I’m losing weight but it’s not coming off… How do I deal with the weight loss “plateau”?

Author: Cui Yihui, registered dietitian, master of medicine

Reviewer: Wang Junbo, Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor, Peking University Health Science Center

Why do we need to make a plan for losing weight, and why we don’t recommend doing it on impulse? Because almost everyone’s weight loss journey is not smooth sailing, and there will be tests, such as the diet barrier of controlling your mouth, the exercise barrier of moving your legs, and the bottleneck period during weight loss, also known as the weight loss plateau period.

The plateau period refers to when the human body reduces food (energy) intake for a period of time in order to control weight. Even if you insist on exercising, the body will spontaneously make adjustments to protect itself, lowering the basal metabolic rate, reducing energy consumption, and prompting energy intake and consumption to reach a new balance. At this time, it is difficult to continue to lose weight. This situation is called the plateau period or stagnation period of weight loss.

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Many people do not understand the plateau period. They are working hard to lose weight, so why do they encounter a plateau period? In fact, the plateau period is a manifestation of self-protection that humans have not lost in the process of evolution. It was difficult for our ancestors to obtain food. They could not eat and drink as they please, and they had abundant material resources. They often encountered food shortages and physical exhaustion caused by the harsh natural environment. Therefore, in order to adapt to the days of having no food to eat, the various organ systems of the human body began to collectively "increase income and reduce expenditure" under the unified command and dispatch of the brain.

When food intake decreases, the basal metabolic rate decreases, reducing energy consumption to maintain life. This regulatory mechanism of the human body has always existed in the long process of human reproduction and evolution. When you start to eat less or even stop eating to lose weight, the body will mistakenly think that it is experiencing famine. Therefore, after a period of time, the new energy balance will prevent weight loss, and weight loss will enter a plateau period.

The less or no food you eat during the weight loss phase, the earlier the plateau will appear, so it is quite unwise to starve yourself to lose weight. The plateau is the "stumbling block" on the journey of weight loss. Instead of being afraid of it or avoiding it, it is better to face it calmly and lose weight scientifically.

1. Adjust your mindset and accept it completely

Be prepared in advance and take the initiative to welcome the arrival of the plateau period. Generally speaking, the plateau period usually appears 2 to 3 weeks after the implementation of weight loss. If you only reduce your intake, the plateau period will come earlier. If you combine it with regular exercise, the plateau period will come later, or even appear after 1 month.

Don’t give up when you are facing a plateau. People who want to lose weight always like to weigh themselves every day, hoping to use the daily weight loss figures to motivate themselves. After entering the plateau, you can temporarily put the scale aside and don’t weigh yourself every day.

2. Further optimize the dietary structure

The most wrong thing to do during the plateau period is to continue dieting or not eating. In fact, only by eating well can you have the energy to lose weight. The right thing to do is to optimize the food you eat every day, and then appropriately reduce the intake of carbohydrates (mainly reduce the intake of staple food, especially the staple food for dinner), and increase the intake of bean plant protein or low-fat meat protein instead. The intake of protein can increase the basal metabolic rate and enhance physical fitness.

Neither eating only vegetables and fruits nor eating only protein is recommended. These extreme weight loss methods not only lead to a premature weight loss plateau, but also damage your health. You can choose to lose weight by replacing meals, but it is best to only replace dinner.

3. Keep exercising

1. Change your exercise method : If you have only done one type of aerobic exercise before, after reaching a bottleneck period, you can try to switch to another type of aerobic exercise, or add some local muscle-building training.

2. Increase exercise intensity : Here we need to introduce an indicator for evaluating the body's ability to burn fat during exercise, namely, exercise heart rate. An obvious sign of entering the plateau period is that the exercise heart rate does not meet the fat burning standard while maintaining the original exercise intensity. A person's exercise heart rate is only considered to meet the standard when it reaches 60% to 80% of his maximum heart rate. Otherwise, you need to be "harder" on yourself and increase the intensity of exercise to allow yourself to successfully pass the weight loss plateau period.

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The plateau period of weight loss is by no means the end of weight loss. This "roadblock" will become a "paper tiger" when it encounters confidence, patience and determination. It can be defeated in 2 weeks. If you don't believe it, you can try it.