Yes and no. In order to function well, you need to move and properly fuel your body. But the fitter you are, the easier it is to stay fit. This means you can maintain your fitness with much less effort than it took to get there.

The following checklist will provide you with a sensible plan to maintain your results.

Lesson 1: Take a break!

Before you worry about keeping your results, you should celebrate. You’ve earned it! Your fitness won’t fall apart overnight, and a break will give you physical and—more importantly—mental relief from worrying about training, diet, and results.

Don’t worry about losing fitness. A little time off will actually improve your fitness by allowing your body to heal. Too much time off, however, will start things sliding the other way. I recommend no more than one full week off. You can exercise during this break and I strongly recommend it. Just make it fun and don’t follow a regimented program.

Lesson 2: Without a maintenance plan, expect to keep your results for about as long as it took you to get them.

It takes approximately 3 weeks off to fully undo 3 weeks of training, while it may take 3 months to fully lose 90 days’ worth of effort—it takes about the same amount of time to lose your fitness as it took for you to attain it. But since starting at square one sucks (remember?), you never want to wait too long to restart your training.

Lesson 3: Create a maintenance schedule

To maintain your fitness, you’ll need around half the volume of your training program. The two simplest ways to do this are with full workouts every other day or with half workouts 6 days per week.

For the full workout plan, pick workouts to do every other day. The workout you do can be based on what you feel like you need. There are many maintenance workout suggestions, like P90X ONE on ONE®, INSANITY Fast and Furious, Brazil Butt Lift® Master Series, and so on. You can also mix and match from other workout programs, like a fusion of Insanity and P90X. The key is that you push your body in the way it was accustomed to during your training program.

Doing half workouts is trickier because you’re probably going to have to abridge your workouts. Instead of “just Pushing Play,” it’s up to you to structure your workout. A good general guideline is to warm up, do one or two rounds of exercises, and then fast-forward to the workout’s cooldown (or do a cooldown on your own). About 80% of a workout’s value happens during the first few sets. And while that may put you 20% under elite fitness, it’s perfectly fine for maintenance.

With either schedule, you’ll want to make sure you’re not doing similar workouts too close to each other. Don’t do plyometrics or work similar body parts back to back.

Lesson 4: Continue to push yourself.

Just because you’re working out less doesn’t mean you can slack off. Your workouts should improve over time while you’re maintaining, the same way they improved over time during your program. Your goal during each workout is still to lift more weight, move faster, jump higher, go deeper into stretches, and mimic the trainers as much as possible. Your body needs to be pushed. If it’s not, it will regress.

Lesson 5: Eat how you did when you were out of shape and your results will melt away.

For a few days, or even longer, it will seem like you can now inhale burgers, beers, and everything else that you’ve been denying yourself without any consequences. This won’t last. It’s a fun perk, and while your new, fitter body will endure splurges much better than it did before, it is not, and will never be, immune to packing the pounds back on. It’s like the saying goes, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. At least you can’t forever.

Lesson 6: You don’t need to eat as strict a diet as you did during your program.

On the flip side, you don’t need to eat like you have a fitness competition coming up unless, well, you have a fitness competition coming up. In fact, you probably shouldn’t. Beachbody programs are “boot camps.” They are designed to be very strict. Real life should be more relaxed and include indulgences. Fitness competitors don’t stay in competition shape all the time, and neither should you.

There are a few popular maintenance strategies incorporated by fit people. One is the 80/20 rule. Keep 80% of your diet healthy and clean so that you can let your hair down with the remaining 20%. Another is workweeks on and weekends off. This is the plan I use and really enjoy! Note: if you need help discerning what is clean and what is not, grab my personal example in the Healthy Meal Guide for free here!

Whatever you do, just remember that your new body needs more calories to maintain than it did when you began your program. That’s because your muscle-to-fat ratio is higher than it was when you started, so your metabolism is higher. Food is also essential for rebuilding the breakdown caused by your workouts, all of which means you need (or get) to eat more.

Ultimately, your goal is to stop calorie counting and learn to eat based on how your body feels. If you’re lacking energy, eat more. Avoid excessive eating by stopping before you’re full and realizing that when you overeat you feel sluggish and uncomfortable. By eating intuitively, you can maintain your physique more easily than by measuring every morsel you put in your mouth.

Lesson 7: You can’t maintain forever.

A solid maintenance plan can keep you fit for a long time. However, if you want the level of fitness you had after your last program, you’re going to require a reboot every so often, as in reboot camp. There’s simply no way around the fact that elite fitness requires sacrifice, hard work, and getting out of your comfort zone from time to time. P90X2, anyone?

