This is for people who are afraid of weight gain during the maintenance phase, I recently came off a 12 weeks diet ended up at 191.4 lbs, took a 2 weeks diet break eating at maintenance level kept weight training the same cut cardio by about 75% and ended up at 196.5 lbs by the end of the diet break (+5 lbs or 2.5% in body weight), then started a new round of dieting phase, 1 week in and I weigh 190.6 lbs, I weighed myself at the same exact time to minimize fluctuations. This is to show that most of the weight gained during the maintenance phase are just water and glycogen which will go away when you start dieting again, so do not get upset when you weigh yourself during maintenance phase and think you just lost weeks of progress, it's just normal body weight fluctuation.
Thanks for posting this. This happened to me earlier this year so I guilted myself to hit the diet harder. I ended up messing up my metabolism. I caught it early enough to break long term and doing things slower now. I am going on my first break in 12 weeks.
Thanks for sharing. That’ll come in handy when it’s my turn. Can I ask: How much did you increase your calories by when you went to maintenance? (Percentage wise) I started at 230lbs on 24th Oct. Now I’m at 206lbs today (17th Dec) eating 2100 calories daily, and have lost on average 3 lbs per week. After watching this video I’m now planning to do a maintenance phase on 16th Jan (12 weeks in) and I don’t know what my maintenance calories are, so I figured I’d just add a hundred calories in each week. If my weight increases by over 2.5% during the maintenance phase, should I reduce the calories? I’m not sure how much is too much in terms of calories 🤔
@@CursedWheelieBin there's a very simple yet effective way to calculate your maintenance calories, which is your weight in pounds x 13, that should put you in the maintenance zone. Don't think too much about that 2.5% number, it was just my personal experience, not set in stone, just use the weight in pounds x 13 formula as your guideline and go from there, that's what I did.
I’ve tried this after my 12 week cut and it’s fucking amazing how well this information works. I lost 29lbs I got to 254 I’m eating 2800 calories on my 3rd week of maintenance and it’s working. I am not craving much junk at all. It’s so amazing after years of yo-yo dieting, thank you so much Doc!!
@@thecount1001 sorry for the late response. Hope it got better for you. The first 1-3 weeks for me was rough like that. Just make sure your deficit isn’t too low starting out. You can do this! Start with 6-8 week cuts and don’t go too crazy long with it. That was my mistake thinking I can push a 13-16 week cut just to get it all off. I’d rather do 2-3, 6-8 week long cuts over like 16 months. Every time I’d try a super long diets it would backfire just like Dr Mike has said. Sorry if I didn’t answer your question.
I’m using this for anorexia recovery (I was obese before) because often they get you on a huge surplus and it’s really really tough mentally to adapt and last time I just binged. They also make you not move at all, finish ur meals super fast etc. it’s just all of a sudden 20 things are super different. This is something I could actually see myself succeeding at in addition with a good therapist and keep a healthy weight and become better. Thank you for this
I did a 12 week diet, lost 30lbs, then took 12 weeks off. I gained 5lbs back, so I didn't exactly maintain, but not bad for my first time. I'm currently in another 12 week diet phase. This advice is absolute gold. Thanks, Dr. Mike!
Such a golden video, I wish I would have found this after coming off my last weight loss. Instead, I “rewarded” my hard work with junk food and the flood gates opened, now it’s a battle to let go of those cravings.
@@GR-uc1gqI dunno about that other guy but I lost 27lbs (230 down to 203 in 8 weeks) and my maintenance phase saw me increase my calories from 2100, to 2350 a week later, then increased again to 2600 cals cos I was still actually losing weight. I’m 4 weeks into my maintenance phase now and my weight has stayed at 203lbs for the last 3 weeks (weekly average). It works!!! I wish I’d known this years ago. I would’ve saved myself so much frustration. Anyway, 4 more weeks and I’ll cut from 203 maybe down to 190 before deciding if I wanna keep going. Listen to Dr Mike’s advice in this video dude. It works!
Because of you Sir I went from 185 to 160 and I sustained for a few months then dropped another 11 lbs and I am at 149 lbs, I am going to maintain at 147 and then attempt to lose more fat after (dont think I have much left but I am planning to be sub 10%)
I got tempted - took the fat loss too long (16 weeks). Feel myself just unraveling and looking at my over-time month's progress and see I lost maybe 2lbs in a month but with incredible difficulty. Decided - I've taken this cut as far as I can go, and I need to go on maintenance, but am terrified of losing sight of my abs which I got down to for the first time in my life after 2 years with multiple phases of fat loss. Thankful for videos like this that can give me that nudge in the right direction and confidence to feel like I can tackle this impossible seeming task of getting to a comfortable maintenance.
This is working like text book wow. I finished a 12 week fat loss phase. Dropped 11lbs now I’m 2 weeks post diet. bumped up calories to maintenance and my weight has increased by 2% overall. Hopefully it stabilises at this weight and I can re enter another cut to finish off the last 10lbs in a few months from now. Love this content so much. Thank you so much dr for your efforts.
I got quite confused by this video, could you give me some advice, I’m at 62kg and I’m at a weight loss plateau, i eating less than 1300 calories and my maintenance is 1800-2000 what should I be doing?
@@prettyk_eiouyou should eat 1800 calories a day for a while, lets say 5 weeks, after that you can bring the calories back down and youll lose weight again
@@krumkrum476 I don't think you watched the fucking video. She should be eating 1500 calories per day and then dynamically adjust upward in tune with how her body reacts to the food.
I have never been (and will probably never be) a body builder or powerlifter, but this has been so helpful! I recently lost 90 lbs over the last 10 months, and was starting to freak out a bit over the last month or so as I neared goal. I've worked my butt off (quite literally) and did NOT want to gain it back. I discovered your channel while looking for some evidence-based plans for building some muscle as I'm feeling a bit "skinny-fat", and this video was exactly what I needed to help me wrap my brain around transitioning to maintenance calories in a controlled manner. It's mid-October as I write this, I'm almost 2 weeks into the maintenance phase, and it's all playing out pretty much as you describe. My short-term goal is to just maintain weight through the holidays while ramping cardio back a bit and ramping up strength a bit. Then I'll see where my body fat stands in the new year and go from there to either add a bit more muscle or drop a bit more body fat.
