Thanks for sharing what you are reading and learning! That’s an interesting perspective on plateaus. However, I’m concerned it might set someone up to have further problems.

Scientists have yet to figure out precisely what causes plateaus and how to overcome one. On the other hand we can observe what happens when someone succeeds in losing a lot of weight. If someone lives on too few calories for a long period of time (even if weight loss continues after a plateau) there seems to be an adjustment in metabolism to live with the lower caloric intake. It makes living with the final goal weight extraordinarily difficult. In other words, if a woman of average height and weight (who has always been close to that weight) needs 2000 calories to maintain the woman of the same height and age who loses a great deal of weight by consuming too low of a calorie count to reach that same weight may find she needs to stay at 1500 calories or less just to maintain. That’s not fair but it happens all too often.

By getting enough calories when losing weight the loss may be slower but in the long run the maintenance will be far easier. The other factor to keep in mind is eating the best food possible. By focusing on healthy lean protein foods and lots of non-starchy veggies as the primary (but not only) foods, it is possible to encourage metabolism to function at its best and allow for a higher caloric intake while losing weight and a more normal caloric intake for maintenance.

You’ve asked an excellent question and one that will be very difficult to answer. I can’t tell you that I have the right answer for your situation but then I doubt any other weight management specialist does either. First of all each person is somewhat different. That’s the first challenge. Secondly, you are absolutely right that the BMR tables may or may not be accurate for someone who is severely overweight.

However, I can tell you eating enough of the right kind of food matters. I am happy that you’ve lost 30 pounds and I would like very much for you to continue. There are exceptions to everything. I hope you are an exception! Most people find that they can lose weight even a substantial amount of weight on a low calorie diet. But most everyone who loses weight by taking in too few calories (significantly below BMR) will have a great struggle to keep the weight off and will typically put the weight back on and more. Why? Because metabolism slows down.

Some people manage to maintain a tremendous weight loss by doing an incredible amount of daily exercise. For most everyone else it’s just too hard to make the time for that much exercise.

If your doctor agrees you might look at increasing your protein and dietary fiber intake. Choose lean meat, fish, poultry, beans (legumes), low fat cottage cheese, and low fat plain greek yogurt. Supplement with LOTS of non-starchy vegetables. Include a little whole grains, fruit, nuts, and seeds. By doing this you will keep your metabolism running well and be able to eat plenty without having to count calories or worry. (High protein foods and high dietary fiber foods are very filling so it’s hard to overeat!) Avoid added sugars and refined carbohydrates as much as possible!

Hope this helps,

Lori

Congratulations on your weight loss success so far! I’m sorry to hear you’ve hit a plateau. Plateaus are all too common and frustrating. As I’m sure you already know you are fighting thousands of years of evolutionary adaptation that causes our bodies to try and protect us from starvation.

When you lose a significant amount of weight as you have, your body reacts by adjusting your metabolic rate to hold on to your remaining fat stores. I talk about this and more in my two part article on weight plateaus.

You may have to do some experimenting to discover what will work best for you to get unstuck. Although it is counter-intuitive, I would recommend increasing your food intake by 200-600 calories for a few days to see if that gets weight loss going again. (2000-2400 calories total). Let your body know you are not starving then go back to 1800 calories.

There are also some other tactics you might try with your doctor’s approval. If you are not eating breakfast now, make sure you do and include plenty of lean protein. (Eggs (hard-boiled, scrambled, omelettes, etc.), greek yogurt, turkey bacon, low fat cottage cheese, etc.) If your health will allow it, include 15-20 grams of protein with each breakfast. Include veggies to round out your meal especially leafy greens.

Give up fruit juice for while and limit your fruit intake. But do eat lots of veggies. When you do eat grains make sure they are whole grains. Reducing your overall carbohydrate intake should help a lot.

Hopefully one of these suggestions will help. Let me know how it goes.

Good luck!

Lori