Deficit Break

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1/16/13 12:01 P

Excellent Article!! Thank You!

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1/16/13 10:28 A

The lingo is "diet break". You may find this article interesting.

www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-ful
l-diet-break.html

current weight: 5.0  over

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1/16/13 10:23 A

It seems fine to me. I thnk a lot of body builders on cut cycles do this. Maybe only for a day and not a whole week, but as long as you're staying at maintenance, I think it will be fine. If you're doing it while lifting heavy, I really, really don't see a problem with it. It might benefit your performance in lifting, although after only a week, I'm not sure how much. I know sometimes 're-sets" can jump start loss again as well. In the end, it's all a grand science experiment, and you'll just have to play around to see what works for you.

current weight: 127.2

165 152.5 140 127.5

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1/16/13 9:30 A

Next week will be my regularly scheduled hiatus from heavy weight lifting. I do this periodically, every 18 weeks or so to give my body/mind a break. I stay active that week with cardio, yoga, and other fun types of exercise, but I don't really push it with anything heavy or intense and I return to the gym feeling refreshed and re-energized. Kind of like a vacation from the office!

This has me wondering if anyone has tried a caloric deficit holiday for a week or so. I don't mean a cheat day, or getting off track over holidays/weekends/etc, but just eating your regular whole healthy menu just with larger portions to put your calories at maintenance instead of at a deficit. If you have, did it offer you any benefits? Increased energy? Better workout performance? Did you break a plateau? Increased mental focus on your goals?

I've been a successful maintainer for two years, and the fat I'm trying to drop now is mostly the result of an intentional, healthy bulk, although I want to get my bodyfat a bit below where it was before I started the bulking cycle. I'm not concerned at all about being able to get back on track after a deficit break.

I'm considering trying this after 12 weeks at my deficit level. This would not coincide with my lifting break, but would be about 6 weeks from now.