10/12/2026
This may seem obvious to some of you, but there are coaches and influencers preaching that it is appropriate to be stage lean body fat year round. This is very frustrating for coaches who understand nutrition periodization and the importance of not living with very low body fat year round. There is now an influx of clients who have a completely skewed view of what maintenance is supposed to look like because they are consuming too much misinformation on social media.
I’m not telling you that you need to gain all your weight back or that you can’t be “lean”. But there is a big difference a level of lean that is also well fed and doesn’t take extremes to maintain vs someone who is deliberately under fueling, walking thousands and thousands of steps a day, can’t take one off day from gym, can’t ever eat a meal out or off plan all to maintain very low body fat and some weight on scale.
It is normal for maintenance to be a “softer” look. It is normal to gain a few pounds in maintenance from more food volume and glycogen. You should never expect to maintain a shredded physique year round unless you want to disrupt your hormones, blood work and bone health over time. Nutrition and exercise should be adding to your life, not controlling it or taking you away from things you love.
Hope that helps!
❤️SC