Hi. It’s Will Levin of Older Guys Fitness (61 years young} here to talk about the Weight Loss Plateau. While it affects people of every age, the weight loss plateau for men over 40 is especially important because of our slowed metabolsim. You may have already experienced it. Here’s what happens: your are on your new exercise and diet program and you’ve lost, say, 10 pounds in two months (which is an average for weight loss).
And then suddenly you step on the scale and your weight is the same you saw last week and the week before that. You were so happy to have lost that weight the first two months and now you are getting depressed. You are working out regularly and maintaining a caloric deficit, but you are not losing weight anymore. This article will explain how to overcome a weight loss plateau.
A CALORIC DEFICIT
So we already know that any diet for weight loss requires a caloric deficit, which I have explained (hopefully well) in another blog post. We have talked about calories as a quantum of energy, One calorie is the amount of energy required to heat a kilogram of water one degree Celsius. You need to burn more energy than you consume. Basic arithmetic.
GLYCOGEN LEAVES YOUR BODY FIRST
Let’s talk a bit about glycogen, which is essentially stored glucose, also known as carbohydrates. Glycogen is stored in the liver and in the muscles, mostly. (Small amounts are also stored in the brain and kidneys.) Glycogen is the main source of natural energy for our bodies.
That’s why carbohydrates are actually good for us. (Forget all the garbage you read about how carbs are bad–please just forget it.) Since glycogen is the primary source of energy for our bodies when we are in a caloric deficit our glycogen stores are used up first. Glycogen molecules are tied to water molecules, whicht means that in our first several weeks of being in a caloric deficit, our body is dumping the glycogen and the water. So we lose a lot of water weight during the initial weeks of a caloric deficit. And that’s why we are so happy with the scale.
HUMAN EVOLUTION, THE STARVATION RESPONSE AND HOMEOSTASIS
This is where it gets interesting. And it has to do with evolution. Our human bodies, from an evolutionary standpoint, don’t mind being 20 pounds overweight. Think about it. Stored fat was a means of survival (a luxury) for early humans who just needed enough food to live. Being overweight back then was a good thing.
A caloric deficit can trigger a “starvation response.” Your body thinks, in evolutionary terms, it is starving. So it slows down your metabolism. With a reduced metabolic rate you start storing fat again even with your caloric deficit. This is explained by homeostasis, a physiological mechanism that keeps our bodies in a state of harmony and balance. Think of the thermostat in your house. You put it at 70 degrees and it regulates the heat so that the temperature in your house is 70 degrees. Our bodies do the same thing, keeping all our physiological processes in line. That’s why our bodies adjust to a caloric deficit and create a starvation response.
THE SOLUTION: A MODERATE CALORIE DEFICIT
The way to overcome a weight loss plateau (or hopefully avoid it altogether) is to be in about a 25% caloric deficit. In other words, it is the crash diet type stuff that triggers the starvation response. When I was in my extreme fat loss phase, where I lost 50 pounds in 6 months, I was consuming 1200-1500 calories a day. I needed about 2700 calories a day to maintain my then current weight, so I was essentially at a 50% caloric deficit. I was determined to lose the fat. About 6 weeks into my fat loss program, I started disliking my scale. I researched the issue, and discovered the much-dreaded weight loss plateau. So I started eating more, which actually led to more fat loss because my metabolic rate was normalized. With Older Guys Fitness 40+ FAT BURN, I will make sure you are in a moderate caloric deficit so you won’t have to go through the confusion I went through. .