[m3k]

Last Monday, as I was going on day 5 or so of my new found plateau, I decided that enough was enough. I wasn't going to count my points.

I'm a pretty conscious eater, but that night I pigged out on shrimp. I then decided that heck, I was going to take the whole week off. Why not? Didn't I deserve it? I've lost a whole bunch of weight!

I was a little apprehensive about throwing my diet overboard for a whole week, but I did it anyway.

To my surprise, I did not gain a pound. Didn't lose either. Just stayed right the same. However, my eating totally reset, and I feel like I'm back to square one. I understand how to make the choices, but my stomach thinks otherwise.

I noticed that despite being able to eat 'as much as I wanted' I really didn't consume all that much food. I had some dessert, ate an appetizer or two, but really mostly stuck to things that were on the healthier side. I had the appetite for good food.

It all proved to be quite an interesting experiment, particularly to get an idea of what I'm going to have to do in maintenance.

Today is the beginning of my WW diet again after a very pleasant week off. I'm hoping it shows significant losses!

Has anyone else tried to break a plateau by this method? Do you give yourself rewards after so many months of weight loss?

I'd be interested to hear your stories!

[Vex]

I used to have more breaks when I first started losing weight, believe it or not. I'd usually have at least one day off for pizza. I think during the first few months it helped, but now doesn't really help much at all. In fact, it makes me hungrier and makes the "break" last longer.

I think for me then, a food reward or day off is great at the time, but leads to yet another week of no weight loss. Although, like you, it's a good sign for maintenance that I don't really gain on off weeks as I don't eat 3000 calories a day anymore. I'm to the point though where breaks need to be maybe 1 day a month anymore to continue losing.

I don't think feeling as if "I deserve it after this long" is good for me, although I think that for sure from time to time. The problem so many times, is that we say, "we deserve it" for just one meal, then one day, then the next few weeks....etc.