Do you stick to a diet during the week only to blow it on the weekends?

Do you go a few of weeks on a diet and lose some weight only to go off and gain it all back??

Does it get harder and harder each time with less results??

Just like exercise, compositional goals should be done on a cycle.

You can’t stay in a caloric deficit forever, your metabolism will adapt & slow down. This also happens in the case of “yo-yo dieting”, and what I like to call weekday warriors. When you’re in a deficit for the majority of the time (during the week) then blow your weekly deficit over the weekend, you’re body will still down regulate to adjust to what you’re doing the majority of the time. The irony of it all is that it just makes it harder to lose weight, and creates a need for lower calories…vicious cycle.

You technically could stay in a building phase forever, but for most people – it’s hard to eat the amount of food required, plus abs…right?

You can absolutely stay at maintenance forever, but at the very least it should be used as a “diet break” to avoid a greater Dow regulation of the metabolism and to help maintain muscle mass during dieting.

That being said, most people have compositional goals and will be cycling through at least one or two of these phases.

The absolute max time suggested to spend in a deficit is 16-20 weeks, and there will definitely be some metabolic repercussions to that.

There’s actually been some studies that suggest a greater deficit for shorter periods is more effective at reducing metabolic damage however, it’s very difficult for people to do.

A moderate deficit with properly timed periodization of breaks has been shown to be the most sustainable/ effective for metabolic health.

Keep in mind, this is a general guide – some people may need a diet break after 4-5 weeks depending on other stressors.

Some people may not actually be seeing that much change on the scale but are seeing compositional/strength changes, some people may only do one cut cycle and reach their goal weight.

Are you periodizing your diet? What do your phases look like??