Breaking Through Weight Loss Plateaus and Holiday Weight Management: The Alternating Meal Method for Sustained Progress Without Rebound

Plateau Phase: What to do when weight loss stops?

The pattern of weight loss is well-known to anyone who has tried to lose weight. At the beginning of a diet, weight loss is particularly noticeable, especially in the first few days if you drastically reduce your food intake and eliminate staple foods; you might lose 2-3 pounds in just one or two days.

This is because the body stores 300-400 grams of sugar. The body will first consume this sugar, and while the sugar decreases, it will excrete about 1000 grams of stored water (in the body, sugar and water are stored together, approximately 1 gram of sugar corresponds to 3 grams of water). This can result in a weight loss of 2-3 pounds at once.

Afterward, some protein will be consumed, and then the body will primarily consume fat. During this stage, there is not much water loss, so weight loss slows down. Because fat has a high calorie density, if you maintain a daily energy deficit of 450 kcal during weight loss, even if it all converts to fat, it will only amount to 50 grams, or 0.05 kilograms. Such a small change is very difficult to see on the scale (especially considering daily fluctuations in weight due to water retention).

Therefore, many people find their weight plateauing after one or two weeks of dieting, mistakenly believing they've hit a plateau. In reality, this is simply because they haven't understood the pattern of body fat reduction. Be patient and continue with your current plan.

Some people who do a lot of strength training (weightlifting) during their weight loss journey will increase muscle mass, which will balance out fat loss and cause a temporary halt in weight loss.

However, if this weight plateau lasts for several weeks, it may be a weight loss plateau. What is a weight loss plateau?

A plateau can be explained using the first law of thermodynamics. The body strives to achieve energy balance, and a "plateau" is such a balance. Simply put, it means that energy intake and energy expenditure are once again equal, and weight stops changing.

The main reasons for hitting a plateau are likely the following:

The first reason is that the body adapts to the previous exercise, gradually reducing energy expenditure. When we first start exercising, the body consumes a lot of energy during training; however, once the body adapts to this pattern of exercise, energy expenditure gradually decreases. Our bodies are intelligent; they want to complete movements in the easiest and most efficient way.

Our bodies are incredibly intelligent; through a long evolutionary process, they can always adjust to the lowest energy expenditure mode under different circumstances (just like your laptop or phone can be switched to power-saving mode).

The second reason is that as weight decreases, basal metabolic rate and daily energy expenditure decrease. Therefore, when energy intake remains the same, it may not be able to create a sufficient energy deficit, resulting in stagnant weight loss.

The third reason is that people intentionally or unintentionally misjudge their energy intake or expenditure. They may underestimate their energy intake or overestimate their exercise expenditure.

Accurately knowing how much energy you've consumed is not easy for many people, and it's even harder to estimate if you don't cook for yourself.

Among my students, those who eat out have significantly less weight loss effect than those who cook for themselves. Many people often overestimate their energy expenditure. Although exercise frequency, duration, and intensity all affect energy expenditure, as we've mentioned, exercise expenditure isn't that high. If you eat more because of exercise, it has the opposite effect.

So what should you do when you hit a plateau? Here are three strategies to break through it. Strategy 1: Readjust your diet. As you lose weight, your daily energy expenditure decreases, so your energy intake should also be reduced. I suggest reducing your daily energy intake by 10 kcal for every pound you lose.

For example, a woman who went from 130 pounds to 120 pounds needs to reduce her daily energy intake by 100 kcal (about half a bowl less rice per meal) to maintain an energy deficit and continue losing weight. Ideally, you should readjust your diet plan based on your current weight.

Strategy 2: Readjust your exercise plan. Simply reducing your diet may not create a sufficient energy deficit later on, so adjusting your exercise plan is necessary. As you lose weight, both your cardiovascular and resistance training should be modified; otherwise, your body will adapt to exercise and reduce energy expenditure.

To increase the overall intensity of your training, you can add new or more exercises. For example, if you're currently doing 1-2 rounds of 4-minute workouts daily, you can increase that to 3-4 rounds.

Strategy 3: Increase Water Intake

Sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger, so drink more water, especially before and after meals. This reduces overall energy intake, helping us achieve an energy deficit. As we mentioned before, drinking more water itself increases energy expenditure. For example, if someone previously drank 1.5 liters of water per day, they can increase that to 1.8 liters.

In short, rebalancing energy intake and expenditure is the root cause of weight loss plateaus. As long as you maintain an energy deficit, you won't experience a significant plateau. If you do encounter a plateau, you can adjust by reducing intake, increasing physical activity, or a combination of both.

However, this situation of having the same average calorie intake across three meals may not be common.

I believe most people don't wake up very early during holidays, right? This means lunchtime comes quickly, so breakfast isn't usually a big meal. Furthermore, my own experience and my experience teaching students tell me that people usually eat the simplest breakfast of the three meals, perhaps because they don't have a good appetite right after waking up. Therefore, the foods that tend to cause calorie overconsumption are actually lunch, dinner, and the foods eaten between meals. Although breakfast is often unappetizing, it's still important and must be eaten. Therefore, it's better to intentionally eat a very small breakfast, just enough to provide sufficient nutrition. This allows you to save calories for a more substantial lunch or dinner. After all, not many people plan to have a meal together at breakfast. Therefore, I suggest that a simple breakfast during the holidays is an egg, a slice of bread, and a glass of skim milk or a cereal smoothie, eaten a little after waking up. This is nutritious and contains less than 200 kcal, allowing you to control your total daily calorie intake beforehand. In other words, a holiday breakfast is a "small meal."

For this girl who can consume 2100 kcal per day, she could have consumed 1900 kcal that day. Then, at noon, she went out for a nice meal, consuming a large 1200 kcal, making it a "big meal," leaving her with 700 kcal. In the afternoon, she drank a 250 kcal milk tea, leaving 450 kcal. Then, she ate dinner at home, consuming another 450 kcal, bringing her total daily calorie intake to 2100 kcal. For example, if a girl knows she has a dinner party that evening, and might drink alcohol afterwards, she can use the "small meal, small meal" method to plan her meals in advance. She could eat only a 200kcal "small meal" for breakfast, a smaller 300kcal "small meal" for lunch, nothing between afternoon and dinner, and then a 1200kcal "large meal" for dinner. Afterwards, she could have some snacks with alcohol, which would add another 400kcal. This would still be 2100kcal, within her calorie intake target.

You might ask, what if she eats too much at night, say 1000kcal, causing her total calorie intake for the day to exceed her target? Actually, that's okay too. She can balance it out by reducing her calorie intake the next day. For example, she could eat only 150kcal "small meals" for breakfast and lunch each.

In short, there's nothing to be afraid of during holidays. You can indulge in delicious food without affecting your figure. The most important thing is to master the methods of balance and adjustment.

Furthermore, while holidays are enjoyable, moderation is still necessary; remember what I said at the beginning: "indulge in excesses in moderation." Although we've relaxed the rules, it doesn't mean you can devour everything.