Brendbro's 'almost too weak to lift' Log

[SJB23]

It's funny - food is basically a non issue for me now. I eat what I enjoy and the only real 'rules' I set myself have been keeping protein & CHO's high which is now just basically a lifestyle rather than a 'rule'. I have no cravings, nothing! I was talking to a close friend about this the other day and if anything I actually don't enjoy how much I need to eat! It truly is a euphoric feeling for me considering my background (ED issues). But yes - food will be even better when cals become more openly available! (btw first like 11-12 pages of the log were during a bulk if you'd like to check them out)

No cravings and not thinking about food must feel awesome buddy, especially with your background as you said! Checked your first 12 pages of the blog, i'm definitely excited for the bulk

[brendbro]

Upper Power

Weight - 68.5

BB Bench
87.5kgx5
87.5kgx5
87.5kgx5 PR

Seated Row
80x5x3

Weighted Pullups
5kgx8.5 PR
5kgx7
5kgx6

Weighted Dips
5kgx12 PR
10kgx8 PR
10kgx7

Shrugs
120kgx10
120kgx10
120kgx10 PR

Cardio
Stairmaster - 60:20, 1000 cals



Another great fukking session in the bag. Energy is way up and PR's all a-bloody-round!! Bench was almost easy, time to move it up!!! Going to maintain weight on seated rows but may increase volume if I feel I can in the coming weeks, otherwise these are feeling great! PR on weighted pull ups - BOOM! Total of 1 extra rep but I'll take it. Absolutely abolished dips! Threw down 12 with a 5kg attached and figured I should move it up so grabbed a 10kg and busted out a set of 8 and 7 - to complete failure. PR'd on shrugs @ 3 sets for 10, these felt nice & controlled with a slow eccentric. Traps are sore as a bloody.... well, something. Thought I'd give myself a challenge with cardio today... needless to say, 60 minutes later and a 1000 cals burn all I wanted to do was step right back on that machine and go for another hour. Bloody well loving the progress I'm making each & every day... motivation is burning higher and energy is only increasing. 12 days until times up for my cut, now I reaaaaaaaally need to get on to getting that tan I've always wanted...

Food

Vanilla maple proats w/ banana, cinnamon & peanut butter sludge


FROZEN dark chocolate peanut butter & banana sandwich


Was at work all day yesterday, needless to say had some cals to make up for when I got home (also explains the bloat this morning). Alas I went with pasta bake

pre oven


post oven




Pic quality doesn't do it justice, was fuarking incredible.
1 packet bertagnoli porcini mushroom tortellini (import from Italy, I've only seen them at my work so check IGA! Expensive!)
1 punet cherry tomatoes
250g mushrooms
200g chicken
100g shredded ham
200g Dolmio pasta sauce (I used 4 cheese)

80g light mozzarella on top (didn't really need it honestly)

[jzpowahz]

top workout & quality food porn as always!

Was the whole sandwich frozen or just the banana?

I'm stuck on ice cream these days because of the bloody heat! Anything cold is good haha.

[brendbro]

Haha, I'm just glad that I've got someone else in the same room as me sharing my love for the steppers mate!

If you need a hand with your reverse just give me a yell when I see you next

Mate I will never give up that stepper any more, it's easily the most comfortable, funnest, & down right energising cardio machine there! Absolutely LOVING it

I will definitely be needing some help with the reverse but yeah I'll talk to ya bout that @ the gym next time.

No cravings and not thinking about food must feel awesome buddy, especially with your background as you said! Checked your first 12 pages of the blog, i'm definitely excited for the bulk

Cheers mate!! Checked out your log & saw your an Aussie! Great to have another fellow Aussie on board. I can definitely understand the whole 'no food tastes as good as looking good feels' motto, not to say that I think I look good but I do FEEL good, and that makes a world of difference... it's kinda freaking me out how differently I'm beginning to approach things honestly lol!

top workout & quality food porn as always!

Was the whole sandwich frozen or just the banana?

