Weight loss plateau traffic jam

[midrangejumper]

Hi guys!

Have ran into a traffic jam with weight loss. I'm about 6ft and 35 y male. Really quit doing any sort of physical activity for like 10+ years and let the nutrition get out of hand. I.e. until this year and went up to 234lbs somewhere in the early spring. Been working out with low intensity during the summer and then 3 times a week now since September (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday) which consists of full court 5-on-5 basketball in 1,5 hour sessions (containing the warmup shootaround). Have given up on wearing the activity monitor during games, however when I did, it clocked at around 1400kcal calorie burn during the session (monitor with the chest strap, so it should be at least moderately accurate).

By now I have slimmed down considerably, however clearly the least in belly area, however this is to be expected. I would not say it has been smooth sailing, but still, clear and straightforward progress until now as I am down to around 207 lbs. My personal scale calculates around 27,5% body fat. The problem is that I have been at around this number for like 1,5-2 months now and clearly at a weight loss plateau. The fact that I'm officially still overweight is not really that important in itself. I would like to lose additional belly fat to make the body look more healthy, however I mainly want to lose fat in order to improve my on-court performance. The goal would be somewhere in the 190-195 lbs range, as I don't really have that big of a natural frame.

I am not great at routines and really would not prefer to have a pre-determined weekly meal plan, however I have also made some conscious changes to my nutrition in general (lost classic junk food, cut down a lot of sweets and beer, close to no white breads, balancing my eating habits much better and not load it up so much in the evening anymore and have made the effort to increase my protein intake, also started to have healthy breakfasts - I did not have breakfasts at all for a long period of time).

Now most internet resources aim towards nutrition as the main culprit for the weight loss plateau. While I am sure there are more lenghts one can go in terms of optimizing nutrition, I feel that e.g. cutting carbs even more does not give me the energy I need to recover between the workouts and also the fuel I need to go into the workout and perform. I would say recovery is already an issue to a minor extent anyway. I am a competitive person, so I always measure myself against the opposition and aim to get better. I usually eat some simple carbs and protein before the game (like Greek yoghurt + muesli and berries or PB sandwich on whole grain bread) and then off the shelf protein drink with carbs after the session.

Any advice on which stone to turn next?

[spradish]

Now most internet resources aim towards calories as the main culprit for the weight loss plateau.

Notice the word I changed above. In order to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn all day long. You were doing that before because cleaning up your diet had you cutting back on calories. Now, however, you're eating at maintenance calories. That could be due to eating a bit more or because as you lose weight your body needs fewer calories to maintain, likely a combination.

The next step is to eat less than you are now. If you haven't already, start counting calories. Read the post labeled "Don't look past the basics" for help with this.

[cyco85]

Measure everything exactly in grams (buy a gram scale if you don't have one). Don't eat anything you can't measure. Do that for 2 weeks and keep a log, come back and post that log along with scale/visual progress.