Weight Loss Plateau: Why It Happens and What to Do
A weight loss plateau is when your weight stops going down for a while, even though you are still following your eating and activity plan. Australia's clinical guidelines say the rate of weight loss can be expected to slow or plateau after the first stages, because the body adapts to eating less.
This is general information, not medical advice. Outcomes vary between individuals, and a GP or accredited practising dietitian can look at your situation with you.
Key Points
Plateaus are common and are not a sign of failure. They can happen while you are still eating less and exercising regularly.
The body adapts to weight loss: it uses less energy, and hunger tends to increase. These changes last for at least a year.
A smaller body needs less energy, so the eating plan that worked at the start creates a smaller gap later.
A plateau checklist helps separate a true plateau from normal ups and downs and from habits that have drifted.
Five things to try: review your food and drinks, check your energy target, add activity and strength training, look after sleep and stress, and measure more than weight.
If your weight stays flat, a GP or accredited practising dietitian can review your plan with you.
What Is a Weight Loss Plateau?
A plateau is a stretch of weeks when the trend in your weight is flat. It is different from a single high reading: fluid retention, for example, can push the scale up. The trend over several weeks tells you more than any one weigh-in.
Australia's clinical guidelines note that people may see it as a failure, because it can happen while they are still eating less and being active. It is an expected part of weight loss, and even modest weight loss improves health.
Why Plateaus Happen
Early weight loss includes water
On a low-carbohydrate diet, the body first draws on its stores of glycogen, and around 3 g of water is needed to release each gram of glycogen. Weight lost at the beginning of a low-carbohydrate diet is mostly water, not body fat (Better Health Channel).
A smaller body uses less energy
Energy needs depend partly on your weight, along with age, sex, height, muscle, activity and stage of life. The largest part of the energy you use each day, 50 to 80%, keeps the body running at rest, and that part is largely set by lean mass, especially muscle. When weight comes off over too short a time, some of it is muscle, and anything that reduces lean mass reduces the energy used at rest. The same eating plan then leaves a smaller energy gap.
The body pushes back
After weight loss, the body changes how it regulates energy so that it uses less, and these changes persist for at least one year (NHMRC, 2013). Levels of appetite-regulating hormones also change in ways that reduce fullness after eating and increase hunger. Total weight lost through lifestyle change usually peaks at around 6 to 12 months.
Eating very little makes this harder. Eating too few kilojoules encourages the body to slow its metabolism to conserve energy. A good weight management service also advises against going below 5,000 kJ (about 1,200 calories) a day.
Habits drift
Waning motivation and a return to old habits are both listed in the guidelines as barriers to long-term weight management. In practice, that can mean larger portions, more extras or less activity than when progress was steady.
The Plateau Checklist
Work through these questions before you change your plan:
Is it a trend? Has your weight been flat for several weeks, not just a few days?
Has your waist changed? A tape measure can show progress when the scale does not.
Have portions or extras crept back? Check serve sizes, snacks, sugary drinks and alcohol.
Has your activity dropped? Compare your week now with your week when progress was steady.
How are sleep and stress? Short sleep and stress can both lead to eating more.
Is your intake still above 5,000 kJ a day? Eating too little is not the answer.
Has anything else changed? New medicines, tiredness or feeling cold are worth raising with a GP.
Seven questions to ask before changing your plan. Outcomes vary between individuals.
Five Things to Try
1. Review what you eat and drink
Habits can drift, so compare what you eat and drink now with what you had when your weight was still coming down. A week of notes, written as you go, makes that comparison concrete: look for bigger serves, more extras, more sugary drinks or alcohol, and snacks at new times or in new places. Self-monitoring and noticing what triggers unplanned eating are core strategies in the guidelines. The bigger the serve, the more energy it contains, so portions are a sensible first check.
2. Check your energy target
Because a smaller body needs less energy, what you use each day comes down as your weight comes down, so the gap between what you use and your target narrows. Check that your target is your energy need at a healthy weight: the free daily energy requirements calculator from Eat for Health gives it when you enter your ideal body weight rather than your current weight. The clinical guidelines design eating plans around an energy gap of about 2,500 kJ a day. That figure is the size of the gap, not a further cut from your target. Keep your intake above the 5,000 kJ a day floor, and keep building meals on a healthy diet from the five food groups in the Australian Dietary Guidelines. If you prefer to plan by protein, carbohydrate and fat, see working out your macros for weight loss.
3. Add physical activity and strength training
Moving more uses more energy. Australia's physical activity guidelines recommend 30 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous activity on most days and muscle-strengthening activity on 2 or more days a week. For weight loss, the clinical guidelines go further: about 300 minutes of moderate activity, or 150 minutes of vigorous activity, each week, together with eating less.
Strength training matters on a plateau, because it helps preserve muscle, and lean mass largely sets the energy used at rest. It can also cause some initial weight gain as muscles grow, which is another reason to watch your waist as well as the scale. Everyday movement counts too: see our guide to everyday habits that support weight loss.
