1. Start with Reverse Dieting (or Controlled Maintenance)

After a fat loss phase, gradually increase calories in small weekly increments (50–100 kcal per week) until you reach your estimated maintenance. This prevents rebound fat gain and supports hormonal recovery.

2. Know Your Maintenance Calories and Macros

Your maintenance isn't a mystery. Use your body weight, activity level, and history to calculate your daily intake, then test and adjust.

TIP: Maintenance doesn’t mean eating like you did before your journey — it means fueling your new body and lifestyle.

3. Shift Your Goals from Scale to Strength

During maintenance, focus on performance — strength gains, improved endurance, consistency, and building muscle. The scale may fluctuate, but your habits and results will compound.

4. Continue Tracking — but with Flexibility

You don’t have to track forever, but keeping an eye on portion sizes, protein, and daily habits can prevent creeping calories.

5. Keep Non-Negotiables in Place

Water, steps, sleep, workouts, and protein intake should remain part of your routine — even when you're not “on a diet.”

6. Learn to Navigate Real Life

Vacations, birthdays, and weekends are part of life. Maintenance means being able to enjoy them without “falling off.” Use mindful eating tools: eat slowly, stop at satisfied (not stuffed), and get back on track the next meal.

7. Embrace Your New Identity

You’re not “on a diet” anymore. You’re living as someone who takes care of their body. That identity shift is the key to permanent change.

🔁 What Maintenance Really Looks Like

• Your bodyweight may fluctuate within 3–5 lbs. That’s normal.

• You’ll still have goals — just different ones. Strength. Energy. Consistency.

• You’ll feel in control instead of deprived.

• You’ll live more flexibly, not fearfully.

• You’ll stop “starting over every Monday.”

🔚 Final Thoughts: Fat Loss Is the Beginning, Not the End

You didn’t come this far to go back.

You earned these results with consistency and effort — now it's time to protect them with structure and strategy.

If you're unsure how to transition into maintenance without regaining the weight, I can guide you through it step by step with a custom plan that fits your life. This is exactly what I help my clients with — not just losing the weight, but keeping it off for good.