How long should I be in a deficit?

Or alternatively once you reach your goal weight eat to recomp or at maintenance. Whatever you prefer. The point of a deficit is to lose weight so you stay in a deficit until you reach it or you can take a break and eat at maintenance if you need to.

We are both a similar distance from our goal (5kg/11lbs) and I posted about this in the week. I've increased my calorie intake this week on the advice of someone on here (i.e. decreased my weekly weight loss goal -now set to 0.25kg/week). I am already struggling with eating the extra calories so I think personally, eating maintenance would be too stressful for me

On looking at the above thread though it looks like it's something I should consider once I get comfy with eating a bit more. I literally don't know what to eat any more. I might have to lay off some of the exercise.....

xxzenabxx wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

Have you seen this thread? It is very helpful especially as you get leaner and closer to goal
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

You can take a diet break (1-2 weeks at maintenance) whenever you feel like taking one, especially when you start to feel fatigue or run down. Ideally before it gets to that.

Also, as you get leaner the more frequent diet breaks you should take. Higher bodyfat you can go 12-16 weeks or so. As you get leaner 8-12 weeks (which is what I followed during my last 15lb cut).

I found diet breaks so helpful so I would highly recommend them and would not skip them especially if you plan on getting fairly lean.

Thanks! I’ve been in a deficit for 4 weeks now so I’ll give it another 4 weeks depending on how I feel. I already feel abit tired tbh but my sleep isn’t the best. I have pcos/hormonal imbalances so it makes me more tired too. 😓

Yea in that case definitely can't hurt to take a break sooner than later. And people worry that taking a break they will delay progress, but I found, at least for me, I was able to get that extra push once I was in a deficit again. My energy going in was better, workouts were better, body composition even. And I was able to get to the finish line with ease and looked and felt better. I've done it both ways (with and without diet breaks).. they were a game changer for me.

xxzenabxx wrote: »

So since I’m down to the last 15ish lbs I was wondering how long I should be in a deficit until I take a diet break. Any advice would be appreciated!

Listen to the Half Size Me podcast. The host constantly talks about maintenance breaks and why they are important to make the transition to maintenance easier. She's all about learning about maintenance while you lose. It's really good. It will answer all your questions. I listen to it while I walk and drive.

jacqQ2017 wrote: »

xxzenabxx wrote: »

Yeah it can be hard going into maintenance but my body thrives in maintenance! My energy is up and I feel amazing! My workouts improve and I recover quickly too. Being in a deficit sucks 😔

Ah that's good to hear, I feel encouraged! I am so worried that I'll calculate maintenance wrong and pile on all the weight again! Do you initially gain when you start maintenance?

It's not uncommon to see a small (few pound) scale jump if you increase calories by quite a bit suddenly. It's not fat: It's primarily water, and increased average digestive system contents in transit.

Increased calories typically means increased protein, fats, carbs, fiber, sodium - right? Each gram of carbs requires about 3g of water while it's being metabolized, so that can show up on the scale when carb levels increase (that would happen even if at constant calories, just more carbs). Basically the same for sodium increase, because more water may be tied up to help in electrolyte balance.

I assume the digestive contents side of it is obvious: An apple in one hand and a big glass of water in the other weighs the same when I stand on my bodyweight scale as I'll weigh if I eat/drink them, and stand there still holding the empty glass. More calories means more volume in transit, on average.

Neither of those things is fat, so really not worth worrying about.

The problem comes in when people go to maintenance calories (say, +500 calories daily), see that scale jump 3 pounds (say) overnight, and think "Oh, no: I've wrecked my metabolism! I can't eat more, or I'll gain weight!! My metabolism is wrecked!!!".

If you increase calories to actual maintenance, you may see that water/digestive-contents jump. But fast scale increases aren't really how fat regain usually happens. Big(ish) sudden changes on the scale are nearly always water weight and/or digestive contents. Fat regain - unless we start suddenly eating massively more calories, like thousands extra daily, above maintenance - is usually just that gradual, upward creep of the scale, quite slowly.