How long should one be on a calorie deficit?

[calcium]

Basically how long should one be on a calorie deficit to lose body fat before they take a break? I'm thinking more along the lines of the average joe rather than someone who is obese.

When I say break I don't mean a cheat meal. We are assuming those are strategically placed in the diet. When I say break I mean a period of time where you eat at maintance before going back to losing fat again.

Please explain your choice. Also, how long should the eating at maintance calories last?


~Nicole

P.S. I hope I'm not being confusing. I'm tired and can't sleep

 

[calcium]

In my very limited experience I'm thinking 3 months is the max amount of time for eating at below calorie maintance. This may be too long though which is why I'm trying to do research on it. I'm thinking two weeks of eating at maintance calories would be a long enough break.

~Nicole

 

[theleip]

Every 10-12 weeks you should take a break from being in a caloric deficit no matter how much fat you have to lose. Break periods in both caloric deficit and workout routine should be set up properly to ensure maximal results and least negative reaction from hormones and overall body conditioning and stress.

So I picked 3 months.

 

[Streamline]

I voted for 'Never. Cut til desired leaness'.....but after reading your post i'm gonna agree with leip.

 

[calcium]

Hahaha, now everyone is going to vote for 3 months.

How long do you think the break should be theleip? It was kindof a two-part question but there wasn't a way to make 2 polls

~Nicole

 

[Karky]

yeah i was just about to ask the same question Nicole. I mean, one day certainly wont be enough to "reset" the negative effects that starts happening to your body. Im guessing something around a week, but ill let Leip give the qualified response on that one.

 

[calcium]

yeah i was just about to ask the same question Nicole. I mean, one day certainly wont be enough to "reset" the negative effects that starts happening to your body. Im guessing something around a week, but ill let Leip give the qualified response on that one.

Like I said in my previous post I was thinking 2 weeks. A week just seems too short to get your body thinking everything is cool again. But I don't know It would be nice if a week is long enough.

~Nicole

 

[dswithers]

I would continue the caloric deficit until you reach a plateau (that is you stop loosing weight or body fat) or some other negative effect is noticed (your strength drops, you become lethargic or tired all the time, etc.). Then at least 2 weeks on maintenance. Or perhaps increase calories by 100/day each week until you start to gain bady fat.

 

[Karky]

Like I said in my previous post I was thinking 2 weeks. A week just seems too short to get your body thinking everything is cool again. But I don't know It would be nice if a week is long enough.

~Nicole

yeah could be, i really dont know Though you dont have to bulk for 2 weeks, could just stay slightly above maintence.

 

[USFbull22]

i have been on a cut since last july, is that to long? ive lost almost 80lbs... would it be beneficial to eat at maintenance for a week then go back to a cut? i still have a conciderable amount of fat on my stomach/love handles.

 

[theleip]

If you take good planned breaks every 10-12 weeks you really only need to eat at maintenance for about 7-10 days or so and then hop back in a deficit.

If it have been a really long time since a break, well it changes depending really. The reason to take the breaks like this is to avoid any problems.

If people would just understand that proper planning and timing of not only a deficit but breaks as well will keep steading loss occurring you would hardly ever hit any plateaus and overall lose at a much faster and healthier rate.