What To Do When You Hit a Weight Loss Plateau

[USAF-Larry]

Interesting article by Dr. David Samadi...

What To Do When You Hit a Weight Lost Plateau

[OCDOC]

Point 1 he states (in part):

"Often people get off track by eating more food than they realize with calories adding up quickly.  Or it’s also possible a person may not be eating enough food which can slow down metabolism."

In other words "Maybe you're eating too much...or maybe too little!"...  lol :)..really helpful!!

The road to futility is paved with good intentions...in fairness the stuff about shaking up the exercise routine sounds good.

[emili]

I also think folks forget to adjust their caloric intake for their new weight. the less you weigh, the less you can eat to keep at the same deficit. Without a recalc, you will stay the same or start to gain.

[Dominique]

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@emili wrote:

I also think folks forget to adjust their caloric intake for their new weight. the less you weigh, the less you can eat to keep at the same deficit. Without a recalc, you will stay the same or start to gain.

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There’s an interesting presentation by Dr. Kevin Hall from the NIH explaining how much less you need to eat (or how much more you need to exercise) after a weight loss in order to maintain that weight loss. It starts at about 47:25 in this video:

His model estimates that at 10 calories per pound of body weight loss. So if you lost 10 pounds and wanted to maintain that loss, eat 100 calories less than previously (or eat the same, but do 100 calories worth of additional exercise).

[emili]

But it's easier to blame starvation and plateu. Weight loss is a project. An ongoing assessment and reassessment of what's working and what's next. I think sometimes the commitment is under estimated.

[OCDOC]

@Dominique  The problem with Hall's theory re maintainance adjustment is the assumption that the body's 'new' BMR remains static after you lose weight to your 'sweet spot'...it doesn't. Unless there has been a change to your brainstem bodymass set-point (which is very hard to do), your body ALWAYS 'wants' to regain the weight lost in those first 6 months. This has been studied, and the lipostat pushback lasts at least a year after a weight change. 

In other words, one can try to reduce/burn another 100 calories, but the body fights back by reducing BMR yet again...it's a battle the body always wins in the 'calorie-in calorie-out' game.

There is ongoing research into finding a way to dodge this, but no quick/glib solutions yet.

[Dominique]

@OCDOC: maybe, all things being equal. In other words, if one reverts to the same eating and exercising habits as prior to the weight loss. But things do not need to be equal.

Let’s take me as an example: in my pre-Fitbit times (early 2013), when I was 75 kg and mostly sedentary, my calculated BMR (based on my age and weight at the time) would have been 1583 and my TDEE 1899. Three years later (now), when I’m 65 kg and extremely active, my calculated BMR (again, based on my current age and weight) would be 1468 (so I’d already lose 115 calories solely from being older and lighter, without any of the alleged metabolic adaptation) and my TDEE 2788. Maybe my real BMR is slightly less than what the formula says (btw, I’m using this online calculator), because my body is "fighting" to put me back to 75 kg, as you say. But the thing is, I’m no longer sedentary (and I don’t plan to become sedentary again, unless I’m forced to) and I’ve also made a few permanent changes to my diet. Which is why I have no problem maintaining my post-weight loss weight. One thing that is definitely helping is the fact I’m eating at least 600 calories more in average each day now compared to three years ago, even if my BMR is lower.

So I think what matters is whether you consider weight-loss as a time-based project (you lose xx pounds in yy months, then say job done, and back to your previous habits), or as an ongoing lifetime project (permanent change to your eating and exercising habits).

Another thing that most likely affects the impact of metabolic adaptation is how much weight you are losing, and in what time frame. Someone going from obese to normal weight in less than one year will definitely have to fight metabolic adaptation. In my case, I went from 75 kg (BMI 24.8) to 65 kg (BMI 21.5): in other words, I remained in the normal range the entire time. I don’t think metabolic adaptation would be very significant with a 10 kg (22 lbs) weight loss.