I paid for a weight loss coach to help me lose fat and get into the 140s. She has me eating at maintenance for two months now and I’m angry because I still have body fat and weight to lose. So now I’m scrolling the internet to find a reason why it’s so freakin important for me to be eating at maintenance when I want to be in a cut
Hopefully it makes sense now. It makes sense to me after listening to this. The stress of dieting is cut in half once you have a plan and an understanding of why we’re doing it. Once you have that, making the correct food choices is way easier
Thanks for the emphasis on maintenance. I'm three weeks in to my first proper maintenance phase and it feels so damn good to have a post diet plan. Also I have kept up my higher activity levels and I'm still losing, which just means I get more food increases! I really appreciate that you outline a return to not tracking every meal while being able to remain weight stable. I think this is still overlooked by people and I think RP could help by continuing to emphasize how important this transition to maintenance is.
I am doing EXACTLY what you are saying up to 9:23. Amazing timing with this video, thx for google and Renaissance Periodization! My initial goal was to go from 197.8 obese to 158.5 the highest weight to qualify for a 25 BMI healthy body weight. PHASE 1 - 12 Weeks - Started at 197.8 lbs and made it to 175.6 and it took a little less than 12 weeks. Was like yes! I can wear my old suits again! Look and feel better, easier to move around and I can walk for hours on end now and bike over 11 miles at a time. I started walking 10 minutes at a time now it's so easy. MAINTENANCE 1st Half (didn't know it at the time) - Was only going to do this for 7 weeks, but thanks to this video, I will get another 5 weeks in before the next cut. - I was very proud of my accomplishment. Then I started to binge, lose track of things, almost trying really hard to fight the temptation to go back so I said Ok just try to maintain this. It has been 7 weeks now and I weighed 175.5 this morning. I also increased the calories by 50% during this time eating ~ 2100 / day and was still tracking calories but less restrictive. Maintenance 2 Half - Starting tomorrow begins the last 5 weeks of maintenance and will introduce the cut starting in January. PHASE 2 The comment will probably be on the next video!
This has been so helpful! I've been trying to find information on what I need to do to maintain after weightloss and there's not enough info out there this hit the nail on the head! So informative thankyou very much!
Thanks Dr Mike. Down 30 lbs in 3 months from 315 and finished 1st week of maintenance. Currently slightly below 102% after adding in 50% so will add in 250 and see how it goes after a week or 2!
Finished a 12 week diet, and am on week 6 of my maintenance phase. The fact that I am still looking not only good, but better than at the end of my diet is my motivation to continue. It is nice to look in the mirror and keep that weight off. It is as our great teacher says, I gotta keep an eye on my intake and adjust if I gain or lose unintentionally. Thanks big doc! Your knowledge is super appreciated.
@@Iaintsayinnothin.. Thanks for asking. I am sure Dr.Mike is 100% right, but I didn't follow Dr. Mike's exact advice, as it hinder's my ability to have social dinners or drinks, and I wanna party, So rather then a proper maintenance phase, I guess what I did was a maintenance/slow slow bulk phase. I am not saying my approach is for everyone, but it is what I did and it works for me. Results: I finished dieting 4.25.21 at ( 144.2lbs or 65.4kg ) and now about 3 months later 7.21.21 I am (148.5lbs or 67.4kg). So an increase in weight of (4.3lbs or roughly 2kg) Hard to know what percent of that is due to increased gut content ( food) or holding more water due to increased carbs etc.. I think I still look lean and fuller due to being able to eat more. What I did: Basically the first month I stayed at around 200kcal below maintenance on the weekdays so that on the weekends I can eat at a slight surplus. This worked for me and I didnt gain any weight the first month. For the 2nd and 3rd month, I guess you could say, I went on a very slow slow bulk. As I started eating maintenance on the weekdays and a slight surplus on the weekends. This also worked, as I only seen a difference of 1-2lbs each month. I think I have put on very minimal fat if any. Again the amount that is actually fat gain is hard to tell. I am enjoying this approach and will continue to do it for the next few months. My training also is going well and I am progressing in all my lifts with no stalling or issues of fatigue. As for food and nutrition, I have definitley adjusted to being able to control my diet with more ease and am able to be happy with maintenance calories. In regards to your question about junk, I would eat "junk" on the weekends since the first week, but like I said, I was at a slight deficeit on the weekdays. But Even when I was on a proper weight loss diet I would eat a tiny bit of junk on some weekends and still lose weight. Just gotta track everything. I 100% recommend trying to eat like Dr. Mike recommends for a long while after you finish your diet. It most definitley solidifies eating habits and helps maintain that better physique ! Good luck!
@@TimTinhTranThanks for sharing! Good to know this s**t works! 😃 I’ve only been doing a fat loss diet for 8 weeks, but dropped from 230lbs down to 205lbs in that time, eating 2100 calories per day. I didn’t realise how steep that caloric deficit was when I began because I lost a whopping 25lbs in less than 8 weeks (24.10.23 - 17.12.23). I plan on doing an 8 week maintenance phase then I’ll get after what little blubber remains around Valentine’s Day. I’m kind of excited to know now I can eat a little more, recharge my mind, body, metabolism, get stronger, without undoing my progress or oozing over my belt line.
Thank you very much dr.Mike. This video helps me a lot. Normally, I always aim to lose weight in one go, and I will quit around 1 or 2 months because my motivation is draining and the goal seems too far. But with the maintenance phase, I know that I will quit the fat loss phase in the next two months which is not that long, so I have the motivation to keep diet.
It should be said that maintenance phases are a great opportunity to focus on non-hypertrophy training like strength and cardio! That's why I like to put my maintenance phases in the summer usually.
