Why Plateaus Happen and How You Can Break Through

In this article: 

• Plateaus are periods of time when you stop losing weight even though you’re trying. 
• They are common and often happen around 8-12 weeks after starting to lose weight.
• Plateaus can happen because of physiological changes like slower metabolism and changes in hormones.
• Other causes of plateaus include changes in diet and exercise habits.
• You can address plateaus by changing your diet, altering your physical activity habits, and assessing how your overall lifestyle impacts your health.
• Your Lark coach is available 24/7 to help you make healthy choices around nutrition, activity, and more. 

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Picture this scenario. You start a diet. It works for a few weeks or a couple of months as you steadily lose weight. Then, something happens. You go for one, two, then three weeks without losing an ounce. 

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What’s happening? 

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If you’ve ever gone on a weight loss diet, there’s a good chance this isn't the first time you've thought about this scenario. You may have lived it. According to research described in Pubmed, 85% of dieters hit a weight loss plateau. 

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Why do plateaus happen? Is it because your body reacts to your diet? Is it because of choices you’re making? Knowing why plateaus happen can help you prevent, recognize, and overcome them. Here are some causes of weight loss plateaus, what you can do to break through them, and how to take a long-term view of managing weight. 

Metabolic and Physiological Adaptations

Many people suspect that changes in their body cause a plateau or weight regain after several weeks or months. Research supports that your body can adapt to a diet. Here are some of the changes, or metabolic adaptations, that can make it more difficult to lose weight or prevent regain.

• Reduced resting metabolism. Your body burns calories all day and night to stay alive. When you’re reducing calories to lose weight, your body can transition into starvation mode to stay alive on a calorie deficit.
• Reduced lean muscle mass. For most people, the goal is to lose pounds of body fat. However, you'll be losing lean tissue, or muscle, at the same time. This loss can be greater if you're losing weight quickly. Muscle burns calories all day, so losing a substantial amount of muscle can reduce your metabolism and daily calorie expenditure. 
• Hormonal changes. Hormone levels can change when you lose weight. People who lose a lot of weight can have higher levels of hormones called ghrelin and neuropeptide Y, and lower levels of leptin and peptide-YY, or PYY. 

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Together, these changes can add up to burning (expending) fewer calories and consuming (taking in) more calories. That’s why it’s harder to lose weight like you might have when you first started your diet.

Lifestyle Choices That Contribute to Plateaus

Along with physiological changes, changes in lifestyle behaviors can also contribute to plateaus and regain.

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For example, some people start eating more calories than they did when they first started losing weight. That’s often because of a shift back to old patterns of eating. Here are examples of how calories can increase, often without noticing.

• Portions of high-calorie foods getting bigger if you stop measuring
• Including calories from things like tastes, bites, and cooking ingredients without logging them. 
• Having more cravings, especially if you feel deprived after eating cleanly for a while
• Consuming calories while socializing, such as having lattes or frappes with friends or going to dinner with family or friends 

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It's also possible that you're exercising less. This is especially likely if you were so motivated to lose weight when you started dieting that you significantly increased your exercise game or started a new exercise program.

“Starting Over” as a Strategy for Overcoming Plateaus

Despite any physiological adaptations that may be working against your weight management efforts, you can make lifestyle changes that help tip the balance back in your favor. A first step may be to return to the diet and exercise patterns that helped with weight loss initially. 

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Here are some ways to do that. 

• Log everything you eat and drink so you can know exactly where your calories are coming from and whether your food choices are as nutritious and filling as you assumed
• If you were logging at the beginning of your journey, check for changes like different food choices or larger portions
• Plan meals and snacks ahead of time so you have healthy choices available when hunger strikes. 
• Track your exercise to see whether it's as high as it was when you started losing weight. If you can't keep up that level of activity, keep in mind that every minute helps with health and metabolism. 

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You're not technically “starting over,” since you still have the skills you've been practicing already. However, having the mindset of making a fresh start can be motivating. 

New Strategies

If your body has arrived at a new settling point, you may need additional strategies to get the scale moving. Here are examples of tactics that can help some people feel less hungry and shift their calorie balance to manage weight. 

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Make sure you get enough protein. The adequate intake for average adults is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. That's 56 grams for someone who weighs 154 pounds, which is less than 15% of calories from protein on a 2,000-calorie diet. In comparison, the typical American gets about 80 grams of protein.

