Maintenance: Setting Realistic Goals and Expectations
Are you headed into a “maintenance” phase, perhaps for the first time ever, and not entirely sure what it really means to live at maintenance or how your goals and expectations should differ from that of a dieting phase?
If so, you’re not alone, as many of my StrongHer Athletes are headed into maintenance for the summer! In this post I’ll explain the different goals and expectations I’ve encouraged them to set for themselves so you can also set yourself up for a successful season at maintenance.
What is maintenance?
Before we get into how to set appropriate goals and expectations for maintenance, it’s important that you understand what maintenance actually means.
Most women think that maintenance means just that - a literal maintenance of progress.
That their body composition goals are being put on hold, and that they won’t see continued progress until they’re “allowed” to go back down into a deficit.
This could not be further from the truth.
Living at maintenance simply means you are eating the same amount of calories that you expend in a day. So, you are simply maintaining energy balance.
This is the time during which your body thrives because it no longer has to pick and choose what functions to prioritize and what to down regulate. So, your body will have a chance to optimize its internal health which will have a positive impact on how you look, feel and function on a daily basis.
This is why it’s important to spend the MAJORITY of our time at maintenance and only use dieting phases as needed. Maintenance is HOME for your body.
So, if maintenance simply refers to eating enough to maintain energy balance, why do some women continue to achieve positive changes in body composition, some see no changes, and some actually see a regression in progress?
While there are MANY factors that influence the results you can expect to achieve at maintenance, I have found that above all else your MENTAL APPROACH matters most.
If you enter a maintenance phase with the mindset that it’s a punishment, it’s boring, and you’re not going to make any progress, then you are more than likely to end up amongst the group of women who do in fact see zero change or experience a regression in progress.
However, if you choose to enter a maintenance phase with the mindset that it is an opportunity for continued growth and set appropriate goals and expectations for what is achievable, you will likely be amongst the group of women who continue to actively improve their physique.
So, what kind of goals and expectations are appropriate for maintenance?
Before we get into what kind of goals are appropriate for maintenance, it’s important to understand what kind of outcomes you can expect.
So, let’s go ahead and dive into expectations, then we’ll talk about goals!
Scale Weight and Measurements
The first and most important thing to remember when eating at maintenance is that YOU ARE NO LONGER IN A FAT LOSS PHASE!
Which is what I see women struggle with the most; they are mentally one foot in a fat loss phase and one foot in a maintenance phase. Which results in having unrealistic expectations for progress and ultimately feeling as though they are failing.
In order to actively lose fat you need to be eating in a calorie deficit, which means eating LESS than what you expend; which is not what you are doing if you are eating at maintenance, so you should not expect the scale or measurements to continue to trend downward.
Not only that, you should actually anticipate seeing an initial increase of 2-3 lbs due to having more energy stored in cells, food in your stomach, in your bowels etc.
After that initial increase you should expect the scale to level out and maintain about a 2-3 lb fluctuation which will be influenced by a number of things (another post for another time).
And if your goal is to put on muscle (which is the case if you have a desire to actually change the shape of your body), then you may actually see a slight trend upward over time because that new muscle is going to weigh something.
So, the first step of setting yourself up for success at maintenance is letting go of the expectations you set for progress in a fat loss phase and accept that you are at MAINTENANCE. This means letting go of the scale and starting to rely more on the other tools in your toolbox to measure progress.
Photos & Changes in Body Composition
While it is possible to see continued progress in photos and body composition at maintenance, I personally feel as though social media has really exaggerated the changes you can expect to see; especially in a short period of time (< 6 months).
For example, I’ve seen many advertise that while at maintenance you can continue to recomp your body and get a snatched waist while building a juicy booty.
Which again, encourages women to keep one foot mentally in a fat loss phase, and one foot in maintenance. They’re expecting fat loss (1-2 inches off the waist) and muscle growth (1-2 inches on the glutes) to occur at the same time, and when it doesn’t happen they get frustrated and wonder what it is they’re doing wrong.
When in reality the only thing they’re doing wrong is setting unrealistic expectations for change.
Yes, you may build additional muscle tissue and appear slightly leaner but you are NOT going to magically lose another 1-2 inches off your waist while building 1-2 inches in your glutes in a matter of just a few weeks or months.
These kinds of changes are going to happen VERY SLOWLY over an extended period of time (6+ months) with minimal visible changes in photos week to week. Which is in stark contrast to what you may be used to seeing in a fat loss phase where change happens more quickly.
So, when it comes to comparing photos I suggest comparing photos that are 4-6 weeks apart vs. 1-2 weeks apart as that will give you the greatest opportunity to see those changes in body composition over time.
