Diet Plateau

Ever experienced plateaus during dieting and weight loss?

It is especially common for people who are trying to lose weight to experience plateaus after several weeks of successful weight reduction.

The plateau principle suggests that this leveling off is a sign of success.

Basically, as one loses weight, less food energy is required to maintain the resting metabolic rate, which makes the initial regimen less effective.

The idea of weight plateaus has been discussed for subjects who are participating in a calorie restriction experiment.

Food energy is expended largely through work done against gravity, so weight reduction lessens the effectiveness of a given workout.

In addition, a trained person has greater skill and therefore greater efficiency during a workout. Remedies include increasing the workout intensity or length and reducing portion sizes of meals more than may have been done initially.

The fact that weight loss and dieting reduce the metabolic rate is supported by research. In one study, heat production was reduced 30% in obese men after a weight loss program, and this led to resistance to further lose body weight.

Whether body mass increases or decreases, adjustments in the thermic effect of food, resting energy expenditure, and non-resting energy expenditure all oppose further change.

Good Luck and I do hope you’ll get over your diet plateau!