Dieting sucks.

Fortunately,
there might be a savior of such pain and suffering.And that is the use of… diet
breaks.It might seem counter-intuitive initially,because it is true that if you
want to lose weight, you have to take in less energy, or calories, over time,
than your body expends.
Adding a
break, on paper, means that it will only stall your results or worse yet,
gain some of the weight back.Incidentally, that belief is exactly how the idea of
diet breaks being a potential weight loss tool came to fruition.
In 2003,
researchers attempted to accelerate the effects commonly seen when people
fall off their diets, particularly the negative effects of weight gain relapse.To
their surprise, participants that were prescribed breaks during a weight loss
program,either multiple 2-week breaks or a 6-week break, didn’t really gain much
weight at all and had very little problem jumping back into their diet.
At 5 and
11-month follow-ups, weight loss did not differ much between the
continuous dieting group to those prescribed breaks.According to the researchers,
it’s seems that the PLANNING of the break, rather than the break per se, was a
major factor.More on this in a second.The physiological mechanisms in play
during breaks remain to be determined, with leading theories suggesting breaks
repair hormonal imbalances, particularly leptin, which controls our hunger
signals, and thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism.One might also suggest
a diet break increases NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This assumes
that during long periods of dieting,one might subconsciously be less willing
or lack energy to perform mundane activities, like dancing to their favorite song
or going on a walk.
The
additional fuel from breaks potentially reverses that decline.Psychological
benefits might exist as well. Back to the idea of planning, the
researchers theorized that planned breaks essentially removed the feeling of
self-blame or guilt stemming from one’s personal failures of adhering to a
diet.Since it’s planned, it can lead to a positive feeling rather than a
negative.Of course, there is the benefit of eating the foods you desire earlier
than anticipated.
Later
on, in 2014, a study on obese women using a 1-week on, 1-week off diet to
break schedule, found that, after 8 weeks, continuous dieting did lead to greater
weight loss (3.5kgvs 1.9kg IER), but, in a 12-month follow-up,the differences
were not significant.
A 2016
meta-analysis further looked at 9 studies partaking experiments on intermittent
energy restriction protocols, concluded that neither intermittent breaks nor
continuous energy restriction were superior to one another interms of weight
loss.But it was only in 2018 that we had research suggesting superior benefits
with prescribed breaks.The study was titled “Minimizing Adaptive Thermogenesis
And Deactivating Obesity Rebound,”aka, the MATADOR study.
They
randomized obese men to either a continuous dieting group sustaining a 33%
calorie deficit through 16 weeks, or the intermittent energy restriction group,
which also sustained a33% calorie deficit through 16 weeks but with a planned
2-week break every 2 weeks.

That’s
because the researchers wanted to match the duration of energy restriction, 16
weeks in both groups. The 2-week breaks in between cannot be accountedas part of
that restriction, since they clearly weren’t restricting calories during
those times.
Thus,
the additional 14 weeks of breaks.This longer dieting time might be less
desirable for those that need to lose weight in a short time frame. The MATADOR
study also prescribed participants to eat at an energy balance, or just enough to
not gain or lose any weight, during their breaks, meaning to replicate the
potential benefits in the study, you can’t just eat whatever and however much you
want during break time.
Also,
studies that either saw superior or equal results typically used obese
subjects.Whether breaks are as effective in leaner individuals remain to be
seen. And one more limitation is the lack of consistent,or any, exercise
protocol in these studies. As we know, exercise can very well change the entire
landscape of body composition when paired with an effective weight loss program.
Still, a
benefit does seem to exist, both physiologically and psychologically. As far as
implementation, going off the MATADOR study, a 2-week on, 2-week off program
might be a good place to start. One can argue that leaner individuals
might benefit from more frequent breaks due to the greater physiological push back
at lower body fat percentages.Heavier individuals might use breaks less,like a
4:2 or 6:2 ratio, since they tend to see consistent weight loss for longer
periods of time.
Not much
reason to throw in a break when results are flowing quite nicely. The main
take away is that diet breaks do at least serve as an alternative.
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