DIET BREAKS WHEN DIETING

DIET BREAKS WHEN DIETING⭕️⁣
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The concept of ‘Diet Breaks’ was popularized by Lyle McDonald in his book “A Guide to Flexible Dieting”, and in the last few years we’ve finally been able to have some more research on the matter. ⁣
Have you ever taken a break from dieting with the purpose of dieting “better” for longer, later ? Sounds counter intuitive, but it’s exactly how they work. ⁣
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And no, I’m not saying cheat days or days where you simply stop staying on track because you “don’t feel like it”. I’m actually talking about diet breaks, which seemingly serve a purpose (theoretically, but also practically, in some ways!) to the progress you’re making, setting you in a “better spot” to continue dieting, despite starting from a lower bodyfat %. ⁣
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Diet Breaks are basically short periods of time (10-14 days) spent at an estimated maintenance, where calories are brought up by increasing carbohydrate intake to reduce hunger, increase metabolism and increase energy expenditure… and even regain some lost strength.⁣
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However, with newer research, we know that Diet Breaks don’t seem to be enough to off-set metabolic adaptations which occur as a result, agreeing with previous research by J.Peos et al. (2021).

However, they still have important benefits! In fact…

In a new paper (on resistance-trained females), by Siedler et al. 2023, Diet Breaks showed to improve dietary adherence by reducing the impact of prolonged energy restriction on measures of disinhibition, potentially helping to promote increased long- term dietary adherence.

While these may seem like ‘not-so-relevant-conclusions’ at first glance, we have to remember that the best way to diet long term is to… make dieting feel easier to stick to!

For this reason, Diet Breaks remain a valid strategy—to keep in your toolbox— to maximize the results of your diet, and improve the likelihood to adhere to it.