How to Break Through Fat Loss Plateaus 

Good lord, watching a Greg doucette video and then coming here makes me feel like I’m regaining my brain cells back

"You shit the bed, you're covered in cheeseburgers, you have no memory of what happened, and there's sirens. You know.... a typical Tuesday." i died lol

I lost 40kg. One of the biggest lessons I learned is that you DO NOT need food to have fun. Seriously, no one cares if you're eating or not. We have conflated food and fun in our modern lives. Divorcing food from fun was THE single.biggest win for me.

My own personal advice is don't try to diet during a highly stressful point in your life because dieting is hard enough without all the extra stress added. If anything maintain your weight until things go back to normal then embark on another fat loss journey.

I lost 13 pounds just listening to this man

Was 388 at my highest. Dieting mostly with some work outs, just being active. I was stuck at 290 for about a month. Just ate at maintenance for a week. Adding 150-250 calories til I hit maintenance. Then held maintenance for a week. Which is 2800 for me, cutting today at 2500. Wish me luck. Took me 10 months to loose from 388, to 290.

Right as I'm starting to plateau I see this in my recommended... Thanks Mike!

"taco bell dipped in donuts" 😆

This is exactly what I needed to hear at 6 weeks in to my second loss phase. Starting at 238, I lost 20 lbs in 12 weeks during phase 1, did 8 weeks at maintenance, but only down 3 lbs in the last 6 weeks.

I just wanted to say thank you. Over the course of a year or so i lost 50 pounds Was struggling for 4 months to not lose weight because i was not functional when in a calorie defficit. Needed to settle for maintaining. This explained so much and i was so happy.

I break my diet deliberately with planned celebrations like birthdays etc. Helps me stick to it through the tough part. I know when I’m going to get to eat whatever I like so I don’t feel room in the meantime.

"Fuck that. Life is for living" -Mike Israetel

Started at 350, lost 40lbs fast, now I've been stuck at the 309-312 range for MONTHS and it's taking a toll on my mental health

In my experience dieting for longer than 6 - 8 weeks is very tough unless you're naturally not that hungry, very active or naturally eat very healthy. Do 6 - 8 weeks, daily cardio and walking/be active, take 2 or 3 weeks off, then repeat

This is the video i've been looking for! Answered every single one of my questions, thanks Mike

heard this speech from other sources, man you do a GREAT job of explaining it in plain english! keep up the good work.

Ive been doing all you say in your videos. Its working for the first time in my life im not jeopardizing my training or my muscle and fat loss is steady no crazy. Foollowing you for some years now youre the best by far no bla bla bla. Real thing. Thank you God bless you.

You are my Doctor. Mike. Soothing voice talking about real shit and giving golden advices with a malevolent humour and cursing. I really love to return to those materials. Good job.

I’ve watched many “plateau” videos, this one is the best. By far!

You like wrapped "How to diet" in one video! This deserves more views!

I lost 42lbs in 3 and half months with a ton of help coming from Dr. Mike but haven’t lost a single pound in the last two weeks still sticking to the same plan. It’s incredibly deflating. I’m about to break my diet and I hope I can keep this going. I appreciate all this wonderful content it’s literally life changing.

Thank you for all the encouragement 🙂

I walk on average 15K+ 5 days a week. No matter how many steps you walk no amount of activity will defeat a significant calorie surplus. You mentioned that but I'm reiterating because its easier to do than thought.

Dr. Mike your awesome. Appreciate all of your info and videos, you have and continue to help me and I'm sure many many more people 🤜 your the best.

I've been very closely tracking CICO and despite having lost 10 lbs relatively quickly I hit a two week plateau. Watching this, I realized that I've been incredibly stressed these past two weeks and am probably just holding onto a lot more water weight, which at least removes one small stressor. Thanks Mike!

The most underated youtube channel. I'd like to see some knowledge about periodization on calisthenics. Her ein my city a lot of gyms are closed and we only can workout outside. Thanks!

Need these talks on spotify so I can listen on the go

New to your channel, I’m a newbie at this new found passion of fitness, nutrition and new way of Life..❣️ I am soo intrigued with all this amazing content. 🤓 super informative and easy breakdowns for people like myself to understand. Thank you!!!

"yeah thats one tablespoon of peanut butter" Easily the biggest lie ever spoken 😂😂

great video, fantastic information, you rock!

Super helpful and detailed video. Thank you so much for this video. ❤

Amazing content as usual!! Would really love for you to dwell on the topic of losing fat in high stress jobs or temporary phases, where both the motivation & schedules are off.

I've gone from 189 to 172 in 16 weeks.. really feeling it now, and strength loss is annoying. My goal was 175, then 170 lol. But after watching this video, I'm calling my cut at the end of this week.

You're the best Dr. Mike!

