[Etana]

Originally Posted by Espi

Math apart, the body can sometimes just act weird. If you throw food at it, it is more likely that you get more active, even if unconsciously (and you're tracking steps and having a GWF). I've seen mtn go up to 2400 while I was still eating slightly less than this in January (Jan-Feb being the traditional awf*kit months) and when starting to diet, mtn went down to 2000ish.. and when on IF I've seen it drop to 1900, but only since I was eating very closely to that amount..
In other words, maintenance is highly flexible and sometimes you got to eat far less than math tells us to lose. Not pretty when your priorities are to have fun in the gym & stay strong.. a slow recomp FTW.

How are you determining these maintenance numbers?

I find sleep is crucial for my activity level, more so than food!! Imagine! You’d think I’d have figured that out about sleep, but no, not until I read Leigh’s books and even later, not until the middle of REPAIR did I “get it” about sleep.


When I throw food at my body, it is usually pizza, ice cream, chocolate, and then I feel numbed. Are you saying if you throw high quality good-macro food at your body you can eat more and it makes you be more active and then your maintenance number can go up? That would be something to strive for!!