Thank you so much for putting this information out there. Paid a coach and was struggling and gained some back, feeling optimistic to go again without gaining it back after. Thank you!
Ok so it doesn’t have to be a 12-16 weeks fat loss phase then? Cool. How did you get on? I’m about to do a maintenance phase after 8 weeks or I might keep cutting for a few more weeks.
This information is gold. Mike you're the man for putting out this type of information for free. I agree with everything you're saying here and can vouch it works 100%. Remember anyone can lose a few pounds but can you maintain it?
Thank you so much! I have been searching up and down for information like this. Everyone else is either bulking or cutting. Maintenance is much needed!
Really good information and I wish I heard that earlier. I dieted for a little over a year, got to a great fat percentage for me (around 15%) but afterwards, I sort of snapped back. It was hard to slowly approach maintenance calories after the diet and I basically went back to free eating, which meant over the following year, I regained a lot of fat. It really should have taken that year after the diet to focus on maintenance. I falsely thought maintenance is going to be easy since it’s 300-500 additional calories, but really, getting used to maintenance calories is part of the diet. You still need to keep an eye on it, even though you have additional calories to play with. If you think about it though, 3-500 extra calories a day isn’t THAT much. You can’t just go hands free on that if you are someone that easily can overeat and over-indulge to the tune of 1000+ calories every day.
Wish i saw this video sooner. Went on a 17 week cut lost 26lbs and ive hit a plateau. Now i gotta maintain for just as long 😢 i aint even done cutting yet.
i did the exact same, and lost the exact same weight lol. Im curious if we HAVE to wait the same amount of time, or if there is a limit to the maintenance phase, which i suspect. Lets say a person was on a fat loss diet for 1 year, i highly doubt you have to maintain for another year, that sounds illogical. logically it would be the time it will take for your metabolism to recover and stabilize, but the question is, how long is that ? is that 12 weeks, hence 12 weeks fat loss ? Would love to know as i dont really want to be in maintenance, i really just wanna keep pushing on whenever possible.
I've been in an 800 calorie daily deficit for just over 4 months now, going from 260 to 230 lbs (me being 6 ft 2 with 1 year of lifting and natural) so I'm losing just over 1.5 lbs a week, and it's been EASY from beginning to end, but that doesn't mean it will be for someone else... I knew nothing about nutrition, I've been researching almost every day since I started my diet, I keep my diet relevant in as much things as I can, so that my first thought on food would be something healthy and/or low calorie dense. I keep myself awake and in the zone. I'm still gaining muscle and strength, though slower, so I concentrate on form and try to maximize protein intake. I walk at least 10k steps a day so that I can eat more (for more protein to better maintain /build muscle AND get more micro nutrients in. Your channel, Greg Doucette's, MPMD's, Mario Tomic's and a few others have made my weight loss journey so much more thrilling and easy, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!!
or to make it simpler just start eating your goal maintenance calories right at the start of your diet (or maybe even work your way down), and keep doing that forever (which you have to do anyway). You will get closer and closer to your goal weight and eventually get all the way within a few years.
I dieted for over a year and lost 137lbs (300 to 162), was very hard to adjust to maintenance. 162 was too lean for me to maintain. I have very little muscle on my frame. Decided to start eating to satiation because I was going crazy. First week of main-gaining with weight training
I’ve posted a*shole comments on your videos before like a complete tool back when there was a bit of drama between you and Greg. You’re one of the best sources of quality information out there.
Does diet phase include weeks in maintenance for deload? You are talking about 12 weeks diet phase. If you train for 12 weeks you probably need 3 deload weeks during that time period. In deload you should not be in deficit, you should be in maintenance. So, Do you include in your 12 week of diet the 3 weeks of maintenance? (Is it really 12 weeks or 15 weeks including deload? If you should loose 1% per week 12 weeks is not enough!)
You really do not need a deload that often, even advanced lifters like myself who pushes hard does not need a deload that often i first needed one after 6 weeks of being in fat loss phase. 6 weeks of being in kcal deficiet, had i been at maintaince level i could have went another 3-4 weeks due to the low stress nature. So unless you are cutting and training balls to the walls with lots of outside stress then there is no need for a deload every 4 weeks rather than that id look into outside stressors and remove them if possible.
I weighed 200lbs did 1000 calorie deficit for 3 weeks and got down to 175 could not take it anymore and ate 4 gallons of ice cream a day for a year. Now im training for sumo in japan.
i did the opposite, i used movement instead of food to lose weight. i kept the same calories, but increased movement. so i'll be tweaking my movement during maintenance
God damn, I really sped run this all. I lost weight for like a year and a half straight, and have maintained being ripped with abs and popping veins ever since I finished like a year and 8 months ago.
Does it have to be as long as a 12 week cut and a 12 week maintenance phase, or could you just make each phase 6 weeks or 8 weeks instead? 🤷🏻♂️ Any feedback would be greatly appreciated guys. When I started cutting on 24th Oct (2023) my fat loss accelerated rather quickly at -3lbs per week for 8 weeks = 24 lbs. My deficit was likely too steep without realising it at the time. Anyway ,I’ve gone from 230lbs down to 205lbs today (17th December, ) and I’m starting to notice my strength decreasing, libido wavering, cravings increase, and my NEAT is low. Isn’t 24lbs the max I should be losing across 12 weeks anyway? 🤔 Again, any pertinent feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙏🏻
First of all, thank you so much for creating this content... I am learning so much and sharing it with all my friends! Quick question, how many calories would you reintroduce after a 7 days water only fast? I was in a slight deficit before the fast at 1800...Would you do a whole week at 900? Thank you so much in advance
It definitely requires patience. You got goals and it seems like maintenance is just waiting to get back to them. One thing that’s helped me (inspired by Jordan Syatt and Susan Niebergall) was reframing maintenance as momentum. This period does have a purpose, to restore your physical and mental energy so you can operate at its full capacity. It’s an investment in your future development. Also, for those on the fat loss path, maintenance is a great time to work on building strength and athleticism. This is where you’ll be best equipped to get that first chin-up or train for a 10K or whatever it is you’d like to do. I’ve spoken with a lot of chronic dieters who were amazed at just how much their mood and strength improved once they got (and stayed) out of a deficit.
