Despite metabolism slowing down, you can continue to keep losing weight. The first tip is to avoid very low-calorie diets. Moderate calorie deficits will work best, and while this does take longer to achieve your weight loss goals.
HOW LONG DOES A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU LAST SUMMARY
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Long-term calorie deficits can cause a weight loss plateau and a reduction in calories burned called adaptive thermogenesis or metabolic adaptation.
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High protein diets, slow weight loss, and NEAT can all enhance weight loss while dieting.
WHY WEIGHT LOSS SIMULATORS DON’T WORK
When dieting, most people will use a diet calculator, which usually has a daily calorie reduction goal (i.e., 500 calorie deficit) and a long-term weight loss simulator showing how much you will lose at the end of the diet. Check out the NIH body weight planner for a prediction model for weight loss. The NIH planner will calculate the net calories needed for weight loss for your body weight and physical activity. The issue with weight simulators, as you will read below, is that it does not consider that metabolism will slow down as you diet.
Many people ask how to calculate weight loss percentage. For example, if you wanted to lose 10% of your body weight (e.g., You weigh 220 and want to get down to 198). You can also use a percentage of weight loss calculator to calculate total weight loss as they used in The Biggest Loser Show.
THE 3500 CALORIE RULE DOES NOT WORK
Every weight loss textbook will state that a 3500-calorie reduction per week will result in approximately one pound weight loss per week. The 3500 kcal rule was developed by calculating that one pound of fat stores approximately 3500 kcal.(Wishnofsky, 1958) This equation is based on the formula that weight loss will continue as long as a calorie restriction occurs. However, as mentioned previously, energy balance is not static; it’s dynamic. Meaning weight loss does not decrease like a slope (i.e., static weight loss); it decreases with ebbs and flows (i.e., dynamic).
STOP A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU! HERE ARE 5 SCIENCE-BACKED CALORIE SECRETS TO LOSING FAT
For example, basal metabolic rate (i.e., energy burned at rest) and total energy expenditure (i.e., calories burned over the day) will decrease with weight loss, which results in lower calories burned. The best analogy is that if you had to carry a backpack that weighed 50 pounds on your back (i.e., excess body fat), it would take more calories burned over the day for you to move around. However, remove the extra 50 pounds, and you’re not going to burn as many calories each day because you weigh less. It takes fewer calories to move a smaller person.
BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU WITH WEIGHTED VESTS
A new study found that wearing a weighted vest can result in weight loss. Researchers had subjects wear a weight vest that weighed 25 pounds (i.e., 11% of their body weight) for eight hours a day, whereas a control group wore a light vest that weighed 2.2 lbs. (i.e., 1% of their body weight). That may not sound like much, but at the end of the three weeks, those wearing the extra twenty-five-pound weight lost -4.4% of their body fat. The subjects were not on a diet; they were just told to perform their normal activities. The researchers suggested that the decreases in body fat were due to increased energy expenditure from carrying the weighted vest all day.(Ohlsson et al., 2020) Now, imagine the reverse, if you lose weight, the total energy costs go down because you weigh less and carry less weight.
Most of the reduction in calories burned from dieting and weight loss can be explained by decreased maintenance and metabolic costs of a smaller body (i.e., it takes fewer calories for you to move a smaller body), and, most importantly, reduced physical activity. When people diet, they tend to move around less. NEAT, or Non-Exercise Adaptive Thermogenesis, refers to the calories burned outside the gym. It has been suggested that around 11% of the reduction in daily calories burned is due to lower resting calories (i.e., decreased lean muscle mass), whereas 35% of the reduction in daily calories burned. At the same time, dieting is due to decreased NEAT/ reduced physical activity. In sum, the changes in weight loss and dieting-related changes in metabolism are related to a lower amount of muscle and less movement.(Westerterp, 2017)
A 500 CALORIE DEFICIT PER DAY WILL RESULT IN 1 POUND OF FAT LOSS MYTH
You can still reduce your calories by 3500 calories per week. Still, if your daily energy expenditure decreases from decreased lean muscle mass and reduced daily physical activity, as it has been well documented, the 3500-calorie per week rule will not be effective. In a paper by Thomas et al., who compared predicted weight loss based on the 3500 kcal rule to actual changes in weight, they found that subjects lost substantially less weight than the 3500 kcal rule.(Thomas et al., 2013) Other researchers have found that the 3500 kcal rule leads to an overestimation of weight loss in individuals.(Hall et al., 2011) Furthermore, the degree of weight loss depends on the starting body fat, as obese people lose weight faster than leaner individuals.
HOW TO BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU
Dieting, weight loss, and fat loss will eventually slow down. It does not matter what type of diet you are on, but a high-protein diet will help preserve muscle mass while dieting. Using a protein tracker app can be useful while dieting. Here is an example of the typical dieter weight loss plateau.
Jim needs 2300 calories per day to maintain his current weight. Jim decides to cut some body fat, so he cuts his calories slowly every week until he consumes 1800 calories daily. He loses weight for a while; then, he suddenly plateaus in weight despite still eating as little as 1800 calories per day.
