PLATEAUS: Weight loss VS. Weight gain
Weight loss plateaus occur when a person's weight remains stable despite ongoing efforts to create a calorie deficit through diet and exercise. Several biological and physiological factors contribute to these plateaus:
Metabolic Adaptation: As you lose weight, your body's metabolism naturally slows down. This is a survival mechanism that has evolved to help conserve energy during periods of food scarcity. When you start losing weight, your body may become more efficient at using the calories you consume, which means you burn fewer calories for the same activities. This metabolic adaptation can reduce the calorie deficit that initially led to the weight/mass loss.
Hormonal Changes: Weight loss can disrupt hormonal balance. Leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and metabolism, decreases as body fat decreases. This can increase hunger and decrease energy expenditure. Ghrelin, another hormone that stimulates appetite, may increase, making it harder to control food intake.
Muscle Loss: Rapid weight loss or an overly aggressive calorie deficit can result in muscle loss along with fat loss. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, meaning it burns more calories at rest. Losing muscle mass can slow down your metabolism and make it more challenging to continue losing weight.
Adaptive Thermogenesis: The body can become more efficient at using energy, reducing the number of calories needed for daily functions. This adaptation can occur in response to a prolonged calorie deficit.
Stress and Cortisol: Chronic stress, whether due to dieting or other factors, can lead to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol. High cortisol levels can promote fat storage, particularly around the abdominal area, and can hinder weight loss efforts.
Loss of Water Weight: Early weight loss often includes a significant loss of water weight. As you continue to lose weight, this initial drop in water weight may slow down or plateau, making it appear as though you're not losing weight.
Reduced Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): NEAT includes all the calories you burn through activities other than deliberate exercise, such as fidgeting, standing, or walking. When you're in a calorie deficit for an extended period, your body may naturally reduce NEAT to conserve energy, further decreasing daily calorie expenditure.
Plateau Prevention Mechanisms: The body has built-in mechanisms to resist extreme weight loss. Plateaus might occur because the body is trying to prevent losing too much weight too quickly, which could be detrimental to survival in a natural environment with limited food availability.
To overcome weight loss plateaus, it's essential to make strategic adjustments to your diet and exercise routine. These might include:
Recalculating calorie needs: As you lose or gain weight, your calorie requirements change. Recalculate your daily calorie intake based on your new weight and activity level.
Varying your exercise routine: Changing the type, intensity, or duration of your workouts can help prevent adaptation.
Periodic re-feed: Introducing periods with a higher calorie intake can help protect your current metabolism from down regulating. Remember, the fitness professionals/bodybuilders many copy their diets from do short term caloric deficits (cuts) not prolonged periods of restriction.
Monitoring stress, sleep, temp and pulse: Managing stress and ensuring adequate sleep can have a positive impact on hormonal balance and overall metabolic function. Know your resting temperature and pulse. If they decrease (or even increase) significantly something is wrong and its time to rest/eat.
Resistance training: Incorporating strength training into your routine can help preserve and build muscle mass, which boosts metabolism. Train rathe than drain.
Consulting a professional: If you're struggling with a weight loss plateau, consider seeking guidance from a registered dietitian, personal trainer, or healthcare provider who can provide personalised advice and strategies. At #whatwouldBillysay? you can identify your unique energy requirements with a resting metabolic rate (RMR) test.
Remember that weight loss plateaus are common, and they do not signify failure. They are a normal part of the weight loss journey. Patience, persistence, and a balanced approach are key to breaking through these plateaus and achieving your health and fitness goals.
Weight gain plateaus can also occur, the mechanisms and reasons behind them are somewhat different from weight loss plateaus. Here's an explanation of how weight gain plateaus can happen:
Initial Rapid Gains: When someone starts consuming a surplus of calories after a period of maintenance or calorie deficit, they might initially experience rapid weight gain. This can be due to several factors, including increased water retention, glycogen storage, and the thermic effect of food (the calories burned during digestion).
Adaptive Thermogenesis: Just as the body can adapt to calorie deficits, it can also adapt to calorie surpluses. Over time, we may see a pronounced thermic effect of food, meaning the body “burns” them off as heat energy. Remember how cold you get in a deficit, when you plateau in a surplus you may find the body has started warming up significantly.
Satiation: As calorie intake rises, satiety signals might become stronger, and the person may naturally eat less or reduce meal frequency. This can inadvertently slow down weight gain.
Metabolic Adaptation: While the primary concern with weight gain is usually not metabolic adaptation (as in weight loss), some individuals might experience an increase in their basal metabolic rate (BMR) as they gain weight. This can be due to an increase in lean muscle mass or increased organ function to support the added body weight.
Plateaus Due to Body Composition Changes: As weight gain progresses, the composition of that weight gain can change. Initially, a portion of the weight gain might be lean mass (muscle), which is denser and takes up less space than fat. However, over time, some weight gain might include more fat mass, which can be less noticeable in terms of scale weight but still represents a plateau in terms of body composition goals.
To break through a weight gain plateau, individuals can consider:
Increasing Caloric Surplus: Gradually increasing calorie intake can help overcome plateaus. However, this should be done mindfully to ensure that the surplus promotes muscle gain rather than excessive fat gain.
Adjusting Macronutrient Ratios: Manipulating the ratio of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) in the diet can influence the type of weight gain. Increasing protein intake, for example, can promote muscle gain if and only if you are not sacrificing carbohydrate intake percentage thus eating less and filling up on protein. You need your energy from carbohydrates first, this allows muscle to be built.
Changing Workout Routine: Modifying resistance training routines can help stimulate muscle growth, which can add healthy weight.
Monitoring Progress: Like with weight loss, keeping track of progress through measurements, photos, and performance improvements can help assess whether the plateau is due to changes in body composition rather than weight gain stalling.
Consulting a Professional: For those who are struggling to gain weight effectively or encountering health issues related to their weight gain journey, seeking guidance from a registered dietitian or healthcare provider is advisable.
In conclusion, while weight gain plateaus and weight loss plateaus may have some different underlying mechanisms, both are common during body composition changes. They can be overcome with careful monitoring, adjustment of calorie intake, and consideration of overall health and well-being.
