Managing Weight Loss Plateaus and Maintaining Weight Loss

Question 1

Only __% of adults in the United States sustain a 10% weight loss after 1 year.

Answer 1

17%

Question 2

A period of stalled progress of 1 month or longer.

Answer 2

plateau

Question 3

Obese people who have lost weight.

Answer 3

reduced obese

Question 4

What three causes contribute to lapses in dietary adherence?

Answer 4

physiological, psychological, environmental

Question 5

There is a biological drive to increase calorie intake by approximately ___ calories for every kilogram of weight loss

Answer 5

100 calories

Question 6

What period of stalled progress best represents a weight loss plateau?

A. One month or longer

B. Two months or longer

C. One week or longer

D. Six months or longer

Answer 6

A. One month or longer

Question 7

What is the main reason for a weight loss plateau?

A. A decrease in energy intake so energy intake exceeds energy expenditure.

B. An increase in energy intake so energy intake outweighs energy expenditure.

C. An increase in energy intake so energy intake matches energy expenditure.

D. A decrease in energy intake so energy intake is less than energy expenditure.

Answer 7

C. An increase in energy intake so energy intake matches energy expenditure.

Question 8

Periods of body weight plateaus where a client practices maintenance of habits and becomes used to the new body weight.

Answer 8

maintenance practice

Question 9

Plateaus ____ in length as bodyweight continues to decrease.

Answer 9

increase

Question 10

A greater-than-expected decrease in energy expenditure due to weight loss.

Answer 10

metabolic adaptation

Question 11

The tendency for people to eat more when offered a wide variety of foods.

Answer 11

buffet effect

Question 12

Refers to how human brains assign value to food – defined by the calories gained from a food relative to how much energy and time is needed to obtain it.

Answer 12

Optimal Foraging Theory

Question 13

A loss of effectiveness of the signals that travel to the brain and tell people they are full.

Answer 13

impaired satiety signals

Question 14

Repetitive cycles of weight loss followed by weight regain where most or all of the weight is gained back.

Answer 14

weight cycling

Question 15

Alternating periods of energy restriction with periods of maintenance or diet breaks.

Answer 15

intermittent dietary strategies

Question 16

Which of the following factors is associated with maintenance of weight loss?

A. Disinhibited eating

B. Excessive loss of fat-free mass

C. A rigid approach to dieting

D. ​​​​​​​Less variety

Answer 16

D. ​​​​​​​Less variety

Question 17

A client is looking to change nutritional habits and start a diet consisting of high protein and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Which item represents the best way to initially go about this?

a. Educate the client on the benefits of high protein and high fruit and vegetable intakes.
b. Rely on the person’s initial high motivation to help start the diet.
c. Provide the client with a general guide to high protein/low energy-density diets.
d. Establish a specific plan for the diet and how to follow through with it.

Answer 17

d. Establish a specific plan for the diet and how to follow through with it.

Question 18

A client has just started a weight-loss program and is trying a low-carb diet. There has not been any weight-loss for the first 3 weeks of the diet. Which item represents the best approach to managing this situation?

a. Increase physical activity.
b. Decrease calorie intake further.
c. Wait another week to see if it’s a true plateau.
d. Change the dietary strategy, as early adherence predicts long-term adherence.

Answer 18

d. Change the dietary strategy, as early adherence predicts long-term adherence.

Question 19

A client tells their Nutrition Coach, “First the experts told us to decrease our fat intake, now they tell us to decrease our carb intake! I don’t know what to do.” Which psychological barrier to adherence does this represent?

a. Perception of choice
b. Situational barrier
c. Social and cultural context
d. Confusion

Answer 19

d. Confusion

Question 20

A client’s previous diet involved a list of good or bad foods. Which characteristic of successful long-term weight maintenance would be useful for this client?

a. Managing cravings
b. Self-efficacy
c. Flexible dietary control
d. Intuitive eating

Answer 20

c. Flexible dietary control

Question 21

Modest deficits, flexible dieting approaches, and avoiding dichotomous thinking around food and diets all represent which technique for improving adherence?

a. Self-monitoring
b. Managing feelings of deprivation
c. Education
d. Rigid restraint

Answer 21

b. Managing feelings of deprivation

Question 22

A client tells their Nutrition Coach that coworkers bring donuts to work every morning. Which psychological barrier to adherence does this represent?

a. Confusion
b. Perception of choice
c. Stress-related eating
d. Situational barrier

Answer 22

d. Situational barrier

Question 23

Which item represents the best way to manage a hyperpalatable, energy-dense food environment?

a. Work on techniques to improve discipline.
b. Keep a list of allowed and disallowed foods on the refrigerator.
c. Keep calorie-dense, hyperpalatable foods out of the house.
d. Store food in a closet/pantry rather than on a countertop.

Answer 23

c. Keep calorie-dense, hyperpalatable foods out of the house.

Question 24

Which item represents the likely outcome of a lapse in dietary adherence?

a. Decrease in energy intake
b. Increase in energy intake
c. Decrease in energy expenditure
d. Increase in energy expenditure

Answer 24

b. Increase in energy intake

Question 25

A client’s weight loss has stalled after about 12 weeks of weight loss. Which item is most likely to be true?

a. The client has decreased physical activity.
b. The client has experienced a reduction in metabolism.
c. The client has decreased calories too much and has gone into starvation mode.
d. The client has lost some adherence to the diet.

Answer 25

d. The client has lost some adherence to the diet.

Question 26

Which item best represents a psychological barrier to dietary adherence?

a. Tenacity of eating habits
b. Abundance of hyperpalatable, energy-dense foods
c. No decrease in hunger during overfeeding
d. Strong increase in hunger in response to a calorie deficit

Answer 26

a. Tenacity of eating habits

Question 27

Which of the following represents the best reason as to why resistance training may help with long-term weight maintenance?

a. Increases metabolism
b. Decreases appetite
c. Increases physical activity energy expenditure
d. Helps preserve fat-free mass

Answer 27

d. Helps preserve fat-free mass

Question 28

A client has been struggling to lose weight on an Ornish diet. Which item represents the best approach to solving this problem?

a. Find a new dietary approach to which the client can adhere.
b. Teach the client techniques to improve dietary discipline.
c. Continue with the approach to see if things can improve.
d. Increase the client’s exercise.

Answer 28

a. Find a new dietary approach to which the client can adhere.

Question 29

A client’s weight-loss progress is very slow. The client is reporting a low calorie intake of 1200 per day. Their Nutrition Coach decides to increase the client’s calorie intake to give the person a diet break. Suddenly, the client starts to lose weight again. Which of the following best describes why this happened?

a. The increase in calorie intake boosted metabolism.
b. The client felt more energetic on the higher calorie intake and became more active.
c. The client had a more attainable calorie intake and was better able to adhere to the diet.
d. The client was in starvation mode and boosting calorie intake got the client out of it.

Answer 29

c. The client had a more attainable calorie intake and was better able to adhere to the diet.

Question 30

An increase in hunger would fall under which category of reasons for lapses in dietary adherence?

a. Environmental
b. Physiological
c. Personal
d. Psychological

Answer 30

b. Physiological

Question 31

What types of foods are the best example of staples of a low energy density diet?

a. Chips
b. Whole fruits and vegetables
c. Cheese
d. Bread

Answer 31

b. Whole fruits and vegetables