Fat Loss Stall. Already Low Calories, high cardio and still 12% Body fat. Help!

[bgildenstern]

Hello,
Started my Cut Feb 10th at 196 pounds and now at 168 pounds. I am at about 12% body fat and I havent dropped anything in 2 weeks. I was at 1850 Calories a day(Yes that is accurate I weigh everything) with 40 minutes of cardio 6 days a week.
I lowered my calories 10 days ago to 1650 calories and upped my cardio to 6 days a week 50-55minutes each session with a heart rate of 150-160(With a thermogenic which I only started a couple days ago but without it I always have my heart rate above 135).
I also weight train 5x a week so I spent a lot of time at the gym lol
I naturally have a slow metabolism always have (resting heart rate is 38bpm) so weight loss has never come easy hence my extreme cardio and calorie intake.
Obviously I am suffering from metabolic slowdown and not sure what to do at this point as I was not expecting this as such a high body fat %.
I am willing to do whatever it takes to get down below 10% and my fat loss had been steady up to this point. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated whether its

[SayWhatAgain12]

if you don't need to get lean asap then I'd suggest reverse dieting in to a lean bulk and bulking/maintaining for maybe 3 months to repair dat der metabolism.

[bgildenstern]

I really want to be lean for summer and I have never had a 6 pack before and with all the work I have put it I need to do this for myself if that makes sense. Being a fat kid my whole life I kinda need to prove to myself.

[SayWhatAgain12]

I can completely empathise. I'm cutting on pretty low cals. If that's the case then maybe incorporate a weekly refeed where you eat at/sightly above maintenance...fill the calories with carbs

[bgildenstern]

Do you think I am at the point where I need to Carb cycling or Keto or do you think the refeed should do it?

[Electricheadd]

Do you think I am at the point where I need to Carb cycling or Keto or do you think the refeed should do it?

Carb cycling and keto probably won't do a lot for you. You are at the point where you need to either reverse diet/diet break or drop calories and soldier on to your goal. I know neither option is appealing but those are likely the only two.

[bgildenstern]

If I lower my calories further to say 1550ish and up to cardio and just power through this, when I got back to a normal diet or drop my cardio would my body just store everything back again?

[Electricheadd]

If I lower my calories further to say 1550ish and up to cardio and just power through this, when I got back to a normal diet or drop my cardio would my body just store everything back again?

Not as long as you gradually bring your calories back to maintenance. Don't get up one day and decide your going to bulk and start eating 3k.

[wolfdogg]

If I lower my calories further to say 1550ish and up to cardio and just power through this, when I got back to a normal diet or drop my cardio would my body just store everything back again?

You're not going to push through anything that way. You're going to have decreased thyroid output, slower metabolism, decreased thermic effect of food, fat oxidation and energy levels. Too many people here preach the "decrease calories further" and that's just stupid if your metabolism is jacked up. And yes.. you'll probably see a slight bit of fat gain with going back to a normal diet but not too noticeable if you do it right. Increase calories very slowly. Get back to normal calories for a few months and let your body repair itself.
Don't give up.. just take a different approach. It may take longer but so be it. The alternative is marching on until you're eating 1000 calories a day and having a decimated metabolism with no option to increase calories without putting on more fat than usual.

[reagansquad]

Binge for a couple days then switch to intervals for your cardio.

[Djankie]

How do u plan to survive on 1550 cal?

[wolfdogg]

How do u plan to survive on 1550 cal?

I did 3 weeks of 1000 calories once .. before realizing how stupid this approach is. Lots of coffee can get you through anything.
(didn't help with fat loss at all btw)

[vismal]

If you have been cutting straight since February you should do a 2-3 week maintenance break for sure. At around 12% body fat weekly refeeds might help.

[AAOBob]

Might want to read this.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._cardio_coffin

[bgildenstern]

Thanks for all the advice!
Surviving on the low calories does not seem to be an issue for me because a large portion of my calories come from Spinach/lettuce/brocolli/celery so I am actually eating a lot of food just not calorically dense foods.
I am going on a beach vacation in 4 weeks and wanted to look cut for that and was going to maintenance that week.
Whether its Keto/Carb cycling/Intervals/Refeeding etc, is there anything you think I could do to get closer to 10% and then maintain around the 10-12% area for a month or two and then give it another go?
Again thanks for the input!

