Why You Should Schedule Periodic Diet Breaks (and How To)
When weight loss seems to be slowing down or you start to feel burnout, try taking a break from your diet. It sounds counterintuitive, but perhaps this is exactly what your body and mind need to see progress again. This is how it works.
Taking a break can offer some sort of “system update” if you’ve been dieting consistently for a couple of months in a row. A diet break is exactly what it sounds like: stop thinking about the food you eat, stop tracking (if you have), and stop thinking about calories or how many grams of carbs something contains. This is a tricky concept at first, but there are two good reasons to try it:
- Your body needs it, simple and straightforward. Maybe you see very little progress in your body scale or measurements, despite your honest efforts. Maybe you feel like you lack energy and motivation, and your gym performance and mood have worsened as well. Even if you overcome these unpleasant sensations, you will inevitably have to continue eating less and less in order to keep up with the adaptive metabolism and disrupted hormones. There comes a point when you can’t (or shouldn’t ) eat less food every day.
- More importantly, this break frees your mind from the grueling diet process. Think about it: you keep track of your food, decide what to buy in the store, cook and cook, and usually just think a lot about your food choices. Add it up for months and your brain will turn into mush.
Andy Morgan, Ripped Body Trainer, advises when you have a “break,” just eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Eat mindfully and maintain it for two weeks. Do not count or track (otherwise the target will be violated), but do not eat like a jerk . Remember, a diet break is not a card to get out of jail for binge eating.
He also suggests sticking to your normal meal times, continuing to exercise only if you want to, and preparing for some weight gain – mostly from water.
“It’s not about psychological resilience. “Taking breaks is one of the best steps you can take for long-term diet success,” notes Andy. What’s more, if you plan ahead for your diet breaks, you will feel less frustrated, less likely to burn out, and be able to continue to see truly desired progress in the future. More details can be found in Andy’s article below.
Need to take a break from your diet? | Torn body
Stephanie Lee is a freelance health and fitness writer. You can follow her shenanigans on Twitter or on her YouTube channel .