I'm stuck on ice cream these days because of the bloody heat! Anything cold is good haha.

whole sandwich frozen! I think it was dustin who mentioned freezing sandwiches awhile back so thought I'd give it a try. It was great - probably better than fresh but I wouldn't do it expecting a world of difference taste wise, more so just makes it all clump together for easier eating I suppose lol.

And yeah mate been doing banana casein thick shakes every morning for brekky! Perfect in this heat and I love anything banana

[Webber91]

I thought my usual stairmaster was a little sweatier than normal today...

[psychodiver9]

I'm going to have to start calling you the cat with all the prrrrrrrring going on

[Ashlei]

I can't believe you're still in a deficit hitting PRs easy like that!

[brendbro]

Wednesday weight - 67.2

Lower

Today's weight - 67.6

Sumo deads
130kgx5
130kgx4
120kgx5

Hack squats
100kgx5x3 pr

Superset #1
Leg press - 110x12x4 pr
Calf raise - 95x12x4

Superset #2
Lying leg curl - 60x11, 50x7.5, 50x6
Standing calf - 65x11, 65x10, 55x12

Cardio
stairmaster - 36:16; 600 cals

OKAY, here we go - down & out and legs are done for the week. What a session this was. Deadlifts felt not too shabby, although I'll admit I'm up one minute on these then down another. That first set took a butt load out of me BUT I GOT IT DONE!! After failing on my 4th during the 2nd set I decided on moving the weight down on my final set. Still, I think I may have pulled a muscle in my back during these - nothing serious and I've had similar issues before but not in quite some time, damn feels silly now to have let my ego get the better of me but I must say I still got an INSANE burn from them. Squats felt great! Form felt relatively spot on and I repped out 3 sets for 5 with (relative) ease, I reckon I may be moving them up next week! Onto supersets and these were INTENSE - my buddy and I were sweating all over the place when we had finished. My leg curl numbers stink compared to last week but I added some volume on deads + increased squat numbers so I'm not too worried, they took a fuk load out of me and I'm satisfied that I pushed and gave 'em everything I had. Cardio was a cake walk... I swear I am addicted to it though, it is literally almost like a drug, I'm beginning to miss doing it on off days even... guess that can't be a bad thing

Food

'roo bbq meatlovers pizza




Chicken, bacon & avocado pasta

...had to snap this up as I whipped up the avocado sauce and it came out looking amazing!


^^^^ I could literally eat it like a pudding just like that, it was so freaking tasty!!





Literally probably the tastiest thing I've ever made myself. No joke, this was knee crippling good... bloody oath!

choc cross bun

[brendbro]

I thought my usual stairmaster was a little sweatier than normal today...

lol soz bro! I couldn't make it to the toilet in time....



trollolololol

I'm going to have to start calling you the cat with all the prrrrrrrring going on

Uh oh, now I'm gonna be obliged to make sure I hit at least 1 PR everytime I walk in the gym.... challenge accepted!

I can't believe you're still in a deficit hitting PRs easy like that!

Ash! heheh well I wouldn't say they're easy Being on a new program definitely helps with the PR's, I'm LOVING the potential that I have for strength gains on it!!

[Ryanmckd]

The avocado sauce recipe.. give it to me.. now. Looks soooo damn tasty man and by the sounds of it, it tasted as good as it looks. Pizza looks on point, are you still using the mission bases? Workouts are looking great but make sure to take any niggling injuries seriously as it's easy for a niggle to turn into something much worse, taking a few days or a week off will be far less detrimental (probably even beneficial) then pushing through, injuring yourself and being out for weeks/months but I'm sure this is all **** you already know.

O and decent macros on those hot cross buns?

[brendbro]

Chest/Back Hyper

Weight - 67.4

DB incline
27.5kgx12 PR
27.5kgx11

Seated row
60x12x2

BB Bench
67.5kgx12
67.5kgx11

Pullup
BWx10x2

DB Flyes
15kgx15

Cardio
stairmaster level 16 - 40:05, 664 cals

-Awesome, intense hypertrophy work out
-upped the weights on incline, hit 12 on my first set! EPIC PR!!!
-Everything felt top notch, aching like freaking sh!t right now!
-cardio was a cakewalk, threw in a few extra minutes
-shopping after gym, picked up some awesome chicken fetta & spinach sausages, will give them a go tomoz!
-went to the pool after the gym, was freaking BEAUTIFUL

Food

maple blueberry cinnamon proats w/ pb sludge & bananas


honey yoghurt & strawberries


Woke up to a VERY nice surprise, my order of Dymatize arrived (in 1 day!!)


