Maintenance calories

Maintenance calories are the intake that keeps body weight stable and serves as the baseline for setting a calorie deficit or surplus.^{1Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 44.} Stable weight means energy intake roughly matches expenditure, a state of energy balance.^{2Schoenfeld and Snarr (eds.), NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, 3rd ed., p. 123.}

Trainers can estimate maintenance with an equation or calculate it from tracked food intake and body weight.^{1Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 44.} Tracking takes more effort but gives a much more accurate estimate for the individual client.^{1Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 44.}

In practice

• Track for two weeks: log food and weigh each morning under the same conditions, then compare average intake with the change between weekly average weights.^{3Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 45.} Using about 3,500 kcal per pound of fat tissue, a client averaging 2,100 kcal who gains 0.2 lb in a week is about 100 kcal a day over maintenance, putting maintenance near 2,000 kcal.^{4Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 46.}
• Skip this method for complete novices and clients returning from a layoff or injury, because their muscle mass can change fast enough to distort the estimate.^{4Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 46.}
• For a quick estimate, multiply body weight in pounds by 10, then by an activity multiplier between 1.3 and 2.2; expect large individual variation.^{5Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Nutrition, 2nd ed., p. 47.}
• Recalculate after a diet, since maintenance falls during dieting.^{6Norton and Baxter, The Complete Reverse Dieting Guide, p. 73.} A client who maintained on 2,100 kcal before dieting might maintain on 1,800 to 1,900 a few months later.^{6Norton and Baxter, The Complete Reverse Dieting Guide, p. 73.}