Maintaining fat loss goals over the long-term requires a combination of strategies.
Here are some tips to help you avoid blow outs post dieting phases:
Understanding your maintenance calories:
Knowing your maintenance calories is crucial to maintaining results.
This number represents roughly the number of calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight. Once you know this number, you can adjust your calorie intake accordingly to avoid overeating or blowing out your calories.
This can often also be represented as a calorie range or an average, depending mostly on shifting daily energy expenditure and increased energy availabilty allowing for increased energy output.
So we can have a lower and higher end of maintenace and it's mostly more benefical to sit at the higher end.
Practice mindful and intuitive eating:
Mindful or intuitive eating involves being present and aware of your food choices and how your body responds to them. This can help you avoid overeating and make smarter food choices.
Sure, incoporate some of the foods you enoy, but be mindful of when you've probably had enough or don't really feel like having something super rich, decadent or calorie dense.
Think about the way you currently feel and how this corresponds to your next food choices. Give your body time to respond to the meal you have just eaten. Slow down your eating and try to fill time between meals with something that takes your focus away from food.
Maintain exercise frequency in your weekly routine:
Exercise is essential for energy balance, as it helps to burn calories and build muscle mass.
Aim to incorporate strength training into your weekly routine for muscle growth/maintenance and cardivascular based endeavours if your focus is aerobic fitness.
Don't drop the ball entirely with your training just because you've reached your goal.
But also aim to taper back cardio or steps if the initial intention of incorporating these was increased energy expenditure for increased fat loss.
Take regular diet breaks:
Taking a break from your diet can help you avoid plateaus or sliding off track with dieting and give you the mental break you need to remain driven towards the end goal.
Consider taking a break every 8-12 weeks, and use this time to focus on maintenance calories and improving recovery and performance instead of fat loss.
Remember, fat loss is not a one-time event - it's a lifestyle change.
By making informed decisions and remaining consistent, you can achieve your fat loss goals and maintain your progress for years to come. Or perhaps even reverse out of low body fat phases (Comp prep) safely and calmly.
