When your maintenance calories start changing

[NikeBoi69]

When you're dieting for several months, do you recalculate your maintenance calories as your bodyweight drops, or keep your original target until progress actually stalls?
I'm curious how much people account for reduced daily movement and activity as they get lighter. Sometimes calorie intake stays the same, but overall energy expenditure may not.
Do you adjust calories gradually, increase activity, or wait until your weekly weight average stops moving before making changes?

 

[Big_Jimmy434]

If you're still losing, then you're still in a deficit. If you're stalled, then you're close to maintenance. If youre gaining, you're above..

In the event that the goal was to continue to drop weight, then there would be no reason to recalculate if you're still dropping weight. If weight stalls over the course of 10-14days, then you can make slight, 100-200 kcal, adjustments.

Maintenance is a very fluid number and changes from day to day which is also why weight cannot be effectively tracked day to day. "Calculations" are really best when you just use data obtained over a period of time.

Basically, If you're losing and you want to lose, don't change shit. If you're not and you want to be, then change some shit.

 

[Meetketchup]

You go to your NEW maintenance. If you don't and go back to your old levels, you will gain more fat than you want. This is why 90% of all diets fail.

You also slowly decrease cardio at

 

[Arnold]

When you're dieting for several months, do you recalculate your maintenance calories as your bodyweight drops, or keep your original target until progress actually stalls?
I'm curious how much people account for reduced daily movement and activity as they get lighter. Sometimes calorie intake stays the same, but overall energy expenditure may not.
Do you adjust calories gradually, increase activity, or wait until your weekly weight average stops moving before making changes?

Your maintenance calories will always change if you are changing your body composition. e.g. gaining more muscle.
But your question is complex and has several variables, and does not have one straight answer.

 

[soumikr]

I just wait until the weekly scale average stops moving before dropping food.

 

[NikeBoi69]

Fair points, guys. I'm just interested on how differently people approach this. Appreciate the input.

 

[Vexor]

When you're dieting for several months, do you recalculate your maintenance calories as your bodyweight drops, or keep your original target until progress actually stalls?
I'm curious how much people account for reduced daily movement and activity as they get lighter. Sometimes calorie intake stays the same, but overall energy expenditure may not.
Do you adjust calories gradually, increase activity, or wait until your weekly weight average stops moving before making changes?

I go by the weekly average. If it's still dropping at the rate you want, leave calories alone, and if it stalls for about 2 weeks, trim a bit or add steps. Activity also falls as you get lighter, so tracking steps helps catch it.