I'm not sure about everyone else, but for me the cryptoniye is alcohol! Few glasses of wine on saturday evening keeps me crave food and screws up metabolism for 2 days after,I crave food,wake up hungry....! I think we need to tell people to ditch booze first and foremost!
How would cardio be adjusted Mike? Because it will offset your energy balance which could put you back at maintenance without adding any food depending on the amount of cardio you were doing at the end of your diet. Would you initially adjust cardio, food intake or both?
I’m a bit lost and need help My maintenance should be around 1900. I ended my deficit with 1500 calories, then increased to 1700 for two weeks and now it’s been a week at 1800, and I’m still consistently losing weight. I’m on week 3 after exiting my deficit and never actually gained weight, which is surprising since I have a hard time losing weight (lost around 1lbs a week during deficit). So now I’m not sure what i should consider my baseline weight to be, since it never increased during this time. I actually ended up losing an extra 1.3 lbs in these 3 weeks 🫠
Do all these steps apply to someone who wants to cut fat and then return back to a bulking stage afterwards to build muscle? it seems like this tutorial is more for people who just want to loose weight yet this channel is about weight lifting and body builders?
How should training be approached in the maintenance phase, especially if I plan another cut in 12 weeks. I feel I've gotten weaker in my lifts during my cut and I'd like to maximize the ability to restore strength before the next cut.
When you say that people shouldn't run a fat loss phase continuously for more than 12 weeks, is that based on some specific science or just general best practice for the average individual? I've been dieting slowly for approximately a year, dropping about 50 lbs (~20% of my starting weight), and during that time I've only taken a few weeks at maintenance. However, I'm not experiencing any diet fatigue and I *feel* like I can easily keep going without a long maintenance period. Am I shooting myself in the foot if I wait until I experience some diet fatigue before incorporating longer periods at maintenance?
Can anyone answer me this? I didn't cut calories by much, I increased my step count and overall daily acitivty When transitioning to maintenence do I just decrease my activity and keep my calories the same or?
This is for people who are afraid of weight gain during the maintenance phase, I recently came off a 12 weeks diet ended up at 191.4 lbs, took a 2 weeks diet break eating at maintenance level kept weight training the same cut cardio by about 75% and ended up at 196.5 lbs by the end of the diet break (+5 lbs or 2.5% in body weight), then started a new round of dieting phase, 1 week in and I weigh 190.6 lbs, I weighed myself at the same exact time to minimize fluctuations. This is to show that most of the weight gained during the maintenance phase are just water and glycogen which will go away when you start dieting again, so do not get upset when you weigh yourself during maintenance phase and think you just lost weeks of progress, it's just normal body weight fluctuation.
🙌🏾
Thanks for posting this. This happened to me earlier this year so I guilted myself to hit the diet harder. I ended up messing up my metabolism. I caught it early enough to break long term and doing things slower now. I am going on my first break in 12 weeks.
Thanks homie, appreciate the heads up
also:
Long Live King Frost!
Thanks for sharing. That’ll come in handy when it’s my turn. Can I ask: How much did you increase your calories by when you went to maintenance? (Percentage wise)
I started at 230lbs on 24th Oct. Now I’m at 206lbs today (17th Dec) eating 2100 calories daily, and have lost on average 3 lbs per week.
After watching this video I’m now planning to do a maintenance phase on 16th Jan (12 weeks in) and I don’t know what my maintenance calories are, so I figured I’d just add a hundred calories in each week.
If my weight increases by over 2.5% during the maintenance phase, should I reduce the calories? I’m not sure how much is too much in terms of calories 🤔
@@CursedWheelieBin there's a very simple yet effective way to calculate your maintenance calories, which is your weight in pounds x 13, that should put you in the maintenance zone. Don't think too much about that 2.5% number, it was just my personal experience, not set in stone, just use the weight in pounds x 13 formula as your guideline and go from there, that's what I did.
I’ve tried this after my 12 week cut and it’s fucking amazing how well this information works. I lost 29lbs I got to 254 I’m eating 2800 calories on my 3rd week of maintenance and it’s working. I am not craving much junk at all. It’s so amazing after years of yo-yo dieting, thank you so much Doc!!
Adrian, how was your mood going through this? i'm only into week 2 on calorie deficit and man, i'm foggy and grumpy.
So this may be a dumb question but where do you track calories? I use the RP app but I’ve never seen anything here it’s calculating calories.
@@thecount1001 sorry for the late response. Hope it got better for you. The first 1-3 weeks for me was rough like that. Just make sure your deficit isn’t too low starting out. You can do this! Start with 6-8 week cuts and don’t go too crazy long with it. That was my mistake thinking I can push a 13-16 week cut just to get it all off. I’d rather do 2-3, 6-8 week long cuts over like 16 months. Every time I’d try a super long diets it would backfire just like Dr Mike has said. Sorry if I didn’t answer your question.
Well done mate
Shit bruh I’m at week 11 of my cut can definitely feel the negative effects of the cut, can’t wait to start my 2 week maintenance phase
I still cant believe your putting information like this out for free to the public. Thank you, love your content, keep it coming brotha💪
@Yirlani explain
@@TJ_Gonser he gets paid by YT for views.
This channel is in my top 4 best weight lifting and dieting channels.. and I watch LOADS of them
@@IntegraDIY logical framework provided makes it very easy to translate into any type of programming. Easy simple clear scientific information.
This info has been known for decades, but it is true that it has been mainly paid for unless someone that paid tells you about it for free.
