What Should I Expect During Maintenance?

A maintenance phase is designed to keep your bodyweight the same for an extended time. During maintenance, the Avatar system will adjust your macros to keep your body weight within a range that you define. You can set that range to be wider or more narrow, depending on your goals and preference.

If you weigh in during a maintenance phase and your bodyweight is above or below the weight-range you selected, your macros will adjust to keep your bodyweight stable. That means the system won’t attempt to bring you back into your maintenance range, just keep you from continuing to gain or lose weight.

During maintenance, you’re not working toward any particular goal (like weight loss or muscle gain) directly, but you are making progress if you’re using the maintenance phase strategically.

If you’re just starting out with Avatar and you’re trying to find your maintenance calories (which can allow the system to start off with good data), you’ll want to set the maintenance range as narrowly as possible. That way, the system can adjust more quickly to changes in your bodyweight and find your true maintenance calories faster

On the other hand, if you’re using maintenance after a reverse diet to keep your calories higher for longer, you should consider setting the maintenance range as wide as possible. As your body adapts to your new, higher calorie intake, you might see some weight gain on maintenance, especially if you’ve been reverse dieting for a long time. By setting your maintenance range as wide as possible, you’ll reduce your risk of weighing in outside of this range and having the system cut your macros. The longer you can stay at your new higher food intake, the better your body will be able to adapt and the more successful your reverse diet will likely be.