Your nutrition should be periodized – just like your training

While I'm not proud of it, when I first started losing weight, I was 100% into cut mode every day 24/7. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what a real maintenance period was, because I thought that was something you only did once you reached your ‘goal weight’. I also didn’t realize I was doing more harm than good by trying to be in a straight deficit for a majority of the year. Maintenance is where so much of the magic happens; habits are built, there’s more flexibility with food choices and social gatherings, cortisol levels are lower, and energy is higher.