Reasonable Explanation for the dredde Plateaus

I came across this in the on-line booklet for WLS patients. http://evans.amedd.army.mil/ncd/PDFs/Bariatric%20Booklet.pdf

It's from 2007, but I thought their explanation and advise for plateaus was reasonable.

What do some of you 'old timers' think?? Useful??

WEIGHT PLATEAUS
It's inevitable. Anyone who has lost a large amount of weight (more than 10-15 pounds)
ha**** one or more weight loss plateaus. The weight loss plateau is a period of body
adjustment, where your body "catches up with itself". Patience is the key during weight
plateaus. After gastric bypass surgery, may individuals experience weight plateaus every
3-4 months during weight loss.

There are two types of plateaus.

The first plateau is the short plateau, lasting 2 weeks to
4 weeks. The short plateau is the kind that all active "dieters" run into throughout their
weight loss efforts. It is not necessary to make adjustments for this type of plateau,
because your body is simply re-adjusting to your new weight. Over time (2-4 weeks) you
will naturally start losing weight again, as long as you continue your healthy diet and
exercise program. Patience is all you need to get past a short plateau.

The second type of plateau is the long-term plateau, which lasts for longer than 4 weeks.
If you go for more than 4 weeks without losing weight, AND you are continually
following a nutritious diet and exercise program, then you need to make some changes.
A plateau lasting for longer than 4 weeks is because you are no longer asking your body
to go beyond its point of comfort. Here is an explanation: When you first start a new
way of eating and a new exercise program, everything is a total shock to your body. All of
a sudden you are filling the body with good healthy food full of nutrients, and you are
pushing your body so that it responds to physical activity. You burn a high number of
calories because it requires a ton of effort just to do simple exercise. Over time, you
adjust and become more efficient at exercise, and it no longer requires the same amount
of calories that it once did. If you do not change your activity, and continue to eat the
same amount of food, you will eventually stop losing weight. The same principle applies
to food. If you cut your calories down to 1500 per day, and lost 15 pounds this way, your
new weight may use that 1500 calories for maintenance now, rather than weight loss.
It's as simple as calories in = calories out.

How do you break out of this long-term plateau? There are several things you can try,
but the most important thing to remember is CHANGE. Any change is worth a try to
shake things up a bit. Let's start with food intake: Have you been taking in the same
number of calories or fat grams for a long period of time or have they started to increase
due to increased portion sizes? If so, then you need to throw your body off, and there are
a couple of ways to do this. You can cut your calories or fat grams to adjust for your new
weight. Some individuals may need to try increasing calories or fat grams by a small
amount each day. You can switch from eating 3 square meals per day to 6 smaller meals
throughout the day. You can eat your largest meal in the morning and smaller meals at
lunch and dinner. You can increase your water intake. In the exercise department, you
need to find ways to further challenge your body. You can try many different strategies:
You can completely change your exercise method. If you only walked before, you can
switch to cycling.

You can introduce cross-training into your program. If you only walked before, alternate
with cycling or aerobics. You can exercise for 5-10 minutes longer each day. You can
exercise harder during your normal session time. You can introduce interval training,
where you alternate intensity levels throughout your workout. You can add another day
of exercise to your week. You can switch the time of day you exercise. You can start
lifting weights. You can vary which activity you do first.

There are many different ways to TRY and break a plateau. First start by keeping a food
and physical activity record. Try a few changes such as eating habits and physical
activity. It takes some experimenting to find out what will work for you, at this
particular time in your weight loss journey. You can expect your new method will
become effective within 2 weeks. If you are not seeing any other results, then you need
to change your method again.

If you are close to your goal weight (or ideal weight within reason) and none of these methods work, then you need to look at two factors: Have your body fat tested. It is very possible that you are already at your ideal body fat level,
and your body is not going to allow any further losses. Accept your new weight, and
congratulate yourself for the long, hard road you just traveled!