If those photos 4-6 weeks apart look damn near the same, then congratulations, you are successfully MAINTAINING your progress! Which, in my opinion, does not get celebrated enough; especially when it is often something many women have never accomplished before.
If you’re disappointed because you feel like you SHOULD be able to see new muscle tissue at that point, remember that building muscle is a SLOW process. If you are consistently applying the principles of progressive overload in training and getting stronger in the gym, then you ARE more than likely building new muscle tissue, and as long as you keep going, you’ll eventually see those changes in photos you’re looking for.
If you find that you are actually regressing and appear to be putting on additional fat tissue then I would assess your total intake (ensuring you are not in an accidental surplus), the quality of food you are eating (whole vs. highly processed), the quality of the training program you are following, your execution of that training program, and the maintenance of the lifestyle habits you established to achieve your previous body composition.
Because maintaining your desired body composition IS going to require effort in all of those areas. So, take inventory of where things may be slipping through the cracks and work on improving in those areas before automatically jumping back down into a deficit, as that is exactly how you end up back in the never ending cycle of yo-yo dieting.
And if you feel as though you aren’t regressing, but you’re also not making the progress you’d anticipate even at maintenance, then you’ll also want to ensure you’re putting the necessary effort into those areas as well. As all are going to be a requirement for seeing continued changes in body composition over time.
General Biofeedback
While changes in body composition may be slow, you can expect to see some pretty acute positive changes in biofeedback through:
Increased energy throughout the day and in training
Improved strength while training
Improved recovery from training
Improved sleep quality
Consistent menstrual cycle with decreased cycle symptoms
Decreased hunger throughout the day
Decreased inflammation
Improved digestion/gut health
The list could go on and on, but it’s important to remember that ALL of these things rely on not just eating AT maintenance, but eating a well balanced diet that prioritizes whole, minimally processed foods, drinking enough water, minimizing stress, and having a solid evening routine for sleep.
So, similar to achieving positive changes in body composition, experiencing positive changes in biofeedback will also rely on consistently putting effort into the quality of what you’re consuming and the maintenance of the same lifestyle habits you established while dieting.
If those habits start falling to the wayside you can actually start to see a regression, not just in body composition, but the way in which you feel and function day in and out regardless of eating enough to maintain energy balance. And the worse you feel and function the harder it’s going to be to train and recover well enough to build muscle and see continued improvements in body composition.
So, how can you set appropriate goals for maintenance?
Now that you have a solid foundation of realistic expectations for progress at maintenance, let’s dive into what kind of goals you can set that would be both realistic and achievable.
While simply feeling AMAZING and seeing some subtle changes in body composition over time sounds great, the lack of truly measurable progress can make it difficult to remain dedicated to the maintenance phase, despite knowing the long term benefits.
This is why many women tend to get a little sloppy with adherence after an extended period of time and eventually plateau or see a regression in progress.
Which is why I suggest setting some short - term, tangible, (mostly) non-scale related goals that also align with the progress you CAN expect to achieve.
These goals can include, but are not limited to:
Actually MAINTAINING your weight (accounting for the standard 2-3 lb fluctuations); keeping in mind that if you are wanting to build muscle this may slowly creep up over time, but likely no more than 1 lb per month AT MOST (verify growth through photos and improvements in strength).
Hitting new PR’s in a few specific lifts of your choice. Shoulder presses, squats, deadlifts, and pull ups are some of my athletes favorites.
Building a specific muscle group. Glutes, shoulders, and upper back are also some fan favorites, changes in which can be verified by photos and measurements over time.
Working on expanding your level of fitness to other areas - Working up to 20 min on the stairmaster, a specific distance in a specific amount of time on the rowing machine, or running a full 5k could all help improve cardiovascular fitness.
Simply maintaining your fitness routine in a busy season of life. Like committing to training at least 3x per week throughout the holiday season because you normally tend to put it on the backburner at that time.
Putting these together and applying them to YOUR maintenance phase could look like:
Committing to training 4x per week with a dedicated reward (like a massage) for every 6 weeks you consistently achieve this goal.
Setting a goal to improve your deadlift max by 20 lbs in 3 months
Setting a goal to see visible growth in glutes and shoulders in 3 months
Setting a goal to run a 5k without stopping in 3 months.
All of which are short tem, well defined, measurable goals that are consistent with the long term goals to maintain your health and make continued improvements in body composition over time.
Setting these types of goals have helped myself, and my StrongHer athletes, stay dedicated and focused in their maintenance phases, because it gave them something fun to continue to work towards and wins to celebrate that had nothing to do with the scale and everything to do with building the strong, badass body of their dreams.