I’m using this for anorexia recovery (I was obese before) because often they get you on a huge surplus and it’s really really tough mentally to adapt and last time I just binged. They also make you not move at all, finish ur meals super fast etc. it’s just all of a sudden 20 things are super different.
This is something I could actually see myself succeeding at in addition with a good therapist and keep a healthy weight and become better.
Thank you for this
I did a 12 week diet, lost 30lbs, then took 12 weeks off. I gained 5lbs back, so I didn't exactly maintain, but not bad for my first time. I'm currently in another 12 week diet phase. This advice is absolute gold. Thanks, Dr. Mike!
3 of those 5lbs is probably water weight dw
Such a golden video, I wish I would have found this after coming off my last weight loss. Instead, I “rewarded” my hard work with junk food and the flood gates opened, now it’s a battle to let go of those cravings.
THANK YOU! My fat-loss phase is ending this month and this is what I needed.
I mean he is right on tyme for me as well, gotta love true sci fyi body building! Its out of this world info for the new healthier human being.
Mine ended last week, I’m now on maintenance! Good luck to you!
How much did you gain ?
I swear I thought that was a fleshlight shirt. 😂
@@GR-uc1gqI dunno about that other guy but I lost 27lbs (230 down to 203 in 8 weeks) and my maintenance phase saw me increase my calories from 2100, to 2350 a week later, then increased again to 2600 cals cos I was still actually losing weight.
I’m 4 weeks into my maintenance phase now and my weight has stayed at 203lbs for the last 3 weeks (weekly average). It works!!! I wish I’d known this years ago. I would’ve saved myself so much frustration.
Anyway, 4 more weeks and I’ll cut from 203 maybe down to 190 before deciding if I wanna keep going.
Listen to Dr Mike’s advice in this video dude. It works!
This channel is a godsend. He answers every question ive ever had about diet/training in a simple and easy to understand way.
Because of you Sir I went from 185 to 160 and I sustained for a few months then dropped another 11 lbs and I am at 149 lbs, I am going to maintain at 147 and then attempt to lose more fat after (dont think I have much left but I am planning to be sub 10%)
I got tempted - took the fat loss too long (16 weeks). Feel myself just unraveling and looking at my over-time month's progress and see I lost maybe 2lbs in a month but with incredible difficulty. Decided - I've taken this cut as far as I can go, and I need to go on maintenance, but am terrified of losing sight of my abs which I got down to for the first time in my life after 2 years with multiple phases of fat loss. Thankful for videos like this that can give me that nudge in the right direction and confidence to feel like I can tackle this impossible seeming task of getting to a comfortable maintenance.
You’ll get them right back once your maintenance phase is complete if you want to cut again 🤷🏻♂️
This is working like text book wow. I finished a 12 week fat loss phase. Dropped 11lbs now I’m 2 weeks post diet. bumped up calories to maintenance and my weight has increased by 2% overall. Hopefully it stabilises at this weight and I can re enter another cut to finish off the last 10lbs in a few months from now. Love this content so much. Thank you so much dr for your efforts.
I got quite confused by this video, could you give me some advice, I’m at 62kg and I’m at a weight loss plateau, i eating less than 1300 calories and my maintenance is 1800-2000 what should I be doing?
@@prettyk_eiouyou should eat 1800 calories a day for a while, lets say 5 weeks, after that you can bring the calories back down and youll lose weight again
@@krumkrum476 I don't think you watched the fucking video. She should be eating 1500 calories per day and then dynamically adjust upward in tune with how her body reacts to the food.
@@prettyk_eiouWhat you should be doing is watching this video series from part 1 so you can listen and learn for yourself. Get to work
Yo, so I’m about 200 pounds rn, I dieted for like 16 weeks from 230lbs eating about 1800-2000 calories a day. What is my maintenance? Help!
189 down to 179, still got a ways to go but this is going to be helpful when I hit my goal weight. Thank you dr
I have never been (and will probably never be) a body builder or powerlifter, but this has been so helpful! I recently lost 90 lbs over the last 10 months, and was starting to freak out a bit over the last month or so as I neared goal. I've worked my butt off (quite literally) and did NOT want to gain it back. I discovered your channel while looking for some evidence-based plans for building some muscle as I'm feeling a bit "skinny-fat", and this video was exactly what I needed to help me wrap my brain around transitioning to maintenance calories in a controlled manner. It's mid-October as I write this, I'm almost 2 weeks into the maintenance phase, and it's all playing out pretty much as you describe. My short-term goal is to just maintain weight through the holidays while ramping cardio back a bit and ramping up strength a bit. Then I'll see where my body fat stands in the new year and go from there to either add a bit more muscle or drop a bit more body fat.
I paid for a weight loss coach to help me lose fat and get into the 140s. She has me eating at maintenance for two months now and I’m angry because I still have body fat and weight to lose. So now I’m scrolling the internet to find a reason why it’s so freakin important for me to be eating at maintenance when I want to be in a cut
well you found it.
Hopefully it makes sense now.
It makes sense to me after listening to this. The stress of dieting is cut in half once you have a plan and an understanding of why we’re doing it. Once you have that, making the correct food choices is way easier
How did it go?
Thanks for the emphasis on maintenance. I'm three weeks in to my first proper maintenance phase and it feels so damn good to have a post diet plan. Also I have kept up my higher activity levels and I'm still losing, which just means I get more food increases! I really appreciate that you outline a return to not tracking every meal while being able to remain weight stable.
I think this is still overlooked by people and I think RP could help by continuing to emphasize how important this transition to maintenance is.
I am doing EXACTLY what you are saying up to 9:23. Amazing timing with this video, thx for google and Renaissance Periodization! My initial goal was to go from 197.8 obese to 158.5 the highest weight to qualify for a 25 BMI healthy body weight.
PHASE 1 - 12 Weeks
- Started at 197.8 lbs and made it to 175.6 and it took a little less than 12 weeks. Was like yes! I can wear my old suits again! Look and feel better, easier to move around and I can walk for hours on end now and bike over 11 miles at a time. I started walking 10 minutes at a time now it's so easy.
