Weight Loss Plateau? Shed Those Last Pounds With This Expert Trick

If you’ve been successfully losing weight for a while and now you’re suddenly noticing that your weight has plateaued, you may have hit a plateau. This can make things more difficult if you haven’t yet reached your weight loss goal. The good news is that there are ways to get around this so you can drop those last few pounds. In some cases, the solution involves changing your approach to your diet, but in others, it may indicate an underlying problem that needs to be addressed.

We spoke with a dietitian to find solutions to help you get out of a weight loss plateau. If you’re having trouble finding a solution, here’s everything you need to know.

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Why does weight loss stop?

Have you ever noticed that when you’re intentionally losing weight, everything is going well, and then suddenly your progress stops? Your body has probably hit a weight-loss plateau. Before you start looking for a solution, it’s important to understand why. Lauren Mardeusz, R.D., owner of Salt and Honey Nutrition, says there are a number of reasons why you might be plateauing. A plateau could mean that your body has adjusted to your current habits and needs a little change. “The amount of time it takes to consider a plateau is different for each person, as people will lose weight at different rates based on their individual metabolism, diet, and exercise habits,” Mardeusz says.

• You’ve lost too much, too soon: In some cases, you can lose too much, too soon, and in a dangerous way by cutting calories too drastically. “This can ultimately lower your basal metabolic rate as your body tries to compensate for the drastic loss of calories,” says Mardeusz. “This can result in weight stagnation or even gain.”
• The cause may be the menstrual cycle: If you’re someone who menstruates, you should also pay attention to your cycle, as it can also affect your weight. Mardeusz says weight loss plateaus can also occur in women during their menstrual cycle or during perimenopause due to fluctuating hormones that affect fluid retention and metabolism.
• The “set point” theory: Another thing to consider is that you may be within your “set point” weight. The set point theory suggests that we have a predetermined weight that our bodies are biologically driven to maintain, despite our efforts to lose or gain weight. There is not enough evidence to prove that the set point theory is completely true, and some researchers argue that the theory is overly simplistic due to the different stages our bodies go through that can affect these factors.

How to break the weight loss stagnation

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they hit a weight-loss plateau is to continue restricting their calorie intake. “This behavior doesn’t make it easier to continue losing weight and causes people to experience symptoms like fatigue, increased cravings, mood swings, decreased immunity and hair loss,” warns Mardeusz.

Instead, she suggests a few better approaches to breaking through plateaus. “Adjusting the type of physical activity you do—like adding cardio if you’re focused solely on strength training—assessing the stressors in your life and incorporating stress-reducing habits can also help you break through a weight-loss plateau,” she says. Focusing on reducing stress can be beneficial because stress affects many hormones in our bodies, and chronic stress can affect how efficiently your metabolism works over time.

In addition, Mardeusz recommends working with a dietitian who can look at the nutrient breakdown in your diet to come up with a plan of action to help you get over a weight loss plateau. “A dietitian can help you identify things that might be missing from your approach and develop a customized plan with the right macronutrients along with education so you can understand how it all works,” she explains. After re-evaluating your strategy, she recommends giving it a month or so to see if it’s working. Depending on how quickly or slowly you were losing weight before the plateau, this may vary a bit.

Signs Your Weight Loss Might Be Something More Serious

Sometimes, stagnant weight loss can signal other underlying issues. For example, hormonal issues can be a contributing factor to stagnant weight loss. Symptoms that could be due to hormones include irritability, fatigue, muscle weakness, and hair loss. “These are also symptoms of someone who is malnourished due to excessive calorie restriction,” says Mardeusz. If you’re not sure what might be causing your stagnant weight loss, it’s helpful to get an expert opinion. Mardeusz recommends seeing a dietitian or primary care physician, who can help make sure your eating habits are aligned with other health goals you may have.

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