CALORIE DEFICIT BEFORE AND AFTER WEIGHT LOSS
Why does weight loss plateau? It’s because of a process called Adaptive thermogenesis (AT), or some call it metabolic adaptation. If you want a more detailed explanation of the science of AT, you can read more about AT here and here. So, what is AT, and how does it affect metabolism and weight loss?
AT is the change in resting energy expenditure (REE) or resting energy calories burned (i.e., you can check your RRE with an REE calculator) caused by undereating/dieting and loss of muscle mass. It is the body’s response to long-term caloric restriction. AT is a normal survival mechanism. Your body senses a drop in body weight and signals the brain to slow metabolism down.
The body wants to preserve its current weight; it does not want to lose body fat. The set point theory suggests that our bodies have a comfortable weight that is genetically predetermined so that when weight loss occurs, it fights to prevent further weight loss. In a meta-analysis of over 33 studies, AT reduced resting calories burned in 23 of 29 studies, AT reduced daily calories burned in 4 of 5 studies, and AT reduced sleep energy calories burned in 2 of 2 studies.(Nunes, Casanova, et al., 2022).
STUDIES ON WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU
Studies have found that AT can reduce calories burned by anywhere from 50 to 75 calories per day while dieting.(Leibel et al., 1995). Most of the studies on AT have been conducted on obese patients, but a recent study of former elite athletes measured showed similar effects. AT was measured after 4 months of dieting on a 300-500 daily calorie deficit and then 8 months on a maintenance diet (i.e., a calorie surplus enough for them to maintain body weight).
At the end of the 4-month diet, the former athletes lost a significant amount of body fat (i.e., 9.02 lbs. of fat), yet minimal decreases in muscle mass (-1.54 pounds of muscle loss). The adaptive thermogenesis decrease in daily calories burned was about – 85 calories per day. However, even after they returned to maintenance calories, they still were burning about -72 calories less per day when they started the diet. This means that not only are obese and overweight, but former athletes also have a drop in calories burned while dieting. (Nunes, Jesus, et al., 2022)
HOW TO KEEP LOSING WEIGHT DURING METABOLIC ADAPTATION
Despite metabolism slowing down, you can continue to keep losing weight.
A.) The first tip is to avoid very low-calorie diets. Moderate calorie deficits will work best, and while this does take longer to achieve your weight loss goals. However, you reduce the risk of the rate at which your metabolism slows down and reduce the loss of lean muscle mass (loss of muscle slows down the metabolism itself).
B.) Keep your protein intake high to maintain lean muscle mass, and follow a structured resistance exercise program.
C.) To keep losing weight, you will have to use a higher calorie deficit for weight loss. For example, if you were using a daily 500-calorie deficit, the drop in metabolism that will cause you to burn fewer calories can be overcome by using a higher calorie deficit. You may have to increase it to a 600-calorie deficit to continue to lose weight.
D.) You should also consider diet breaks; although they don’t prevent muscle loss or a decline in REE, they provide the psychological benefits of increasing calories.
E.) Stay active and keep your daily energy calories burned high. As mentioned, NEAT, or calories burned outside the gym, drop while dieting. A daily step counter can ensure you keep your daily calories burned while adhering to your diet.
REFERENCES
Hall, K. D., Sacks, G., Chandramohan, D., Chow, C. C., Wang, Y. C., Gortmaker, S. L., & Swinburn, B. A. (2011). Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on body weight. The Lancet, 378(9793), 826-837. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60812-x
Leibel, R. L., Rosenbaum, M., & Hirsch, J. (1995). Changes in energy expenditure resulting from altered body weight. N Engl J Med, 332(10), 621-628. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199503093321001
Nunes, C. L., Casanova, N., Francisco, R., Bosy-Westphal, A., Hopkins, M., Sardinha, L. B., & Silva, A. M. (2022). Does adaptive thermogenesis occur after weight loss in adults? A systematic review. Br J Nutr, 127(3), 451-469. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114521001094
Nunes, C. L., Jesus, F., Francisco, R., Hopkins, M., Sardinha, L. B., Martins, P., Minderico, C. S., & Silva, A. M. (2022). Effects of a 4-month active weight loss phase followed by weight loss maintenance on adaptive thermogenesis in resting energy expenditure in former elite athletes. Eur J Nutr, 61(8), 4121-4133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-02951-7
Ohlsson, C., Gidestrand, E., Bellman, J., Larsson, C., Palsdottir, V., Hägg, D., Jansson, P.-A., & Jansson, J.-O. (2020). Increased weight loading reduces body weight and body fat in obese subjects – A proof of concept randomized clinical trial. EClinicalMedicine, 22, 100338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100338
Thomas, D. M., Martin, C. K., Lettieri, S., Bredlau, C., Kaiser, K., Church, T., Bouchard, C., & Heymsfield, S. B. (2013). Can a weight loss of one pound a week be achieved with a 3500-kcal deficit? Commentary on a commonly accepted rule. International Journal of Obesity, 37(12), 1611-1613. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.51
Westerterp, K. R. (2017). Control of energy expenditure in humans. Eur J Clin Nutr, 71(3), 340-344. https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.237
Wishnofsky, M. (1958). Caloric equivalents of gained or lost weight. Am J Clin Nutr, 6(5), 542-546. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/6.5.542
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