Understanding Maintenance Phases in Dieting
The fitness industry often focuses heavily on fat loss, weight loss, and muscle building, but it rarely addresses the importance of maintenance and compensation phases.
In this article, we will discuss what happens to your body when you diet for long periods and why it’s essential to plan short breaks to increase your calories back to a ‘perceived maintenance’ level.
To help explain this concept, I’ll use a business analogy that can help clarify the process.
The Business Analogy
Let’s picture this: You’ve established a calorie deficit and have been dieting for a while.
- The Hypothalamus – The CEO
The hypothalamus is like the CEO of your body’s endocrine system, which controls your hormones. Just like a CEO, the hypothalamus is responsible for making sure all the departments (systems) are functioning optimally. - Delegation of Tasks
The hypothalamus sends chemical messengers to the pituitary gland (its right-hand manager), which then passes these messages to various departments like adrenal function, thyroid function, growth, water balance, and gonadal function. These are the “department managers” in our analogy. - Energy Budget and System Function
When your energy intake is high, and exercise is minimal, there’s an abundance of energy for all the departments. Everything runs smoothly. However, when you enter a calorie deficit, the hypothalamus (CEO) has to make cutbacks to stay within the energy budget. Initially, the body can manage by using stored energy, but over time, the budget runs out, and the departments are not getting enough resources to function optimally.
Symptoms of Diet Fatigue
For those who have been on prolonged diets or have become very lean, symptoms of “diet fatigue” may emerge, such as:
- Lowered gonadal function: Women may experience the loss of their period, while men may struggle with sexual health issues.
- Reduced metabolism: You may feel colder, and losing weight or fat becomes increasingly difficult.
This happens because your body adapts to prolonged calorie deficits, and after a point, it reaches a state of fatigue. The body becomes more stressed as it works to cope with the lack of energy.
Rebounding and the Need for Maintenance Phases
A stressed body wants to restore balance, and this can lead to cravings for calorie-dense foods as the body tries to replenish the energy it has lost. This is why people who diet for extended periods, especially those motivated by external rewards, can experience a “rebound” effect and return to old eating habits once their motivation fades.
The Importance of Structured Breaks
It’s crucial to listen to your body during these phases and track any changes in health markers. Extreme shifts like amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) should never be ignored, as they often indicate the need for a break from dieting. For most people (except for competitive bodybuilders), a prolonged dieting phase should end when these signs appear.
Taking structured breaks with a higher calorie intake, even if it means spending a few weeks at maintenance, will help restore balance in the body. These breaks allow your body to recover and function as it should.
Conclusion
Dieting for extended periods takes a toll on the body, and to sustain long-term success, it’s important to incorporate phases of maintenance. These breaks allow your body to restore balance and energy, ultimately leading to more sustainable results in the long run. Listen to your body, track health changes, and don’t ignore signs of fatigue. Your body will thank you for it, and you’ll achieve better results overall.
