What your diet does:
Whether it’s through intermittent fasting, cutting out specific foods (Keto/Paleo), or following specific macros – weight loss only occurs through consuming less energy in calories than you expend.
Think of it this way:
If your tub is full of water, it will drain when there is more water going down the drain than flowing from the faucet.
Similarly, if you consume more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight or maintain a similar weight.
The water is flowing from the faucet and the drain is blocked.
But what happens when you begin consuming fewer calories than you spend and create a calorie deficit, only to have your weight loss stall when your body hits a certain weight?
Over a longer period of time, your body undergoes this crazy phenomenon called “metabolic adaptation”. Which basically means, as your body loses mass, it undergoes two (2) intertwining processes:
Your body reduces its energy output. ⇐⇒ Your body increases its metabolic efficiency.
Your body reduces energy output in multiple ways. This can look like a decrease in your basal metabolic rate (the amount of calories needed for you to exist based on internal chemical processes) and a decrease in your activity level throughout a day.
To reduce its energy output, your body is doing nearly the same amount of work with less input. It’s like going from a V6 engine to a V4 engine. You need less gas in the tank to go even further. You have an “increased metabolic efficiency”.
So what can you do when your diet stalls?
Option 1: Switch to a maintenance phase. Purposely try to help your body get used to sitting at the same weight for a longer period of time. If you lost 10lbs, think about spending 2-3 months at your new weight. What will your activity levels look like? What about your meals?
Option 2: Increase your energy output. Since decreasing calories typically results in you expending less energy, you may need to make intentional efforts to move more every day. This can include getting 10,000 steps a day, riding your bike to work, parking further in the parking lots, or standing more often.
Option 3 (And this is my last resort for someone who is just itching to lose that last little bit toward goal weight): Decrease your calories slightly. While this is simple, it is not easy. It requires you to be incredibly honest with tracking your food, monitoring portion sizes, and being okay with feeling “hungry”.
Remember, ALL of these options require consistency over time. If you “let yourself go” on the weekends, you’re actually missing 8/30 days of the month that you could be practicing consistency. That means your rate of 22/30 days is actually only 73% accurate.
Don’t overestimate what you can do in 4 months while underestimating what you can do in 4 years. Take your time. Be consistent.
