Do you ever have those frustrating days and even weeks when you are busting your butt, but just can’t seem to rid of some stubborn areas of fat! I am not an expert, (just a guy on a journey) but talking with many people in the health industry and doing much research I have come to some conclusions. From what I have seen, often the case is that people have caused metabolic and hormonal imbalances from overly restrictive dieting. THAT is what makes some areas of fat harder to lose; not because the butt or ab fat cells themselves are more stubborn, but because you’re simply not burning as many calories as you used to.
Example, you’re an individual with a daily energy expenditure of 2800 per day and you stay on 1500 calories each day for 90 days (starvation diet), according to the mathematical calories in versus calories out calculations, you’ve accumulated a 117,000-calorie deficit. With 3500 calories in a pound of fat, that means you should have lost 33.4 pounds of fat. But you didn’t!! You lost maybe 15 pounds and got stuck at a plateau with that last bit of lower ab flab still defiantly clinging to your waistline. Why? Because you’re no longer BURNING 2800 calories per day!!! Your metabolic fire has dwindled to a tiny flicker. There is no longer a 1300 calorie per day deficit.
Basically you have hit a plateau – metabolically and hormonally. Your metabolic rate is depressed. You’ve lost lean mass, which has slowed your metabolism even further. Last, but certainly not least, your appetite has gone crazy and you have become ravenous, and you seem to get constant cravings!
Obviously we want to avoid metabolic slowdown in the first place and then patiently and persistently follow through until we are as lean as we want to be.
Unfortunately we can’t jump in our time machine and start over! Thoughts are that you put muscle back on through weight training and eating like a human being instead of a little mouse! Patience and persistence will make it worthwhile!
My apologies for my rant, but far too often I have seen friends, family suffer through these frustrating & difficult times. Again these are just my thoughts and I welcome your feedback.
Remember NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up on your journey!
65 users commented in " Fat "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackPlateauing is the most frustrating thing in the dieting world. It’s so unfair to put in all that work and be rewarded by a body that goes on strike!
At Weight Watchers they always recommended shaking up your diet: adding more protein or more carbs depending on what you’d been doing and mixing up your exercise routine. But I always found that if I lightened up on the diet for a day or two then I was able to ditch the plateau. Guess that makes sense based on what you’re saying!
Great post!
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@Jessica, Frustrating indeed! Thanks for your comments!
-Mark
When I was doing a lot of training back in the day I would recommend to people to switch up their workouts every 4 to 6 weeks. I’m not a nutritionist so I couldn’t comment in that area. Plateaus are challenging – most often in my experience it’s because people aren’t working out as hard or often as they need to, or their eating habits weren’t effective.
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@Stacey Shipman, Adding variety should help.
-Mark
Most excellent post, Mark! People need to realize, if they don’t take IN enough calories to sustain their workouts, the body thinks you are starving it. Know what happens then–NOTHING. Your body starts to steal from all the hard-earned muscle you’ve built up and leaves the fat you are so desperately trying to lose. You don’t want to cause that metabolic ’shutdown’ that Mark speaks of .. eat quality food and eat it frequently.. couple that with your workouts, and your body will stay on the losing track.
Very nice Mark…
@Linda, I appreciate your input….thanks!
-Mark
You are such a wonderful inspiration Mark! I’m really glad you found me on Twitter, I needed you in my life for these reasons.
I just finally started working out and eating right this past week, and it’s paying off (My legs and hips are sore, but I know it’s for a good reason!)
Thank you for posting this and your daily challenges! It’s nice to have you around!
@Suzanne, Thanks for the kind words, I do truly appreciate them! I am glad to see you are setting goals for yourself! You deserve to feel good!
Yes, the body can go into starvation mode — and hang onto that fat — in it’s thinking that it needs the fat stores as reserves now that food is difficult to come by (in the body’s thinking).
I also agree with what Stacey says about mixing things up. New routines = new challenges for your body. And that’s a good thing…
@lance, very true…thanks!
-Mark
Resistance training did the trick for me.
thanks for the post.
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@Dr. Hubbard, Resistance training is awesome.
-Mark
Oy, plateauing sucks. I’ve heard the same thing as Stacy. Switch up workouts or jiz jags cals (meaning keep your weekly amount of cals the same but do: 1600 one day 1800 the next etc . .) instead of a flat cal number everyday)to “trick” the body.
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@Marcy, Great feedback!
-Mark
I like a good rant (especially in this kind of encouraging form).