MAINTENANCE 1st Half (didn't know it at the time) - Was only going to do this for 7 weeks, but thanks to this video, I will get another 5 weeks in before the next cut.
- I was very proud of my accomplishment. Then I started to binge, lose track of things, almost trying really hard to fight the temptation to go back so I said Ok just try to maintain this. It has been 7 weeks now and I weighed 175.5 this morning. I also increased the calories by 50% during this time eating ~ 2100 / day and was still tracking calories but less restrictive.
Maintenance 2 Half
- Starting tomorrow begins the last 5 weeks of maintenance and will introduce the cut starting in January.
PHASE 2
The comment will probably be on the next video!
You increased your maintenance calories up to 2100, from what? 1850?
This has been so helpful! I've been trying to find information on what I need to do to maintain after weightloss and there's not enough info out there this hit the nail on the head! So informative thankyou very much!
It is a crime the view count is so low on such an important concept.
Спасибо, Майк, что поделился.
Love your stuff Dr Mike! Down from 250 to 232lbs and ending my cut this week. Easiest 18th ive ever lost and I feel stronger than ever.
As someone whose dieted down several times, this has literally made my day. The genius. The goat. Mike iz 👑
Thanks Dr Mike. Down 30 lbs in 3 months from 315 and finished 1st week of maintenance. Currently slightly below 102% after adding in 50% so will add in 250 and see how it goes after a week or 2!
Thank Dr. Mike. As always, you are the best!
I am on my week 12 and the temptation to keep going is killing me. Christmas is in 70 days, I couldmdo so much till then
Finished a 12 week diet, and am on week 6 of my maintenance phase. The fact that I am still looking not only good, but better than at the end of my diet is my motivation to continue. It is nice to look in the mirror and keep that weight off. It is as our great teacher says, I gotta keep an eye on my intake and adjust if I gain or lose unintentionally. Thanks big doc! Your knowledge is super appreciated.
how are you a month later? still keeping the weight off? reintroduced junk yet?
@@Iaintsayinnothin.. Thanks for asking.
I am sure Dr.Mike is 100% right, but I didn't follow Dr. Mike's exact advice, as it hinder's my ability to have social dinners or drinks, and I wanna party, So rather then a proper maintenance phase, I guess what I did was a maintenance/slow slow bulk phase. I am not saying my approach is for everyone, but it is what I did and it works for me.
Results:
I finished dieting 4.25.21 at ( 144.2lbs or 65.4kg ) and now about 3 months later 7.21.21 I am (148.5lbs or 67.4kg).
So an increase in weight of (4.3lbs or roughly 2kg)
Hard to know what percent of that is due to increased gut content ( food) or holding more water due to increased carbs etc.. I think I still look lean and fuller due to being able to eat more.
What I did:
Basically the first month I stayed at around 200kcal below maintenance on the weekdays so that on the weekends I can eat at a slight surplus. This worked for me and I didnt gain any weight the first month.
For the 2nd and 3rd month, I guess you could say, I went on a very slow slow bulk. As I started eating maintenance on the weekdays and a slight surplus on the weekends. This also worked, as I only seen a difference of 1-2lbs each month. I think I have put on very minimal fat if any. Again the amount that is actually fat gain is hard to tell.
I am enjoying this approach and will continue to do it for the next few months. My training also is going well and I am progressing in all my lifts with no stalling or issues of fatigue. As for food and nutrition, I have definitley adjusted to being able to control my diet with more ease and am able to be happy with maintenance calories. In regards to your question about junk, I would eat "junk" on the weekends since the first week, but like I said, I was at a slight deficeit on the weekdays. But Even when I was on a proper weight loss diet I would eat a tiny bit of junk on some weekends and still lose weight. Just gotta track everything.
I 100% recommend trying to eat like Dr. Mike recommends for a long while after you finish your diet. It most definitley solidifies eating habits and helps maintain that better physique !
Good luck!
@@TimTinhTranThanks for sharing! Good to know this s**t works! 😃
I’ve only been doing a fat loss diet for 8 weeks, but dropped from 230lbs down to 205lbs in that time, eating 2100 calories per day. I didn’t realise how steep that caloric deficit was when I began because I lost a whopping 25lbs in less than 8 weeks (24.10.23 - 17.12.23).
I plan on doing an 8 week maintenance phase then I’ll get after what little blubber remains around Valentine’s Day.
I’m kind of excited to know now I can eat a little more, recharge my mind, body, metabolism, get stronger, without undoing my progress or oozing over my belt line.
Love the info and how he gives the why and sets expectations. Perfect
I wish I knew this before all my bodybuilding preps. Eating disorder ruined my social life and my gut :(
Thank you very much dr.Mike. This video helps me a lot. Normally, I always aim to lose weight in one go, and I will quit around 1 or 2 months because my motivation is draining and the goal seems too far. But with the maintenance phase, I know that I will quit the fat loss phase in the next two months which is not that long, so I have the motivation to keep diet.
RP channel is a gold mine.. gold mine I tell you!!
It should be said that maintenance phases are a great opportunity to focus on non-hypertrophy training like strength and cardio! That's why I like to put my maintenance phases in the summer usually.
Thank you so much for putting this information out there. Paid a coach and was struggling and gained some back, feeling optimistic to go again without gaining it back after. Thank you!
My worst mistake was not knowing about the maintenance phase and now I'm paying for it, it's probably more important than the diet itself.
This guys cracks me up with how he delivers the truth
What an amazing channel!!! Thanks Dr Mike. Loving the quality easy to understand content from the UK 🇬🇧
Great timing! Just entered my maintenance phase after 9 weeks of dieting and really need extra motivation and tips :-)
Ok so it doesn’t have to be a 12-16 weeks fat loss phase then? Cool.
How did you get on?
I’m about to do a maintenance phase after 8 weeks or I might keep cutting for a few more weeks.
