Maintenance calories

jenb8529

Does anyone here have any days during their week when you eat at your maintenance instead of 7 days at a deficit? How does this effect your weight loss?

tiffkittyw

Yes, actually I did one day at a surplus and cut more 6 days a week. If you look at how many calories you have per week you can allocate them as you wish. I stayed at my weekly goal and lost 44 lbs.

Forty6and2

I don't regularly eat at maintenance, I usually keep my calorie goal pretty steady. That being said, if there is a special occasion I will go to maintenance or possibly over.

That being said, if you are under your calorie goal for the week, you will lose weight. To give an illustration, I eat about 1400 calories a day. That's 9800 a week. If I eat 1600 one day, 1200 the next, etc to equal 9800 for the week, I will lose weight. I find that keeping a constant calorie goal is just easier for me, but if you prefer to vary it just make sure you're under your weekly goal.

terbusha

You can. I have some days where I eat more than my weight loss calorie goal. It may slow down your progress a bit, but if it allows you to be more compliant and make better progress overall, then it's a good thing. The most important thing with weight loss is to do something that gets results, but is also sustainable. If it's working for you, do it! If you do it and find that you're not making the progress you want, then you might consider changing things up.