Gin Stephens, author and intermittent faster
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Oh, No!  The Dreaded Plateau! What to do if Weight Loss is S-L-O-W

4/23/2017

12 Comments

 
First, before I get into the nuts and bolts of how to break a plateau or speed up weight loss, I want to mention that there are three groups of people who tend to get off to a really slow start when it comes to weight loss while following an intermittent fasting plan.  I have seen it time and time again in weight loss support groups:  someone complains that they aren't losing weight, or are even gaining weight, and upon further questioning, common patterns can be detected.  If you fit into one of these groups, you are going to need more patience than others:
  1. If you are coming off of a very low calorie plan, such as the hCG diet or another VLCD (very low calorie diet), then it is likely that your metabolism has slowed down due to the extreme plan you were following.  You are going to need time for your metabolism to rev back up.  The good news is that many people have had success with an intermittent fasting plan after giving it enough time.
  2. If you are transitioning from a LCHF/Keto lifestyle, you will probably see weight regain on the scale at first if/when reintroducing carbs.  This is because your body retains water when processing carbohydrates.  This explains the fast "loss" on the scale when you start a low carb eating plan (quick water loss) and it also explains the big "gain" on the scale when you reintroduce carbs (water retention.)  It's normal, and it doesn't mean that you can't ever eat carbs again.  Side note:  I actually believe most of us are healthier when we include high quality carbs in our diets;  as an example, our gut microbiomes are more diverse and healthy when we eat a variety of foods, and many scientists believe that over-restriction of carbs (particularly restriction of foods containing high fiber and resistant starch) may lead to imbalance, or dysbiosis, in our gut flora.  Click here for an interesting read about gut bacteria and the importance of feeding your microbial community--doesn't that sound exciting?  Here's one other interesting read for a newcomer to the science of gut bacteria and health/weight loss.  Really fascinating stuff, and highly recommended!
  3. If you have been overweight, or obese, for a long time, your body has most likely developed insulin resistance.  That means that your body is going to have more circulating insulin, even when you are fasting properly.  Because of that, it will take longer for your body to tap into your fat stores.  The result?  There may be a long period of time where you don't seem to lose any weight at all.  It takes time for your body to lower insulin levels and tap into your body fat for fuel, and some people only have success when they lower carbs for awhile.  This may seem to contradict what I mentioned in point #2, above, where I discussed the importance of including carbs in our diets to feed our gut bacteria.  Keep in mind that there are many factors at play, and the goal is to first get your body into fat burning mode (lowering certain carbohydrates temporarily to lower circulating insulin levels), and then consider what foods can enhance your overall health (reintroducing carbs, specifically high quality carbs with plenty of fiber and resistant starch). 

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, let's discuss plateaus and what we can do to speed up our weight loss!

Anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight has faced it:  a period of time where the scale stops moving.  The dreaded plateau has arrived!  It is one of the most-discussed topics in any weight loss group that I have ever been a part of.  Eventually, weight loss seems to come to a halt, even for many intermittent fasters.  Does that mean the plan has stopped working for you, and that you are doomed to be stuck forever?  No! 

First, make sure you really are at a plateau.

If you have read Delay, Don't Deny, you recall that my suggestion is to either stop weighing completely or weigh daily, and take a weekly average once per week.  Because weight can fluctuate a great deal from day to day, only compare your weekly averages to gauge your progress.  There are many weight tracking apps that do this for you.  Day-to-day weight fluctuations are not important; all we should care about is the overall trend.   Weight loss is not linear, and usually looks more like a zig-zag.  You may feel like you are not making progress because of the day-to-day fluctuations, but the overall trend is slowly moving downward.  If you are making progress, even slow progress, you are not actually at a plateau. 

What can we do when our weight loss seems to have stopped, or if it is much slower than we would like?

So--you have been tracking your weekly average for some time now, and you have confirmed that you aren't losing weight at all, or it is much slower than you would like.  If you are losing at a rate of approximately a pound per week average (or more), then STOP WORRYING!  That is a great pace, and you don't need to tweak anything.  But if your loss is much slower than that, there are most definitely some strategies you can use in order to get your body moving in the right direction again. 

But first, let's talk about calories for a minute. When I encourage you to eat to satiety without counting calories and to learn to listen to your appetite signals, and I tell you that trying to calculate calories day after day is not an effective strategy (because all foods are not treated the same in the body, and you also can't control what your body does with the calories you consume), that may give you the impression that the volume of food you eat doesn't matter. That's actually not true.

Yes. Even though counting calories is an ineffective strategy overall, the volume of food you eat does matter. You absolutely can overeat, especially in the beginning. Let me explain.

