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If you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve been on your diet and things have been going along beautifully and then one day weight loss just stops, you likely know just how frustrating this can be.

You thought you were doing everything right and now you don’t know where you’re going wrong. Nothing has changed on your end of things so why is that scale just not budging?

This is referred to as a weight loss plateau and happens to almost any dieter at some point or another.  Take comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone and in the fact that if you are able to identify what is causing the problem, you can easily get back on the road to success.

Let’s look at a few of the primary reasons why weight loss plateaus can occur.

You Aren’t Tracking Correctly

Perhaps the most common reason why weight loss plateaus occur is simply because dieters become lazy with their tracking methods.

At the start of the plan they were carefully watching each and every bite of food they put in their mouths, making sure that it lined up to precisely what they needed.

But now that you’ve been on your diet for a lengthier period of time, you’re ‘eyeballing’ portion sizes and aren’t paying attention to little bites that sneak in here and there.

These small mistakes can cost you big-time in terms of results.  If you’re off by just 200 calories per day, this could completely negate the calorie deficit that you’re creating, causing you to eat at your maintenance calorie intake rather than fat loss calorie intake.

You’ve Been Dieting Too Long

The second reason why a weight loss plateau may occur is if you’ve been dieting for an extended period of time.  Remember as you go about your diet using that calorie intake, the metabolic rate is going to adjust and adapt to this, slowing down as you go.

This means fewer calories burned over the course of the day, which then means that you won’t progress at the rate that you had hoped you would.

If it’s been more than two months since you had a weekend off your diet, now is the time to implement a short diet break. Chances are when you start up again, things will progress along at a faster pace once again.

You Haven’t Accounted For Weight Loss With Your Calorie Intake

Finally, the last reason why you may have hit a plateau is if you haven’t accounted for the weight you’ve lost.  Remember, as you lose weight your maintenance calorie intake will go down lower, meaning you’ll have to reduce your target fat loss calorie intake as well.

If you fail to do this, after you lose 20 pounds you may find that you aren’t losing any further weight.  Re-assess your calorie intake every 10 pounds you lose and make a few adjustments.  This will keep you on top of your game.

So there you have the three big reasons why plateaus occur.  Are any of these a factor in your circumstance?