The short answer
A diet break is a planned pause from your fat-loss deficit. Nikkiey Stott has women raise calories to estimated maintenance and cut cardio roughly in half, typically for one full week, to take stress off the body. Afterward, depending on how you respond, you set calories halfway between your break and previous macros.
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Nikkiey on exactly how to set calories and cut cardio for a one-week diet break
Plays from 15:42 · Video: What Is a Diet Break? How to Use One to Break a Plateau
How to use the calculator for a diet break and find the halfway point afterward
Plays from 16:39 · Video: What Is a Diet Break and When Do Women Over 40 Need One?
The hunger and macro signs that tell Nikkiey you need a diet break
Plays from 13:18 · Video: What Is a Diet Break? How to Use One to Break a Plateau
Why you shouldn't stay in a deficit for months without a break
Plays from 18:55 · Video: What Is a Diet Break and When Do Women Over 40 Need One?
The full answer
Nikkiey is clear that a diet break isn't something to use like candy. She reaches for it when a woman who is genuinely consistent hits a wall. The signals she watches for:
She stresses being brutally honest that it's real hunger, not stress or boredom eating. She also points out that you don't want to sit in a deficit for eight months or a year without breaks, and that rising irritability, exhaustion or poor recovery are signs your body needs more food.
- Constant, all-day hunger, not the normal kind right before a meal
- A decreased ability to hit your daily macros without being strongly tempted to go over, while you're focused and disciplined
- A plateau even after weeks of hitting your numbers within plus or minus five
- Feeling mentally done with the deficit, even if you're usually strong-minded
The how is simple. Use the calculator to bring calories up to maintenance, then cut cardio literally in half: six days drops to three, five drops to three, three to four drops to one. Nikkiey says this takes stress off your body, lowers cortisol and refeeds you. In one episode she sets it at one full week so you can see how your body responds. In another she says that if you start losing at maintenance, ride it out for about two weeks, and she mentions a couple of weeks at maintenance or a higher intake when your body is signaling it needs food.
Afterward, if your body doesn't move, find the halfway point between your diet break macros and your previous macros and keep the same cardio. If you lost during the break, your body needed that food, so she has you ride it out, then move to that halfway mark. Her FAQ also notes she sometimes drops women back to previous macros with cardio kept very low. She uses this instead of pushing calories down toward 1,200, which she calls ridiculous, and says she usually guides it hands-on.
From WarriorBabe's coaches (how we write our answers). For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.
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Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting →Women also ask
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Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
Will I gain weight when I start eating more?
Probably a little, and that's expected. Nikkiey explains that when you start eating more during a retrain or reverse diet, your weight will usually fluctuate about two to five pounds from water, glycogen, food volume and salt, not fat. If the gain keeps climbing or holds around five pounds, the increase was likely too fast.
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Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
Can you lose weight by eating more?
Yes, according to The WarriorBabe Show. Nikkiey says almost every WarriorBabe success story involves eating more food, and members like Amy, Debbie, Lisa and Erin lost weight after raising their calories from chronic lows. The key, she explains, is eating enough to fuel strength training and build muscle, which is active tissue that burns calories even at rest.
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Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
How long does it take to repair your metabolism?
It depends on how adapted your metabolism is. Nikkiey's ranges: about six to 12 weeks for mild adaptation after a few months of moderate dieting, closer to three months after a year or more of restriction, and six months to a year after many years of chronic dieting. Your body's response sets the timeline, not a calendar.
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