So far I've had both in a shake, and I am pretty sure banana nut is just about the most delicious fukking thing ever!!!! Like... HOLY SH!T IT IS SO FREAKING GOOD!! Cheers kyle

Also made some sludge with it for brekky (bran & maple french toast twists for mix ins)


The fudge brownie was good as a shake but think it'd go down better for sludge etc... but if anybody has advice on how best to use them PLEASE CHIME IN as I know fudge brownie is the bees knees around these parts

The avocado sauce recipe.. give it to me.. now. Looks soooo damn tasty man and by the sounds of it, it tasted as good as it looks. Pizza looks on point, are you still using the mission bases? Workouts are looking great but make sure to take any niggling injuries seriously as it's easy for a niggle to turn into something much worse, taking a few days or a week off will be far less detrimental (probably even beneficial) then pushing through, injuring yourself and being out for weeks/months but I'm sure this is all **** you already know.

O and decent macros on those hot cross buns?

It was unbelievably good!!!

recipe was;
half an avocado (came out to 140g)
100g perfect italiano extra light ricotta
50g ayam light sweet chilli sauce
30g tomato puree
tiny bit of garlic & lemon juice

& just whizzed it all up in the magic bullet! easy!

Haven't used the mission bases in a while as I haven't seen them, been using 'Mosaic' brand ones we sell at my work - they are pretty hefty on the cals (usually 400+ per base) but I like them because they're relatively small so don't require a ton of ingredients to top & they're thick bases (unlike the mission ones) so they are relatively satiating!

Injury was a non issue for me today, but cheers for caring man I have definitely been guilty of ignoring potentially serious injuries in the past, but no longer!!!

[foodpr0n]

Fudge brownie as a sluuuuudge is my crack!
I may have done a few 100g (dry powder) sludges in my time Sprinkle it with some splenda and add bran/strawberries/whatever!!!!!
The banana I would assume would work great with some forme banana yogurt
Adding cocoa and splenda to vanilla yogurt also works for the fudge brownie. But yeah, I literally used that stuff for everything..spreading on rice cakes, shakes, sludge bowls, bathing...

t minus 9 days! b0000o0o0o0om!! Still PR'ing too. Imagine what the bulk will bring. How'd you like the chest/back pairing too mate?

[psychodiver9]

Do want those oats!

[foodpr0n]

Wow.
300g the 'new' Nestle diet vanilla yogurt (stuff is way thicker)
Heaped Tbspn cocoa + 40g fudge brownie + some cream cheese
Spread some peanut butter on 5 Sunrice plain rice cakes then break them up into tiny pieces like cereal.
Mix together and fcking profit!

[determined4000]

Should have just got 2 Fudge Brownie Dymatize IMO

NOMNOMNOM

[SJB23]

I see you are eating tamar valley yohurt, Tassie represent

you are awesome with your meals man! that avocado sauce is worth a shot!

[Ryanmckd]

Wow.
300g the 'new' Nestle diet vanilla yogurt (stuff is way thicker)
Heaped Tbspn cocoa + 40g fudge brownie + some cream cheese
Spread some peanut butter on 5 Sunrice plain rice cakes then break them up into tiny pieces like cereal.
Mix together and fcking profit!

O really? I remember you saying too choose Yoplait over Nestlé because Nestlé mixed funny, would you choose Nestlé over Yoplait now?

[foodpr0n]

O really? I remember you saying too choose Yoplait over Nestlé because Nestlé mixed funny, would you choose Nestlé over Yoplait now?

