Maintenance, Surplus and Deficit Phases: What's the Difference?

There are 3 nutritional phases that the utilization of macros can put your body through. Here's a breakdown:

Maintenance Phase:

• The calorie range in which you maintain your body weight 

• During this phase you build your relationship with food, build muscle through progressive overload, improving hormonal balance, and priming your body for a potential fat loss phase. It is ideal that you spend most of your time in a maintenance phase.

• This range is different for every single person. It is based on age, weight, sex, and activity level. No one has the same maintenance level calories, it is completely individualized. 

Deficit Phase:

• A fat loss phase is the calorie range in which you are eating less than your maintenance.

• During this phase you prioritize accuracy is tracking and weighing food, prioritizing high quality protein, and high fiber foods to keep you full, and staying consistent with workouts 

• This phase can last anywhere from 4-16 weeks, based on the individual and the amount of weight they need to lose.

Surplus Phase:

• A calorie surplus is the calorie range in which you are eating more food necessary to maintain body weight.

• During this phase, calories are high and so is energy. Therefore workouts are fueled and should follow a progressive overload workout plan to gain muscle. 

• The goal of a surplus is to gain muscle, but will likely also yield fat gain. This phase can last up to 3-6 months or longer.

• Once this phase is complete, a deficit occurs to reveal all the muscle built during the surplus phase. 

Be well, feel well!