How to Adjust Macros When You Stop Losing Weight

Why Your 'Perfect' Macros Stopped Working (And the 10% Fix)

Here's how to adjust macros when you stop losing weight: after a confirmed 2-week plateau, reduce your total daily calories by 10%. For most people, this is a 150-250 calorie reduction, taken entirely from your carbohydrate or fat intake, not your protein. It’s frustrating. You were doing everything right-tracking your food, hitting your numbers, and the scale was moving. Now, nothing. For two, maybe three weeks, that number has stared back at you, mocking your effort. The first thing to know is that this is not a sign you've failed or broken your metabolism. It's a predictable, normal sign that your body has successfully adapted to your new, lower body weight. The calorie target that created weight loss for you 15 pounds ago is now your new maintenance level. To restart the process, a small, calculated adjustment is all you need. Slashing calories drastically is a panic move that backfires. A small, 10% reduction is a strategic move that keeps you in control, preserves muscle, and gets the scale moving down again without making you feel starved.

Your macros are a guess. Make them a fact.

Track what you eat. Know you're in a deficit every single day.

The Hidden Reason You Stopped Losing Weight (It's Not Your Fault)

Weight loss plateaus happen for one primary reason: metabolic adaptation. It’s a survival mechanism, not a personal failure. As you lose weight, your body becomes a smaller, more energy-efficient machine. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)-the total calories you burn each day-naturally decreases. There are three parts to this:

1. Lower Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): A smaller body requires less energy to maintain itself at rest. A 200-pound person burns more calories sleeping than a 170-pound person. As you lose weight, your BMR drops.
2. Lower Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The energy used to digest food is proportional to the amount of food you eat. Since you're eating less, you're burning slightly fewer calories through digestion.
3. Lower Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): This is the energy burned from all the movements you do that aren't formal exercise, like fidgeting, walking to your car, or doing chores. As you diet, your body subconsciously conserves energy by reducing these small movements. You might not even notice it.

Let's put it into numbers. Say you started at 200 pounds with a TDEE of 2,600 calories. You ate 2,100 calories per day to create a 500-calorie deficit and lost weight successfully. Now, you weigh 180 pounds. Your new, more efficient body might only have a TDEE of 2,100 calories. Your 2,100-calorie diet is no longer a deficit; it's maintenance. The weight loss stops. This isn't a mystery; it's math. The solution isn't to slash another 500 calories. The solution is to make a small, precise cut to re-establish a modest deficit. You see the math now. Your body adapted. The old numbers don't work. But this creates a new problem: you can't fix what you can't measure. Do you know *exactly* what your average daily calories were for the last 14 days? Not a guess. The actual number. Without that data, any adjustment is just another shot in the dark.

Stop guessing why you're stuck. See the data.

See your calorie and macro trends. Know exactly what to change.

The 3-Step Protocol to Break Any Weight Loss Plateau

When the scale stops moving, don't guess. Follow this exact three-step process to make a calculated adjustment and get back on track. This method prevents overly aggressive cuts that kill your energy and lead to muscle loss.

Step 1: Confirm It's a Real Plateau

First, you must confirm you're actually stalled. Daily weight fluctuations of 2-5 pounds are normal, caused by water retention from salt, carbohydrates, stress, or a hard workout. A true plateau is not a few days of no change. A true plateau is when your weekly average weight has not decreased for at least two, and ideally three, consecutive weeks.

• Action: Weigh yourself daily, first thing in the morning after using the restroom. At the end of each week, calculate the 7-day average. Compare Week 1's average to Week 2's average. If they are the same (or have gone up), and this repeats for another week, you have a confirmed plateau. Also, rely on other metrics. Are your waist, hip, or thigh measurements still trending down? Are your progress photos showing more definition? If these are still improving, you may be losing fat and gaining muscle or holding water. If everything-average weight, measurements, and photos-is stalled for 2-3 weeks, it's time to adjust.

Step 2: Calculate Your New Calorie Target

Once the plateau is confirmed, it's time to create a new, small deficit. We use the 10% rule. This is aggressive enough to restart fat loss but conservative enough to preserve muscle and energy levels.

• Action: Take your current daily calorie intake and multiply it by 0.10. Subtract that number from your current total.
• Example: Your current intake is 2,000 calories per day.
• `2,000 x 0.10 = 200 calories`
• `2,000 - 200 = 1,800 calories`
• Your new daily calorie target is 1,800. For most people, this reduction will be between 150-250 calories. Do not make a larger cut. A bigger deficit isn't better; it often leads to burnout and metabolic adaptation speeding up even more.