Fasting properly during the day provides a metabolic advantage because you are able to tap into your body's fat stores. Once your body adjusts to burning fat during the fast, your body doesn't perceive that you're in an energy deficit because it has plenty of fuel. Over time, your hormones--insulin, leptin, ghrelin, and others--begin to work together as they should. You find that your appetite gets into balance with your body's energy needs, just as nature intended. You get full and satisfied and stop eating after an appropriate amount of food. This doesn't happen overnight.

Before your satiety cues get back into focus, you may tend to overeat in your window. This can lead to initial weight gain rather than weight loss, because you are taking in more food than your body needs.

Even though fasting gives us a metabolic advantage, it's not magical. You CAN eat so much that you gain weight. Volume of food does matter.

Until you reach the state where your satiety cues are normalized, you may need coping strategies to prevent overeating. After you eat a plate of food, consider walking away from all food until your brain can recognize that you are full. Give yourself 20-30 minutes. Set a timer if you have to. Don't eat anything else during that period. When 20-30 minutes have passed, ask yourself if you're truly hungry before you eat again. Never eat just because your "window is still open."  Don't eat more just because you want to make sure you ate "enough" to get you through the next fasting period.  If you are satisfied, that means you should stop eating. 

Intermittent fasting is magical in many ways (hormonal magic, if you will), but it's not so magical that you can eat a larger volume of food than your body requires day after day. Work on eating a satisfying amount of food, and then stop. Pay attention to how your body feels. Stop when you're pleasantly full and never eat more just because it's in your window. In time, you should reach the point where appetite signals are working together and it will get easier. 

Now--for some plateau-busting and/or weight-loss boosting tips. 

While I would argue that intermittent fasting is really more about health than weight loss, and once our bodies are healthy we are more likely to lose the weight we want to lose, I understand that most of us start this lifestyle because we want to lose the excess fat from our bodies.  It's certainly why I began intermittent fasting.  If we are working so hard to fast every day, we want to be rewarded with measurable weight loss.  I get it. 

The good news is that you absolutely can make some tweaks that get the fat loss started up again. 

Pick and choose from the suggestions below--there are many ways to make this work for you.

First, check your fast.  Are you REALLY fasting clean? 

Go back to the basics:  only black and unflavored coffee, plain boring teas, plain water, and unflavored sparkling waters.  Have you been using just a bit of coconut oil or cream in your coffee?  Are you drinking flavored waters?  Are you adding ANYTHING to your plain coffee, tea, or water? Are you chewing gum, using breath mints, or breath strips?  Perhaps it's making more of a difference than you thought.  (YES, IT IS!  I promise!) I can't overemphasize the importance of a clean fast. 

(Side note: WHY do we long for mouth entertainment so badly during the fast?  Fasting is supposed to be boring for your taste buds, not a magical flavor adventure.)

Next, consider your food quality. 

Yes, I have often said "Delay, Don't Deny," but there is no doubt that all foods are not treated the same in your body.  Highly processed foods are not your best friend if you are having difficulty losing weight.  (This includes highly processed carbs, highly processed protein sources, and highly processed fats.)  The last thing I want you to do is get stuck in diet mentality, where there are lists of "good" foods and "bad" foods, but consider adding more high quality foods and limiting overly processed foods.  I include processed foods to some degree daily, but high quality foods are the basis of my diet--and I am also not trying to lose any more weight.  If you read Delay, Don't Deny, you may recall that I eliminated highly processed foods for a period of time in order to get to my goal weight more quickly.  I don't want to live that way forever, because I want the freedom to enjoy a variety of foods with no guilt (and bread is delicious), but it seemed to make a difference in the speed of my weight loss.  One of my favorite books on the subject is The Science of Skinny.  I don't agree with her recommendations to eat frequently throughout the day, but I think her food recommendations are spot-on.  Food quality matters more to your body than some arbitrary  number of "calories".  When you eat a healthy and balanced diet made up of mostly high quality foods, there are many benefits for your body.  One is that your gut bacteria are happier and your overall levels of inflammation go down, which can lead to easier weight loss.  This is the same article I linked to above (click here), so you can tell I really want you to read it. 

Consider tightening up (or switching up) your fasting regimen.

There are many ways to live an intermittent fasting lifestyle.  After much experimentation, I prefer a daily eating window approach, but that doesn't mean it's the best approach for you.  You may need to try some different strategies to get the scale moving.

If you use the daily eating window approach but weight loss is slow, consider tightening it up.  I couldn't lose weight with anything longer than a 5 hour window, and even a 5 hour window is too long for many people.  Shorten your eating window for awhile and see if that helps.  My suggestion would be to use a one-to-two hour window on weekdays and give yourself a longer window (up to 5-6 hours) on weekends.  As I have said before, specifically in this blog post--it can be helpful to mix things up, rather than get into a consistent daily routine that encourages your body to adapt.