I personally bought the Forme myself, and yes it did mix much nicer with Jello powder - but I don't have any left now so it doesn't matter. Anyway it's not even called Nestle Diet now.. It's called Nestle Soleil, parents bought it and it seems much thicker than what it was before unless it's just this tub

[brendbro]

Shoulders/Arms Hyper

weight - 67.5

DB Shoulderpress
22.5kgx12
22.5kgx11
22.5kgx11

DB Lat raise
10kgx12x3 PR

Close grip bench
40kgx12 PR
42.5kgx12 PR

Kneeling tricep extensions
6 x 11 (+1)

Preacher curls
55x11
55x8

bicep crossover
25x12

Cardio
stairmaster level 16 - 36:16, 600 cals

New shoulders & arms hypertrophy work out went great, albeit my chest was absolutely DESTROYED which definitely hindered performance, nevertheless it's nothing I can't power through. Rest breaks were short, so whole session was quick & intense. Checked out some form issues regarding lat raises so they felt a bit better this week, hit a PR on them and shoulders were burnt by the end. After this it was all a bro style arm work out, really love how much close grip hits my tri's, can't believe I didn't try these sooner! Biceps were absolutely freaking DESTROYED by preachers, gotta love the pump Cardio began as a bit of a drag but got easier as the time went on and by the end I didn't wanna get off. Noticing quite a bit of leg vascularity, definitely feel like quads have leaned out considerably more than the rest of my body, will get some photos up soon!

Food

Had a little shop...



^^^^ kirks 10 packs on special @ woolies 3 for $13. Also found some awesome low fat pork mince $10.50 a kilo!

Dominoes Satay prawn pizza


more creamy chicken, bacon & avocado pasta... cannot get enough of it!!


'roo, ham, butter & garlic pasta

[brendbro]

Fudge brownie as a sluuuuudge is my crack!
I may have done a few 100g (dry powder) sludges in my time Sprinkle it with some splenda and add bran/strawberries/whatever!!!!!
The banana I would assume would work great with some forme banana yogurt
Adding cocoa and splenda to vanilla yogurt also works for the fudge brownie. But yeah, I literally used that stuff for everything..spreading on rice cakes, shakes, sludge bowls, bathing...

t minus 9 days! b0000o0o0o0om!! Still PR'ing too. Imagine what the bulk will bring. How'd you like the chest/back pairing too mate?

Before I knew of ON vanilla casein I used to make 120g dry powder sludges with a protein powder my gym carries, mixed that up with some queens maple syrup and it was reminiscent of sweetened condensed milk... need to get on that again.

I haven't been a fan of the tartness that mixing yoghurt into sludge brings... perhaps I'm using incorrect ratios though. I'll usually some low fat custard if I want a bit of extra volume

Mate I cannot thank you enough for your suggestions, everything went great! Loving the new routine

Do want those oats!

I'm just like shaz, feels very wrong for me to miss out on my daily oats

Wow.
300g the 'new' Nestle diet vanilla yogurt (stuff is way thicker)
Heaped Tbspn cocoa + 40g fudge brownie + some cream cheese
Spread some peanut butter on 5 Sunrice plain rice cakes then break them up into tiny pieces like cereal.
Mix together and fcking profit!

may omit the yoghurt (as mentioned above ) but otherwise I'll definitely give it a try! that's an awesome idea breaking up some pb'd rice cakes.

Another one is those nanna's frozen waffles - insane amount of volume for a sludge mix in! ....or you could just top 'em with the sludge

Should have just got 2 Fudge Brownie Dymatize IMO

NOMNOMNOM

haha well it was my first shot @ dymatize XT and I was originally just going to go for a 2kg fudge brownie but figured I'd give another flavour a shot if I could find a decent price... I am absolutely NOT disappointed in the slightest with banana nut. In fact so far IMO banana nut > fudge brownie, actually I'd probably rank banana nut up there as my favourite protein with XF cinnamon roll & lemon cream pie, I am just freaking loving it!! I have yet to make a fudge brownie sludge though so we'll see, I don't doubt it's going to be spectacular

I see you are eating tamar valley yohurt, Tassie represent

you are awesome with your meals man! that avocado sauce is worth a shot!

you cannot believe how good it is!! honestly if you're a fan of avocado GET ON IT ASAP!

