Calorie deficit, but not losing weight

[liisa27]

Hi! maybe someone smarter can give me some ideas. I am not native English speaker so sorry for grammar mistakes
I am 29 years old, 165 cm and currently 58 kg. I have been doing weight lifting about 2 years and I think my fat% is now 19-20. I want to lose some weight/fat, especially from my thighs. I have been eating healthy for many years and used to eat 1800-2000 kcl clean food per day. I do "cheat" meals 1-2x in a week. I have not done much cardio, only lifting. 2nd of January I started with my diet, I started to eat 1500 kcl per day and added 30-45min cardio 5x in a week and for now I have lost maybe 400-500 grams only and my measurements are basically same. My thighs are now 56 cm I would like them to be 52-53 cm. I never had problems with losing weight, when I wanted to be a bit thinner I ate few hundred calories less and everything worked. Now it seems impossible to lose weight. I weight myself almost everyday and I started to be really obsessed with my look. I know mental condition can effect weight loss because of the stress level. But anyway there should be some changes, I can only see changes a little in stomach area, but my belly has always been quit flat so this is not my target. I dont feel difference when I try clothes on, they fit same as usual. Last year I lost 2 kg in 2 weeks with no problem, now I feel that nothing works. I lowered my calories to 1300-1400 and I do 40 min cardio every morning with empty stomach but weight is still same. My friend says it is all in my head and I think about it too much and bcs of the stress I am not losing. Maybe he is right, but how can I get rid of this obsession? Or what else can work?

Greetings

L.

[okayest]

Stop having cheat meals.

[Tommy W.]

You need to count calories on a weekly basis.

Add up 7 day's worth of calories and divide by 7 and this is your daily amount. You can see when you do this and cheat meals are figured in that your daily amount is much higher than you think. Based on this equation you are not in a daily or weekly deficit.

[d2mini]

Yup, you could eat with a deficit of 500 calories every day M-F, but many people don't realize how easy it is for one cheat meal (especially when eating out) to put them in a 1000 calorie (or more) surplus for the day. Do that twice and you've erased the deficit you had all week.

[liisa27]

You need to count calories on a weekly basis.

Add up 7 day's worth of calories and divide by 7 and this is your daily amount. You can see when you do this and cheat meals are figured in that your daily amount is much higher than you think. Based on this equation you are not in a daily or weekly deficit.

Ok, thanks for the advice!

[CidBone]

You can't spot reduce fat and your cheat meals are ruining your progress.
Make sure to weigh your food properly and consistently.
Weighing yourself everyday is not ideal, cause if you adjust everything daily, because of what you see on the scale.
You'll get lost in the process.

[TheNetoKetoGuy]

100 percent

[bcradio]

Calorie deficit, but not losing weight = Not really a calorie deficit

[blue9steel]

Do that twice and you've erased the deficit you had all week.

Or even started bulking depending on the meals.