Is one fat loss phase enough to get a toned body?

On Ep. 27, Nikkiey is clear that one cut can absolutely get you somewhere. But if you want to keep changing how your body looks and keep building muscle, it takes time and it takes giving your metabolism a break. As she puts it, you are not going to stay at 1,500 calories for 10 years. You need time eating at maintenance, especially if building muscle is the goal, and you will likely cycle through these phases more than once. She points to her client Cheryl Beaver, who is 60 and on roughly her third or fourth cut.

One nuance matters. In a Q&A video, Nikkiey says a build phase is optional. Women can, and often do, stay at maintenance and still add muscle and change their body composition there. She suggests a build when you want noticeably bigger muscles. One WarriorBabe coach says the same in another video: after a cut you need a maintenance phase, and then maybe a build. So if one cut did not give you the toned look you wanted, that is not a failure. It means you have finished one phase of a longer plan.