Lesson 8: Connect with your Coach.

Your Beachbody Coach knows all the ins and outs of each Beachbody workout program, and, by discovering what you’re looking for in a boot camp or reboot camp, can offer helpful advice as you make your choice. If you don’t have a Coach, click here to get one!

Steve Edwards is Director of Results at Team Beachbody. I borrowed heavily from his article and added my own recommendations, too!

• Your first 30-day supply of Shakeology—the superfood shake that helps give you energy, reduce cravings and accelerate your fitness results.
• A FREE 30-day trial membership in the Team Beachbody Club, where you’ll find all the support you’ll need to complete your Challenge.
  
• Plus FREE standard shipping!

HERES WHAT YOU GET WITH TAI CHENG:

12 workout DVDs, plus, a Master Scroll DVD:

• Master Scroll DVD: Learn everything you need to master Tai Cheng. Dr. Cheng breaks down each of the 18 Tai Cheng moves so you can watch exactly how each move is done and be ready to learn them from Day 1!
• DVDs 1–3: You’ll learn 6 Tai Chi moves, combining them into a fluid routine that builds strength, increases your overall range of motion, and helps reduce pain.
• DVDs 4–6: Dr. Cheng teaches you 6 new moves to help increase your energy; burn off excess fat; and build greater stability, strength, and balance.
• DVDs 7–9: You’ll be introduced to the final 6 moves that you’ll need to learn on your way to becoming a Tai Chi Master.
• DVDs 10–12: The last 3 discs will guide you through performing all 18 moves, in a powerful, yet graceful health-boosting routine.

You’ll also get these valuable tools:

• “Easy Does It” Fitness Guide: Filled with practical tips on form, technique, and mind-body realignment, it shows you how to complete Tai Cheng to help improve your health, energy, and mobility.
• “Feel Better Food Plan” Nutrition Guide: Use this guide to find delicious, easy-to-make meals and snacks that’ll help you feel younger, healthier, and more energetic.
• 90-day Daily Workout Calendar: We’ve done the work for you so you always know which sequence to do and when. Just follow along and chart your progress.
• Blue Foam Roller: Work out everyday kinks and pains and loosen tight muscles as you develop better balance, posture, and flexibility.
• Tai Cheng Tape Measure: Track the changes in your entire body as you get healthier and stronger.

In addition, you’ll receive these 6 FREE BONUS gifts (A $250 VALUE!):

1. Applied Tai Cheng: Travel and Sport (BONUS DVD): Learn how to use Tai Cheng to get more enjoyment from your favorite sports. And, discover exercises you can do while traveling—even on a plane!
2. Low-Resistance Strength Band*: Use it to build up your strength and balance.
3. Medium-Resistance Strength Band*: Step up to the green band for more resistance.
4. “Just Eat This” Week-long Menu Plan: Receive a week’s worth of healthy meal recipes to help you make the right food choices.
5. Removeable Floor Tape: Create your Tai Cheng foot placement grid with low adhesive strips that leave no sticky marks to clean up afterward.
6. Free Team Beachbody 30-day VIP Club Membership: Stay motivated with positive peer support, chat with trainers, receive expert diet and fitness tips, and get 10% off Beachbody® gear, programs, and nutritionals.

Exclusive BONUS: Order Tai Cheng on Team Beachbody, and receive the Tai Cheng Body Alignment For Better Living DVD—a $19.95 value—FREE!

Ready to improve your well-being, mobility, and posture? On this DVD, Dr. Cheng will help you understand how your body works, how to correct mobility issues, and how to prevent injury. Plus, you’ll learn how to combat flat arches, strengthen your core, walk with proper posture, and fix bad joint mechanics. You’ll also see how using a foam roller can help you work out everyday kinks.

90-Day Money-Back Guarantee: We’re so sure you’ll love this program, we’re giving you our 90-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not completely satisfied within 90 days, simply call Customer Service for a Return Authorization number to return Tai Cheng for a full refund of the purchase price, less shipping and handling. But keep the bonus gifts just for trying Tai Cheng.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL GET WITH SHAKEOLOGY

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30-Day Money Back Guarantee
If you don’t start to see and feel the benefits of Shakeology within the first month of using it, or if you’re not 100% satisfied for any reason, just return it within 30 days for a full refund of the purchase price, less s&h—guaranteed. That’s our promise to you.

GET YOUR TAI CHENG TODAY – YOUR NEXT 90 DAYS WILL BE SOME OF THE MOST ENJOYABLE YET!