{
  "slug": "diet-break",
  "name": "Diet break / refeed",
  "aliases": [
    "diet break",
    "refeed",
    "diet break week",
    "high carb refeed",
    "maintenance week in a cut"
  ],
  "family": "size",
  "heat": "high",
  "talk": "Lots of talk",
  "mostDiscussed": false,
  "firstLine": "A diet break is planned maintenance time inside a cut; a refeed is a shorter high-carbohydrate bump.",
  "whyLine": "Some people describe relief from dieting and practice at maintenance; others find it hard to resume the earlier deficit. The planned break and what follows it are separate experiences.",
  "feelWords": [
    "diet break",
    "refeed",
    "maintenance week"
  ],
  "commonPicture": [
    {
      "lead": "Refeed examples: hours or days; break examples: a week or more",
      "why": "Terminology and duration differ across reports. [community]"
    },
    {
      "lead": "A break within a cut differs from ending the cut",
      "why": "A reverse diet describes one gradual route toward maintenance after the dieting phase. [community]"
    }
  ],
  "watchFor": "A break that never ends. Disordered eating. Reverse diet is the neighbor card after the cut.",
  "whatPeopleSay": [
    "**The job:** keep the cut going without living in a hole. [community]",
    "**r/loseit and cut rooms** still argue weekend refeeds. [community]"
  ],
  "howPeopleRunIt": [
    "**They pick a date, raise calories, keep lifting.** [community]"
  ],
  "amountsPeopleUse": [
    "**A weekend or 1–2 weeks** is the copied talk. [community]"
  ],
  "howPeopleKeepIt": [
    "**A return date.** [community]"
  ],
  "howItFeels": [
    "**The scale jumps; they panic; the thread says water.** [community]"
  ],
  "howLongPeopleRunIt": [
    "**Inside a cut, not as a lifestyle.** [community]"
  ],
  "deepDive": [
    "**A reverse diet** gradually increases intake after a cut. A **mini-cut** is a short deficit phase; a maintenance break pauses the deficit within a longer dieting period. [community]"
  ],
  "watchForLong": [
    "**Using ‘refeed’ as a binge name.** [community]"
  ],
  "related": [
    "a-cut",
    "mini-cut",
    "reverse-diet",
    "tracking-macros"
  ],
  "researchPointer": [],
  "housePointers": [],
  "playPointer": null,
  "sources": [
    "cut-room diet-break threads",
    "refeed vs reverse-diet 2026 talk"
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Community talk. May contain inaccuracies. Not medical, training, or diet advice. Sharp pain, fainting, or disordered-eating concerns need a clinician.",
  "quickAnswerHistory": [
    {
      "field": "communityPicture",
      "rows": [
        "Cut rooms calendar a weekend or one to two weeks up, keep protein, then return to the deficit. Reverse diet is the exit, not this card."
      ]
    },
    {
      "field": "commonPicture",
      "rows": [
        {
          "lead": "Planned, not accidental",
          "why": "It’s on the calendar. [community]"
        },
        {
          "lead": "Refeed vs break",
          "why": "Hours/days vs a week-plus. [community]"
        },
        {
          "lead": "Not reverse diet",
          "why": "That’s the exit. [community]"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "field": "firstLine",
      "rows": [
        "A diet break is days or a week at maintenance inside a cut; a refeed is a shorter high-carb bump — not a binge and not reverse diet."
      ]
    },
    {
      "field": "whyLine",
      "rows": [
        "A diet break is days or a week at maintenance inside a cut; a refeed is a shorter high-carb bump — not a binge and not reverse diet."
      ]
    },
    {
      "field": "deepDive",
      "rows": [
        "**Reverse diet** is after. **Mini-cut** is the short deficit cousin. [community]"
      ]
    }
  ]
}