so to applying them on people within the normal weight range.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,722 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    imtrying3 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Why the aggressive rate?

    Another option would be to lose half a pound a week, longer term, and use a weight trending app to make sure it's happening (still gonna require a month or more to see, BTW). The plus is less worry about "metabolism", and it's good training for how to eat long-term to keep weight where you want it permanently.

    I've been working on doing that (or slower ;) ) since before Christmas, to lose a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, and am down about 8 pounds without really even noticing that I'm limiting eating.

    My thing is that I’m also trying to get a bit fitter (I lost a lot of muscle along with fat at college from not having time to hit the gym), so I just want to make sure that I’m not exhausting my body and mind.

    I was losing at an even slower rate than you and was happy with it, but I am anxious to get quickly back to where I was before COVID so I can feel good again:)

    You would do your fitness level (CV or strength) a better service by adopting a small deficit. Then, feel free to take maintenance breaks from that regimen.

    WIth so little to lose, and your goals, recomposition might even be a smarter strategy:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    . . . although that's even slower.

    But sure, do a more aggressive loss rate, and add some fasts in there. That will be better conversation-fodder, if nothing else.

    It seems like your goals are from one playbook, and your methods from another.

    Even as a li'l ol' lady, and a moderately athletic one, at your exact same BMI (21.9), I wouldn't think of eating as low as 1500 for 5 weeks. For me, it would be counterproductive to both my health and fitness goals. And, on average, a woman at BMI 21.9 is likely to be less near emaciated than a younger man at 21.9, though I don't know you.

    Your life, your body, of course. 🤷‍♀️

    Oops, OP female not male. I have a pretty good idea how thin a BMI 21.9 female is likely to be, within a range. A young one is still likely to be thinner (less body fat) than an old one, at BMI 21.9, but ya never know. Other points stand, I think. Also, as PAV observes, if female, gains muscle slower and with more difficulty than if male, so some other points strengthened.
  • imtrying3
    imtrying3 Posts: 28 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    So you're BMI 21.9 and want to feel better about yourself, fast, amidst the COVID lockdown.

    And in order to accomplish this, you are planning to lose weight aggressively for about 5 lbs and then continue losing weight in order to get fitter and increase your muscle mass that you lost while at school and unable to hit the gym.

    **Hold on: missed this the first time: you are also adding a 24 hour water fast every 2 weeks

    Fair summary of the current starting point, goals, and plan of action?

    I am not cutting calories in order to gain muscle mass (that's a contradiction). Right now the plan is to lose the quarantine pounds that I gained just from being thrown in a different environment (5 pounds, but trending down).


    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    imtrying3 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Why the aggressive rate?

    Another option would be to lose half a pound a week, longer term, and use a weight trending app to make sure it's happening (still gonna require a month or more to see, BTW). The plus is less worry about "metabolism", and it's good training for how to eat long-term to keep weight where you want it permanently.

    I've been working on doing that (or slower ;) ) since before Christmas, to lose a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, and am down about 8 pounds without really even noticing that I'm limiting eating.

    My thing is that I’m also trying to get a bit fitter (I lost a lot of muscle along with fat at college from not having time to hit the gym), so I just want to make sure that I’m not exhausting my body and mind.

    I was losing at an even slower rate than you and was happy with it, but I am anxious to get quickly back to where I was before COVID so I can feel good again:)

    You would do your fitness level (CV or strength) a better service by adopting a small deficit. Then, feel free to take maintenance breaks from that regimen.

    WIth so little to lose, and your goals, recomposition might even be a smarter strategy:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    . . . although that's even slower.

    But sure, do a more aggressive loss rate, and add some fasts in there. That will be better conversation-fodder, if nothing else.

    It seems like your goals are from one playbook, and your methods from another.

    Even as a li'l ol' lady, and a moderately athletic one, at your exact same BMI (21.9), I wouldn't think of eating as low as 1500 for 5 weeks. For me, it would be counterproductive to both my health and fitness goals. And, on average, a woman at BMI 21.9 is likely to be less near emaciated than a younger man at 21.9, though I don't know you.

    Your life, your body, of course. 🤷‍♀️

    I definitely agree that cutting too much hurts performance. If I find that I am too exhausted on this plan, I will increase my calories, most likely. So far, it seems to be working out because I have so little activity outside my workouts. Normally it would be far too low.

    I don't think eating anything lower than 1500 is generally a good idea from a nutritional standpoint, but my BMR (no activity) is lower than that. Thus I have to incorporate some type of activity to lose any weight, unfortunately. I can get myself up to 2000 on apple watch easily by working out for 45 minutes and by walking around the house all day. And waking up at a reasonable hour 🙈
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Auntie @AnnPT77 is not firing on all cylinders today.

    Come on, I was counting on you to do better, because I admit to having a headache, and being unable to articulate things with my normal level of patience and understanding! :lol:

    You know the reaction you guys would have if I were to state that I am going to launch the newest, biggest, social influencer empire without any understanding of the 18 to 29 crowd, no comprehension of marketing, no funds, and no programming, or internet knowledge???

