Why Am I Stuck Losing and Gaining the Same 1kg?

Posted by Tommy Halligan on August 01, 2025

Understanding Fat Loss Plateaus, Metabolic Adaptation & What to Do About It

The Frustrating Check-In We Hear Weekly

One of our members recently asked:

"I’ve been fluctuating by 1kg over the past 3-4 weeks, which is frustrating. I know that after a while on a calorie deficit, the body adapts and burns fewer calories. What can I do to keep losing weight?"

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In fact, it’s one of the most common challenges we help our members work through, and often the point where people give up when the scale stops cooperating.

Let’s break down what’s really happening, and more importantly, what to do about it.

What’s Actually Going On?

1. Weight Loss Isn’t Linear

In the early stages of a fat loss phase, weight tends to drop faster due to reductions in water retention, food volume, and body fat. But after a few weeks, progress naturally slows.

It’s frustrating, but it’s normal.

This slowing effect isn’t just about your mindset. It’s your body adapting to survive in a state of lower energy intake. This is where smart training and coaching make a huge difference.

Metabolic Adaptation: Why the Body Slows Down

When you’re in a calorie deficit for an extended period, your body begins to conserve energy by lowering your total daily energy expenditure. This is called metabolic adaptation.

Research shows your resting metabolic rate (RMR) can drop by as much as 500 kcal/day following significant weight loss, more than what would be expected just from having a smaller body (Obesity Reviews, 2012).

This reduction in calorie burn includes:

A decrease in non-exercise activity (NEAT)
Hormonal changes affecting hunger and satiety (like leptin and ghrelin)
Lower energy output during training

And yes, it’s a big reason why the scale might bounce around without budging overall.

Key point: You’re not broken. Your body is just doing its job to protect itself.

Psychological Fatigue: Why It Feels Worse Than It Is

When your effort is high but the scale isn’t moving, it creates a gap between perceived effort and perceived reward, and this gap can mentally exhaust you.

Research supports this: weight regain is often driven by hormonal and behavioural changes after long dieting phases (MacLean et al., 2011; Dulloo et al., 2015).

This is where many people quit. But with the right strategies, you don’t have to.

How We Coach Through It at The Lab

We work with our clients to zoom out and focus on long-term trends, not just daily weigh-ins. When plateaus hit, we lean on the following tools:

1. Strength Training to Preserve Muscle

Keeping or building muscle during a deficit is essential. Lean mass keeps your metabolism higher and prevents your body from downregulating too hard.

A 2010 review in Sports Medicine showed that resistance training during energy restriction preserved more lean mass compared to diet alone (Weinheimer et al., 2010).

This not only protects your metabolic rate, it also makes you feel stronger, train better, and maintain shape as you drop fat.

🧠 Real-world bonus: it gives you tangible wins when the scale isn’t moving.

2. Introduce a Diet Break

Sometimes, pushing harder doesn’t work, easing off does.

Taking 1-2 weeks at maintenance calories can:

Help restore leptin levels
Reduce mental burnout
Improve training performance
Re-regulate hunger and stress hormones

Studies like Peos et al. (2021) have shown that intermittent dieting improves adherence and psychological outcomes in trained individuals.

It’s not a step backward, it’s a refuel strategy.

3. Shift Focus to Non-Scale Progress

Strength gains, better recovery, more consistent energy, improved sleep, clearer skin, clothes fitting better, all valid forms of progress.

A 2014 review (Trexler et al.) emphasised the importance of behavioural and physiological metrics beyond weight for sustainable fat loss.

Here’s what we suggest:

Track your performance in the gym
Note your energy levels and sleep
Pay attention to how you feel, not just what you weigh

Other Important Factors That Matter

Sleep & Stress

Poor sleep and chronic stress can elevate cortisol, reduce recovery, increase cravings, and cause fluid retention, which shows up as scale weight.

Sustainability > Perfection

Being 90% consistent for 6 months beats being 100% for 3 weeks followed by burnout. Most people don't fall off track due to a bad plan, they fall off because the plan was never sustainable in the first place.

Performance-Based Goals

Clients who stay focused on getting stronger, fitter or moving better tend to be more consistent. Make how you train the measure of progress, not just your weigh-ins.

So, Should You Worry About Fluctuating 1kg?

In short: no.

The body naturally fluctuates daily, based on food intake, water retention, digestion, stress, and hormonal cycles.

If your weight is bouncing up and down 0.5-1kg, but your training, consistency, and energy are trending upward, you’re progressing.

Instead of adding more cardio or slashing calories lower, it might be time to:

Introduce a strength phase
Run a short diet break
Zoom out and view data over 2-4 weeks
Reaffirm what success looks like beyond the scale

Final Word: It’s Not About Willpower. It’s About the Right Tools.

If you've been stuck around the same number for weeks, that doesn’t mean failure. It means you're at a turning point, and the solution is probably different than just “try harder”.

If you need help navigating that, this is exactly what our coaching is built for.

Ready to Get Unstuck?

We help people break through these plateaus every day inside our:

👉 Small Group Personal Training
👉 1-to-1 Personal Training in Liverpool

References

Campbell et al. (1994). Effects of resistance training on skeletal muscle in older adults during energy restriction. J Gerontol.
Wing & Reeves (2007). Intermittent vs. continuous energy restriction: a review. Obesity Reviews.
Weinheimer et al. (2010). Resistance training preserves fat-free mass during weight loss. Sports Med.
Rosenbaum & Leibel (2010). Adaptive thermogenesis in humans. Int J Obes.
MacLean et al. (2011). Biology of weight regain: a 20-year perspective. Obesity.
Obesity Reviews (2012). Meta-analysis on metabolic adaptation and RMR reductions post-weight loss.
Müller et al. (2016). Adaptive thermogenesis after weight loss and relevance to RMR. Obesity Reviews.
Dulloo et al. (2015). Regulation of fat storage and energy balance post-dieting. Am J Clin Nutr.
Trexler et al. (2014). Beyond the scale: assessing progress with behaviour and physiology. J Int Soc Sports Nutr.
Peos et al. (2021). Intermittent dieting strategies and physiological outcomes in athletes. Sports Med.

← Older Post Newer Post →