4 Reasons You’ve Hit A Fat Loss Plateau
“I’ve been meticulously tracking my macros and calories and, while I’ve definitely seen and felt a difference in strength and my overall well-being, the damn scale continues to mock me (daily).”
- My client Rob, on his frustration with the damn scale.
If you’ve been working hard on your fat loss goals but aren’t seeing the results you hoped for, you’re not alone.
It’s incredibly frustrating to put in the effort and not see the scale move. This frustration can easily lead to burning out and giving up on your fat loss journey altogether. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this sequence play out more times than I can count.
After working with over 100 people on their fat loss goals, I’ve noticed the same missteps come up time and time again.
If you’ve hit a fat loss plateau, you’re likely making one or more of these 4 mistakes.
Ready to break through that plateau? Let’s get started.
1. You’re Not Moving Enough Throughout the Day
When you’re in a fat loss phase, you might find that your daily activity level naturally declines.
It’s not just about hitting the gym—your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is a combination of everything you do, from workouts to simple movements throughout the day. And when you cut calories, your body might start conserving energy, leading to decreased non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).
Many people make the mistake of thinking that their daily steps are enough to maintain their NEAT. If you’re sitting for long periods at work or home, you might be moving less than you think.
Here’s How to Overcome This:
Start Your Day with a Short Walk: Kick off your morning with a 15-20 minute walk to get your body moving.
Take Movement Breaks: Set a timer to stand up and stretch or walk around every hour.
Wear a Step Tracker: Track your steps to ensure you’re hitting a goal of 7,000-10,000 steps a day.
By making these small adjustments, you can boost your daily activity level and get back on the path to fat loss success!
2. You’re Eating More Calories Than You Think You Are
It’s easy to overestimate how many calories you burn and underestimate how many you eat.
Research shows that people often misjudge their calorie intake and expenditure, which can lead to consuming an extra 500-1,000 calories a day. This discrepancy can sabotage your fat loss efforts.
Here’s How to Overcome This:
Track Everything: Use apps like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer to log every bite and sip for at least a week. Moving forward, you can keep tracking or eyeball your intake.
Be Honest About Restaurant Meals: Assume that restaurant or take-out food can have 30-50% more calories than you’d expect.
Measure Your Portions: Invest in a food scale to ensure you’re eating the correct portion sizes.
By tracking your food intake more accurately, you can better manage your calorie consumption and get those fat loss results you’re after!
3. You’re Not Accounting for Alcohol and Coffee
Alcohol and coffee can be sneaky calorie culprits. Many people don’t realize how much these beverages can impact their calorie intake.
Creamer in coffee and a few glasses of wine here and there can add up quickly and derail your fat loss efforts.
Here’s How to Overcome This:
Measure Your Creamer and Sweeteners: Be mindful of how much you add to your coffee and track it just like you would with food.
Track Your Alcohol Consumption: Don’t forget to include those glasses of wine or cocktails in your daily calorie count.
Limit Drinking: Try to keep your alcohol consumption to 1-2 nights per week to stay within your calorie goals.
By keeping a close eye on these calorie bombs, you can stay on track with your fat loss goals.
4. You’re Not Giving It Enough Time
One of the most common reasons for a fat loss plateau is impatience.
Many people expect to see dramatic changes in the first few weeks, but fat loss is rarely a linear process. It’s common for your weight to stay the same for several days or even weeks before you see progress.
Here’s How to Overcome This:
Weigh Yourself Daily: Take daily weight measurements and calculate the average to see the true trend.
Be Patient: Understand that fat loss takes time, and you might need to wait a bit longer to see significant changes.
Only Adjust if Necessary: If your average weight stays the same for two full weeks, then consider adjusting your activity level or calorie intake.
By tracking your progress in a more realistic way, you can maintain your motivation and give your efforts time to pay off.
Bonus Reason: You’re Gaining Muscle While Losing Fat
Sometimes the scale doesn’t reflect your progress accurately because it can’t differentiate between muscle and fat.
Muscle weighs more than fat, so you might be gaining muscle while losing fat, which can keep the scale from moving.
Here’s How to Overcome This:
Focus on Other Metrics: Track your strength gains, progress photos, waist measurements, or consider a DEXA scan.
Check Your Energy and Performance: Notice improvements in how you feel during workouts and in daily life.
Understand the Full Picture: Remember that the scale is just one tool and doesn’t tell the whole story.
By paying attention to these other indicators, you can see that your hard work is paying off, even if the scale isn’t budging.
Keep Moving Forward
Hitting a fat loss plateau can be disheartening, no doubt about it.
But by addressing these four common issues—insufficient daily movement, inaccurate food tracking, overlooking hidden calories, and impatience—you can get back on track fast and continue losing fat.
Here’s a quick recap:
Move More Daily: Add walks, take breaks, and use a step tracker.
Be Accurate with Calories: Track your food, measure portions, and be honest about dining out.
Account for Alcohol and Coffee: Measure everything and limit drinking.
Give It Time: Track trends, be patient, and only make changes when necessary.
Got questions or need more tips? Drop a comment below or shoot me an email! Let’s keep the conversation going and work together to break through those plateaus.
Best,
John
P.S. A picture of the “Let’s Spoon (FT. Big Spoon Roasters Nut Nutter)”, the best drink I’ve had so far this year! Hennesy, velvet falernum, mezcal, cardamaro (and Kelly).
3 Steps You Can Take
Apply for coaching - If you’re ready to start, you can fill out a coaching application here (it takes 90 seconds or less). Best case, you change your life. Worst case, I’ll help you draw up a road map to get closer to your goals.
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Keep learning - You can check out my other articles here. Nobody asked me to, but I’ve spent a ton of time researching everything from artificial sweeteners to saturated fat to testosterone and more, so you don’t have to.
