What to do when you plateau weight loss

You've hit a weight-loss plateau. Don't get discouraged. It's normal for weight loss to slow and even stall. By understanding what causes a weight-loss plateau, you can decide how to respond and avoid backsliding on your new healthy habits. Being stuck at a weight-loss plateau eventually happens to everyone who tries to lose weight. Even so, most people are surprised when it happens to them because they're still eating carefully and exercising regularly. The frustrating reality is that even well-planned weight-loss efforts can stall. During the first few weeks of losing weight, a rapid drop is normal.

In part, this is because when you cut calories, the body gets needed energy initially by releasing its stores of glycogen, a type of carbohydrate found in the muscles and liver. Glycogen is partly made of water, so when glycogen is burned for energy, it releases water, resulting in weight loss that's mostly water.

This effect is temporary, however. As you lose weight, you lose some muscle along with fat. Muscle helps keep the rate at which you burn calories metabolism up. So as you lose weight, your metabolism declines, causing you to burn fewer calories than you did at your heavier weight.

Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories that helped you lose weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat. Using the same approach that worked initially may maintain your weight loss, but it won't lead to more weight loss.

When you reach a plateau, you may have lost all of the weight you will on your current diet and exercise plan. Ask yourself if you're satisfied with your current weight or if you want to lose more, in which case you'll need to adjust your weight-loss program. If your efforts to get past a weight-loss plateau aren't working, talk with your doctor or a dietitian about other tactics to try. If you can't further decrease the calories you eat or increase your physical activity, you may want to revisit your weight-loss goal.

Appreciate the weight you've lost. Maybe the number you're striving for is unrealistic for you. Because you've already improved your diet and increased your exercise, you've already improved your health. If you're overweight or obese, even modest weight loss improves chronic health conditions related to being overweight.

Portion out your food

Whatever you do, don't give up and revert to your old eating and exercise habits. That may cause you to regain the weight you've lost. Celebrate your success and continue your efforts to maintain your weight loss. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.

Congratulate yourself on what you've already achieved

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Republic Fitness will be closed for the 4th of July. Club hours and schedule will be modified on July 3rd. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Request Now Join Online Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Press enter to begin your search. Republic Fitness October 17, December 18th, One of the primary reasons we get stuck in a weight loss plateau is cutting out too much. When we cut calories too low, we get a huge benefit in the beginning maybe the first or second time you tried it and then see diminishing returns.

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Instead, it will switch into primarily fat storage which, for our biology, is a long-term survival tactic. Will your body burn fat for energy? Yes, but it will also retain and store as much fat as it possibly can, as well. Kind of a zero-sum game, in the end. In the meantime, muscle mass is broken down for a more efficient source of fuel, and as a result, your resting metabolic rate drops meaning you need even less food than when you started.

Burn your own calories! Over time, in ignoring those signals, our brain will eventually stop producing them anymore. It gives up on trying to find food from the environment. It shifts into creating its own energy, which it is not efficient at see 1. All our most basic metabolic reactions that produce energy require nutrients from food: B vitamins, iron, folate, choline, zinc, iodine, etc. Supplementation with a multivitamin can potentially be a band-aid for this, but over time it will wear us down.

All the above indicate a major biological system potentially impaired by lack of nutrients, protein, and calories. These conditions are considered a progression of 3 and should be a sign to increase food intake immediately.

• Eat more fiber!
• 12 Ways to Lose Weight When You've Hit a Plateau.
• slimming lemon drizzle!
• diet plan using shakes!

Visit a dietitian and get a professional to calculate your calorie needs. If this does not resolve the above conditions, consult your healthcare provider. It hurts to eat.