30 Seconds SummaryEverything You Need to Know About Maintenance
- Maintenance after a diet should focus on balanced eating and enjoying life without strict diet constraints.
- Aim for a diet where 80-85% of your intake comes from healthy sources, allowing 15-20% for indulgent foods.
- Transitioning from dieting to maintenance involves gradual calorie increases to prevent rapid weight gain.
- Avoid both 'too much too soon' and maintaining overly low calories to ensure a smooth transition.
- Incorporate longer maintenance periods between diets to stabilize metabolism and prevent chronic dieting patterns.
- Gradually reintroduce foods and monitor weight to manage slight increases without reverting to fat loss dieting.
- Maintenance duration should ideally match or exceed the length of the previous diet to fully restore metabolic health.
- Maintenance should ideally be planned around a lifestyle that includes social engagements and periods of indulgence without guilt.
- Understanding that some weight gain during maintenance is normal and mainly due to water and food volume can help manage expectations.
Renaissance Periodization
Dr. Melissa Davis, Sport Nutrition & Female Health Coach
