Maintenance is the intake where your weight stays put — neither gaining nor losing. It's the anchor every other goal is set from, and finding your true one takes a formula plus a little observation.
Your maintenance calories are your total daily energy expenditure: BMR plus everything you do on top of it. Eat that amount and weight holds; eat below for a deficit, above for a surplus. So the starting estimate is simply your calculated TDEE with an honest activity level.
The estimate gets you close, but true maintenance varies between individuals. To pin yours down, eat at the estimated number consistently for two to three weeks and watch your weight trend on a weekly average. Holding steady? That's your maintenance. Slowly rising or falling? Adjust by 100–150 calories and observe again. The tracker automates this by reading your real maintenance from the weight trend.
Maintenance isn't "stop paying attention" — that's how weight regain happens. It's a target like any other, just a wider one: most people can let weight drift within a small band (a couple of kilos) and nudge intake up or down when it leaves that band. Weighing regularly and watching the trend is what keeps it stable.
Your maintenance shifts with weight, activity, and age, so the number isn't permanent. After losing weight it's lower than before — which is why coming off a diet calls for a deliberate, gradual return to maintenance rather than an overnight jump. See reverse dieting for how to do that without rebound.
Start with your calculated TDEE using an honest activity level, then eat at it for 2–3 weeks and watch your weight trend. Steady weight confirms maintenance; drift means adjust by 100–150 calories.
Yes — they shift with your weight, activity, and age. After weight loss your maintenance is lower than before, which is why returning to it should be gradual.
Treat it as a target band rather than a single number: weigh regularly, watch the weekly trend, and nudge intake up or down when weight leaves a small band.