4. Look after sleep and stress
Compare your sleep and stress now with the weeks when your weight was falling. Short sleep can increase appetite, especially for energy-dense foods, and the tiredness that follows can make it harder to stay active. Stress and low mood can also lead people to eat more kilojoules than they need. Most adults need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, and a GP can refer you to a counsellor or psychologist for help with stress.
5. Measure more than weight, and review your goal
Rather than relying on the number on the scales, be guided by your waist circumference: a healthy waist is less than 94 cm for men and less than 80 cm for women (Better Health Channel). Look at other gains too, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol, energy and sleep. To see how far you have come, calculate your weight loss percentage.
Then look at the goal itself. A realistic goal is around 5 to 10% of starting weight, and even small amounts of weight loss improve health (NHMRC, 2013). The same guidelines note that preventing regain may be a more useful focus than trying to lose more, because being satisfied with the weight already lost supports long-term weight management. For a sense of normal rates, see how much weight you can realistically lose in a month.
What Not to Do
Do not crash diet. People who crash diet will most likely regain the lost weight within 5 years.
Do not skip meals. Skipping meals can leave you tired, and when you do eat, you are more likely to overeat.
Do not cut out whole food groups. It is the total kilojoules that count, and cutting food groups can mean missing out on nutrients.
Do not give up. Even modest weight loss improves health, and some benefits of weight loss persist even if a small amount of weight comes back.
When to Talk to a Doctor
Australia's clinical guidelines give clear review points:
No loss after 3 months. If there is no weight loss (less than 1% of body weight, or no change in waist circumference) after 3 months of active weight management, your lifestyle habits and possible causes of weight gain should be reviewed. More intensive options may also be considered, depending on your weight and health.
Weight coming back. If about 3 kg of weight has been regained, it is a good time to see a healthcare professional, reassess eating and activity, and restart weight loss strategies.
Other symptoms. Some health conditions and some medicines can cause weight gain. An underactive thyroid, for example, can cause unexplained weight gain, tiredness and feeling the cold. Life stages matter too: see our guides on weight and thyroid conditions and weight changes after menopause.
Distress about eating. If losing weight stays hard, or food and weight are causing you distress, talk to a GP. Psychological issues, including eating disorders, are worth considering, and help is available.
If you already use a medical weight loss treatment and your weight stalls, talk to the prescriber who manages your treatment before you change anything. For general timelines, see how long weight loss treatment takes to work.
Where Medical Treatment Fits
If obesity or related conditions are causing health risks, the NHMRC guidelines list very low energy diets, weight loss medication and bariatric surgery among the options for some adults. Weight loss medication does not replace food and activity changes: it is used together with reduced kilojoule intake and increased physical activity. It has side effects and is not suitable for everyone.
Whether any treatment fits is for a registered healthcare practitioner to decide after an individual assessment, and outcomes vary between individuals. To learn more, see who may be suitable for weight loss treatment and what happens at a weight loss consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you break a plateau on weight loss?
Start by checking what has changed. Keep a food diary for a week, check your target is your energy need at a healthy weight, add physical activity and strength training, and look after sleep and stress. Measure your waist as well as your weight. If your weight stays flat, a GP or dietitian can help you review your plan. Results vary between individuals.
Can you shock your body out of a plateau?
No. Australian guidance does not describe a way to shock the body out of a plateau. After weight loss, the body's lower energy use and stronger hunger persist for at least a year. Crash diets and skipped meals tend to backfire. Steady adjustments to eating and activity, with support from a GP or dietitian, are the approach the guidelines support.
How long do weight loss plateaus usually last?
There is no set length, and it varies between individuals. Total weight lost through lifestyle change usually peaks at around 6 to 12 months, and the body's energy adjustments persist for at least a year. A GP or dietitian can help if your weight stays flat.
How many weeks is considered a weight loss plateau?
The Australian clinical guidelines do not define a plateau by a number of weeks. They use a review point instead: less than 1% of body weight lost, or no change in waist measurement, after 3 months of active weight management. Before then, look at the trend over several weeks rather than single weigh-ins, because fluid retention, for example, can push one reading up.
Why has my weight loss slowed down?
Slowing down is expected. A smaller body uses less energy, some early loss is water, and after weight loss the body adapts by using less energy and increasing hunger. Habits can also drift over time. Rates of weight loss vary widely between individuals, so compare your waist and your weekly trend, and talk to a GP or dietitian if you are unsure.
What are signs your body is burning fat?
One practical sign is a smaller waist measurement over several weeks, alongside a downward weight trend. When you take in less energy than you use, the body draws on stored energy, mostly fat. Other gains, such as more energy, better sleep, lower blood pressure or clothes fitting more loosely, also show progress, and results vary between individuals.
References
Better Health Channel (Victorian Government). Weight loss: common myths.
Better Health Channel (Victorian Government). Weight loss: a healthy approach.
Better Health Channel (Victorian Government). Weight management services.
Better Health Channel (Victorian Government). Sleep deprivation.
Eat for Health (NHMRC). Australian dietary guidelines 1 - 5.
Eat for Health (NHMRC). Daily energy requirements calculator.
This article is general information only and does not replace individual medical advice. Please speak with a registered Australian healthcare practitioner about your own circumstances.