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Plateau
- Lean Leaf
- Apr 8, 2024
- 4 min read
Everyone expects weight loss to be a consistent process. When in reality, it has twists and turns, ups and downs and periods where our weight just won't budge. Once we realize that this is how it is for everyone we start to become more comfortable with plateaus in our weight.
What we expect our weight loss to look like.
When in reality it looks like this.
What is a plateau?
A plateau is defined as no weight loss for two straight weeks. That's no progress for 14 days and it's one of the, if not the most frustrating thing our patients deal with when trying to lose weight. This happens to everyone, even people on weight loss medication. People make the mistake of deciding too soon if it's a plateau. The most common time frame people mistake is 1 week and that's just too soon to tell.
Your daily weight fluctuations depend on your hydration, sodium intake, and other factors.
This doesn't mean that you're done losing weight. You have to remember that progress isn't linear and to expect plateaus like you would seasons. They're predictable in that they're going to happen, unpredictable in that we never know when it's going to happen. You just have to keep pushing. Remember the only way to fail is to give up!
Four things to remember during a plateau.
Number 1
Plateaus are normal, they happen to everyone. Yes, everyone! So don't listen to people when they say it goes straight down. Trust, us we've had hundred of patients to track and it just doesn't happen like that.
Number 2
Plateaus are frustrating, even though they're normal, its still hard not to get upset when they happen. You've stayed within your diet and increased your movement. Why isn't the scale moving?
Number 3
Plateaus don't mean you're not making progress. Yes, even though we expect them, it's hard for it not to creep into our mind that we're not running in place.
Number 4
Plateaus don't mean you're doing something wrong. That's right, keep doing what you've been doing to lose weight. It's worked then, and it will continue to work. Be patient, it will come.
Why am I plateauing?
When losing weight, you're consuming less calories. When this happens, your body does a couple of things.
Your body is smart, it senses that you are eating less calories and becomes more efficient. Your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. One way to prevent this from happening is to have a steady weight loss of about 1-2lbs per week. This prevents your metabolism from decreasing.
You burn less during workouts etc.
It also makes you more likely to overeat to compensate for the decreased calories. This is called adaptive thermogenesis.
Food becomes more rewarding and you start to crave fun foods and eat more.
Your fat cells decrease in size which makes you produce less of the fullness hormone(leptin). You produce less GLP-1(the stuff Ozempic and Mounjaro work on) and CCK which is responsible for the "stop - eating" signals, get delayed and weaker.
Your body makes more ghrelin and insuline - like peptide(InsI5) which causes hunger
Great, so what do I do?
Remember, when your body loses weight your basal metabolic rate decreases as well. This means that your body becomes more efficient and doesn’t require as many calories to operate and your weight starts to plateau. This is a good thing if you’re in the wild and are starving. These plateau periods are called set points. Some set points are longer than others. You can view this link to see other people’s experiences with their set points.
One way you can help offset these set points is to have a cheat meal once a week. This tells your body that you are not in starvation mode and have access to food. Your metabolism begins to reset. Take a look at what other people experience with plateaus and cheat meals.
Now that you have the knowledge, let's look at some practical actions to take!
Stay the course
Don't forget that you did to lose weight in the beginning worked. Stay on track, don't let the plateau effect your motivation. Things you've most likely done to lose weight is
Stick with your diet
Moved more
Tamed your inner elephant
One thing we see patients do is lose hope, give up and go back to their old habits. Keep the calm and keep going.
Diet
Our first instinct when we hit a plateau is to either give up and eat whatever we want or to overcompensate and eat nothing. The truth is, you need to stay within your calorie budget. Eating too little can interfere with your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight. In fact, you can actually take a break from your diet and eat a little more calories than your budget requires. Research articles in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and other publications have indicated that "overfeeding"—which involves increasing calorie intake after a period of calorie deficit can temporarily boost your metabolism and increase your fullness hormone(leptin).
Increase movement
Weight loss is mostly about calories in vs calories out. Let's get the calories out better. Increase your exercise routine or just move a little more. Movement is more important than exercise in terms of absolute calories burned. Exercise takes about 5% of your daily calorie burn, while daily movements such as playing with your kids, cleaning your house etc. make up 15% of your daily calorie burn.
What? You mean I don't have to run a marathon or train cardio like a maniac to burn weight? that's correct. However, we still recommend exercise for other benefits in helping you lose weight. Here are some easy ways to increase your movement.
Get up and move or stretch every hour
Don't sit more than 6 hours a day
Park your car away as far as possible
Take the stairs instead of the elevator
Dance while doing household chores
take phone calls while walking around
Focus on non weight successes
Ok, you're doing everything right, but your weight hasn't changed. But what has? We're willing to bet you have more energy, your clothes fit better, your self confidence has improved and you don't get as tired as quickly. Weight loss is about quality of life, not just the scale. Focus on the process, not the goal. It's not the goal that is the determining factor. Multiple people have the same goals. It's the people with the right process who reach it. Here are some great ways to measure non-scale progress.
Physical
Increased energy
Improved sleep
Better fitting clothes
Easier to perform workouts
less joint / back pain
Psychological
Increased confidence
Pushing through down periods
Improved cravings
Mindful eating
Forgiving of your mistakes
Social
Healthy ordering at restaurants
Inspiring someone else to lose weight
Hard work getting noticed by people you know
Actions
Meal Prepping
Eating more healthy foods
Hitting exercise and movement goals
improved grocery shopping
Packing your lunch
Improved blood pressure
Go ahead and acknowledge one of each category that you've improved on. Re-motivate yourself by looking at how far you've come!
Medication
If you're taking medication with us such as Semaglutide or Tirzepatide, please reach out to us and see if you are on your optimal dose.
Example
Here is an example of someone going through a plateau and staying the course until she beat it. The key is staying the course.
Sandra had been on a weight loss journey for 10 months. Around three months into it, she hit a plateau. Despite maintaining her diet and activity levels better than ever, her progress stalled. She started blaming herself for the lack of results, but in reality, her body was simply adjusting to the changes.
Instead of panicking, Sandra decided to reflect on her past experiences. She remembered reading about plateaus in her health blogs and realized they're a normal part of the weight loss process. Following a radical suggestion, she opted to do nothing drastic to kickstart her weight loss. No intense workout sessions, no extreme diets, and no deprivation of food or treats.
Sandra made a conscious choice to stick to her routine and refocus her efforts on her program. She continued eating a healthy diet, reminded herself of her ultimate weight loss goals, and found alternative ways to measure her progress. She also started celebrating non-scale victories, such as increasing her improved blood pressure and extra compliments.
Despite initially feeling discouraged, Sandra persisted with her unchanged approach. After a few weeks, her plateau disappeared, and she successfully lost an additional 50 pounds, surpassing her initial weight loss goal.
Reflecting on her journey, Sandra exclaimed, "I finally reached my goal—50 pounds down! It happened so suddenly, I couldn't believe it. Especially after feeling discouraged during the plateau. But suddenly, it vanished, and I achieved my goal!"
So, if you find yourself in the midst of a plateau, take a cue from Sandra and resist the urge to make drastic changes. Focus on consistency, celebrate small victories, and trust that your plateau will eventually pass. And hey, a few extra steps and some grilled asparagus certainly won't hurt along the way!
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