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| Stuck on a weight-loss plateau? Here's a 5-Step Plan to fix it. |
No matter which weight-loss diet you're following, odds are high that you will stall or plateau once you achieve a 10 percent reduction in overall body weight, if you haven't already.
Some people can lose a little more than 10 percent before the body begins to fight back.
I happen to fall into this category.
For me, this was a 17 percent reduction in body size.
A lengthy plateau is a direct result of the body bringing itself into energy equilibrium.
Energy coming in is balanced with energy used.
Sometimes, this phenomenon is referred to as the body's set point, a 5- to 10-pound range where the body feels safe and comfortable.
I happen to have three different set points, three places in my weight-loss journey where the body always stops and takes a rest, regardless of which diet I'm using to carve off the pounds.
One is at 200 pounds, one is at 160, and the other is at 140.
Currently, I'm stuck at 200 pounds.
If weight falls below this range, the body begins to resist my weight-loss efforts and slams on the breaks.
I'm allowed to get down to about 197 or 198 pounds before my weight starts to bounce back up again. I've been at this point for several weeks now.
This set-point plateau means I am now at maintenance, even though I have not reached my weight-loss goal.
The only way to bust through this type of plateau is to either upset the energy balance again, like you did when you first began to diet, or lower your set point.
Don't Challenge Your Set Point - And Here's Why
Most dieters begin the weight-loss process motivated and hopeful. A lengthy stall partway to goal weight might be more frustrating than you can deal with.
A whopping 80 percent regain the weight they lost within the very first year after dieting. And while that may or may not be due to your set point, successful dieting is always a process of evolution.
You evolve into a thinner, healthier you by:
- Getting rid of your limiting beliefs.
- Dissolving your defenses.
- And changing inappropriate diet and exercise habits.
You can't fight the body's homeostatic feedback control system. It will just fight back harder.
For me, this meant the development of Graves' Disease.
Although, most people with Graves begin to drop weight like crazy, 10 percent gain weight instead. Coming down with Graves' disease caused me to quickly repack on the pounds.
To avoid this type of thing happening to you, it's best to work within the body's peculiarities, so if the weight-loss scale is stuck and you can't seem to be able to bust through that plateau, no matter what you do -- here is a simple 5-step plan that will help you lower your set point.
Definition of a Stall or Plateau
A plateau is not going three days without weight loss on the scale, so let's get the definition of a real stall or plateau out of the way first.
No matter which weight-loss diet you're following, a stall is defined as:
No weight loss or inches lost for at least 6 weeks
My definition of a plateau is much longer:
No weight loss or inches lost for at least 3 months
If it's been less than 6 to 12 weeks, you are not stalled. You are not in a plateau.
Your body is simply adjusting, pausing, and experiencing various water fluctuations and tendencies, such as stuffing water into your fat cells to keep them plumped and ready for potential incoming fat storage.
This 5-step plan is for those seriously stuck in a long-term plateau. If you are stalled, and can't figure out why, we have a mega-guide that you can browse through:
Most of these reasons also apply to those doing Keto.
Step 1: Raise Your Activity Level or Exercise Intensity
Most people who approach me with their dieting problems are extremely sedentary.
Sometimes, it's due to an easy-going lifestyle, and sometimes, it's due to complicated health issues, but either way, upping your activity level is the first thing to do if you've been experiencing a lengthy plateau.
In fact, exercise has been scientifically proven to help you bust through your set point.
Since equilibrium is a matter of balancing calories coming in with how much energy you're putting out on a weekly basis, upping your activity is the best way to lower your set point.
For sedentary folks, that means you need to start with something gentle, like simple walking.
For those already doing light exercise, at least 3 to 5 times a week, this means you need to up your intensity.
A good way to do that is by switching to HIIT, high-intensity interval training. This isn't complicated to do. You can simply take what you're already doing and raise the intensity.
For example, if you normally walk several times a week, you can add three to five 20- to 40-second bursts of sprinting while you're on your normal walk.
For complete details about how to implement a high-intensity exercise program, see our article on the benefits of doing HIIT.
Alternatively, you could take up weight lifting, participate in your favorite sport, or add some aerobics to your normal routine. Gardening or trying to raise a few herbs are also great ideas for giving your activity a boost.
Just be careful when you up the intensity that you don't over do it. Too much activity combined with very low carbs will make your weight-loss plateau worse instead of better.
It can even cause you to gain weight.
Step 2: Check Out Your Nutritional State
When you're trying to get the body to let go of its fat reserves, it needs to feel extremely safe.
If you're deficient in a macronutrient, like protein or fats, the body will slow down metabolism until it gets what it needs. Amino acids are used for repairing protein structures in the body, so if you don't get an adequate supply, the body will go looking elsewhere.
Resources can then be pulled away from the fat-burning process to scavenger amino acids or make the non-essential ones that are not supplied in your diet.
If they have to tear down muscle tissue to get them, the result will be a lower metabolic rate overall.
The same goes for vitamins and minerals.
