Ever tried to lose fat for any sustained period of time – and then hit the wall? You changed nothing, but suddenly the fat no longer disappears.
The human body is incredibly adaptive, and will do its level best to maintain equilibrium (homeostasis).
The plateauing effect is the biggest motivation-killer there is. Unfortunately many popular diet books are strangely quiet on the issue — weight loss plateaus don’t make good testimonials.
What You Must Do Now
The best single word of advice is to make a change.
Don’t make the mistake of doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result (Ben Franklin’s definition of insanity).
What changes can you make?
1. Zig-Zag Calorie Intake
Zig-zagging, or calorie cycling is the process of varying daily calorie intake, while maintaining the same weekly intake.
Instead of consuming (for example) precisely 1800 calories each day – you can mix it up (calculate your daily calories here). Eat 1500 calories one day, and 2100 calories the next. This can be as simple as halving then doubling a portion size, or adding a post-workout shake into the plan.
Just keep your body guessing. Further: Zig-zag calculator.
2. Strength Training
If you are not doing this as part of your program or lifestyle, then it’s time to start. Working your muscles will help to strengthen bone tissue, increase lean mass, and ultimately boost metabolic rate.
3. Change Your Exercise Routine
So you go walking a lot? Then try jogging, or swimming, or cycling — anything that will change the way your body is working. If you are doing low intensity cardio work, then try some high intensity exercise (such as HIIT). Need help? Check out these exercise ideas.
4. Alter Macro-nutrient Intake
Although it sounds complicated, once again, the idea is to change what you are eating. If (for example) you are eating a moderate diet that is higher in carbs – try eating less carbs and more protein. There is no need to get super-technical over the whole thing.
If you have a carbohydrate snack every day at morning tea time – change it to a protein snack. Whatever you are doing consistently – try mixing it up a bit. However if you want to get technical, use a nutrient calculator.
5. Change Meal Frequency
If you are eating three square meals a day – start adding snacks in between (which may mean reducing the portion size of the main meals). Eating often is an old and common style of eating – once again, you are trying to boost your metabolic rate.
I know all that – What else is there?
Some of us seem to have more adaptive bodies than others. I remember when I was eating a fairly rigid diet, having three strength training sessions per week, and as much as seven (often intense) cardio sessions a week. After 3-4 weeks – the fat simply stopped coming off.
The frustration was enough to make me take my meal plans (stuck to the fridge), screw them up and throw them away in disgust. I was furious and disappointed. I felt that I was doing everything “right”.
So what was the answer?
Chill out and back off… I was becoming obsessional. I started eating more, and gradually reduced my cardio levels. I gave my body and mind a break. In the process I have learned to eat more intuitively.
Every person is unique, and we must learn how our individual body responds – and how to work with that.
I also do the nut snack in between meals. i have lost 70lbs since April and have never felt better. I have 15lbs to go to reach my goal. Keep working hard.
I am 21 years old, 5ft 8 inches, and 179 lbs. I can not shed weight at all. I use to be 165 a year ago after dropping from 200 lbs. I gained 14-15 lbs after getting off a restrictive diet. It has been well over a year since I gained the weight back and I am exercising and eating 2,100 calories daily. I was once very easily to lose weight, but now I can’t. I bike 3 miles a day and do 40 minutes cardio. I weigh 145 lbs without body fat.
Hi Mary, all good advice.
Although did not notice any comment about exercise..maybe i missed it..cos without it diets DONT work
George
i have lost 55lbs since jan of 2009 by cutting calories & exercising (1 hr of cardio 4-5x a week & 30 mins of weights 3x week). i have allowed myself to eat out a couple times a week, & while i havent been obsessive about my diet, i have been quite careful to keep it around 1500-1600 cals a day, lo-fat & low sugar. i am now at a plateau, & although i have gained only a pound or two, my stomach seems big & “bloated” looking. any chance that REDUCING my amount of excercise might help break the plateau? or is this just wishful thinking… =) also, i started on Celexa 3 months ago for depression (only 10 mg a day), as well as acyclovir for an elevated case of Epstein Barr. Any chance the meds might be affecting my weight & appearance? any advice or shared experiences would be wonderful!
I go to curves, and you can get a weight managment book from them. It does explain thet your body does get used to eating the same low kilojules. It slows down your metabolism to match it. It encourages you to up your caleries and stop when you have put on a maximum of 1.5 kilos. Then to drop your caleries again. until you get back to where you were. and do that again and again until it takes your body longer and longer to put it back on. I best not explain any more as im not sure if this is plagerism. But go to the staff at curves, get fit and get advice, they are awsome.