Surprisingly I’ve found it difficult, after I lost the weight I wanted to lose, to figure out how much I needed to maintain. My mindset was in losing-weight mode and its taken ages for the light bulb to go on in my brain and to eat when I’m hungry, as that’ll be the best indicator of how many calories I need to consume.
Also, the number of calories to maintain is higher than I would have thought. Strange! But it is definitely best to not go into starvation mode.
@Sagan, Many times I have watched people that I care about starve themselves because they see models in a magazine or an actress on TV that is so thin. It is so frustrating….thanks for your feedback!
Im taking in about 1500 calories a day. Im nursing a lot too. I work out everyday for about 40 min (thats all the time I have, really) Im loosing nothing!!!!! Nothing!!!!! Why???? Im hungry and fustrated and I want a burger and Im stuck 30 pounds heavier than I was before i had this last baby.
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@Suzie, All circumstances are different and I do not know the specific details, but maybe a switch in routine and identifying how many calories a day you should consume could be a start towards achieving your goal. My wife was very frustrated after our first child….although she worked out 6 days a week she had a very difficult time shedding some weight. Eventually she added variety to her routine, worked out at higher intensities and one day less (more rest). The change in routine along with approximately a 2000 calorie/day diet, she finally was able to lose the extra lbs. Stay strong, you will do it!
This is a great post. Thank you!
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@Running Knitter, thank you!
-Mark
I’ve heard of plateaus, but I can’t say I’ve ever experienced one myself. I’m 39, so the metablolism has definitely slowed. But, I’ve stopped tracking my calorie intake and have instead been focusing on eating the best kinds of foods for my health, dietary and energy needs. For me, this means lots of leafy greens and other veggies, and moderate amounts of lean protein and whole grains. Very limited sugar and processed foods. I’ve found that I have very few cravings, but if I do, I indulge with no guilt. I’ll have a burger or pizza or a brownie, and then get right back to the regular eating regime. I’ve got about 10-15 lbs that I’d like to lose, but I haven’t been working all that hard on my exercise, so attribute the extra poundage to that, and not the diet.
@fuzznfeathers, You definitely are on track with your food and running! Excellent feedback..thank you!
-Mark
Excellent post! Just what I needed today!
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@Mama Zen, thank you!
-Mark
I’ve suffered a few plateaus during my dieting and try not to be too discouraged. I keep plugging away – keep on the diet but move up the exercise mostly. I do know about the body *thinking* it’s starving and holding on to fat.
I read in one of Jen Lancaster’s books about her plateau’d butt that she calls an ass-teau. Thought that was funny.
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@POD, Ha! I will have to check that out….thanks for sharing!
-Mark
Here’s the thing about plateaus, it happens to everyone. We, Americans, always want things like yesterday. When I had to lost some weight, I had a very kind gym trainer who said to me, “You are losing weight quickly for NOW, but in a couple of weeks or months, you will not.” I was like, WHAT!!! He went on and said, “when that happens, just keep working out, add a few more weights. And don’t STOP eating.” This happened years ago, before the idea of using weights for weight loss was in the picture. I remembered what he said and I continued to lose weight. Yes, I was frustrated that it wasn’t coming off like before, but it was coming off and my body was changing. After I saw my body change, I was like ok then!!!
To quote Mark, “Never, Never, Never give up…”
@Rosy, Thank you for sharing your story
!
-Mark
Mark,
Sounds like my story! I am here to say that it IS possible to reset your metabolism, get it rocking again, and lose fat in a healthy, maintainable manner. We have to eat to lose, its that simple. Once I started learning about how I was truly sabotaging myself, it was like someone took a blindfold off.
The point that hit home for me was that my body is not going to give up the goods if it thinks I am “starving”. It actually does quite the contrary – it gives up the MUSCLE, rather than the fat, because muscle is more calorically expensive than fat. Education is the key. Love your site!
Sheila
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@Sheila, Such valuable input! Thank you!
-Mark
http://http://www.livewell360.com
Mark, this rant is so timely for me as I think I’m currently sitting on a plateau. I can’t seem to lose (or firm up) the last 10lbs of flab that sits around my stomach. I’m working out just as much, but not seeing any more visible results and seem to be hungrier than ever which then sends me into a personal pity party (read ice cream and cracker and cheese binging). This is how I’m trying to get out of my funk: change up my workout routine (love your weekly exercises!), add more protein with breakfast (which is taking the edge off of cravings) and set a new goal that isn’t related to just loosing weight (I signed up for my first trail race). The race keeps me motivated and gives me something to look forward to. Thanks for the great post, Mark, and to all the wonderful advice in the comments, everyone!
