Weight-loss plateaus occur when our brain senses that we’ve started to lose body fat and are eating fewer calories than usual.
The levels of fat we have in our body are known as our ‘set point’, and when we go below this level, our brain will respond.
Our brain receives many hormonal signals from our body, and when it senses lower body fat levels, it will respond by slowing down our metabolism to preserve our remaining fat stores.
This response from our brain is a protective evolutionary mechanism. It’s designed to prevent us from dying of starvation and survive a famine.
Having a weight-loss plateau is an absolute certainty if you’re currently on your weight-loss journey. You’ll probably have many plateaus.
However, it’s important to internalise that this is a normal and expected part of losing weight over the long term.
That said, it can be very easy to start second-guessing yourself and question whether you’re still doing the right things – particularly when the weight doesn’t seem to move for 4+ weeks.
Our experience at Second Nature is that weight-loss plateaus can last as long as eight to twelve weeks.
This is an incredibly long time, which is why we often find it helpful to have additional support and reassurance during this time – otherwise, it’s very easy to give up.
It’s common, frustrating, and demotivating
It’s common for those on a weight loss journey to notice that their weight loss has slowed down or stopped, even if they’re still eating fewer calories.
For those of us building healthy habits sustainably around diet, physical activity, exercise, strength training, sleep, and stress, it can be confusing to see our weight going down steadily for some time and then remaining the same or slightly increasing.
This is known as a weight-loss plateau and can be incredibly demotivating. It’s essential to understand the science behind why this happens and how we can get past a weight-loss plateau so that we can reach our health goals.
What is a weight loss plateau?
If you’ve had many unsuccessful weight loss efforts in the past, you know how hard it is to continue losing weight and keep it off in the long run. Fat loss is often a short-term experience associated with eventual weight regain.
The ideal weight loss journey will be phased with periods of losing body fat and weight maintenance until we reach our goal weight.
Let’s recap the dieting journey many of us have taken in the past: significant initial weight loss after lowering your calorie intake or cutting the carbs, then progress stalls, then progress continues to plateau, and finally, we get disillusioned and quit.
Yet, the stalling part, or the ‘plateau’, is essential – the scales aren’t moving because our body is adjusting to change.
We tend to lose weight quickly in the first few weeks after making lifestyle changes. However, after a few weeks, we might notice the scales come to a complete standstill, or the numbers start to creep back up.
Often when we embark on a weight-loss journey, we assume it will be linear. We think we can keep losing weight at the same rate as when we first started. But this isn’t the case.
Below we can see a graph representing our ‘expectations’ vs the ‘reality’ of a typical weight loss journey. In the graph on the right, we can see intermittent periods of weight loss and weight plateaus.
Although this might not look ideal, the journey on the right represents a more sustainable way to lose weight. It’s worth noting that our weight is still trending downward overall, but we experience fluctuations and plateaus along the way.
Key points:
- A weight-loss plateau is a period of ‘stalling’ or even weight gain on our weight loss journey
- No healthy, sustainable weight loss journey is linear and the plateaus are important for long-term weight loss.
Why does our weight plateau?
The weight-loss plateaus are essential to allow time for our body to ‘reset’ before we can continue losing weight again. This is explained through a theory called the ‘set-point theory’.
To better explain ‘set-point theory’, here’s a helpful analogy: consider it our core body temperature.
Our body’s average temperature is 37 degrees. If we go above or below that, the body will do everything in its power to get us back to that normal temperature – it’ll sweat to cool down or shiver to keep warm.
‘Homeostasis’ is how our body maintains itself in a stable condition, whether temperature or weight.
Everyone has a natural ‘set point’, the weight our body hovers at when we eat healthily. Our DNA and the environment around us determine our set point.
Slow, gradual weight gain over many years can trick our body into thinking its set point is higher than it should be, which causes our body to resettle at a new, higher weight.
Scientists estimate that the average person will have a set-point range of 5-10% of their body weight, which means that at any given time, our body can lose or gain between that amount without much resistance.
For example, if your current ‘set point’ is 12 stone (76kg), your body could lose or gain between ~8-17lbs (4-8kg) without too much resistance.
However, going below this range would be highly challenging. Our body is programmed to function optimally within our set-point range and will do everything to maintain it.
It’s important to remember that everyone is unique, so some people might have a different set-point range, meaning their body allows a much smaller or more significant weight loss before meeting resistance.
Key points:
- ‘Set-point theory’ explains why it’s important to allow time for our body to ‘reset’ before we can continue losing weight again
- Everyone has a unique set-point weight and going below this weight is extremely challenging.
What this means for weight loss
The set-point theory explains why some people reach a ‘stalemate’ situation when losing weight naturally, despite continually practising healthy habits around diet, exercise, sleep, and stress.