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However, it's worth checking your protein consumption if you've plateaued. Protein helps manage hunger and maintain muscle mass. Protein needs may increase as you lose weight to as much as 1.2-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For someone who weighs 154 pounds, that's 84-105 grams per day, or about 20% of calories on a 2,000-calorie diet. One research study mentioned in Pubmed suggests that getting as much as 25% of calories from protein can help with long-term weight management. 

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Here’s a sample day meal plan with 1400 calories, more than 100 grams of protein, and 20 grams of fiber. 

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Breakfast

• 1 egg and 2 egg whites scrambled with 1 cup of vegetables like spinach and tomatoes, using cooking spray
• 1 ounce of low-fat cheddar cheese
• 1 slice of whole-grain toast with 2 tablespoons of mashed avocado
• 1 small apple

Lunch

• 4 ounces of cooked skinless chicken
• 2-4 cups of mixed greens with any vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, and mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette dressing
• ½ cup of cooked black beans or lentils
• ½ cup of sliced strawberries or 1 clementine

Dinner

• 3 ounces of broiled or grilled salmon
• ½ cup of cooked whole-grain pasta
• ¼ cup of marinara sauce
• 1 cup of steamed broccoli
• ½ cup of blueberries or peach slices

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Use dietary fiber as a guide. Dietary fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest. It can offer benefits like lowering cholesterol, supporting digestive regularity, stabilizing blood sugar, and managing hunger. Fiber is also helpful in weight loss because it tends to be in more nutritious and filling foods. Increasing dietary fiber consumption can mean improving diet quality with choices like more vegetables, beans, fruit, whole grains, and nuts. 

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The recommendation for fiber is at least 14 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories that you consume, but the Dietary Guidelines for Americans report that the average American gets less than half of that amount. The above meal plan includes 20 grams of fiber, or just above the recommended amount for 1,400 calories.

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Add muscle-strengthening exercises. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggest at least performing muscle-strengthening exercises at least 2-3 times weekly. This can help maintain lean muscle mass and strength while reducing injury risk. If you’re not already achieving this goal, working towards it can help reduce a loss of muscle mass related to weight loss. Be sure to check with a qualified professional regarding the proper form for strengthening exercises. 

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Exercise more. Diet is usually more impactful for weight loss than physical activity, but increasing physical activity levels can burn extra calories to help you regain a negative calorie balance for weight loss. Before increasing activity levels or intensity or trying new activities, ask your healthcare provider about any restrictions you may have.  

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Adapt other supportive behaviors. Along with diet and exercise, your other lifestyle choices affect weight loss. Effects may be direct, like too much stress or not enough sleep leading to increased hunger. Or they may be indirect, like not getting enough sleep leading to being less efficient so you can’t finish your to-do list and leave enough time to cook meals. As you look at your weight management strategies, remember to manage stress, get plenty of sleep, and make use of your support system as much as you can. 

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Discuss more options with your healthcare provider. Sometimes, patients may achieve diet and exercise goals and still be unable to break through their plateau. In some cases, providers may ask patients to consider prescription weight loss medications like GLP-1s.

Managing Weight Long-Term

Weight management is a long-term endeavour. As you move forward in your journey, strategize to make your plan sustainable. Here are some tips for common challenges.

• Eat healthy to reduce cravings, and plan ahead to prevent them from throwing you off track
• Plan meals and snacks to avoid unhealthy surprises when you’re hungry
• Include regular treats and favorite food in your plan to avoid feeling deprived
• Forgive yourself and move forward when you get off track. Consider it a learning experience

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You should always be on the lookout for new challenges and opportunities. There may be times when what worked for a while doesn’t work anymore. That doesn’t mean you failed. It means it’s time to try something new.

How Lark Can Help

Small changes can help you improve heart health, lose weight, and manage or prevent chronic conditions. Lark can help you make positive choices on a daily basis. Your Lark coach is available 24/7 for encouragement, nutrition and physical activity coaching, and habit tracking. Lark can help you make healthy choices and establish habits that fit into your lifestyle so you can lose weight and keep it off with or without GLP-1 medications. 

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Click here to see if you may be eligible to join Lark today!

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