I personally bought the Forme myself, and yes it did mix much nicer with Jello powder - but I don't have any left now so it doesn't matter. Anyway it's not even called Nestle Diet now.. It's called Nestle Soleil, parents bought it and it seems much thicker than what it was before unless it's just this tub

yup, I've had it a few times since it changed and it is definitely thicker now... in fact I prefer it to the forme stuff now

[franko man]

Hope everything's going great mate! Mirin your food porn!!
It's been over a month since I left AUS and am missing the aussie foods. Rooos Pizza look amazing! And your grocery pic looks really tempting too.
Keep up the great work this year. And quite frankly, you deserve credits for all these good eats lol. Many may be shying away from this log because it triggers hunger!

[Webber91]

Told you banana nut was crack bro

[brendbro]

Cardio
stairmaster level 16 - 30:16, 500 cals

Weight - 67.7
No new lows this week. Diet has been all over the place more so this week than any other during my cut and I'm certain water retention is playing a part, and you know what..? I couldn't care less

7 days left... feels good But in all honesty I am not certain I want to finish things up quite yet... let me elaborate;
Things are looking GREAT, in fact I'd say these past couple of weeks have been the best weeks I've had while dieting. I've been able to maintain a life while keeping at a deficit and still burning motivation hard in the gym. One crucial thing I have noted is that it takes my body an increasingly large amount of time to recover after drinking [at least this far into dieting]; I've had a couple of weekends recently where I've had a few & it has taken me seemingly the entire week to recover, not to mention I have gone from super heavyweight to extreme light weight regarding how much alcohol I can withstand... feelskindagoodman. Back on point... I still have some fat on my lower ab region I'd like to see gone permanently, it is definitely decreasing... just at a slower rate than I had assumed. Apart from that I am feeling pretty happy with how I'm looking, so I haven't made the decision yet as to whether or not it's worth it to keep the cut going until ALL the ab fat is gone. Usually I would say "why the hell not? Let's just get it over and done with" but I'm not certain that it is that big of a deal. My mates and I have a big trip to the coast planned next week (which marks the end of my cut) so I'm going to have an entire week off from dieting & the gym etc. to just lay around and enjoy the beach. I guess I'll see how I feel during / after that week as it'll give me a pretty good scope as to how happy I am with how I look, and I can assess things from there

Food

Satay chicken & veggies


BBQ pork style Bologna (this was fukking fantastic!!)


^^^ recipe;
100g Barilla brand mozzarella & ricotta tomato sauce
100g Leggos BBQ style pizza sauce (sh!t is insanely good)
50-100g tomato puree
bit of garlic + other herbs & spices (I used oregano, basil, thyme, parsley & pepper)

Threw all that into a pot and let it simmer for a little while then threw in some pork mince and cooked it in the sauce... INCREDIBLE!!

Dymatize banana nut sludge w/ bananas & marshmallows


Fudge brownie PB&J sludge


'Roo Pizza

Hope everything's going great mate! Mirin your food porn!!
It's been over a month since I left AUS and am missing the aussie foods. Rooos Pizza look amazing! And your grocery pic looks really tempting too.
Keep up the great work this year. And quite frankly, you deserve credits for all these good eats lol. Many may be shying away from this log because it triggers hunger!

franko! it's been too long mate! Had no idea you left Aus, thought you were here permanently?? Where are you atm?

Haha cheers mate!! Can NEVER get enough roo, seriously! (unless you find maggots in it... that can sometimes be a bit offputting )

Oddly enough I guess I should be happy if my food is good enough to shy people away, lol

Told you banana nut was crack bro

you are my god bro

[snrygo]

ohai

[brendbro]

