why do we stop losing weight after being on a “diet” for a while if we still have body fat to burn?

Question

I heard that “metabolism slows down” and that our body becomes “more efficient”…how? What does this concretely mean? Also, how can we get out of this loop and start losing weight again?

I wrote “diet” because I’m talking about a DIY one, but I guess diets made by professionals also have to be adjusted every now and then.

In: 1

Answer 1

Your body gets use to operating on a lowered calorie intake and that becomes your new maintenance budget. This is what’s known as a plateau. To start losing weight again you’d need to reduce calorie intake even further. This is why you shouldn’t reduce your calories by too much at the start as you can get to a point where your maintenance budget is unhealthily low.