I'm heading out for a girls' weekend in a little bit and am probably going to take a small break from CC. While I plan to make reasonable choices, I find that trying to "guesstimate" calories when every meal is eaten out just kind of detracts from what I'm there to do...have fun and enjoy my girls!

My biggest break from CC was when I had to take a week off to go to Texas after my aunt's passing. I still ended up losing a pound, so I think it's good practice for maintenance and getting used to eating more intuitively, at least for short periods of time such as vacations, etc.

Though CC will probably always be a part of my life, I think there are times when I have to allow myself a little "wiggle room" and just live

How about you guys? Anyone else ever take little breaks here and there?

I think your logic is good. I've kinda done that this week just because I've been feeling a little restricted lately and it's been making me really anxious and craving food more than usual. So instead of zig zagging this week I capped my cals, but told myself I could eat what I wanted only if I was hungry. I ended going under my cals most of the days and over only be like 10 cals a couple days. So I instinctively made good choices. This weekend I'm going to take it a step further and do the same thing but not count. But Monday I'm getting back on the horse. I just feel like I need a small mental break, but not permission to go crazy just a break. Like you said to "practice" maintenance. While I think I'll continue to calorie count for quite a while I want to know that should I tire of it I can still maintain without it.

Traveling is an odd case because it is so hard to cc, so I think that makes sense: the cost is more likely to be a stall in weight loss than an actual weight gain (beyond water).

However, I think if a person is needing a "break" in their day-to-day life, it's a bit of a red flag. It suggests that their day-to-day life is no longer sustainable. This is normal: we change, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and often what was sustainable for a long time no longer is.

When this happens, I think the key is to change your plan, not to take a break from it. All to often, we think "I was able to do this before, I should be able to do it now. I just need to suck it up and be tougher". That's when we start thinking a little break will help--it will give us the reserve of willpower we need to stay on plan. But a good plan doesn't need a lot of willpower, and if you need one break to save up willpower, IME you will need the next break sooner and the next one even sooner and after a bit you are on a break all the time. I've done this, personally, a dozen times.

I think that a craving--not just idle thoughts of one, but a craving--for a break is a strong sign that one should reconsider the "regular" plan and quite possibly make radical changes--review all your personal rules. The plan always needs to change to fit the person--it's much harder to change the person to fit the plan.

This is a personal issue of course, and your results may vary, but I do not want to cause a self induced plateau. I have been on many trips, exciting outings, spanning 1-2 weeks or sometimes a weekend. Last month it was CA in Carmel & Monterrey. This month it was FL, Disney, dear friends, Shuttle, etc..

I use my same good habits of planning my meals and I kept up my nice steady loss throughout these times. Challenging, yes, overwhelming no, unbelievably freeing. Do I plan on winging it, not if I want to lose weight in the best way possible. These times included an Asian Buffet and Key Lime pie, notoriously high CC places. I planned for it.

We are all free to chose what we put in our mouths.

When my bf and I went to Tennessee last month, I had this glorious plan mapped out to stay on plan but once we were on the road, my plan went out the window lol. I had a wonderful time, even eating the things I normally wouldn't. I gained 9 pounds while gone but it was gone within a week or so of being back home because it was mostly water weight from all the lovely, salty, fried foods I had once had as staples in my diet lol Have a great time!!

I think you have to look at your lifestyle, though. I hardly ever travel. It's really not worth the time and research and planning to figure out good traveling eating habits when I spend MAYBE five nights a year away from home. Winging it--making sensible choices and avoiding triggers-- is really not going to affect anything. If you travel on business 3 weeks out of four, you obviously have to have a solid, well thought out and sustainable plan.

LOL, your trip sounds like my life for the last three months. I would wake up and plan my day then end up throwing it all out the window by the evening. Oh well, ive also gained about 9lbs but 5 of that is already gone and this is my 3rd day back tracking. Guess i didn't do all that bad afterall. Even if i did gain a few lbs it will only take me a few weeks to get rid of it,LOL. It was a nice break for me.

Hehe It is great when we don't let those times hold us down and keep us from going for our goals

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I like throwing these kinds of questions out there because I think it's interesting how we all look at things differently, even though we are all basically doing the same thing (burning more calories than we eat.) It's just cool how we can all find different paths to success.

Shmead, I totally know what you're saying. I have a friend who has lost a good amount of weight on a plan a nutritionist put her on. It's very healthy, but very strict and requires a lot more planning than I find I'm doing with CC (i.e., she has to have so many protiens, carbs, etc. at certain times of day.) She is going through a stressful time and has taken a "break" for about a month. In her case, I would think that it might be wise for her to modify or change her plan rather than try to stick to something that's just not working for her anymore.

For me, my weekend break really wasn't about "needing a break"...had it been a "normal" weekend, I would have stayed OP as usual and been totally fine with it. This was just more about flexibility and enjoying the company I was with. Things like allowing myself an after dinner drink when normally I would pass. Or staying engaged during the lunch converstaion instead of twiddling with my phone trying to figure out how many caloires are in my turkey wrap.

It also wasn't about giving myself permission to go "hog wild." Did I eat/drink some things I normally wouldn't have? Sure. But as Karen said, it's a choice. I chose to be a little lax in exchange for what will probably be a smaller loss for Friday's weigh in...but I'm OK with that.

My plan definitely works for me because it's NOT about perfection. This is the longest I've EVER stuck to any kind of "diet" in my life, and the most weight I've ever lost at one time. Though I may eat off plan sometimes, I have absolutely no intention of going back to my old habits. While I certainly enjoy my planned "cheat" meals (or in this case, my cheat weekend!), I actually always look forward to going back OP when it's over. I've worked way too hard for this!