Upper Power

Weight - 68.2

BB Bench
90kgx4 PR
90kgx4
90kgx2 (+1 assisted)
90kgx2

Seated Row
80x5x3

Weighted pull ups
10kgx5x3 PR

Weighted Dips
10kgx8
10kgx8 PR
10kgx7

Shrugs
120kgx12 PR
120kgx10
120kgx10

Cardio
Stairmaster level 16 - 45:16, 750 cals

What a way to begin my last week of dieting. It began with an increase in weight on bench to 90kg - more than I have ever gone. I am aiming for 3x5 so hitting 4 on my first 2 sets felt great and FUKKING intense, jesus christ it felt like my chest was being stabbed by a thousand knives all at once. My third set I had to get assisted on the 3rd. But I wasn't quite done here, no. I am playing it safe by going for 3 sets but I knew I wasn't finished if I didn't go for a 4th set; even if I failed on the 1st rep at least I know I tried, pushed out 2 and failed again on my 3rd but fuk it if they weren't some of the hardest bench pressing I've ever done. Felt good. Maintained on rows - felt great. Added a 10kg weight to pull ups today which is a first - I felt I could have gone for more than 5 on my first set but wanted to play it safe as this was a big weight increase and wanted to make sure I could make it through all 3 sets, next time I think I'll aim for more than 5 reps but we'll see. Dips were EPIC - I am extremely excited to get bulking again with this new routine, the combination of weighted dips & close grip bench will do wonders for my tri's me thinks. Onto shrugs and I am just wanting to maintain on these but got to 10 reps on my first set and felt I definetely had a couple more, so PR right there Cardio today was just an absolute win; I had only planned on my usual 36 minutes but I got on and felt SO good, I just kept it going until I finally checked the time which happened to be at 44:30 so just went for a solid 45 minutes and called it a day. Talked to some mates after and they mentioned I looked 'absolutely f!cked' (their words ), admittedly I had some brain fog / dizziness on the way home, and have been getting it a bit recently... that's dieting brain for ya I suppose

Food

'Roo & Pork Avocado pasta




banana nut sludge

ohai

nice to have you snrygo! Quite the inspiring chef!

[psychodiver9]

You are tearing **** up. This bulk is going to be unreal

[oats_addict]

F*ck me i miss 'roo!!

Good to see you're still going man, cut has been a cracking success. No one can tell you when to stop losing those few lbs except yourself. Do what you gotta do bro, you'll only regret it otherwise.

Looking propa lean though

[brendbro]

Lower

Weight - 67.4

Sumo Deads
120kgx6
120kgx6
120kgx5

Hack Squats
100kgx5
100kgx5
100kgx6

Seated Leg press
320x12x3

Lying leg curls
60x10
50x12
50x8

Standing calf
21x20, 12, 10 PR

Calf dicks
95x8 - 12 second stretch

Cardio
Stairmaster level 16 - 37:04, 613 cals

Christ today was just downright weird. Got through the work out okay, changed up a couple of things but overall everything felt solid. Dropped back down to 120 on sumo deads to play it safe but threw in a couple of extra reps; my back was KILLING me @ work tonight, so mission accomplished My form on squatting is feeling better by the week, I definitely feel it was wise for me to not move up the weight so I can focus on form. From here out the session was more hypertrophy oriented - higher reps, lower weight & short rests. Seated leg press destroyed me, seriously - LOVE it. Calves were absolutely obliterated - I honestly felt like crying after that first set of 20. But I digress; immense brain fog has been setting in. It's a hard feeling to describe; it's not so much a lack of energy, more so everything just feels surreal... like I'm drifting. It's also difficult to focus on things, everything is just quite peculiar. In a way it's good - it allows me to get through cardio easily as I can basically just shut my brain off, on the other hand I just feel very 'bland', not myself etc. I don't really have an appetite either. Anyway, just thought I'd share my thoughts about it here.

You are tearing **** up. This bulk is going to be unreal

Cheers man!! Not long to go now!!

F*ck me i miss 'roo!!

Good to see you're still going man, cut has been a cracking success. No one can tell you when to stop losing those few lbs except yourself. Do what you gotta do bro, you'll only regret it otherwise.

Looking propa lean though

Nice to see you again bud! Hows life treating ya?

You are 100% correct regarding it being my choice; it just has gotten to the point where I would really love to get the fire burning in the gym once again, and I'm not entirely sure on how much I actually care about losing some more weight, not now anyway. It's a choice I'll need to think about over the next few days.

