Why have you stopped losing “weight”?
Your weight has stagnated and you feel a lack of motivation and don’t know what to do? Learn about the possible causes of stagnant weight loss and see if they apply to you.
“I’m following a set diet and exercising, so why has the “weight” stopped falling?” This is the question every dieter has surely heard at least once in his life. However, let’s get back to the substance. Why is this actually happening? And is there a way to get body weight moving again?
Check the composition of your body weight and girth, not just the number on the scale
Before we start analyzing the reasons why our body weight has stalled, we need to realize one important thing. The number on the scale does not always reflect the effects of our work. A kilogram of muscle is volumetrically smaller than a kilogram of fat, yet still, their weight is not different.
It may be that the weight has stopped, but the body’s circumference and thus the ratio of fat to muscle have changed. So don’t take the number on the scale as an oracle, just measure your girths. If you have the opportunity, also check your body weight composition regularly on specialized scales and approach the subject wisely.
Why have you stopped losing “weight”?
You are estimating the level of physical activity wrongly
If you don’t use watches to record your level of physical activity, you may be misestimating the number of calories burned during your workout. As a consequence of such overestimation, your assumed energy deficit is much smaller than you thought, and your body weight does not drop. Re-check what your energy requirements are, and start using at least a mobile app to record your activity level, e.g. Google Fit, Apple Health, etc. Data from workout apps, unfortunately, is not as reliable as that from a watch or wristband. Despite the lack of accuracy, these apps still help estimate activity levels and can still be helpful (especially for beginners). For details on how to calculate your requirements, read the article How to calculate your caloric needs correctly?
Energy requirements have not been adjusted for weight change
Remember that as you lose weight, your current body weight, and therefore your energy requirements, will decrease. If you do not take this into account in the following weeks of your diet, you may find that at some point you are no longer on a reduction diet, but simply on your normal body requirements. Fortunately, this change does not happen suddenly and there is nothing to panic about checking your requirements every few days. It’s just worth keeping it in mind and checking the situation every few weeks.
The body is not a machine
The body is not a machine and cannot be programmed. Sometimes, despite the fact that everything is well counted, and we follow 100% of dietary and training recommendations, body weight stops falling. If we eliminate these basic causes, related to energy requirements (described above), in fact, the list of reasons can be most varied. What to do then? First of all, give the body some time. However, if after a few weeks, the weight is still stagnant, perhaps the body needs some change and a new boost. You should consider temporarily increasing your energy requirements so that you can return to a reduced diet again in a while. You can also look at physical activity and consider introducing more variety into your workout plan. If your main activity so far has been running or swimming, for example, why not try strength training? Other reasons could also be health problems, e.g.: gut microflora disorders, hormonal problems, medications used, deficiencies of some nutrients, and many others. So it’s worth going to the doctor and getting blood tests done so you can dig deeper and find the right cause.
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