How to maintain 9-10% body fat after dieting?

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So i've been dieting for 8 weeks now. I dropped to 9% bf during that time but now i realized that i don't have plan how to maintain it. Should i just recalculate my maintenance calories and stick to it or should i slowly add calories?
 

jennerrator

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Great job if that’s what you wanted but you can’t maintain it by adding food...should know that...:)
 

Viduus

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I’m assuming you meant do you jump up to the maintenance calorie amount immediately or slowly raise up to that level? (I.e reverse dieting or something like that)
 
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Well yeah, thats what i meant. I heard many different opinions that reverse dieting is wasting of time?
 

MrRippedZilla

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You can take a few days to slowly work up to your maintenance calories if stuff like water retention is a concern. If not, no issue going up to maintenance straight away.
Ignore the stuff about "reverse dieting" - it's a great money maker for coaches , almost always counter-intuitive for clients. Basically, it's a scam for the most part.

Be sure to recalculate your maintenance calories to your new bodyweight. It will not be the same as it was before, obviously.
Some folks prefer to play it safe and go 10-15% below the calculated maintenance. If weight is stable, then you can add in the remainder while continuing to keep an eye on the scale. I prefer to average out the weigh ins over the course of the week since day-to-day fluctuations mean nothing in the grand scheme of things but...I realize this is OCD and not something everyone will want to do.

Maintaining bf% loss is very difficult and the majority of folks will fail abysmally. That's just the reality of the situation. The odds of success are worse the further out from your settling point you are (ie someone going from 12-9% will find it easier to maintain vs someone going from 18-9%, etc). You end up fighting biology and most aren't going to win that fight over the long term.

Mentality is key. Maintaining habits you've hopefully developed during the diet. Controlling your environment as much as possible. Goal distraction methods. Etc. Good luck :)
 

KINGIV

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y'all are making me hungry for steak and eggs.
 

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