You have made me feel so much better. I have lost 1st 5lbs since 16 July but now I have stuck for the past 3 weeks. I am going to get out the tape measure.
Good Luck Sara – keep going and I will too
Julie x
Hi Laura,
I know you said you didn’t have any more time to exercise, but instead of walking longer, walk smarter. Try using the Walk At Home DVD’s by Leslie Sansone. You do them right in front of your TV and a mile walk takes about 15 minutes. So switch it up and walk with your hubby some days and use Leslie’s work out the other days. This way you’ll have variety and still save time. Hope this works for you. The Walk at Home workouts are easy, aerobic and wonderful. I recommend them to everyone I know. Good luck to you at your continued success at weight loss!
Hi
I too hit an early plateau after only losing 10 lbs. I measured though and found inches were still coming off, but not the weight. Not only that, i have actually gained a pound today! very frustrating to say the least, especially since I have 70 pounds to go! Its going to take a very long time at this pace. I am also so disappointed to hit a plateau so darn early in the process.
But my clothes are looser – a lot. I will just have to stay the course and not give up. i was near tears just a few hours ago about all this, until i found this site .
I have tried to change things up a little, (I already knew to try this), but no response from the scale.
I am now inspired to keep going, knowing that I am not alone in this. I will also focus on the measurements, not the scale drama. Thank you everyone for the information.
to librarylady:
i have a suggestion -some say to break a platue u must excerise a bit harder than u usually do in order to give ur body a ”shock” and make it think its working harder. perhaps while u excersise[say walking for example] u should excersime 9-10 min harder than u usually do. or sometimes run while u walk to ake ur body think its working harder or do a diffrent excerise like biking etc. a change can make all the diffrence. remeber when u excersie u should sweat like a piggy . it always helps me.except on periods.
i lost nine pounds on the diet im doing now, im eating less than 1000 cal. and excrsing briskly 45min a day 6 days a week. but when my period comes-i hate it, it always stops weightloss no matter what i do. my weight is still the same. have i platued too fast or is it the period??? how can i eat less then im doing now? i dont even eat any starch at all. just veggies and protiens-plus health shakes,any suggestions????
I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING.
Hey everyone. I started my weight loss journey weighing in at 200 pounds. I started a healthy diet by eating every 3 hours, for a total of 1500 calories a day. My diet consisted of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean chicken, etc. I ate a bit of junk food every week but not much. Within the first 5 weeks I lost 10 pounds, meaning I lost consistently at 2 pounds a week. The second month I added exercise (35 minutes of cardio) and I lost about 10 more pounds. Then my weight loss stopped, so I decided to stop exercising for a couple of weeks and eat a bit more (100-200 calories more). After 2-3 weeks the weight started coming off again and I added a bit of exercise back to the routine.
We should be comparing densities (fat is less dense than muscle). Sorry for the technicality, but I am a physicist.
I’ve been researching weight loss ALOT and i’m hoping to lose 28pounds in roughly 6 months. What i’m hoping to do is lose 35 pounds on a strict diet and then when I go back to a balanced diet with a few treats (but not eating as much as I am now so I dont go back to my original weight). By doing this a will gain several pounds but i’ll be the weight I originally wanted to be.
To do this my diet will be;
Breakfast- Balanced meal
Morning Snack- Homemade cereal bar
Lunch- Small salad and fruit
Afternoon Snack- Fruit
Tea- Balanced meal
I also exercise for between 30mins-1.5hours 6 times a week and i’m hoping this plan will help me get to my goal.
Because i’m not losing THAT much weight do you think I will reach a plateau? And do you think my plan will work? I really really really really need your advice, thank you..
‘eating right’ is a very loose term. I started ‘eating right’ 2 years ago and lost weight at a veeery slow rate. What you need to do is continue to ‘eat right’ and start counting calories. 1 lb of fat = 3500 calories so what you need to do is create a calorie deficit to lose the fat. If you create a deficit of 500 calories a day that = 3500 a week = 1 lb fat. It’s math.. At my starting weight of 235 I needed somewhere around 1800 calories a day for a 500 calorie deficit… I’m telling you.. it works. For better advice and to figure out what your number is I would advice buying a calorie/weight loss book somewhere locally (so you can look through it first..make sure it’s right for you) and a JOURNAL.. YOU MUST JOURNAL… again.. YOU MUST JOURNAL… It sounds boring, but it is sooo worth it. All the tedious calculations and research of what I was eating paid off. When I got on the scale 4 months after I really started focusing and it had tipped back below 200, I cried. I sat down in my bathroom and I cried like I had won the lottery. Giving up a few moments of indulgence a day and putting those moments into a little bit of math and meal planning will yield such amazing results. Oh and I forgot, frozen meals help with the time constraints we all face on a daily basis. There are a lot of choices out there with the portion controlled diet meals, so you don’t have to get bored. You will be surprised at how you start feeling full faster when your brain starts changing. Make sure you snack here and there on some low calorie foods, and keep it up with the water. You don’t have to be a rabbit. I promise you.. it’s actually pretty easy.. I even drink a soda here and there.
