I’m now into my 9th week of dieting and have just completed a 3 week diet break…
WEEK 1 – 64kg
WEEK 2 – 62.9kg (-1.1kg)
WEEK 3 – 61.8kg (-1.1kg)
WEEK 4 – 61.3kg (-0.5kg)
WEEK 5 – 61.2kg (-0.1kg)
WEEK 6 – 61.2kg (0kg loss)
Total 6 week loss = -2.8kg (-6.1lbs)
WEEK 7 DIET BREAK – 61.2kg (okg gain)
WEEK 8 DIET BREAK – 61.2kg (0kg gain)
WEEK 9 DIET BREAK – 62kg (0.8kg gain)
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Why Did I Implement a Diet Break?
6 weeks into my calorie deficit of 1740kcals, I (predictably) stalled.
Everybody is different, but for me personally, I tend to find that I can only lose weight on a certain amount of calories for so long before I inevitably stall, and I inevitably have to dig deeper into my deficit.
The longer I diet, the deeper I have to dig.
This can be done by decreasing calories IN (food), or increasing calories OUT (expenditure).
However, given our current situation, it really made no sense for me to dig deeper into my deficit when I didn’t know when or what the end goal was.
So I implemented a diet break instead…
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What Is a Diet Break?
A diet break is a structured increase in calories (usually via carbohydrates) that is implemented for one (or all) of the following reasons:
- The diet is long term and the dieter may need some respite in order to continue to adhere
- The diet is long term and will likely cause a down regulation in hormonal and metabolic function
- The diet is long term and is likely to see a loss in muscle mass
- The diet is long term and is likely to impact both performance and recovery
Diet breaks typically range anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the length of the fat loss phase and how the client responds.
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So How Did I Respond?
Well, I increased my kcals from 1740kcals to 1980kcals via 60g carbohydrates and in 3 weeks I have gained 0.8kg (1.7lbs), which isn’t particularly surprising given the increase in food and glycogen.
In all honesty, I was considering pulling the plug on my fat loss phase altogether, until I heard rumblings of 2 late August reshoots, and then the fire was LIT.
So, WEEK 10 will see me re-enter my deficit of 1740kcals…
I may start losing again, I may not.
If I don’t, I am now happy to start digging…
13 weeks to go, and I’m finally ready!
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If you would like to see the types of bodyweight workouts I do at home (while you may not be able to grow the muscle, you can certainly keep hold of what you do have), and I how I instruct a fat loss diet (both meal plans for non trackers AND calorie and macro instructions for trackers), have a read of
The STAY AT HOME 12 Week Body Transformation Plan
description page, and see if the download is right for you.