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@Anya, Great goals and trail races are awesome! Thanks!
-Mark
I can totally relate to this. Last summer I was walking ten miles a day (almost every day – a day off was six miles) and I decreased my calorie intake more than usual. (Yeah – even experts do dumb things in the pursuit of sleek thighs…)
Over the winter, I hit 45 and the hormonal roller coaster that many women hit about this age. I was also extremely busy writing and basically being inert most of the time because I didn’t want to take the extra time to drive eight miles to get to the closet YMCA and it was too cold to walk outside during the Wisconsin winter.
I also drifted back to my normal caloric intake. I swear I could feel my muscles shriveling, an awful feeling for someone who has always been a mesomorph. Seems I really screwed up my body/metabolism and I gained 7 pounds, mostly around the middle (thanks, pre-menopause!).
Now I am walking less – about four miles five days each week and lifting weights to get the muscle mass back. The weight is coming off (more slowly than I expected, though) and I have accepted the fact that I don’t have the genetics to have model-perfect thighs!
I have had several emails from women who go through similar things right around this age. Exercise enthusiasts who hit pre-menopause and gain weight. They are always puzzled and usually no one believes them, thinking that these women must really be eating more than they admit to, or exercising less.
Now I REALLY understand how they feel.
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@Shereen, Thank you very much for sharing your experience, your journey is inspiring. Readers please visit Shereen at http://nutrition.about.com/b/ she has so much information to offer!
-Mark
Nice post! As we all know, but many of us refuse to believe, “Starvation Diets Don’t Work”! The reason is that a body in starvation mode will fight to hold onto every fat cell in your body. Your body thinks you are starving, so it slows down your metabolism,tries to save calories, muscle (not fat) gets burned off for energy and any food you eat gets stored as fat. As a result, you end up gaining weight. Probably not what you wanted.
Just eat a healthy balanced diet and exercise on a regular basis and the weight will come off the right way! Thanks again for the wonderful article!
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@Talli, So true…you hit it dead on! Thanks for your feedback!
-Mark
Great post! Plateaus are the most demoralizing place to be in weight loss. Patience and persistence, maybe a bit of re-evaluating, and they can usually be busted through!
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Gena, So true! Thanks you!
-Mark
Just have to say – thanks for posting this! Need the reminder that I have to actually EAT to make my workouts worth something.
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@Missicat, I believe that eating is SO important! Thank you.
-Mark
Very true Mark, very true. We have to figure out what works right for our body, but starvation is NOT it for anybody! Weight training and eating MORE calories(but of the right foods)did it for me.
@Suzie – I hope you don’t mind me commenting, but there two things that come to mind are 1)what kind of foods do your 1500 calories consist of? 2) if could be that you might need more calories…
, you are so knowledgeable in the fitness arena….I appreciate your input!
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@Fitarella, Thanks Ms. Fitarella!
-Mark
This IS the reason so many individuals interested in weight loss give up.. or in their eyes fail.
Sometimes it’s not a metabolic slow down, but a BMR adjustment.
Your body recycles about every 90 days and during the ‘recylce’ your body can and does rewire itself when it comes to burning calories.
It’s a period of adjustment not only for your body, but for your plan of attack.
Great thoughts.
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@Strong One, Nice input as always my friend! Thank you!
-Mark
Metabolic slow downs are SO discouraging – whether from too few calories (not my problem – LOL) or other reasons (like lack of sleep). Good post, Mark!
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@cathy, But you do avoid the HFCS!
-Mark
Loved the post. I know this is something that I deal with all the time. Not really intentionally for the weight loss purposes but more that i don’t feed my body enough fuel and therefore it ends up eating my good lean muscle mass. Not good!
sweets&sweats.wordpress.com
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@Fitzalan, So true…thank you for sharing!
-Mark
I have felt myself teetering towards a plateau several times recently and adding more protein, calories, and changing my exercise, seemed to get my body the message. So far, so good! This post is so important to so many who feel helpless when a plateau hits and consider giving up. If it’s okay with you, I will link to this tomorrow
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@Annette, You are doing fantastic! Of course you can link, no need to ask!
-Mark
I COMPLETELY agree. A friend once entered what I ate during the day that we spent together on fitday.com and it came to around 2500 calories. She was completely shocked – she was on a diet of 1200 calories per day at the time! I told her to start exercising, AND RESUME EATING. It totally works.
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@Vered, Good for you!
-Mark
This is an excellent reminder! A lot of people don’t understand how this works.