    ME --> Internet Empire
    ME --> Plan
    This means that ME don't get to Internet Empire!

    Now, if I had billions of dollars in VC capital, a well funded company worth billions of dollars, a team of programmers and marketers, possibly even some government backing and the support of Da Party, and a name that sounds like TIK TOK...

    ME --> plan --> Internet Empire
    SEE, there exist a path for ME to get to Internet Empire!

    I'm just saying that we need a better plan here and success will be had!

    <I'm off to take some aspirin or something!!!>
    <sorry>

    I am proud to say that I am not a tik tok user.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    So you're BMI 21.9 and want to feel better about yourself, fast, amidst the COVID lockdown.
    Manipulating your weight cannot and will not make you feel better amongst the COVID lockdowns. I wish I could tell you WHAT would make you feel better. But all that I CAN tell you is that the answer does not involve losing weight given your mid point of healthy BMR starting level. About the only thing that you might be able to accomplish by losing weight aggressively is to trade worldwide problems for actual personal health problems-- just don't go there!
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    And in order to accomplish this, you are planning to lose weight aggressively for about 5 lbs and then continue losing weight in order to get fitter and increase your muscle mass that you lost while at school and unable to hit the gym.
    If you have excess fat available (which is iffy at your start point; but let's pretend that you do), then eating at maintenance, or losing at a rate even lower than 0.25lbs a week, would allow your existing muscles to show through more. But it would be very hard for even a young female to grow muscles while at a deficit. And the more aggressive the deficit the less actual muscle growth we would have.

    Maintenance level eating is what would give you your best chance to build muscle and what would allow you to train most effectively!
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    **Hold on: missed this the first time: you are also adding a 24 hour water fast every 2 weeks
    Well, we already discussed larger deficits, and this one is as large of a deficit as you can apply. So... counterproductive.
    Now. Some people say that a 24 hour water fast confers great feelings, clarity of thought. This that or the other. Well... so do drugs. You don't see me going around suggesting you should take drugs, do you? Just because it FEELS good... it doesn't mean that it IS good.
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Fair summary of the current starting point, goals, and plan of action?

    improving your current fitness level and abilities at maintenance (i.e. retaining the same weight level) is probably a valid method to improving your health

    Your other plans, as articulated, have a higher chance of decreasing rather than increasing your overall health. There exist side effects to applying deficits and even more so larger deficits and even more so to applying them on people within the normal weight range.

    During this 5 week initial sprint I want to engage my muscles through resistance training for the purpose of strength maintenance. I plan to follow with a recomp (more like .25 - .5 a week).

    I don't find that fasts give me mental clarity. But I do find great... digestive clarity haha. This would be purely for reasons of energy deficit.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    imtrying3 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Why the aggressive rate?

    Another option would be to lose half a pound a week, longer term, and use a weight trending app to make sure it's happening (still gonna require a month or more to see, BTW). The plus is less worry about "metabolism", and it's good training for how to eat long-term to keep weight where you want it permanently.

    I've been working on doing that (or slower ;) ) since before Christmas, to lose a few vanity pounds in year 4+ of maintenance, and am down about 8 pounds without really even noticing that I'm limiting eating.

    My thing is that I’m also trying to get a bit fitter (I lost a lot of muscle along with fat at college from not having time to hit the gym), so I just want to make sure that I’m not exhausting my body and mind.

    I was losing at an even slower rate than you and was happy with it, but I am anxious to get quickly back to where I was before COVID so I can feel good again:)

    You would do your fitness level (CV or strength) a better service by adopting a small deficit. Then, feel free to take maintenance breaks from that regimen.

    WIth so little to lose, and your goals, recomposition might even be a smarter strategy:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    . . . although that's even slower.

    But sure, do a more aggressive loss rate, and add some fasts in there. That will be better conversation-fodder, if nothing else.

    It seems like your goals are from one playbook, and your methods from another.

    Even as a li'l ol' lady, and a moderately athletic one, at your exact same BMI (21.9), I wouldn't think of eating as low as 1500 for 5 weeks. For me, it would be counterproductive to both my health and fitness goals. And, on average, a woman at BMI 21.9 is likely to be less near emaciated than a younger man at 21.9, though I don't know you.

    Your life, your body, of course. 🤷‍♀️

    Oops, OP female not male. I have a pretty good idea how thin a BMI 21.9 female is likely to be, within a range. A young one is still likely to be thinner (less body fat) than an old one, at BMI 21.9, but ya never know. Other points stand, I think. Also, as PAV observes, if female, gains muscle slower and with more difficulty than if male, so some other points strengthened.

    Maybe I am pretty thin by American standards. But I also have nice MadeWell jeans that I would like to fit comfortably in! And get some definition back to my face! Nothing wrong with that.
  • imtrying3
    imtrying3 Posts: 28 Member
    Also, I'm not trying to use weight loss to somehow fix the chaos that is everyone's life in April 2020. I simply want to feel good about my body and not pop out of my jeans! But again, I am looking for suggestions. I don't want to be talked down to...