I’ve never heard this explained so well. Thank you 😊
I was panicked about gaining over 4 lbs during maintenance. I lost it all back Day 3 of second diet phase. Awesome!
what does that mean ?
@@mohamadsorya6718 it means he had all water weight that shredded right off, so you don't need to stress a few pounds when maintaining
This information is gold. Mike you're the man for putting out this type of information for free. I agree with everything you're saying here and can vouch it works 100%. Remember anyone can lose a few pounds but can you maintain it?
Thank you so much! I have been searching up and down for information like this. Everyone else is either bulking or cutting. Maintenance is much needed!
No one talks about this. Thank you for this.
Great timing... finished my first cut with RP app, and working on maintenance.
Really good information and I wish I heard that earlier. I dieted for a little over a year, got to a great fat percentage for me (around 15%) but afterwards, I sort of snapped back. It was hard to slowly approach maintenance calories after the diet and I basically went back to free eating, which meant over the following year, I regained a lot of fat. It really should have taken that year after the diet to focus on maintenance. I falsely thought maintenance is going to be easy since it’s 300-500 additional calories, but really, getting used to maintenance calories is part of the diet. You still need to keep an eye on it, even though you have additional calories to play with. If you think about it though, 3-500 extra calories a day isn’t THAT much. You can’t just go hands free on that if you are someone that easily can overeat and over-indulge to the tune of 1000+ calories every day.
Thank you so much - you are an absolute champion for providing this kind of information. Can't wait to kick off : )
Wish i saw this video sooner. Went on a 17 week cut lost 26lbs and ive hit a plateau. Now i gotta maintain for just as long 😢 i aint even done cutting yet.
i did the exact same, and lost the exact same weight lol. Im curious if we HAVE to wait the same amount of time, or if there is a limit to the maintenance phase, which i suspect. Lets say a person was on a fat loss diet for 1 year, i highly doubt you have to maintain for another year, that sounds illogical. logically it would be the time it will take for your metabolism to recover and stabilize, but the question is, how long is that ? is that 12 weeks, hence 12 weeks fat loss ? Would love to know as i dont really want to be in maintenance, i really just wanna keep pushing on whenever possible.
Awesome stuff. I love these series. I own the hypertrophy books, the diet and 4 workout templates and I still glad you put these in layman's terms.
This info is gold man I been using the rp coach app and it's been helping me lose some weight. So thank you for that
Golden! The advice I needed.
Man you explain comicating things I'm the simplest manor possible. Thank you Dr mike
I've been in an 800 calorie daily deficit for just over 4 months now, going from 260 to 230 lbs (me being 6 ft 2 with 1 year of lifting and natural) so I'm losing just over 1.5 lbs a week, and it's been EASY from beginning to end, but that doesn't mean it will be for someone else... I knew nothing about nutrition, I've been researching almost every day since I started my diet, I keep my diet relevant in as much things as I can, so that my first thought on food would be something healthy and/or low calorie dense. I keep myself awake and in the zone. I'm still gaining muscle and strength, though slower, so I concentrate on form and try to maximize protein intake. I walk at least 10k steps a day so that I can eat more (for more protein to better maintain /build muscle AND get more micro nutrients in. Your channel, Greg Doucette's, MPMD's, Mario Tomic's and a few others have made my weight loss journey so much more thrilling and easy, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!!
Just want to give you my sincere appreciation for this content. This is the most succinct string of videos on y he subject I’ve ever seen. Well done.
Thank you Dr. 💪
or to make it simpler just start eating your goal maintenance calories right at the start of your diet (or maybe even work your way down), and keep doing that forever (which you have to do anyway). You will get closer and closer to your goal weight and eventually get all the way within a few years.
Thanks Dr Mike! I track everything so this gives me a path to maintenance a after our July 4th beach vacation.
I wish I found this video back in November when I was down 26lbs now I’m only down 22lbs.
Who else automatically smashes the like button whenever a new RP video comes out, to help boost them in the UA-cam algorithm? 😁
Thanks doc this is where I am in my training so motivating cheers
I dieted for over a year and lost 137lbs (300 to 162), was very hard to adjust to maintenance. 162 was too lean for me to maintain. I have very little muscle on my frame. Decided to start eating to satiation because I was going crazy. First week of main-gaining with weight training
How did you go, did you keep it off or build muscle? That's a solid weightloss
I’ve posted a*shole comments on your videos before like a complete tool back when there was a bit of drama between you and Greg. You’re one of the best sources of quality information out there.
I been going down consistently for a year. 252 to 182 atm aiming for 150ish. I have gone maintenance just to take a break
Love the great info and the Doc’s T-Shirts
Love ur content doc!
Wow this is awesome thank you 🙏
This is extremely helpful!!!
2:40 "Recovery is a foot." I'm not sure I'm following this analogy.
Read it as: Recovery is afoot.
afoot /əˈfo͝ot/ - in preparation or progress; happening or beginning to happen.
@@MegaSodom XD well I thought I was being funny
Does diet phase include weeks in maintenance for deload?
You are talking about 12 weeks diet phase.
If you train for 12 weeks you probably need 3 deload weeks during that time period.
In deload you should not be in deficit, you should be in maintenance.
So,
Do you include in your 12 week of diet the 3 weeks of maintenance?
(Is it really 12 weeks or 15 weeks including deload? If you should loose 1% per week 12 weeks is not enough!)
You really do not need a deload that often, even advanced lifters like myself who pushes hard does not need a deload that often i first needed one after 6 weeks of being in fat loss phase. 6 weeks of being in kcal deficiet, had i been at maintaince level i could have went another 3-4 weeks due to the low stress nature. So unless you are cutting and training balls to the walls with lots of outside stress then there is no need for a deload every 4 weeks rather than that id look into outside stressors and remove them if possible.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge 🙏❤
I weighed 200lbs did 1000 calorie deficit for 3 weeks and got down to 175 could not take it anymore and ate 4 gallons of ice cream a day for a year. Now im training for sumo in japan.