Step 3: Adjust Your Macros (The Right Way)

Now you know how many calories to cut. The final step is deciding *which* macronutrients to reduce. The answer is simple: you cut from carbs, fats, or a mix of both. You do not cut protein.

• Action: Keep Protein High. Your protein intake should remain constant. It's the most important macro for preserving muscle mass in a deficit. Aim for 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of your *goal* body weight. If you weigh 190 and want to weigh 170, you should be eating around 170 grams of protein per day. This number does not change.
• Choose Your Cut: You have two primary options for your 200-calorie reduction:
• Option A: Cut Carbohydrates. To cut 200 calories from carbs, divide by 4 (since carbs have 4 calories per gram). `200 / 4 = 50 grams of carbs`. You would reduce your daily carb intake by 50 grams.
• Option B: Cut Fats. To cut 200 calories from fats, divide by 9 (fats have 9 calories per gram). `200 / 9 = ~22 grams of fat`. You would reduce your daily fat intake by 22 grams.

Which should you choose? It's entirely based on your preference and performance. If you feel sluggish and your workouts suffer without carbs, cut from fats. If you feel fine on lower carbs and enjoy higher-fat foods like nuts and avocado, cut from carbs. You can also do a combination, cutting 100 calories from each. The specific source of the calorie reduction is far less important than the reduction itself.

Your First 4 Weeks After the Macro Adjustment

Making the change is the first step. Knowing what to expect next prevents you from second-guessing the process. The scale will not always move in a straight line, but you should see a clear downward trend emerge if you stick to the plan.

• Week 1: The 'Whoosh'. In the first 5-7 days after reducing calories (especially if you cut carbs), you will likely see a faster drop of 2-4 pounds. This is not all fat. This is primarily water weight being released as your body uses stored glycogen. Enjoy the motivation from this initial drop, but know that this rate of loss is temporary and will not continue.
• Weeks 2-4: The New Normal. After the initial water drop, your rate of weight loss should stabilize. A realistic and sustainable goal is to lose 0.5% to 1% of your body weight per week. For a 180-pound person, this is a loss of 0.9 to 1.8 pounds per week. This is the sweet spot. If you are losing weight faster than this consistently, you may have cut too aggressively and risk losing muscle. In that case, add back 100-150 calories (from carbs or fats) to slow the rate of loss. If you are losing slower than 0.5 pounds per week, hold the course for one more week. If it's still stalled, you can consider another small 5-10% reduction, but first, ensure your tracking is 100% accurate.
• The Next Plateau: Expect this entire process to repeat. For every 10-15 pounds of fat you lose, your TDEE will drop, and you will likely need to make another small adjustment. This is not a failure. It is the predictable rhythm of successful, long-term fat loss. Each plateau is proof that you've made enough progress to change your body's energy needs. You now have the exact tool to break through it every single time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Minimum Calorie and Macro Levels

As a general guideline, you should not drop calories below 1,200 for women or 1,500 for men. For macros, dietary fat should not drop below 0.3 grams per pound of body weight, as this is critical for hormone production. If you reach these floors and are still plateaued, it's time for a diet break, not a further cut.

The Role of Diet Breaks and Refeeds

A diet break is a 1-2 week period of eating at your new maintenance calories. It helps lower diet fatigue, reduce stress, and restore hormonal balance. Plan one after every 8-12 weeks of consistent dieting. A refeed is a single day of higher-calorie, higher-carb eating, which can help mentally and temporarily boost your metabolism.

Adjusting Macros for Increased Activity

If you significantly increase your activity level-for example, adding three new weight training sessions per week-you may need to add calories, not cut them. A good starting point is to add 100-200 calories, primarily from carbohydrates, on your training days to fuel performance and aid recovery. Monitor your weight trend for two weeks to see the effect.

Why Not Just Cut Calories and Ignore Macros?

While a calorie deficit is the driver of weight loss, macros determine the *quality* of that weight loss. Keeping protein high (0.8-1.0g/lb) ensures you preserve lean muscle mass. Losing weight without enough protein means you lose a combination of fat and muscle, which lowers your metabolism further and results in a 'soft' look.

The Impact of Sleep and Stress on Plateaus

Consistently sleeping less than 7 hours a night or experiencing high levels of chronic stress can raise cortisol. Elevated cortisol causes your body to retain water, which can completely mask fat loss on the scale for weeks at a time. Before you cut calories, make sure your sleep and stress management are in order. Often, fixing these reveals the fat loss that was already happening.