The body water bit was key for me...I hit a point where I started slowly gaining weight on a clear deficit for two weeks straight...my weight would be stable for a day or two, then I'd go up 1/4 pound, rinse and repeat. All this while I'm running a minimum 500 cal deficit every day. I felt so frustrated and discouraged, I had gone from couch slug to doing an hour of cardio every day, full body resistance training 3x a week, eating less than I'd ever eaten in my life, and I was *still* gaining weight. Turns out it was just water...I decided to wait it out for 2 weeks before changing anything, I steadily gained 4 pounds over about 10 days, then it stopped and reversed and now I'm losing in the 0.5% to 1% bw range every week since.

I've watched a ton of fitness influencers and no one says something reasonable. When he talked about problems he gave his own solutions based on real experience so the result is something understandable and able to perform. Thank you

🥇this is gold! Thank you!!

Such an amazingly educational video !

Thank you for the practical advice!

My weight loss was steady for my five months of cutting and now it's at a plateau. I am taking a diet break for a week. I will be implementing these ideas.

It's just that before the gym lockdown, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies smothered in plain greek yogurt seemed like a snack hack. Now I'm just fat, missing weights with a craving that's never satiated lol

I don't think we've done enough to deserve Dr. Mike.

These are really outstanding tips. I personally have a LOT of problems with cortisol water retention. Even the old standbys won't get rid of it. :(

Good stuff as always Dr Mike!!👏👌👍💪😎

This is so good!!! 🙌🙌

You're the man Doc!

Love the videos!

masterpiece literally so informative!!!

So, progressively underload your calories until measurable results can be observed. *mind blown* :)

Love these!

Magnificent video! I think what’s really holding me back is very low amount of physical activity. I’m going to start using a step counter watch as you recommended and bump up my steps and increase my NEAT by being active and moving more throughout the day. I think the watch will motivate me greatly. Thank you for giving us such extremely helpful advice and making us reach our goals with ease. 👍

Really liked this video thanks

Excellent advise.

Coming to this after starting a cut and plaeauing the last two weeks. Maintained good level of activity and roughly 1500 calories a day but stopped losing weight entirely.

"It like trying to study for a supper important math test while hanging out with your friends. We all know that shit doesn't work" Dr Mike 👌😭.

I love your TICs.

You are informative and wildly entertaining 😂

Great coach

This is gold! I've lost a considerable amount of weight using some of these methods without even knowing it. I stick to a good ol fast food diet Panda Express Broccoli Beef, Mushroom Chicken and Super Greens I get that almost every day when i'm at work. Every time I have a cowork asking me why I dont get tired of it, truth is, it WORKS! Figure out what works for you, stick to the goal and make it happen It also helps that I can throw in some pork rind and cupcakes on the daily as well. Just a simple calorie deficit has done wonders. I will implement weight training as I continue to lose weight. Thank you for the videos!

Mike is the GOAT!

Great job

Mike, all i can say to you is this .... Thank you.

Wait.... Are you telling me I have to eat LESS to lose more fat? You've gotta be bullshitting me dawg lol

I laughed so much (+ great advice) "Go punch someone in the face cause that's what you do when you're drunk at 3 in the morning" . There's something about people who can throw banging jokes all with a completely stoic face, it GETS me

This one is gold

This man is a godsend

I decided to start standing instead of sitting all day at my job and without changing anything in my diet, I went down from 175 to 170lbs

231lbs down to 178lbs. 44yrs old

I've noticed nasty fat loss stalls when detrained prior to diet, therefore gaining muscle and glycogen while burning fat, and using too much cardio increasing water retention and inflammation to the point the scale dead stops, I'll end up quite puffy and almost look the same and scale says the same, until I break the diet and or reduce the cardio and the water retention goes away... Personally I think the body hangs on to water on PURPOSE when calories are very low or cardio too high

bro is a legend for these videos

I mostly just want someone to hold my hand and whisper «you can do this» lmao. This video is the next best thing, thanks Dr. Mike!

Thank you!

Thanks doc

I've been cutting since New Years, so already over 12 weeks, and my weightloss since then has been steady, literally 1 lbs per week every week. Been lifting weights 3 days per week (splitting pushing, pulling and lower body into seperate days), do once a week cardio, and figured out my base rate by looking at how much I ate last year and where my weight went during the same period. I've been eating what should be around 200 calories below my base rate, maybe eating another 100 on days I lift, and 400 extra on cardio days (I run 5 km/3.1 miles on cardio days). But, I make sure at least 30% of my calories are from protein, or around 130g+ per day I shoot for. I'll reevaluate when I stop losing weight, but so far so good

Lol! I've been on a diet that started June 17th 2021 at 350lbs! As of now I've hit a wall at 240! Don't do this! It's not for normal people! I've been hovering at 240 for about a month and a half. So I've adjusted my training and diet and we will see here in a week if I can get going again. Did I mention I'm 50! Lol! Love this channel and I've learned alot here!

