Why Does My Weight Loss Plateau?
It always seems to start out the same way. You notice how well your friends or family members look. So, you inquire about what they did to get in shape and lose weight. Maybe they were on a diet like Keto or started intermittent fasting. They might tell you how easy it was for them and how better they feel.
Enthusiastically, you begin your diet, and everything seems like it is working well. The weight begins to slowly come off. For a couple of weeks or months, you were happy with the progress being made. Then suddenly, it seems you have hit a roadblock where the weight loss has plateaued. Why does this happen? What can be done to continue with your weight loss progress?
There are several reasons why this can occur. The first fact to realize is that everyone is different. What might work for one person may not work as well for another person. Never expect the same results. It will only ruin your motivation and determination when you start comparing yourself to others.
After several years of consuming an abundance of carbohydrates and added sugars in most processed food, it is important to think of this as a CARB ADDICTION. Oh no, I used the word “Addiction.” Before you get offended by the word and deny that no way can this apply to you, let’s try to examine how much carbohydrates we might eat on a daily basis. Let’s keep it simple. Just looking at the standard American breakfast might include cereal, toast, bagel, hash browns, pancakes with syrup, or even a blueberry muffin. Not to mention, the daily stops on our way to work to pick up a sugar-filled coffee from a local coffee shop like Starbucks or Coffee Bean.
Now, I have used the word “addiction” because, like other posts I have written, I started to see a comparison between carbs and alcohol. If you think about eating carbohydrates compared to alcohol for an alcoholic, most people may not realize how much carbohydrates they have eaten throughout the day. This is similar to the alcoholic that might not realize how much he/she had been drinking. Even for someone who is on a Keto diet, where carbohydrates have been kept below 30 grams, several factors come into play.
First is that it is next to impossible to maintain tight standards over one’s lifetime. Unfortunately, there is a term called “Carb Creep”. And yes, this is an actual term. It is defined by Microsoft Bing as “an uncontrolled deviation from the low carb lifestyle in which low carb dieters slowly scale up carb intake in unmeasured amounts. Carb creep can also happen by consuming products that have hidden sugars or “hidden carbs”. We are all human and can make mistakes. It makes sense that it is all overwhelming to try and track everything that we eat on a daily basis. We also may allow little variations, overlook, or even forget about what we have consumed. Generally, when we think about diets, the view is that “a lot” is bad and a “little” is okay. Of course, this stems from the fact that we may have lost control of our relationship with carbohydrates.
Second is that we are all not only exposed to emotional tensions like stress, anxiety, fear, depression, or anger throughout our daily lives, but they build up. These emotional tensions may cause us to fall back into our old patterns of carb-eating and snacking. Pay attention to the frequency in which you eat, regardless of whether they do or do not contain carbohydrates.
Next, regardless of the amount of carbohydrates that you eat, weight loss is still directly related to “Calories In, Calories Out”. When we ignore satiety signals from the body, there is always a possibility of overeating even if it is healthy. We have all experienced the mindset of finishing off all the food that we were served or prepared for ourselves. Our body’s homeostasis will not allow us to give up stored energy to lose weight.
When noticing a plateau in our weight loss, it is necessary to go back and evaluate what might have changed in our consumption of food. Recognize where the problem is and make the necessary corrections.
In my own weight loss, I would consistently hit plateaus. And the solution that worked for me is doing a 5-day fast. For the stubborn plateaus, it may be necessary to “shock” the system (I am using the word “shock” loosely because I don’t believe fasting is technically shocking the system). Intermittent fasting time can also be reduced as well as the amount of calories it takes to get over the hump. I
Depending upon your muscle mass, level of insulin resistance, fat adaptation, and other factors, it may take one person a short time to make progress in their weight loss progress, while another person may take longer.
David Komin
