The trouble with dieting

You may not have heard of them, but diet breaks are a really cool way to make a weight loss phase easier.

Imagine you have a weight loss goal of 25kg. At a steady, sensible (but still fairly challenging) rate of 0.5kg per week, you’ve given yourself a year to get there.

How does it feel to picture yourself in a constant calorie deficit for 12 long months? To be permanently underfeeding yourself and to try to stay motivated to maintain that for a whole year?

It would make me not even want to start, it sounds so unfun.

Here’s where the diet breaks come in. 

How does a diet break work?

Diet breaks are planned periods of a couple of days or even a week when you eat at your maintenance calorie level. That means not being in a deficit, but rather eating the amount of food your body needs at that time to stay the same. 

Let’s say your calorie goal allows you 2000kcal/day to lose fat. That represents a 500kcal deficit, so you’d spend a week eating 2500kcal/day.

Won’t this mess up my weight loss progress?

Fascinatingly, no! Research has shown that the opposite is true. Taking a break every few weeks can help with weight loss because:

1. It reverses metabolic adaptations. This is when your body “fights back” against your weight loss and makes it harder for you to shed the pounds. A diet break reassures your system that you’re not starving, so it can let you crack on and jettison some fat stores.

2. It’s a great psychological boost. You’ll be less bored of your deficit and so more likely to stick at it long term.

3. You can time your diet break around special events like holidays or celebrations, meaning you still get to enjoy the fun stuff and stay on track.

Taking diet breaks might mean you extend your weight loss timeframe by a month or so. But if it’s the difference between keeping going or giving up after a few weeks, I reckon that’s worth it.

Is a diet break the same as a cheat day?

If I can go all Columbo for a moment, there is just one more thing…

A diet break isn’t a blow out.

It’s not a “cheat day”, where you have an out-of-control, smash the all-you-can-eat buffet opportunity. It’s not an excuse for a week-long binge that will make you feel awful. If you stick to maintenance level calories during the break, you won’t lose fat that week, but you won’t gain any either. However, if you spend the week face down in a trough of pizza and ice-cream, your weight will go up and it’ll set you back a bit (as well as give your self-esteem a battering).

So if you’re planning a fat loss phase, or you’re in one now and finding it a bit tough, plan to give yourself a few days off before you saddle up and jump back on the deficit pony.

And if you could use some specialist support with how to manage your weight loss phase, 1:1 coaching is right here to help. Find out how here.