I’ve been trying to lose fat for about 4 months now, and I have been starting to feel burned out and naturally I was like, “ya know what? I’m just gonna take a break.” So I’ve been doing “maintenance/surplus” days. I put it in quotes, because I’m still not 100% sure what my deficit actually is; I have a basic idea, but I think I could get it more dialed in. So I’m using this break phase as a research phase as well to really dial in my surplus calories, maintenance calories, and deficit calories. Then once I get back into a deficit, I’ll have a better idea. Thanks for the info, definitely encouraged me to keep my mind set on the end goal!

6:54 exactly the problem i seem to have consumed too much salt, thx for the clear answer

Best part *** 12:20 *** so true , thanks a lot Dr. Mike

Wow the thumbnail shown is body goals fr!

#5 under troubleshooting add PMS

Good advice ty x

This guy is so underrated funny

holy fucking shit, that video glitch at 3:38 the green flicker had me losing my mind , i was replacing monitor cables and updating drivers lmao then i went on my phone and saw it was the same flicker.. god damn it, great vid either way mike

F***king fantastic video, as usual

Mike te admiro. La información que brindas no tiene desperdicio! Gracias

I got to my goal weight at 195 from 220. At the end of the cut I made a list of my favorite restaurants starting with a sushi buffet. Downhill from there. Got sick, lost gains got to 230. Sigh Now I'm doing it smart. Hopefully I'll keep it off

Great science based combined with practical info!

I trust him more than myself, crazy.

Lmao I love this guy. Such solid helpful tips. Thank you

I am in the hardest fatloss of my life. I was cutting and about a month ago quit smoking cigarettes... Holy god, I never have food issue cravings or even think about eating regardless of deficit.. Now I am struggling with maintenance...

Obviously terrible sleeping schedules can mess everything up as well. I bartend & get home super late lots of times or go to the gym at 3 am just to get it in (& end up eating then too of course…), but something that’s definitely helped me not take steps backward is taking an ashwaganda supplement. It’s a great adaptogen that reduces body stress & helps lower your levels of cortisol. I notice a difference when I run out & don’t take it for a bit. I also feel like it’s more effective when I take it in the morning AND the night. *just remember that if you drink a lot especially, it can be hard on your liver & it can promote testosterone so keep that in mind if that’s an issue for you

8:20 yup, exactly the trap I fell into and why RP kicked me out of fat loss into maintenance lol

I was entertained watching this 😂

I’m coming up on 12 weeks on my diet / deficit and god damn this exactly the info I was looking for. Thank you so much.

I love your videos explaining that it takes time to get to ur ideal weight. Sometimes even a year or more. I have been on a weight loss journey for two years now. Over 300 lbs lost. I was over 500 at my heaviest. I weigh about 220 now. How do I slow that voice in my head that says cardio now fat boy! Cardio cardio cardiooooooo!!! Lol the mental part is where I’m at now. I have my diet on point. I lift weights. I slowed the cardio back to no more than 3O min a day and walk not jog. But how do I stop the wanting it already. Like y am I not there feeling. What ya got for that doc?? Love your videos. Huge fan !!!

when I get diet fatigue I go the entire week on a major calorie deficit 500-800 then the following week I eat what I want with a 250-500 calorie surplus with no guilt associated then I go back to my regular diet of 250-500 deficit and it reboots my mental program to keep going

Love it

Thanks for the great tips. I've been 100% locked in the last 8 weeks and with steps, calories, lifting, etc. and out of no where I started stalling... As you explained number 5 I was like holy shit yea the last few days I've been absolutely dumping salt in my meals and drinking coke zero more than usual 😂😂 going to bring that back into line but now I feel much better

I dieted for about 4 weeks and kinda maintained for 4 as well(I lost some weight but like 2kg for the whole month) Now I feel like I can lose a lot of weight this month too. I'm just glad I dont experience diet fatigue. I do crave shit but I refuse to buy it 1 because I have to waste money and 2 because I turn those calories into time spent in cardio. Yeah that icecream sandwich aint worth it if I have to spend 30 mins rowing with moderate speed. Lost about 10kg in the first month and about 3 in my maintenance month(I upped my calories and protein a lot but still managed to lose fat). Maybe its cause im above 30% fat and a beginner. Looking for about 7kg this month to get to 115kg. If I do this will be the most I've ever lost. 3 months 20kg. I find it easier to cut out food then to stay active as I've always been more relax focused kind of dude. My NEAT has always been the lowest of lows.

Dr Mike can you do a video on managing RPE levels mid-workout? What I mean is, I squat 325 for 1 rep RPE 8 on set 1, but my second and third set are RPE 9 and 10. How can I manage fatigue throughout my sets to maintain the same RPE?