@Mamasphere, Thanks for stopping and leaving your feedback!
-Mark
I never believed this until it happened to me. Back in January I restricted my diet, took appetite suppressants AND exercised in fear that I was going to gain wait during a working vacation/conference.
Not only was I unable to sleep and exhausted, but it took me SIX months to get back to my “normal” weight of 123. I still haven’t been able to shake the stubborn fat I put on in the months that followed when I started to eat again, and I didn’t even eat that badly.
It took me about a month to realize what had happened and my trainer agreed I had mistreated my body badly.
It wasn’t just a physical failure but an emotional and mental defeat as well. I will NEVER, EVER do that again. Especially the drugs. I’m a lifelong exerciser, health nut and felt totally stupid and defeated.
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@Dorrine, Sometimes we need to experience difficult moments to understand what might be “right” or “wrong” for us. It looks as though you have learned well and are on a good path. Don’t be so hard on yourself….you are doing great!
-Mark
Great post, i found it quite interesting. I never knew about all the weight loss stuff and starvation diet and its affect. It makes a lot of sense now when i look back at past times in my life that I have been super hungry/ravenous. Thanks for the info.
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@J, hanks for you feedback!
-Mark
I tend to change up my eating a bit so that some days are a bit more than others, and I also go a little nuts on Fridays. I’ve noticed, too, that even taking a week away from my plan sometimes kicks my body back into gear when I get back on track. Everyone is probably a little different, and for some it might be too hard to start again, but that works for me.
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@Maggie,s Mind, Looks like you have a very solid plan!
-Mark
Great post Mark, you can “rant” anytime!
It scares me to think that people STILL think starving themselves will lead to weight (fat) loss. That is SO 1980’s! Your body is here to survive, it doesn’t care what it looks like so when it detects you are feeding it less calories, it will slow down metabolism in order to preserve energy stores.
Plateaus are your body’s way of checking to see that everything is still intact. After a certain amount of weight loss, your body needs to check that it hasn’t lost an arm, leg or hip! Remember, your body WAS pumping blood & oxygen to areas (fat) which aren’t there anymore so it needs to stop and re-asses. This is only natural. But you can move from your plateaus if you mix up your exercise.
There are many excellent suggestions provided by you Mark and in the comments left by your readers.
Running is always a good way of increasing metabolism. Even if you do short runs, say run or sprint for 50 metres, walk back to your start line and repeat this 10 times. This will definitely shift things metbolically.
Weight training is also VERY important if you are wanting to lose fat.
Last of all, try something new, like Bikram yoga (hot yoga). Get your furnace burning more calories by literally teaching it how to sweat and do some hot yoga. You’ll be amazed at the results!
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@christinekambo, As usual your insight and advice is fantastic! I am now a big fan of yoga and will try the Bikram style! Thanks again!
-Mark
It’s a great rank! Reminding us that there’s never a short cut (though I wish there have) in the process of getting our body fit and healthy! I’m working on it too!
@Rosabel, Great job! Thanks!
-Mark
I am so with you on that one. Too many people I know have tried crazy things, like trying to lose 10 pounds in 2 days, and crap like that. STOP IT!!! I think so many of us are just too lazy. We don’t want to do the work involved to keep us healthy.
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@Irene, Amen to that!
-Mark
Mark: Thank you for being such an excellent resource on many topics, but this one was especially helpful for me to read today. And — it’s helpful to read all the comments. Guess I’m not alone.
Sure would be nice to make this journey withOUT hitting a plateau … oh well.
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@Sherre, Ahh the challenges…..but the REWARDS!
-Mark
Thanks for posting this Mark! I just hit a plateau this week and instead of doing the depressed, eat everything insight because I’m not losing weight anyway routine I will try your tips which seem far more beneficial:~)
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@Brandi Magill, Thank you for sharing!
-Mark
I think the key here is to consistently eat healthy. Trying not to binge if at all possible will help you from hitting that plateau.
Having a good variety in your workout will certainly help as well.
Great post as usual Mark
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@NatureMadeLisa, Good points…thanks for your feedback!
-Mark
Great post!
There are definitely some fat that I want to lose, but it’s super hard now. I have 100 lbs on a 5′2 frame so losing fat is hard. I just want more muscles and less fat, but I’m trying hard everyday to get there!
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@Girl on Top, Patience and persistence! You are doing great!
-Mark
This is one of the things I talked about with the nutritionist I saw this week. I needed to know if the plan I’m following was a sound one. It is sad how many people think that not eating enough will give them healthy weight loss. Thanks for putting this out there!
