Diet Break

I have a pattern with dieting and exercise.  The bad news is this pattern is responsible for me carrying an extra 25-35 lbs around for the past 5 years. The good news is I recognize the pattern (acknowledging the problem exists is half the battle) and I am putting things into place to change it.

I think I have gotten there with exercise...weightlifting is awesome.  NROLW (New Rules of Lifting for Women) is super awesome.  The first phase is kind of boring (8 weeks of the same, very simple workout makes me slightly batty - which is why I cut 2 weeks off this stage).  But all the other stages are 4 weeks, which is PERFECT for my easily bored, exercise ADD self.  Increasing weight is insanely encouraging for me and makes me want o do the workouts. I meet with the trainer every other week, which gives me my much needed accountability (this has to come from an external source-I suck at being accountable to me).  The trainer thing has been good on so many levels - he encourages me to increase weight ( I wouldn't do this on my own), he helps me push through those last reps where it gets really hard and my brain is telling me to stop, and I work harder in my just me workouts because I know I will have to give an update the next week. It is expensive, but as I previously discussed - If we can spend $350+ on cell phones, cable and internet, then I can spend money on getting healthy and getting the body I want!

The diet part is a little more tricky.  I know myself well enough to know that doing anything restrictive is a recipe for failure (hence the only diets I have ever done are WW and CalorieKing where I can eat whatever I want as long as I count the points/calories for it).  The hard part for me isn't really the eating less...it is the tracking.  But I also know that I MUST track during my fat loss phase.  I am actually pretty good about maintenance (except in the winter - I really underestimate how much less I move when it's cold outside), but to lose requires me to see the numbers.  So the problem..I get tired of tracking.  I can be super gung ho and disciplined for about 2 months and then I fall of the tracking wagon.

I have been reading about planned diet breaks. Some studies have shown that if people implement a planned diet break (1-2 weeks) they have better long term results. It can also help with the dreaded plateau. The thought is it works because it gives you something to look forward to in those lower calorie weeks and that having a plan break makes it easier to get back on track after the break.  It also helps combat the adjustment that your body makes when it gets use to the same level of calories and activity. There are a couple of things to keep in mind to make a diet break successful 1.) Plan the break - have a set start date and end date and stick to it. 2.)Try to eat at a maintenance level.  This means don't use the break to eat everything in the pantry. 3.) If you have a lot of weight to lose, plan several breaks over the course of your fat loss journey.

So my diet break extends to not only upping the calories a bit, but also not tracking. My time period for break is one week. The current break ends on Sunday, April 29th.  My next break will begin on Friday June 22nd and end on June 29th.  Hopefully these breaks will help me continue tracking for the long haul.  I think it might actually work I took an impromptu break at the end of February and was able to get back on track after that so it shouldn't hurt!