Not Losing Weight?

If your weight loss has stalled, it could be a natural occurrence. For most people, weight loss happens in a stair-step fashion (large weight loss followed by less or no weight loss, and so on). On the other hand, even minor dietary or protocol errors can cause an interruption in weight loss. Read over the following tips to help figure out what may be causing you to plateau.

Look at the big picture. Before getting too carried away with these tips, keep this in mind: at the end of the day, if you can't figure out what you did wrong, and you didn't cheat -- don't worry! Focus on your long term weight loss, such as over the last week.

Top Recommendations

• First, see our main Troubleshooting weight loss guide here.
• If you have been on the Flex Plan for at least 5 days and you aren't feeling much hunger and your energy is okay, try moving to the Classic Plan for a time to lower your calories. See the Plan Adjustment page.
• You are not required to eat all the allowed servings each day, especially if you aren't feeling hungry, but avoid reducing protein intake (unless you suspect you are overestimating and eating too much). You can try dropping one or more of the starch or fruit items, one of each, etc.
• Consider an "apple day": For one day, eat 6 apples only, and nothing else. Many participants report a loss of 2 pounds the day after an apple day.
• Consider doing a "mini steak day." On this day you drink all the water, tea, and coffee you want throughout the day, but don't eat any food until dinner. For dinner you have a 3.5 oz steak or chicken breast with either an apple or a raw tomato -- that's all. The next day you return to the regular low-calorie diet. However, you should only do this if you don't feel too hungry.

Other Considerations

• For women, your period may be starting. Weight loss usually slows during your period.
• Check your water intake. Ideally you should be getting half your weight in ounces of cold water per day. Do not drink electrolyte-type drinks such as Gatorade, etc., as a replacement for water because they contain a lot of sugar.
• Carefully check all condiments and seasonings for any form of sugar. Garlic salt, balsamic vinegar, and other seemingly safe products may contain sugar. Watch out for tricky scientific names for sugar, such as erythritol.
• Make sure nothing has been added to your chicken or other protein sources. They can be injected with some form of sugar even in the grocery store.
• If you have started or switched medications, you may plateau for a few days while your body gets used to the change. However, if the plateau continues and all the other plateau-breakers don't work, you may want to ask your physician if you can go back to the previous medication or perhaps try another kind.
• Since activity increases your metabolism and may increase your rate of loss, consider adding a brisk walk, some yoga, or any type of 15 to 30 minute activity to your day a few times a week -- anything that raises the heart rate throughout the day. Exercise is good for everyone. Some participants with a physically active job, such as waitressing, seem to lose more per day, on average, than those with no physical activity at all. (Vigorous exercise is not recommended on the Classic Plan, because you don't have the reserves to handle it.)
• Make sure you're getting enough sleep. Some clients have reported that when they stay up late and get up early, the scale reflects little to no weight loss. However, simply weighing again an hour or so later (without eating or drinking anything) reveals a drop of up to 2 pounds. This suggests that a change in your daily routine and sleep patterns can affect what the scale registers. While this probably doesn't affect the overall rate of loss, it can cause discouragement. Therefore, keep your daily routine in mind along with any exceptions to that routine.
• Consider supplements to help. See recommended Supplements page.