Another idea is to incorporate the up/down day approach, which is fantastic for many people who may find that the daily eating window approach doesn't get the scale moving.  I would suggest that you start with 5:2 or 4:3 to bust through your plateau.  That means that 2 or 3 days per week, have a down day:  on a down day, you can either eat 500 calories in one meal or have a full fast for 36-42 hours.  (A 500 calorie down day is the ONE time that I am ever going to recommend counting calories.)  On the day after any down day, make sure that you have an up day:  you want at least 2 meals in an eating window of at least 6-8 hours. One thing that is essential:  it's important to make sure you aren't over-restricting on the up days, in order to keep your metabolic rate from dropping.  Fast, and then feast!  On the days that are not down days (the two or three 500-calorie or full fast days) or up days (the two or three days following your down days), you are free to have any eating window length that you choose.  

Don't be frightened to experiment with the up/down day approach! After adjusting to the longer fasts and longer eating days, many IFers realize they absolutely love this approach.  

What if you are doing everything right, and the scale is STILL not moving?

For some people, particularly the three groups I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, your body is going to be more resistant to weight loss.  You may need one thing, more than any other:

TIME.

Yes, you need to give it time. 

If you are in an intermittent fasting support group, you may see others dropping weight like crazy, while you sit there, week after week, seeing ZERO progress.  It may feel like your body is broken, and beyond repair. 

Your body didn't put on the excess weight overnight, and the hormonal changes that need to occur behind the scenes also aren't going to happen overnight.  Keep on fasting consistently, keep the fasting time clean, and eat quality foods.  Let your body heal.  Pay attention to how various foods make you feel, and select foods that make you feel good.  Focus on the other positive benefits you can detect, and trust the process. 

There really are people who live an intermittent fasting lifestyle for MONTHS before seeing scale movement.  Trust that once your body is ready, you should begin to see progress. 

I highly encourage you to take body measurements if you are someone who is struggling to lose weight.  Even though you may not see weight loss on the scale, you may see your measurements decreasing.  That means that fat loss IS occurring.  Many things can mask fat loss on the scale, and even though it looks like you aren't losing weight, you are, indeed, losing fat. 

Never forget:  over time, even slow progress adds up.  A pound here, a pound there--eventually, you should lose the excess fat at the speed that is right for YOUR body. 



12 Comments
Lisa Wooley
4/23/2017 01:20:19 pm

Thanks Gin; I needed this as a reminder. I NEVER want to go back to low carb or KETO but slip back into thinking weight would come for quicker if I did this in conjunction with OMAD.
Time is what I need. It's a lifestyle and I need NOT to compare myself with others.

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Melissa Lewis
11/3/2017 08:53:35 am

Im still doing LCHF/Keto im just now figuring out IF/OMAD.Ive switched up my eating window and seeing results! Im still in the scared of carbs mentality though!

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Meg Teal
4/23/2017 05:16:39 pm

Thanks so much for your wonderful advice, just what I needed confirmed for me to continue my journey....

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Yvonne
4/24/2017 06:21:59 am

I think my problem is that I eat because my window is still open and I'm scared I won't make it to the next Day. It's completely stupid because my body has more than enough stored fuel and feeling hungry won't kill me but it is still hard to get past this point. And there is still this psychological thing that I just want to eat more which is a constant reminder that food isn't just fuel but comfort and stress release. Almost 30 years of using food for that just don't go away in a few weeks

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Susan
6/4/2017 08:30:05 am

That describes me exactly! I feel like the squirrel storing up nuts for the long winter ahead! "Just a little more" or "just a piece of chocolate". I am fasting clean for at least 20 hours a day, then I blow it by eating so much in my window. I do ok with my meal. It's after that. When I think about closing my window I always go for one more thing.

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Piper
2/25/2018 12:45:39 pm

I think that's my problem, too. I've been doing OMAD for 3 months, keep a 20-hour fast 7 days a week, and my weight has not changed. Today, I started obsessing, and finally put a new battery in our scale. Turns out I've GAINED 6 pounds. I was really upset. I've been *very* good about a clean fast, 20 hrs, 7 days a week, and exercising 30 minutes, 5 days a week. I initially lost 30 lbs. by counting calories and exercising. However, my calorie intake became so low that I got interested in fasting, because it was a way to not have to spread those low calories throughout the day, but instead eat them in a window and feel satisfied vs. unsatisfied.

But ever since I started fasting 3 months ago, my weight hasn't budged (except to note now that it's gone UP).

I've thought a lot about it, and I think the problem is that I definitely keep eating in my window because it's still open, and I'm afraid of "not making it" 'till the next window.

But I definitely still have 10 (well, 15 now; thanks, fat) pounds to lose, so I think I'm going to try a combination of some of the suggestions in this article. Namely, stopping eating when I'm satisfied & not continuing to eat out of fear of the next fasting period, and then I'm thinking of trying a 24 hr fast or 30 hr fast, instead of my usual 20.

