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From 2 episodes and 1 video

How long should I stay in a maintenance phase?

Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated

The short answer

There's no fixed number, but Nikkiey's rule of thumb is to stay in maintenance at least as long as your previous phase lasted, so about 12 weeks after a 12-week cut. If you want a hard estimate, she suggests roughly six to twelve months, and longer if you've under-eaten for years.

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  1. Nikkiey's rule of thumb: match your maintenance to the length of your last phase

    Plays from 20:49 · Ep. 232: What Is a Maintenance Phase and How Long Should It Last?

  2. Why Nikkiey lives in maintenance most of the year and suggests six to twelve months

    Plays from 34:22 · Ep. 33: Cut, Reverse, Maintenance or Build: Which Phase Are You In?

  3. How to judge your maintenance length by metabolism, strength and body changes

    Plays from 6:15 · Video: Skinny Fat? Why a Maintenance Phase Beats Cutting Calories

  4. Short two-week maintenance breaks inside a long cut, and what they do

    Plays from 33:12 · Ep. 33: Cut, Reverse, Maintenance or Build: Which Phase Are You In?

The full answer

On Ep. 232, Nikkiey is clear that there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Her starting point is to match your last phase: if you just finished a 12-week cut, plan on at least 12 weeks of maintenance. She knows that stings if you've spent the last five or ten years in a deficit, but she says that doesn't mean five or ten years of maintenance. It does mean you may need more time to reset your metabolism and retrain it to work with you instead of against you. She adds that working with a coach can speed that process up.

On Ep. 33 and in her video on maintenance, she frames it differently: spend as much time there as you need for your metabolism to work properly, for you to eat more, get stronger and see your body composition change. Her rough estimate is six months to a year. She lives in maintenance most of the time herself, and most of the women she coaches stay there until they ask for a cut, which is then a short one, around eight weeks to three months, before coming back up.

How long is right for you depends on where you are:

  • If you're skinny fat or have five to ten pounds to lose and want to build muscle and shape, she says maintenance is the phase to spend most of your time in.
  • If you have 30 to 50 pounds or more to lose, she says maintenance on its own isn't the right primary phase; that's where a cutting phase comes in.
  • During long cuts, she sometimes puts women into maintenance for as little as two weeks to help their metabolism and digestion, and says they often lose more afterward.

The common thread: maintenance isn't wasted time. Nikkiey calls it the place where the magic happens, and the foundation that makes later fat loss easier and more sustainable.

From Nikkiey Stott and WarriorBabe's coaching. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.

Women also ask

More questions →

  • Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting

    Do I need a calorie deficit to lose the last 5 to 10 pounds?

    Usually not. Nikkiey says most women with only 5 to 10 pounds to lose are skinny fat, and they don't need a calorie deficit at the start. Instead she recommends a maintenance phase: hold your weight, eat enough to build muscle and let body fat come down. That's where she says body composition changes happen.

    Read the answer →

  • Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting

    Is a maintenance phase a waste of time if I want to lose weight?

    No. Nikkiey says a maintenance phase is just as important as a fat loss phase, if not more so. It's the foundation that helps your results stick, and after a long calorie deficit it helps reverse some of the metabolic slowdown. Skipping it and cutting again keeps the lose-and-regain cycle going.

    Read the answer →

  • Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting

    When should I stop dieting and eat at maintenance?

    Nikkiey says it's time to move to maintenance when you've reached your goal, hit a plateau that won't budge for weeks, or your body starts pushing back. That means energy and gym performance drop, hunger is constant, mood or sleep suffer, or you're mentally burned out from dieting, often after months in a deficit.

    Read the answer →

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