Our natural set point might not be what we want it to be or even what society thinks it should be. Some of us will naturally have a higher weight set point, and others will have a lower one.
It’s essential to take this into account when making lifestyle changes. If our goal is unrealistic, it can be demotivating when it’s not realised quickly enough, resulting in us giving up and returning to unhealthy habits.
Key points:
- Set-point theory explains why some people reach a ‘stalemate’ situation when losing weight naturally, despite continually practising healthy habits
- Some of us will naturally have a higher weight set point, and some of us will have a lower one.
Why weight-loss plateaus are very important
A weight-loss plateau doesn’t mean our healthy lifestyle changes aren’t working. If they’re a result of reaching our set-point weight, it’s a necessary part of our body’s process to readjust and reset.
Research shows that two-thirds of people regain all the weight they lost, and then some follow a strict diet, so we need to remember that maintaining the weight we’ve already lost is a significant achievement.
The weight maintenance phase, or weight loss plateau, is essential to allow our body time to adapt. If we ignore this maintenance phase, continuing to lose weight will be a monumental battle.
From an evolutionary point of view, this makes sense. For our ancestors, periods of weight loss generally indicated a risk of starvation due to a lack of food availability.
Therefore, our body would try its best to hold onto the energy stores that we already have. This is achieved by lowering our basal metabolic rate (BMR).
BMR measures the energy our body requires to stay functioning at rest. This is how much energy is needed to perform essential functions like breathing, keeping our heart pumping, and digestion.
If we lose weight, our body will become much better at rationing what it has to make it last longer. It will reduce our body temperature, thyroid activity, and fat oxidation (or the amount of fat we burn) and help our muscles move more efficiently.
All these adjustments mean we burn less fuel overall, which can lead to a natural plateau.
On top of this, research indicates that people who’ve lost weight have higher levels of ghrelin (the hunger hormone) than those who’ve kept the same weight for years.
Higher ghrelin levels also tell our body to conserve more fat stores.
A weight-loss plateau is important to allow our body’s metabolic rate and ghrelin signalling to readjust back to normal. This happens when our body ‘resets’ to a new, lower set-point weight.
Key points:
- A weight-loss plateau doesn’t mean our healthy lifestyle changes aren’t working
- The weight maintenance phase, or weight loss plateau, is essential to allow our body time to adapt
- Our body can then adapt to a new lower set-point weight and we can continue losing weight.
How long does a plateau in weight loss last?
You might be asking why you’ve seen other people lose a lot of weight and never gain it back. The good news is, changing your set point isn’t impossible. But it takes time and patience.
Just as we can reset our set point to be higher when we gain weight, this also works in reverse when we lose weight. But we need to work alongside our bodies to achieve this successfully.
More research shows that if we lose weight slowly and gradually, our set point can adjust, and our bodies will stop battling against us.
It may be challenging, but once you’ve hit your set-point plateau, your body will need time to adjust to a new weight.
Following this, you’ll have established a different set point, and your body will respond like that’s the ‘new normal’, which means you can begin losing weight again if you want or need to.
A plateau can last between eight to twelve weeks, but it also varies individually. After this, it’s much easier for us to recommence a period of weight loss.
Sustainable weight loss isn’t a sprint. Most of the time, significant life-changing weight loss happens over 1-2 years, not in 1-2 episodes, like in the diet shows on TV.
It can take many years for us to steadily gain weight; likewise, it will take time to lose it again.
Check out our guide on overcoming a weight loss plateau, where we cover the importance of body composition (build muscle mass); building an exercise routine that includes cardio, HIIT, and resistance training; the importance of getting enough sleep; and how to manage your portion sizes and maintain a sustainable calorie deficit in the long term.
Key points:
- It’s possible to lower our set-point weight over time
- After reaching your set-point weight plateau, your body will respond like that’s the ‘new normal’, which means you can begin losing weight again if you want or need to
- A plateau can last anywhere between eight to twelve weeks, but it also varies on an individual level and it’s important we maintain our healthy habits during this time.
Take home message
- A weight-loss plateau is a period of ‘stalling’ or even weight gain on our weight-loss journey
- No healthy, sustainable weight loss journey is linear, and the plateaus are essential for long-term weight loss
- ‘Set-point theory’ explains why it’s essential to allow time for our body to ‘reset’ before we can continue losing weight again
- Everyone has a unique set-point weight, and going below this weight is extremely challenging
- A weight-loss plateau doesn’t mean our healthy lifestyle changes aren’t working
- The weight maintenance phase, or weight loss plateau, is essential to allow our body time to adapt
- It’s possible to lower our set-point weight over time
- After reaching your set-point weight plateau, your body will respond like that’s the ‘new normal’, which means you can begin losing weight again if you want or need to
- A plateau can last between eight to twelve weeks, but it also varies individually, and we must maintain our healthy habits during this time.