I don't want to go back to calorie counting, so I'm going to try these things and see how it goes.

Zelda Varner
4/24/2017 07:49:20 pm

Thank you for these trouble shooters!
I entered IF after reading for a couple of years about insulin resistance and tried several different approaches to "beat it". But even if I lost weight I found it again right around the corner with little effort. I definitely didn't feel I had corrected my insulin resistance. Before I started IF I fasted for five days. Lost from 213 to 199. I began OMAD/ IF on my week vacation with my hubby and I am sure that I stuffed too much food in that 4 hour window. I gained the expected 5 pounds after ending the fast.
After IF for another two weeks I again fasted for six days thinking I needed it to really shock my system into lowering my basal insulin rate. My weight is now stuck at 196-197 for the past two weeks. (But May 7th will be the completion of 2 mos of beginning fasting and then OMAD 20:4 or less)
Anyway.. I have been sad that the scales have stalled but I also think that 17 pounds is pretty decent for two months so I am going to hang steady for another week. Then I will try the 5:2 that you mentioned. That might be good for me becaus I still think that I am "insisting" on a snack before my window closes. Perhaps I will discover that it would be best to skip that snack!
Sorry this was so long winded. I am loving this new lifestyle... and you, Gin have guided me with your insightful "cliff note style" book and the FB page is just so motivating because we are "all in this together ". And PS : you look sooooo slim in those honesty pants! I am trying to envision myself looking the same in a year or even two!

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Vicki
9/8/2017 08:33:38 am

Thanks for the helpful tips regarding plateaus. I suspect o may be insulin resistant from being a good 50 pounds overweight and so many weight fluctuation an over the years. I'm scared of becoming diabetic, as it runs strongly in my family. I read the article you recommended on inflammation and it both scared me and overwhelmed me. I'm intelligent, but find it hard to process all the science lingo. What I need more than anything is a practical take-away. In other words, what specifically can I do (and eat) that will help my gut health. I take a pro-biotic most days. I know fermented foods and apple cider vinegar are supposed to help, as well as a fiber rich diet. Obviously, based on the article, limit processed, sugary, fatty junk food. Would that be the simple take-away?

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Gin
9/8/2017 09:21:26 am

You are on the right track! Eliminating overly processed foods is a great place to start. Probiotics, as well as probiotic foods, should be included in your regular diet. Also, focus on prebiotic foods. You can Google to find all sorts of lists of prebiotic foods, and they are foods you will probably enjoy eating. There are also some great books about gut health. Two of my favorite are The Clever Guts Diet, by Michael Mosely, and The Diet Myth, by Tim Spector. I am also working on my second book, and there is a chapter on gut health in it. Stay tuned!

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Mine Eze
10/11/2018 07:07:56 am

Thanks Gin. This is what I needed now. Probably going to try some combinations of the recommendations in the article above. Was actually believing I can eat any amount of food I want in my eating window. Again I am wrong!
This is so so helpful, hope to return with a better result after making the required changes.
Thanks once again.

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Marie
12/11/2018 10:44:47 am

I'm roughly two months at the same moving average on Happy Scale so I am pretty sure that qualifies as an official plateau. I decided to try ADF this week because my husband is away and my daughters were having dinner with their day Sunday and Tuesday and I think even have plans for Thursday. So I'm pretty much in the clear for not needing to even cook!

Results so far: after the very first 42 hour fast, I already saw my lowest weight to date. I'm on the second one now after refeeding very well yesterday.

Thanks for reposting this as a comment today. Verifies I'm doing the right thing. Very ready to be moving in the right direction again!

Thanks, Gin.

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Khomotso
3/8/2019 08:19:09 pm

I am on OMAD for almost 14 months now and has lost too much weight, until last month I startd to worry as my body has reached the plateau and did not know how to overcome or to break it, and reading this has awaken me now I know what to do thanks to Gin.

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    Gin Stephens lives in Augusta, Georgia, where she has been following an intermittent fasting lifestyle since 2014. In addition to writing the #1 Amazon best-seller Delay, Don't Deny and the follow-up book Feast Without Fear, Gin is host of the Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast and co-host of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast, along with fellow intermittent faster and author, Melanie Avalon.  Check out www.intermittentfastingstories.com and www.ifpodcast.com or search for the podcasts through your favorite podcast app.   

    Gin earned a Doctor of Education degree in Gifted and Talented Education in 2009 from Northcentral University and a Masters degree in Natural Sciences from The University of South Carolina.  She taught elementary school for 28 years before retiring to focus on IF full-time.  Since Gin also has two adult sons, one husband, and four cats, she is busy. Thank goodness for intermittent fasting, which makes her life easier!

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