Weight Loss Plateaus & An Audit
Are you feeling a little stuck lately?
Are you questioning if you are in a weight loss plateau?
Are you maybe questioning if you are actually in a calorie deficit or maybe stuck in maintenance?
I got you!
Weight loss plateaus can be frustrating and may be encountered on a weight loss journey. The process of weight loss is complex though and influenced by various factors, including caloric intake, energy expenditure, hormonal fluctuations, and metabolic adaptations. There are a lot of possibilities to look at before looking for the answer to a weight loss plateau for a stagnation in weight.
What’s first?
Understanding the function of weight loss, which relies on a caloric deficit, is necessary. We may read different things about different diets and their details but it all comes down to ensuring that the calories burned exceed those consumed. Now how that is achieved can be challenging as we try to balance hunger, energy levels, activity, sleep, stress, and a multitude of other things that can affect our ability to maintain a calorie deficit.
How do you know if you are in a weight loss plateau?
Some of the following factors will be present. However, one of these factors by itself is probably not indicative of a true weight loss plateau.
- Stalled Weight Loss: The most obvious sign is a lack of progress on the scale. If your weight remains unchanged for several weeks despite sticking EXACTLY to your diet and exercise routine, you might be in a weight loss plateau.
- Body Measurements: While the scale might not show changes, measuring your body can provide additional insights. A plateau on the scale would be accompanied by little to no changes in body measurements, such as waist, hips, or thighs.
- Energy Levels: A sudden decrease in energy levels or increased feelings of fatigue could be a sign. Plateaus can impact your metabolism and energy expenditure, leading to a sense of lethargy.
- Hunger Levels: An increase in hunger despite adhering to your calorie intake can be indicative. Hormonal changes during a plateau might cause elevated ghrelin levels, making you feel hungrier.
- Lack of Non-Scale Victories: Plateaus may result in a lack of non-scale victories, such as improved fitness levels, better sleep quality, or enhanced mood. If these positive changes stall, it might signal a plateau.
Did you find that it might not be a plateau?
If not, still want to try to figure out what it could possibly be? You can then turn into a strategy that I’ve used with multiple clients; an audit.
This isn’t to say that you need to do all or any of these things to make a calorie deficit happen. This is just to provide you with possible thoughts on where things might be off. Whenever we take a step back and assess all of our possible, actions or actions, not taken, we usually can find something that helps guide us to the answer that we’re looking for.
Give this list to try. It is pretty thorough but that’s the point here. It’s to get us thinking.
First up is the food tracking audit.
- Have you tracked everything? Are you including every single bite? Supplements like fish oil, fiber, vitamin gummies, etc.? All your vegetables, condiments, sauces, creamers, oils, and butter? Gum, hard candies, and/or mints?
- Have you entered your alcohol into your tracking?
- Are you eating out and estimating your meals? Tracking the sauces and dressings? Have you added 20% overage to your estimation?
- Are you weighing food in grams and measuring liquids in spoons & cups?
- Are you barcode scanning items and checking the information on the nutrition label to see that it matches what you find in the database? Everything on the label should be in the food’s listing in the database. If not, you should be editing to correct or create your own custom entry for that food.
- Are you weighing single-serve items that are packaged too?
- Are you tracking your food with raw weight and using a raw entry? Are you tracking cooked weight and using a cooked entry? This goes for all foods that are raw and cooked.
- Are you accurately tracking your total carbs and not your net carbs?
- Are you subtracting your exercise calories from your calories? Your exercise is already factored into your current calories and the calorie deficit is applied to the goals we have set in place.
- Are you making complicated meals that are harder to track? Aiming for simple meals and combinations can ease the process.
- Are you following your macros within 5g?
Next, body weight measurements.
When you weigh yourself…
- Are you weighing first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom, before eating or drinking, and completely naked?
- Are you using the same scale?
- Are you moving your scale to different rooms or floors?
- Has the scale been calibrated and then re-calibrated when moved?
- Does your scale need new batteries?
Now, progress measurement tools.
Are you using multiple means to gauge your progress?
- Have you taken full body measurements every week?
- Are you taking photos regularly? In the same clothing? With the camera at the same angle?
- Do you have one specific piece of clothing to check the fit?
Hydration status?
- Are you tracking your menstrual cycle? Tracking your cycle can help make sense of water retention, energy levels, and cravings.
- Have you been comparing week 1 of your cycle to other week 1s of your cycle to see if there has been progress?
- Are you drinking water every day? Do you feel puffy or bloated? Your first urination of the day should be transparent to tinged yellow and not cloudy.
- Are you consuming over 1500-2300 mg of sodium? Do you have multiple days in a week that are above 2300 mg? Are you consuming food to help process the sodium better? Adding potassium-rich food may help not overly stress your kidneys as they work to process through the high sodium and excess water retention.
Are you paying attention to the scale influencers…?
- Are you eating late at night?
- How have your digestion and regularity been?
- Have you been sleeping well every night? Going to bed when tired? Waking feeling rested?
- Were you recently ill or battling allergies?
- Are you on a new medication or stopped a medication recently?
- Are you currently dealing with an injury or inflammation?
Finally… but most importantly… Have you recently changed your level or type of activity?
What do I do now?
Has this audit helped you figure out where some discrepancies are or revealed anything? It usually does.
Did you decide to not go through the audit or find it unhelpful to narrow it all down?
Increase Activity, Reduce Calories or Diet Break:
- Boost your activity level by increasing steps or incorporating more exercise.
- Reduce calorie intake by 5-10%, focusing on lowering carbs and/or fats while maintaining high protein levels.
- If needed, take a diet break by increasing calorie intake to a maintenance level for 2 weeks with your protein remaining at its current intake level and then returning to the deficit for a renewed physiological and psychological outlook. After a diet break, resume your weight loss plan with the previous calorie deficit. If progress is still slow, revisit activity or calorie adjustments.
Finally question… are you being patient?
The “stall” or the “plateau” is not a real stall or plateau… it’s just not moving as fast as you would like to see it.
Patience is necessary.
Things take time.
Your body is going to decide the amount of time that it needs to lose weight, depending on the processes that you are choosing to implement and your consistency with those processes.
I hope this helps!
With love,
Coach Nik