Thanks for the content!
My maintenance period became a bulk when I realized I gained 20 lbs.
@0070 Gibran Maulana Yeah. Cuts are for pussies who are afraid of getting swole.
God i love this channel
Who tf gives this great info a thumbs down?
I wish I know the maintenance process takes as long as the dieting process in advance... Now I have to re-diet again~
Can't wait until I'm at this phase in 7 weeks 👍.
I think the most important question everyone has after watching this awesome video Mike is where you got that T-shirt from!??
Full ROM Apparel
Can you expect muscle gain or power gain during the maintenance phase? Do you need to change your volume or intensity?
ua-cam.com/video/8QpjX2K-JY0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/dXVFzcQYj3w/v-deo.html
Strength gains for sure
I would say so. Specially if you still have weight to lose
i did the opposite, i used movement instead of food to lose weight. i kept the same calories, but increased movement. so i'll be tweaking my movement during maintenance
God damn, I really sped run this all. I lost weight for like a year and a half straight, and have maintained being ripped with abs and popping veins ever since I finished like a year and 8 months ago.
What if I was on a deficit for 2 years? Should I try to maintain for 2 years before the next cut? 👀
Does it have to be as long as a 12 week cut and a 12 week maintenance phase, or could you just make each phase 6 weeks or 8 weeks instead? 🤷🏻♂️
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated guys.
When I started cutting on 24th Oct (2023) my fat loss accelerated rather quickly at -3lbs per week for 8 weeks = 24 lbs. My deficit was likely too steep without realising it at the time.
Anyway ,I’ve gone from 230lbs down to 205lbs today (17th December, ) and I’m starting to notice my strength decreasing, libido wavering, cravings increase, and my NEAT is low.
Isn’t 24lbs the max I should be losing across 12 weeks anyway? 🤔
Again, any pertinent feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙏🏻
First of all, thank you so much for creating this content... I am learning so much and sharing it with all my friends!
Quick question, how many calories would you reintroduce after a 7 days water only fast? I was in a slight deficit before the fast at 1800...Would you do a whole week at 900?
Thank you so much in advance
What is your evidence for a stopping a cut after 12 weeks, and maintenance phase ? I'm ready to believe but I need to see the evidence.
These are amazing videos. I just love the technical aspects. So right. I finally don’t yo-yo. That just blew. So deflating
1:42 iam stuck here
Believe him guys
Stuck there from past 8 months.
Mike is da man!!💪🤙👏👌🤟
Great video 👍🏾
Maintinence is honestly harder than massing or cutting for me!
It definitely requires patience. You got goals and it seems like maintenance is just waiting to get back to them.
One thing that’s helped me (inspired by Jordan Syatt and Susan Niebergall) was reframing maintenance as momentum. This period does have a purpose, to restore your physical and mental energy so you can operate at its full capacity. It’s an investment in your future development.
Also, for those on the fat loss path, maintenance is a great time to work on building strength and athleticism. This is where you’ll be best equipped to get that first chin-up or train for a 10K or whatever it is you’d like to do. I’ve spoken with a lot of chronic dieters who were amazed at just how much their mood and strength improved once they got (and stayed) out of a deficit.
I'm not sure about everyone else, but for me the cryptoniye is alcohol! Few glasses of wine on saturday evening keeps me crave food and screws up metabolism for 2 days after,I crave food,wake up hungry....! I think we need to tell people to ditch booze first and foremost!
What if you add the 500 cals and nothing happens to your bodyweight? Add more until I go up 2% in stable bodyweight and then try to maintain that?
How would cardio be adjusted Mike? Because it will offset your energy balance which could put you back at maintenance without adding any food depending on the amount of cardio you were doing at the end of your diet. Would you initially adjust cardio, food intake or both?
that one person who desliked was mad to hear about need of the maintenance phase to ease maintaining lower bodyfat compistion
I've been stuck at a plateau for about 3 months, so should I eat at Maintenance for about 3 month? Thank you for this information also 🙏🏾
Damn I've been on a 40 week cutting 'phase' , over due for a maintenance phase, surely I don't have to do 40 weeks of maintenance?!
I’m a bit lost and need help
My maintenance should be around 1900. I ended my deficit with 1500 calories, then increased to 1700 for two weeks and now it’s been a week at 1800, and I’m still consistently losing weight.
I’m on week 3 after exiting my deficit and never actually gained weight, which is surprising since I have a hard time losing weight (lost around 1lbs a week during deficit).
So now I’m not sure what i should consider my baseline weight to be, since it never increased during this time. I actually ended up losing an extra 1.3 lbs in these 3 weeks 🫠
Do all these steps apply to someone who wants to cut fat and then return back to a bulking stage afterwards to build muscle? it seems like this tutorial is more for people who just want to loose weight yet this channel is about weight lifting and body builders?
So, what should my training look like during maintenance? Heavier? Lower reps?
Thank god you modded 'stay tuned' ; I would've waited here like an asshole. Love.
How should training be approached in the maintenance phase, especially if I plan another cut in 12 weeks. I feel I've gotten weaker in my lifts during my cut and I'd like to maximize the ability to restore strength before the next cut.
When you say that people shouldn't run a fat loss phase continuously for more than 12 weeks, is that based on some specific science or just general best practice for the average individual? I've been dieting slowly for approximately a year, dropping about 50 lbs (~20% of my starting weight), and during that time I've only taken a few weeks at maintenance. However, I'm not experiencing any diet fatigue and I *feel* like I can easily keep going without a long maintenance period. Am I shooting myself in the foot if I wait until I experience some diet fatigue before incorporating longer periods at maintenance?
I think i need to do some adjustments
Can anyone answer me this?
I didn't cut calories by much, I increased my step count and overall daily acitivty
When transitioning to maintenence do I just decrease my activity and keep my calories the same or?
So I did a 37 week cut because I just kept pushing and pushing, does this mean a 37 week maintenance phase ???