Nutrients essential to the metabolic process must be supplied, of course, but even those required for other body functions and cellular repair can upset the body if supplies are low.
Anything that causes the body to suspect that incoming nutrients are in short supply will affect the rate of fat loss.
Step 3: Raise Your Fat Calories
This probably sounds counter-intuitive, but if you were losing weight at a fast clip, you might want to slow it down.
Raising your calories and slowing down weight loss will help your body feel more secure and less apprehensive about losing its fat stores.
Slow weight loss gives the body ample time to adapt to the energy imbalance caused by the dieting process. The slow-down can result in losing more than 10 percent of your total body weight before the body begins to resist your efforts.
When I lost the most recent 40 pounds, I was losing on average only one-half a pound of body fat per week. That's a mere two pounds per month, but it was coming off consistently, and I was never hungry.
Although, one-half to one-pound per week might sound like you're going to be dieting forever, you aren't.
If your fat loss stalls for three months, or more, you're going to waste a lot of time. Losing slowly can actually be faster in the long run.
Those 40 pounds stayed gone, even after we moved to Texas, and I started accidentally overeating carbs. The rise in blood glucose and insulin didn't cause me to regain the weight either. Mainly, because I wasn't eating more food than I was in Utah.
Just differently.
On the other hand, if you were under-eating, you might need to eat more protein, fat, or even carbohydrate to see the scales start to move again.
While this problem isn't as common as over-eating dietary fat and, therefore calories, it does occasionally happen, especially if you're coming to Keto from a low-fat diet.
Most of us have been conditioned to believe that dietary fat will clog your arteries and result in a higher risk for heart disease. Going Keto requires you to unlearn a lot of the misconceptions and myths surrounding a low-carb diet, so make sure that your calorie deficit is not too large or too small.
Step 4: Take a Diet Break and Move to Maintenance
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| Moving to maintenance for several weeks can lower your set point. |
You might not want to hear this one, but if you have plateaued for an extended period of time, consider moving into maintenance for a few weeks or months. You won't be able to lower your set point while your body is busy defending it.
You'll have to move to a place where the body feels safe and secure, giving it ample space to adjust to the new lower weight. This is easiest to do if you're giving your body all of the calories and dietary fats it needs to function at an optimal level.
Set point is based on the idea that where your weight has sat for an extended period of time, the body believes that place is your normal weight.
Moving to maintenance for several weeks or months will help encourage your body to believe that your current weight is the normal weight for you.
Once your body accepts and adjusts to the new weight, then you can start to think about returning to your weight-loss diet of choice.
How long that will take depends on your hormonal state and degree of self-preservation. The longer you stayed at a particular weight, the longer your maintenance will have to be to overcome it.
This is why I consistently stall at 140, 160, and 200 pounds. These are the places where I have lived most of my adult life. At 145 pounds, my lowest weight after a round of HCG, I regained extremely easily doing Jimmy Moore's version of Nutritional Ketosis.
I didn't stay at 145 very long because the number of calories required to maintain that weight was far too low for comfort.
Step 5: Tackle Emotional and Mental Issues
Moving to maintenance is a deliberate strategy for overcoming your set point, so you don't want to go unconscious and toss your weight-loss efforts to the wind.
Once you reach goal weight, the rewards you're used to getting from the scale or the attention you're now getting from others will probably disappear.
You'll need to find new ways to keep yourself motivated to maintain your new weight without falling back on the fear and worry that you will regain.
Think about non-food treats and little gifts for a month well-done. Go on and pamper yourself. Consider all of the things in your life that you are grateful for, and take a second look at things that make you happy.
In addition, take the time to look over any emotional attachments you might have to food. Most people with weight problems use food to:
- soothe their emotions
- calm down during stressful situations
- defend themselves
- buffer their fears
We do many things unconsciously without realizing that we are doing them.
These are the behaviors and habits you want to look for and reconsider their value in your life. Anything that no longer works for you can be consciously tossed.
Also, try to discover some of the false beliefs you have about your self and others that are holding you back from reaching your weight-loss goals.
Society has conditioned us to believe that being thin is the only path to happiness, but it's really not. There are many things in life, other than food, that bring joy.
Also, work on any body image issues you might have during this time. Do things that will build your self-esteem. Read a book you've been wanting to read, see a movie you've been wanting to see, or get involved in creative pursuits and fun activities. Play with the kids and grand kids.
Have fun now. Don't wait for tomorrow because tomorrow might never come.
Don't Forget to LIVE Today
Dieting can bring rich rewards like self-discipline, improved health, and increased vitality. However, food is only one small aspect of a totally balanced lifestyle.
Society is obsessed with thinness, so we are conditioned to believe that being overweight is not okay. And sometimes, the guilt attached to being obese can take precedence over the other aspects of our lives.
Plateaus can be discouraging and disappointing. There's no doubt about that.
But letting the number on the scale control your mood, attitude, and zest for living will rob you of the joy that comes from spending time with family and friends or doing something you really want to do -- right now.
Don't wait until you're at goal weight to start living. Live today and let tomorrow take care of itself.
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