Will get some photos up soon

[brendbro]

Chest/Back Hyper

weight - 67 New low (also happens to be my 'goal weight' if I was to have one)

DB Incline
27.5kgx13 PR
27.5kgx11

Seated Row
60x12x2

BB Bench
67.5kgx11.5
67.5kgx11.5

Pullups
BWx11
BWx9

DB Flyes
15kgx15

Cardio
Stairmaster level 16 - 36:31, 600 cals

Pretty great work out, another overall very fast & intense hyper session down the drain and marks my last for the diet (at least before my break). Felt strong & thought 'fuk it' and broke a PR right off the bat which felt awesome. Lately cardio is basically the easiest thing ever - it really has become more of a challenge of getting through the boredom rather than any physical/mental challenge... perhaps that's a sign. Brain fog / light headedness has been getting fairly intense - I'm not feeling myself. I feel like I'm becoming a shell of who I am; I'm losing interest in basically everything, my emotions are going down the toilet - that is I really don't have much emotion, I'm not happy but I'm not sad either... anyway those are a few little things I'll elaborate more about with my next update later as I'm heading off for my last work out of the diet Shoulders/arms so will bring a bigger update in a few hours.

[foodpr0n]

Keep trucking a long mate. Not long now, but remember how I was mentioning you should take a break at some stage...You're what 18ish weeks down?

Diet breaks are so important. Regardless of how progress is going or anything like that. Prolonged deficits will impact hormones and on levels other than what we externally notice (scale weight, gym performance).

IMO, as you get leaner a week+ @ maint. every 4-6 weeks should be a pertinent part of the diet. That is sub 10% I think. You'll regulate hormones and give yourself some psychological release too. every 8-10 weeks when one is fatter or weekly 'free' MEALS for the +12% as you're never really going too long '100% dieting'.

Perhaps if BB'ers took a smarter approach to contest preps and actually implemented breaks - they'd not be so worn out by the end of it.

Why Take a Full Diet Break: Physiological Reasons
The physiological stuff is the stuff I talk about all the time here on the site, on the forum and elsewhere. When folks diet and lose weight/fat, the body adjusts metabolic rate downwards. While a majority of this is simply due to weighing less (smaller bodies burn fewer calories), there is also an adaptive component, a greater decrease in metabolic rate than would be predicted due to changes in things like leptin, insulin, thyroid hormones, etc.

By moving to roughly maintenance for a couple of weeks, many of those hormones are given time to recover. Thyroid hormones come back up, as does leptin. This is a big part of the reason for the recommendation to raise carbs to 100-150 grams per day as a minimum.

This is also the rationale behind the duration, thyroid hormones and the effects that they exert aren’t immediate. It may take 7 days of eating at maintenance for thyroid levels to come back to normal, but you need at least another week to get many of their effects to max out. So in answer to the question “Can I make the break shorter?”, the answer is “No.” I know that everyone wants to GET LEAN NOW but unless you are a contest dieting bodybuilder or figure chick and there’s no real-time constraint, what’s the hurry?
There are other effects as well. Hormones like testosterone often go down during dieting and female hormones can be whacked out too. Cortisol generally goes up when you diet and raising calories and carbs helps shut that off for a

Proving once again that I’m just retreading others who came before me, Dan Duchaine recommended 4 weeks of dieting before 2 weeks of raised calories and then 4 more weeks of dieting as part of a 10 week contest diet. I’m a bit more flexible (get it) than that, a leaner individual might go 4-6 weeks before taking a full diet break, someone who is much fatter might go 12 weeks. Folks in the middle go somewhere in-between.
I’d note that I even think that contest dieters should use full diet breaks although this requires not only being lean enough when they start but also giving themselves sufficient time to include the break AND still have time to get lean enough. Most dieters start to late and end up not being able to take a diet break but I believe that their diets would work better if they did.

People tend to fixate on short-term results (as noted above they want to BE LEAN NOW) but for most applications, long-term adherence is far more important. In the big scheme of things, what is two weeks not losing fat if, not only does the break mean you lose fat MORE effectively (because you’ve normalized hormones) but you increase your odds of long-term success by not being so psychologically stressed all the time.

The Full Diet Break