ok maybe this is a stupid one, but is there any benefits to taking a week off while cutting, just to maybe reintroduce some carbs or more cal’s than your body has been use to. i’ve been cutting for around 8 months now and dropped around 50lbs, my weight loss has stalled, so my question is would taking a week off of dieting and eating more, then go back into cutting have any benefits for me? im obviously taking about upping my cal’s by clean eating, not pizza and beer. any suggestions are appreciated.
Ian King and many others suggest 1 week off every 6 weeks or so…
I’ve done pretty much what you’ve said and found no problems cutting. As long as you’re willing to put up with a slightly slower progress since you’ll not be losing weight as rapidly during that week.
You should do a search here for the terms “refeed” and “overfeed”. Also, before you do that, search for Joel Marion’s “Cheater’s Diet” article in the T-mag archives. Then you’ll have a much better idea about how to go about things.
A week off is a nice idea, and if you’re having someone like Ian King supervise your training it’s probably very effective. But for a lot of people, especially former fatties, a week off turns into two, then three, then…
Much better to have a little more of a scientific approach to things, IMHO.
Are you talking about a week off your diet, or a week off your training? Or both?
If the former, it’s a great idea. Metabolic slowdown, to some degree, is almost inevitable on a diet. Refeeds and cheat days are all fine and dandy, but a week off is a much better approach … if you can afford the time. Actually, you can get around that time issue, assuming you have a deadline, by just starting your diet earlier.
Many people will notice they’ll actually fill out and lose a bit of fat on that week off. If they don’t, then they’ll definitely notice a kick start to their progress once they resume dieting.
It’s not the time to go crazy for a week though. If you are going to do it, do as you say, and just eat more overall calories and more carbs. At least return to maintenance of 10% above maintenance for the week.
For you I’d say there’s definitely merit to it. Do it right and you’ll get the results that thunder stated…either a drop in bodyfat during the week or a big increase in fat burning once you go back on your diet. The hardest thing to do is make it controlled. Eating normal again, even for just a day or 2, can send your appetite through the roof and make it easy to ditch training and instead fill up on a bunch of junk food. To avoid this try to maintain some semblance of a schedule in regards to your diet and training.