EP164: Maintenance Phases: What’s the Point?

In this episode, Christina dives into the often-overlooked but crucial role of maintenance phases in a fitness journey.

Whether you're working towards fat loss, muscle building, or body recomposition, understanding when and why to implement a maintenance phase can make a huge difference in your long-term success.

Christina shares her personal struggles with embracing maintenance and offers insights into how to approach it effectively.

Topics Discussed:

• Why high achievers struggle with the idea of NOT actively cutting or building.
• The difference between a reverse diet (transition) and a maintenance phase.
• Why your first few maintenance phases should be structured—with a coach—to prevent self-sabotage.
• How progress still happens during maintenance (recomposition, strength gains, metabolic efficiency).
• Why your metabolism is NOT a set number, and how daily energy and metabolic fluctuations play a role.
• Avoiding the mistake of confusing stagnation/sabotage with maintenance and ignoring issues like poor nutrition adherence or subpar training quality.
• Why maintenance requires just as much structure and discipline as other phases—it’s not a free-for-all.

True sustainability lies in learning how to maintain progress, even WITHOUT a critical goal in mind.

Links Mentioned:

Christina's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knifina/  

Cut & Conquer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutandconquerfitness/  

Coaching Application: https://cutandconquer.typeform.com/CQA-application 

Free FB Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/weightsandwellness/

Shop our Meal Prep Seasoning: https://healthydevil.ca/collections/all 

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