Quick Summary: Quick Summary: Diet plateaus happen on every eating plan, but they don’t have to derail your progress. This guide covers why plateaus occur and practical strategies to break through, from simple fixes (more water, checking hidden sugars) to more robust approaches (intermittent fasting, resistance training). Based on years of coaching experience.
Jump to: Why Do We Plateau? | What Ferriss Says | Simple Fixes | More Agressive Strategies | FAQ
In my years of coaching people on slow carb and low carb diets, the most common pattern was 2 to 5 pounds lost in the first two weeks, then about a pound per week for several months. At some point, almost everyone hits a plateau where the scale just stops moving. It’s frustrating because it can kill your motivation. But plateaus are usually temporary, and there are proven ways to break through them.
What is a Diet Plateau?
A diet plateau, where your weight loss just stalls for a seemingly unbearable amount of time, is not exclusive to a low-carb or slow-carb diet. People generally reach a plateau with every diet under the sun.
It is a dangerous place to be because it can deplete your motivation on this challenging fat loss journey. In researching the various diet plans, I’ve come up with a curated list of methods that have seen success with my clients in getting off the diet plateau.
It is not guaranteed that these tips will re-invigorate the downward trend on the scale, but many people have been able to jump-start weight loss again with the following information.
Why Do Plateaus Happen?
It seems like everything is cruising along fine, you’ve got the hang of the diet and your sugar cravings are in control. Seeing that gradual weight decrease on the scale in the morning is enough to keep your spirits up, even if it is only .2 lbs.
Then….a week goes by with no decrease. Then another week. This is when the going gets tough. Many people will give up at this point, blaming the diet because they “know“ they have been 100% compliant.
Fat loss plateaus can be extremely frustrating at times, but generally, they are temporary bumps in the road. It’s important to keep focused on your goal and look at the overall downward “trend” of your weight loss, rather than minor changes in measurements or weight from week to week.
Take Note! Perseverance is the key.
It is also key to find the right low-carb approach for your particular personality and lifestyle. An in-depth look at the best low-carb approaches can be found here.
Tip: Using a free app like Happy Scale can help show the trend of your loss rather than just the daily weight, which fluctuates quite a bit.
Sometimes a fat loss plateau can be traced back to some minor changes that may have happened over time. Sometimes it is fluctuations in water weight due to stress, hormones, or lack of sleep. And sometimes it’s just mysterious voodoo.
Often, after being on a plateau for a couple of weeks you will see a “whoosh” where your body just seems to all of a sudden release a few pounds.
What Tim Ferriss Says About Plateaus
Some of the following methods come directly from Tim Ferriss’ book “The 4-Hour Body“, some of it is what I have seen work with my clients from my online diet coaching, and some are curated methods from health and fitness blogs and podcasts.
Briefly, here is what Tim Ferriss says about the plateau:
- “Don’t start thinking that you’ve plateaued until you have been on the diet for 6 weeks. It is not unusual for women to experience their greatest weight loss around the 6-week mark. “
- “Eating too late, not eating enough protein (my note: you need about 20-25 grams a meal), and drinking too little water are the three most common causes of hitting a weight loss plateau.”
- ” The total percentage of body fat lost per month naturally decreases over time. The number of mitochondria in your muscle tissue largely determines your rate of sustained fat loss (this is why you need resistance training as part of your exercise routine!). Targeted exercise, even just 20 minutes per week, will often double fat-loss that’s plateaued, and should do so for at least two to four months.”
Simple Fixes for a Diet Plateau
Before trying anything drastic, check these common culprits:
- Hidden sugars: Check ingredient lists on packaged foods. Sugar hides in condiments, sauces, and “healthy” snacks.
- Too many beans: If you’re on slow carb, limit beans to about 1 cup per day. More than that can stall weight loss.
- Not enough water: High-protein diets require more water. This is especially common among women.
- Domino foods: Nuts are technically compliant but easy to overeat. A cup of almonds has more calories than a Whopper.
- Not enough protein: Aim for 20 to 30 grams per meal to preserve lean muscle.
- Skipping cheat day: If you’ve been 100% compliant on slow carb, a proper cheat day can prevent your metabolism from downshifting. (This doesn’t apply to keto.)
More Aggressive Strategies
- Start exercising more intensely. This is often the key to getting off the plateau in terms of fat loss – get in some sort of strength resistance exercise of your choice 3-4 times a week. Some experts estimate that every extra pound of muscle on your body burns 30-50 calories extra a day, while others estimate each pound burns 6 extra calories a day, compared to 2 calories burned by fat. Either way, if you want to increase your metabolism, gaining muscle is the best and most sure way to go about doing so.
- Intermittent Fasting. There are several different types of IF and that is another whole post. Google intermittent fasting and get knowledgeable to see if it’s for you. A very detailed analysis of the various forms of intermittent fasting can be found here.
- Find out your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) by using one of the calculators on the web and start tracking calories. The reason for plateauing at each level is usually related to the fact that your metabolism starts to slow down as you consume less food. In addition to building muscle and taking cheat days to increase metabolism, there is some evidence that getting cold (either by taking cold showers, sleeping cold, or drinking ice water in the morning) can help boost metabolism.
FAQ
Tim Ferriss says don’t consider it a true plateau until you’ve been on the diet for 6 weeks. Short stalls of 1 to 2 weeks are normal.
On slow carb, yes, if you’ve been strictly compliant. A calorie and carb spike can prevent metabolic adaptation. On keto, no. Cheat days disrupt ketosis.
Yes, especially resistance training. Building muscle increases your basal metabolic rate, which helps sustain fat loss.
Sometimes after a plateau, the body suddenly releases several pounds at once. This is anecdotally common and may relate to water retention during fat loss.
It can help. A 16:8 eating window (16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating) is a good starting point. Research intermittent fasting to see if it fits your lifestyle.
Interested in the Slow Carb Diet? Check out this comprehensive E-Guide on Fat Loss through a Slow Carb Diet.
I wish I didn’t relate to this! Thank you for sharing.
Well Jackie, know that you have plenty of company. This stuff is not easy by any means.
This is a great post!
I appreciate the considerable research behind your piece of information, and your metaphor, too. From an Ericksonian Hypnosis perspective, this can be a great tool to induce helping beliefs for whoever willing to start the new diet journey.