Maintenance
Is A Goal Too.

Maintenance means keeping your body weight roughly stable over time, within a normal range rather than at one exact number. It does not mean your weight must stay identical every day.

At maintenance, energy intake and expenditure roughly match over weeks. Calculators can estimate it, and your actual weight trend shows you where it really is.

Short-term changes of a few pounds can come from water, salt, carbohydrate intake, food volume, training and hormonal cycles. These are normal and don't mean you've gained or lost fat.

Continued resistance training and enough protein help you keep the muscle you've built. Maintaining muscle generally takes less training than building it, but it doesn't take none.

Maintenance can be a good time to train well. With no deficit dragging down energy, many people find their performance and recovery feel more consistent. Body composition may still improve gradually.

• Between fat-loss or muscle-gain phases
• During busy or stressful periods
• While focusing on performance or technique
• When you're happy with where you are

Look at weekly averages rather than daily readings. If your average drifts steadily in one direction over several weeks, adjust your intake or activity slightly.