You have to make a decision. It’s not a diet, it’s a rewiring of your relationship with food.. and it should be for life.
“…for better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and by the struggle to make them real” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
I’ve been working with a nutritionist on the advice of my doctor for the past six months and have had a meal plan of about 1600 calories a day. I have lost about 25 lbs, as you can tell, very slowly. I have 10-15 to go. Now the scale won’t budge. She does not want me to eat less, but to exercise more – I hope that will help. The plateau is indeed, very discouraging, especially when you have to fight for every pound lost!
Hi my name is Monica Dutt
I want to loose weight
but it is hard for me
i am trying to loose
about 25 or 30 but i been trying and
trying but it not
worth it i working
hard on it but i am
still fat i want to
get skinny id not know how to do it
this is also my first time hearing about the zig zag thing. Curious as well.
Hey Laura,
I have also reached the plateau phase. It’s so frustrating…I am on week 2…and have not shed an ounce. It’s very discouraging and depressing. I have started eating more and worked out less; a sheer sign of giving up. Reading everyone’s comment here helps. Didn’t realize it can last 4 weeks or more.
I’m currently stuck to for about 3 weeks now. I’m probably on a 1200-2000 calorie diet depending on the day. I work out 7 days a week 3 hours a day. I focus mostly on circuit training and weights. But i do very little cardio due to a bad knee. I have increased my intensity but i haven’t lost virtually any weight.
So I’m intrigued by this calorie zig-zagging idea. Help me think this through. Imagine I wanted to average approx 1,500 calories daily. One week’s total calories would be approx 10,500. So what if I did this:
Mon-1,200
Tues- 1,600
Wed- 1,200
Thurs- 1,600
Fri- 1,200
Sat-2,000
Sun- 1,500
Weekly total- 10,300
Let’s also assume that I burn on average 500 calories 5 times a week (running/crosstraining)
Is this an effective way to zig-zag? Or would I still be consuming too many calories to create a deficit.
Help please!
I’ve lost 70 lbs over the past 10 months. I track every calorie in and exercised off. I’ve been on a plateau for the past 2.5 months and it seems nothing I do makes a difference. However, I am at about 16% body fat and really reached the goal weight I set in early September 2009 (187 lbs). The thing is I’d like to loose another 4 lbs…but I range between 190.6 and 194 on any given day. I’ve rigidly applied the same standard journal tracking which coordinated with my weight loss at a 95% accuracy. I’ve zig zagged my calorie intake, have a robust work out schedule seven days per week and still my body says “no”. I’ll admit, I’m not too worried at this point – overall I’m pretty happy with the results. But I want to sharethat weight loss can approach an asymptotic point where your body simply says, no more fat loss – we’re at critical reserves! I assume I’m there, but feel I could drop 4 more pounds to finish off the one year mark on September 1, 2010 at the goal weight. Will See…
I enjoyed your comment and I will give it a try with the measuring, I am so afraid of returning to my heavier self. I don’t want to let myself down right now. I have lost 20 lbs in last 6 months and I have been stuck for the last three weeks. Any more encouraging words?
Just for the sake of physics you mean equal ‘volume’, not equal ‘mass’. Two things of the same mass cannot have different weight seeing as how weight is mass x gravitational acceleration.
Gmoney, what you wrote makes perfect sense and I am glad I read it, and read it and read it.
The thing is pushing yourself harder and harder is difficult and painful. Doing the same thing is easy but gets you no where but in stuck in a plateau. I’ve told myself to start jogging but it’s not as easy as lifting weights and watching what you eat. Cardio is hard and takes a lot of effort.
I am going to make a plan to follow the advice you give and to push my cardio routine harder and harder to gain the weight loss I need. Jan 2010 I was at 242 6’0, now I am at 196 but have been at this level for 6 weeks now. My goal is 180 and the last 16lbs seems like its going to take a lot of effort to achieve.
I enjoy running during and after but before hand I always make it seem harder in my mind then it actually is. After the running I’ve done in the past I have felt great, like I accomplished something.
Thanks for posting as it’s made me try something I have been dreading and putting off and reading so many different things into why I have stopped losing weight.