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@DaDivaStreet, thank you!
-Mark
great post! (and this was a rant?)
This is a common myth and reminds me of Oprah with her wagon of fat. (totally dating myself here) remember she went on that crazy liquid diet and then dragged her wagon on stage to represent all the “fat” she had lost?
What happened after that? She ate normal meals and ballooned back up. Her metabolism has never been the same since.
Eat smart. lift weights and move more. It really is as simple as that!
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@workout mommy, Always good!
-Mark
Man Dude, you just hit me on this one.
Funny how EVERY dieter goes through this, and yet when it happens to you it’s like “oh my god I’m such a FAILURE why ME!”. You have to keep fighting through it – changing workouts helps, altering calorie intake or looking at WHAT nutrients you are eating (if I cut back on carbs and increase my protein and calories overall, I generally start losing weight again)
What’s hard for me is telling the difference between a PLATEAU and REACHING A HEALTHY WEIGHT. I have a tendency to keep on bashing through those plateaus long after I should have started to maintain!!
TA x
It’s not a rant, it’s so true. Plateauing sucks, and once people realize it’s something that can be worked through, they’ll move forward instead of hit a slump or ditch their healthy efforts alltogether.
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@zenfitchick. It does….we need to stick with it!
-Mark
The metabolic slowdown is such a bummer! You explain it in a way that makes it very easy for anyone to understand.
There are rumors that prescription diet pills can do this over the long term, which means that there isn’t much hope for change using drugs either. Some people have had success with supplements, though.
This is interesting! When I was losing baby fat I remember hitting a plateau and feeling so frustrated! This would have been good to read back then.
Hi Mark,
Good article. I know a lot about fat (we are good friends) and I know that you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. As I have become older and sedentary, my metabolism is very low. I need to get moving to increase that metabolism and burn some calories.
Thanks for reminding me to try harder to get it together.
A plateau would be nice. It would mean that I’ve actually lost some weight!
Your right sometimes it is hard to tell people that they actually need to eat more in order to lose weight. They forget it isn’t always just about how much food but also the types of food they are putting in their body. Great post!
This is a popular thread, mostly because you hit on a nerve here. There are a lot of things that make people plateau. When people lose weight they break down fat cells, realesing high levels of certain hormones into the blood and throughing the matabolism out of whack.
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@Gabrielle, It definitely is! Great feedback…thanks!
-Mark
Great post! This is something I am definitely struggling with right now. Not the plateau part necessarily, but making sure I am eating enough calories to cover all of my activity and still lose. Between weights and cardio and training for a marathon I sometimes burn an insane amount of exercise calories during the day. That doesn’t even include what I burn by just living. Finding that sweet spot between maintaining the daily/weekly deficit I need to lose and not eating too little is tough. Sometimes less is not more.
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@keyalus, Many people have similar struggles, you are doing great! Thanks!
-Mark
So true.
High quality calories need to go in, and high quality workouts need to go on- to get results.
@FitMom, Well said!
-Mark
Hi Mark!
Being old school, I guess you could say I started my training in a one room school house! I didn’t know any of the new stuff! I just ran, played sports, ate less, and eventually better, and got and stayed fit! Now I read all the theories, and really, just shake my head, cause my old timey ways work, still work, ans all this new stuff, though quite intellectually fascinating, ain’t nothing like the real thing.
PS I never gave or give up..that is old school
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@Dr. J, Excellent insight…thank you for sharing!
-Mark
I’ve quickly learned that starving myself is not going to work – more harm than good! I’ve tried the crazy diets and well, may have worked at first but not in the long run. I totally agree with you – not the way to go!
Thanks for the explanation as to why my body is trim after exercise but my tummy is not! Stupid abs.
Well, that explains it.
Plateaus stink.
I’m going to go eat a pumpkin muffin and then I swear I’m leaving this plateau behind!!
Great post! Plateaus are always difficult but with some variety, motivation, and desire to push through, “it too shall pass.”
In case you didn’t know, I haven’t seen it mentioned here yet, some people are eating all the right things and doing all the right exercise to activate their fat burning hormones yet they cant get rid of stubborn fat and do you know why? They don’t sleep enough. Sleep is a time for the body to recuperate. With all the exercise and stresses that we put our body through, the metabolism becomes sluggish if we don’t sleep adequately. I recently launched a new website called Fat Burning Hormones .Info where I bring a lot of the latest research in the field to the light. I would be happy to contribute more information Mark. And keep up the good work.
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