The Four Reasons You Stopped Losing Weight
What are weight loss plateaus and how can you get past them?
If I had a dime for every time a patient of mine has come to me in the midst of a weight loss plateau, I’d certainly have a few dimes. Weight loss plateaus are when you suddenly stop losing weight even though you don’t feel like anything has changed in your weight loss strategy. In other words, your diet stops working. So, what is the cause of weight loss plateaus and how can we work through them?
What Even Is Weight Loss?
Before we jump into weight loss plateaus, we first need to define weight loss. Simply speaking, weight loss is the reduction in body weight. This can be fat, muscle, bone, skin, hair, you get the point. This is why I like to use the term fat loss instead. I’ve yet to have a patient request bone or muscle loss. Yet, I’ve had many people come to me after a weight loss journey where they have lost significant muscle mass.
So, assuming fat loss is your goal, let’s talk about how that works. The body is an energy burning machine. It needs energy to carry out all of its various functions (immunity, digestion, heart rate, brain function, etc.). The body fuels this energy demand with calories. But since our bodies are smart, they have a way to store energy - a gas tank if you will. This would be our body fat.
Our body fat is the way that we store energy to be burned later. This way we don’t have to eat all day and all night to have enough energy to stay alive. Fat is a good thing and we need a certain amount to stay healthy. The issue is that many people (most people) have too much fat. Simply speaking, this is from putting too much gas in the tank for too long. Unlike a car, our gas tank will continue to grow to accept all the gas we want to pour into it.
This brings us to the first fact. Weight loss is pretty simple. We essentially just need to consume fewer calories than our body needs in a day. This way our body will have to pull energy out of our fat stores to keep us alive.
The Weight Loss Journey
Most people have a pretty easy time getting the first few pounds of fat off of their body. All it really takes is eating a little bit less and exercising a little bit more. For some people this will result in 5 pounds and for others a more dramatic 30 pounds. But eventually our bodies will start to protest this weight loss. Remember, fat storage is a survival technique. When we start pulling too much energy out of our fat, then our bodies really start to panic.
Once our bodies hit the panic button, this is when most people stall or plateau on their weight loss journey. This usually looks like going from losing 2 pounds a week to suddenly staying the same weight despite the same dieting techniques. So, let’s break down the science of the plateau and see if we can decipher what is going on.
Entering a New Weight Loss Tax Bracket
First and foremost, I think a lot of people have a faulty perception of what a good rate of weight loss is. For most, weight loss is going to be 0.5 to 2 pounds of fat per week maximum. This number is mainly based off of how large of a caloric deficit you are able to get into. However, there is also the concept of the weight loss tax bracket which I am coining right now.
When you are heavier, it is easier to lose more pounds of fat per week. This is because each pound represents a relatively smaller percentage of your total body weight. As you continue to weigh less and enter a healthier bracket, it becomes more difficult to lose each subsequent pound. While this might feel like a punishment, you should treat it as an accomplishment for moving to a new weight loss tax bracket. Yes, it sucks that now it is harder to lose weight. But at the same time it is only harder to lose weight because of your success.
Another note, weight/fat loss is not always linear. Tracking changes in weight requires consistent measurement and taking longterm averages. Body weight fluctuates a lot day-to-day and morning-to-night. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom and look at weekly averages as the best data to see if you are truly in a plateau.
Advice: Don’t panic. Declines in the rate of weight loss aren’t inherently bad. Continue reading to tease this apart.
Reverse Thyroid Activation
Have you heard of the thyroid gland before? I’m sure you have. But do you know what it does? The thyroid gland is responsible for deciding the metabolic rate of the body. I always think of it as the HR department doling out payroll.
If times are good in the company (our body), then the thyroid gland will pay everyone (the organs) nicely with a big fat paycheck (calories). If times are bad, company operations will need to slow down.
When we lose weight too quickly, our thyroid creates a hormone called reverse T3 that puts a break on our metabolism. This makes everything slow down and stop burning as many calories. This can be a cause of weight loss plateau for certain individuals.
Advice: Avoid losing weight at an unsustainable rate. Keep to 0.5 to 2 pounds per week. Speak with a health professional if you think your thyroid is playing a role.
Becoming Less NEAT
NEAT = Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis
These are the amount of calories that we burn each day from doing activities that aren’t intentional exercise. This would include things like going to the bathroom, fidgeting your fingers, stretching, etc. NEAT burns a considerable amount of calories and should not be underestimated. Two people of the same size can have a NEAT difference of up to 2,000 calories!!!!!
The issue with NEAT is that it is unconscious by definition. When we lose weight, NEAT naturally declines as a compensatory mechanism to lower metabolism. This typically looks like lazing on the couch a bit more, not using your hands to gesticulate as much, and more or less keeping sedentary throughout the day.
Advice: Keep a step count before your weight loss journey. Do not let this number decline as you start eating less or exercising more. Step count is not a direct measure of NEAT, but it’s a decent proxy.
Caloric Miscalculation
This is the biggest one. Most people that hit a plateau are simply eating more than they realize. It is very easy to sneak in 500 extra calories into your day without realizing. That’s just a little bit more oil, a few chips, a bit more peanut butter, and an extra slice of avocado. You still may be eating healthy, but you are probably eating too many calories to be in a deficit.
The second point here is that you need to start using a food scale to measure your food. This is not necessary forever, but volume-based measurements (cups, tbsps, tsps, etc.) are just not that accurate. Also be sure that you are using the correct inputs. Are you calculating cooked or raw? Are you journaling the cooking oil? All of these things matter. Journal for a week or so and see what is going on.
Advice: Food journaling is a really important tool to understand how many calories you are eating. If you hit a plateau, you need to start journaling to see what is going on. Chances are you are above your intake goals.
Conclusion
Weight loss plateaus are frustrating and can feel like a punishment for your hard work. This can be especially frustrating if we are made to believe that the diet we are following will no longer work to promote weight loss. For the most part, this is not the case. If you are having a hard time losing weight or you are wanting to start out on the right foot, go ahead and book a free discovery call using the button below to see how I can help you.