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How strict should I be with my macros during maintenance?
Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated
The short answer
Nikkiey suggests aiming to hit your macros about 80% of the time during maintenance. After the precision of fat loss, this is the phase to pull back and allow more flexibility while keeping the habits that got you there. The goal is a stable weight and a calm relationship with food, not perfect tracking.
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Nikkiey on pulling back to hitting your macros about 80% of the time in maintenance
Plays from 22:02 · Ep. 285: Why Does Weight Maintenance Feel So Boring After Fat Loss?
Why maintenance is the time to swap scale wins for strength, sleep and digestion goals
Plays from 21:30 · Ep. 285: Why Does Weight Maintenance Feel So Boring After Fat Loss?
The green flags that tell you your maintenance approach is working
Plays from 25:03 · Ep. 285: Why Does Weight Maintenance Feel So Boring After Fat Loss?
The full answer
On Ep. 285 of The WarriorBabe Show, Nikkiey describes maintenance as practicing real freedom while reinforcing what you learned in fat loss. During your cut you were focused on nailing your macros every day. In maintenance she asks whether you can nail them maybe 80% of the time and let the rest flex. That is not abandoning your habits. It is honoring what got you here while learning to live your life around it.
She also suggests shifting where your motivation comes from. If your wins came from the scale, maintenance is the time to find them elsewhere:
- Building muscle and chasing PRs, since eating more food makes your strength feel different in the gym
- Doing more push-ups or pull-ups than before
- Fixing sleep or digestion, which she says can be among the first things to take a hit in a calorie deficit
How do you know looser tracking is working? Nikkiey's green flags: your weight stays within three to five pounds for three or four months, you're eating more than you did in your cut and feeling better, your strength is increasing, and you don't panic over food, social events or the scale. Your habits feel like a lifestyle rather than an effort, and you're anchored in the process instead of obsessed with results.
If it doesn't click right away, that's not a personal failure. Nikkiey shares that it took her three attempts to nail maintenance. The first time she stumbled, and she says you probably will too. The second time goes better, and if you're willing to learn from past mistakes, the third time tends to stick.
From Nikkiey Stott and WarriorBabe's coaching. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.
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Macros & Macro Tracking
Do I have to track macros forever?
No. Nikkiey is clear that you don't have to track macros for the rest of your life. Tracking and weighing your food is a temporary, educational phase that teaches you what real portions of protein, carbs and fat look like. Do it consistently for a couple of years and it becomes second nature.
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Macros & Macro Tracking
How do I make tracking macros less overwhelming?
Make the job smaller at first. The women on the show who stuck with it started small: tracking only protein, planning one day and repeating it, or picking a few meals from a sample plan. Nikkiey says week one might take half an hour a day, but by week three or four it takes five to ten minutes.
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Macros & Macro Tracking
How do I start tracking macros as a beginner?
Start by learning to track before chasing any numbers. Nikkiey has beginners log what they normally eat in MyFitnessPal for seven days, then focus on protein first and add fats and carbs later. Keep your meals simple and repetitive for the first few weeks so tracking becomes a skill, not a source of overwhelm.
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29 minWhy Does Weight Maintenance Feel So Boring After Fat Loss?
Episode 285 · Aug 15, 2025