[Jo3Buddha]

What type of cardio do you do? 50minutes of cardio 6 days a week is a lot if its 1 session of the same exercise. Try incorporating HIIT sprints on a bike, some punchbag work, fast runs on an incline treadmill. Try punchbag for 20mins, 5k bike, then treadmill sprints. Try keeping all cardio work to the highest intensity that you can handle for 20-30mins. Punchbag work when done with serious intensity seems to burn the most calories IMO and I definitely get a huge sweat literally dripping and works the core like mad. Try splitting your cardio into two sessions if you have the time, like AM then PM. I dont think dropping cals is a good idea instead just burn more cals by increasing the intensity.

[Serpentarius]

how many grams of carbs do you eat a day?

[Juturna67]

I thought losing weight was simply eating at a deficit. trollolol

[bgildenstern]

I eat 140 Carbs however included in that is 60-70G of fiber so net 70-80Carbs. All my carbs come from Dark green vegetables other that 27 Carbs from 1/2 oats and almonds/walnuts.

[Serpentarius]

I thought losing weight was simply eating at a deficit. trollolol

it is

I eat 140 Carbs however included in that is 60-70G of fiber so net 70-80Carbs. All my carbs come from Dark green vegetables other that 27 Carbs from 1/2 oats and almonds/walnuts.

figured.
Well your only choice is to stop losing weight or cut 250+ more a day.

[bgildenstern]

it is



figured.
Well your only choice is to stop losing weight or cut 250+ more a day.

So are you suggesting my only option is to go to an unrealistic calorie number or go into a maintenance period?

[Serpentarius]

So are you suggesting my only option is to go to an unrealistic calorie number or go into a maintenance period?

Those are the only options, cutting calories or moving more will yield the same effect. Its not really unrealistic if that is your maintenance, correct?

[bgildenstern]

In theory yes,
but I cannot imagine a 5'10 Male weight training 5x a week on 1400 calories being healthy. Plus despite me being able to handle 1600 calories I can be a zombie towards the evening and standing up can be as difficult as a squat lol

[nae25]

Metabolism has definitely slowed down. I'm not an expert but I'm thinking you could definitely benefit from eating at maintenance for a week or two, or incorporating a refeed into your weekly diet.

[bgildenstern]

I think I might be past Refeeds. For Example 8 days ago I had a 4500 calories day(Yes I binged lol) and I gained 4 pounds(Water Weight) After 48 hours I lost all 4 pounds of water weight and then stayed steady at that same weight so its not even like that day helped like it had in the past.

[nae25]

Lol, past refeeds? The leaner you get, the more you need refeeds. They're not just cheat days, it's all about them carbsssss

[Serpentarius]

In theory yes,
but I cannot imagine a 5'10 Male weight training 5x a week on 1400 calories being healthy. Plus despite me being able to handle 1600 calories I can be a zombie towards the evening and standing up can be as difficult as a squat lol

how is that not "healthy"? At any rate, every single time someone has these symptoms, they ALWAYS have the same things in common: over-exercising, and low carb.
Again you have two choices, go back to maintenance and start adding calories (all carbs), dont add calories leading TO maintenance since you cannot gain weight at maintenance, or increase deficit. Probably should look into eating a lot more carbs next time around.

Additionally, you could be miscounting calories, there is no need to debate if you are or arent, you simply just need to eat less or move more, but if your calories are true then you should absolutely not be needing to eat at that ridiculous low calorie intake.

Lol, past refeeds? The leaner you get, the more you need refeeds. They're not just cheat days, it's all about them carbsssss

Not necessarily. Need no? Should PROBABLY incorporate? Yes. He doesnt need it at 12%, he probably has very low leptin, high ghrelin, low testosterone, and low thyroid output currently, probably.

[bgildenstern]

In reference to the refeeds I am starting to think Serpentarius is right, I mean past the point of refeeds is I think I have slowed my Metabolism so much that refeeds are not enough to restart fat loss.

[bgildenstern]

I think I am going to go a week at maintenance and then see if that restarts it and if not then maybe go a bit longer at maintenance but I think a week is a good start.

[braddock112233]

Lol, past refeeds? The leaner you get, the more you need refeeds. They're not just cheat days, it's all about them carbsssss

this. I came from 260 to 172 right now and I was having the same issues as u, Im at 1700 calories. I started doing refeeds every Saturday and the past 4 weeks I have been loosing steadily again.

hoping to be at 10% by july4th and start reverse dieting right after.