This old saying is true when it comes to losing weight “no one has ever drowned in their own sweat”.
I am happy to read this blog because I thought I was the only person with this kind of trouble losing weight. I eat about 1200 calories a day. I am walking 20-25 miles per week, riding my bike 6 miles a day, doing weights 3 days a week and I am stuck at a plateau and absolutely nothing is coming off. I, too, thought a calorie was a calorie and am getting really pissed off that the weight is not coming off. I have about 50 more lbs to lose and I just can’t. How much more can I work out?
Because you are at your goal wt or close to it, our need for calories is less. Calories in-calories expended. Go back to your maintainance book. your ariginal points to lose wt where you are now, lose the 5 then add 4 pts. work carefully from there. it is a hard place to be. Since you did WW, You might benefit from the support of a meeting or online chat with others to get the support you need. With all the work you did, I know you don’t want to lose sight of your smaller, and greater self.
It is a forever journey.
I am at this space right now. I lost 65 lbs since Oct and two months ago I only lost 4 lbs and this past month I did not lose anything. I have been on a strict 1400 cal intake and I have tried changing everything since all this started. I have increased evan more work outs, from walking, biking, arobics, curves for woman, and still nothing. I am going crazy. My inches didn’t evan go down at all this last month. I just don’t know what to do. I have another 60-70 lbs to go and I am so frustrated.
People seem to spend a lot of time worrying about thier “metabolism”. Most of this is a bunch of BS.
Your body is probably adapting to your level of exercise more than anything else. A 300lb person walking for 30 minutes burns a heck of a lot more calories than a 220lb person. I would go so far as to say a 220lb person isn’t exercizing enough if they are just walking. The typical walking advice is for really really fat people. Skinny people don’t think of walking as exercize.
To break your rut you need to increase your intensity. start jogging. guess what, that will start to get easy too. Then you need to start running. That will also get easier, then you need to run up hills. That will get easier. Thehn you need to run up hills fast. You have to keep pushing yourself as hard as you did in those first few weeks of weightloss
You can’t think that the machine at the gym says you burned 400 calories that you actually burned 400 calories. At 300lbs you probably burned 700 calories and at 200lbs you may have burned only 200. If you are eating the same, its no surprise you stopped losing weight, you burned 500 calories less than before. If you were previously losing a lb a week you are now losing nothing.
wow – I’m so glad to have found this blog! the ideas and encouragement are wonderful!
like everyone, I’ve also hit a plateau and I’m wondering what to do. I’m on medifast (about 900 calories a day) high protein with some carbs – no fruit but lots of veggies and lost 9 lbs in 3 weeks. Then had to leave town and go off the diet for 2 days but stayed dto 1200-1500 cal per day – - and gained 2 lbs back. Now after 2 weeks of really sticking with it NOTHING has come off…..
I know the last 10 lbs are hard to lose but hits is RIDICULOUS! I’m afraid to go off the very low cal diet and zig zag because I’m afraid I’ll gain it all back, since just 1200 cal took me off track……suggestions anyone??
wow – i’m so glad I found this blog! I’ve gained and lost the same 25 pounds at least 10 times over the years but have hit an age where it just wouldn’t budge with my normal routine of 1200 calories per day, so I started medifast, which is about 900-1000 calories per day with lots of veggies but no fruit. The weight flew off the first 3 weeks (9 pounds) but then I went off for 2 days – and not badly mind you – just up to my 1200 calorie more normal weight loss diet – - 1.5 pounds came BACK ON – - and now for almost 2 weeks of being ‘perfect’ on the plan my weight won’t budge.
Is it really possible to be hindering myself by eating too few calories? If so, what should I do – as going up the 300 calories a day seemed to produce a very bad result?
I’m really trying to hang on this time instead of yoyo dieting – - planned to stick with it through the maintenance and everything adn am hanging on by my fingernails at this poing – very discouraged.
Hi everyone,
My name is Frank Ortiz and my email is frank.ortiz1@gmail.com
Since February 16, 2009 I’ve lost 138lbs, and today just under 16 months, I think I’ve hit a weight loss plaetu. For the past 1 or 2 months, I’ve only lost a total of 3lbs or so. However, I increased the lbs in my strengh training and my body has transformed, including definitions in my arms and legs.
One way I have stopped the plaetu was changing the workout and routine. Something it also worked was also being on vacation and wasn’t ablt to eat my regular good food or go to the gym, and gained 5lbs, but when I came back home and to the gym, I lost 10lbs in 1 week.
I eat religiously every 3 hours, and workout 5-7 days a week. Trust yourself, and pain is only temporary, but glory is forever.
Frank Ortiz