Plateaued for 3-4 weeks. Need advice.

[imirish34]

Hey fellas, stats at the bottom. I started my cut 4 months ago at 2300 calories and when loss slowed down I typically dropped calories a bit. Most of my strength that I lost was initial (for ex: went from benching 225 5x6 to 225 3x3-4) and I've retained the rest fairly well even while dropping calories so I don't seem to be losing muscle mass. It is very normal for me to lose quite a bit of strength initially when I diet, not sure why. Anyway. Things slowed down a bit when I hit 1800 calories and knowing I was still 19-20% body fat, I dropped lower to about 1600. Loss was still slow and eventually stalled at 190lbs so now I'm at 1400 calories at the start of my fourth month. I've been at these calories for about 3-4 weeks now and I'm still stuck in fluctuation between 188-190 lbs. I did start drinking a bit more water and had some cravings for salt so I figured it was water weight but 4 weeks is too long for that.

I weigh EVERYTHING. If I use a 0 calorie splenda/sucrolose packet I count it as 4 calories, not 0. I weigh any oil I cook with, even if it's just a quick spurt for non-stick when baking veggies. If I make some anabolic french toast and throw a spanking of cinnamon in there, I'm weighing it even if its maybe a gram. My OCD is pretty damn bad and I weigh everything to the gram and even double check it in oz measurements to make sure the labels are correct. I don't count by serving sizes like cups or (1 slice), but by the gram. I know I'm not overeating. I've made sure that wasn't the case.

One thing I did notice though was as my calories lessened, the only macro I focused on keeping at a decent level was protein which was bare minimum 150g, typically 170g, and some days at 200+ if I had prior days that were much lower. I don't count carbs and honestly stopped counting fat. Looking back through all my logs the past few weeks I noticed my fat consumption has averaged somewhere between 20g-30g. Is it possible my hormones are out of whack because of my lack of dietary fat and thus causing a plateau in weight loss?

I'm correcting this by increasing my fat intake but by the looks of it my macros are lookin' a little rough. Tomorrow I plan to start eating 1500 calories (100 more than what I have been) just for the sake of being able to at least eat 75g of fat and 169g of protein (even if that only leaves me with 38g of carbs left lol. I realllllly want to be able to eat broccoli still if I'm able to). I know it's not .45g of fat per lb but not sure how else to get more in on low cal.

Any tips would be highly appreciated. I'm so determined to at least hit 15%bf and banish the lower belly/love handles >, 10-12% would be my goal though so I can bulk properly this time and not get so chubby again.

Stats -
Age: 23
Height: 6'4
Current Weight: 190
Starting Cutting Calories: 2300
Current cutting Calories: 1400
Activity: Sedentary outside of gym. Usually walk with a 40lb vest just to get the blood pumping on off days for about 15-20 minutes.

Attached 2 pics in case.

[SuffolkPunch]

Do you have daily weigh in and calorie data

Ideally, post them like this (for example)

2000,85.3
2000,84.9
2100,85.2

etc. no punctuation apart from commas

[faithbrah]

hard to say what's going on if you're not losing weight on real, correctly counted 1400 calories... get your thyroid checked i guess

[Luclin999]

You are "6 feet, 4 inches tall" and you are eating "1400 calories/day" and have seen no weight changes for nearly a month?

Only answer.... You are eating (a lot) more than you think that you are.

Period.

Trash whatever you have been using to determine what your calories are and start over. By that I mean still weigh everything but do more research into what the actual calories per gram are of the foods that you consume rather than trusting some "app" or what it may say on the food label.

[Bosko]

here we go again!!

this everything that gets stuffed into your head
food/liquids/...pussy......dont care.....BY THE GRAM!!!!

[AdamWW]

You are "6 feet, 4 inches tall" and you are eating "1400 calories/day" and have seen no weight changes for nearly a month?

Only answer.... You are eating (a lot) more than you think that you are.

Period.

Trash whatever you have been using to determine what your calories are and start over. By that I mean still weigh everything but do more research into what the actual calories per gram are of the foods that you consume rather than trusting some "app" or what it may say on the food label.

Agree with this

Even a thyroid issue wouldn’t explain it... if such a condition was present, you’d certainly feel it

[imirish34]

Agree with this

Even a thyroid issue wouldn’t explain it... if such a condition was present, you’d certainly feel it

I'll get it checked out when able but I doubt it's that. My mom did have thyroid cancer so it's not out of the question.

[imirish34]

Do you have daily weigh in and calorie data

Ideally, post them like this (for example)

2000,85.3
2000,84.9
2100,85.2

etc. no punctuation apart from commas

Not precisely, no I've been between 188-190 is all I know. Scale doesn't do anything but whole and half numbers like 100 or 100.5.

Calorie totals for a specific week:
1,450
1,362
1,314
1,405
1,354
1,429.

[imirish34]

You are "6 feet, 4 inches tall" and you are eating "1400 calories/day" and have seen no weight changes for nearly a month?

Only answer.... You are eating (a lot) more than you think that you are.

Period.

Trash whatever you have been using to determine what your calories are and start over. By that I mean still weigh everything but do more research into what the actual calories per gram are of the foods that you consume rather than trusting some "app" or what it may say on the food label.

My diet is pretty similar, I just eat less of it when I need to drop for the most part. Like yesterday this is my total weigh in.. if something seems off please let me know.

Kirkland Tilapia 270g - 262cals.
Raw Tyson Chicken Breast 12.35oz - 309cals.
2 viva natural fish oils - 20cal
10g splenda sweetener - 40cal

(Rare meal, had a sweet craving.)
Lucky Charms 121g - 471cals
Kirkland unsweetened almond milk 345ml - 44cals

Great Value Broccoli cuts 353g - 104cal
Normandy vegetable blend 484g - 171cal
G Hughes suger free BBQ sauce 30g - 10cal
Greatvalue lousiana hotsauce 15ml - 0cal

Kirkland nonfat greek yogurt 170g - 100cal
greatvalue nonfat yogurt 288g - 136cal
great value sugar free vanilla pudding 10g - 30cal

Macros came out to be:
Calories: 1,697kcal
Protein: 175g
Carbs: 201g
Fat: 26g

Most of that is pretty standard except for the lucky charms and it's served me well through the rest of my cut.

[AdamWW]

Not precisely, no I've been between 188-190 is all I know. Scale doesn't do anything but whole and half numbers like 100 or 100.5.

Calorie totals for a specific week:
1,450
1,362
1,314
1,405
1,354
1,429.

One thing that makes me highly suspect you’re counting something wrong is that you never once mentioned feeling hungry.

If I went a single day eating 1400 calories I would feel like absolute trash...

I don’t think if you ate that little for that long you’d be able to function like a normal al human.

[imirish34]

One thing that makes me highly suspect you’re counting something wrong is that you never once mentioned feeling hungry.

If I went a single day eating 1400 calories I would feel like absolute trash...

I don’t think if you ate that little for that long you’d be able to function like a normal al human.

I am a hungry mofo. I usually have to skip breakfast and intermittent fast til evening. I just didn't feel like it needed to be said The only way I've been staving it off is eating lots of baked veggies with hotsauce as a filler.

[Luclin999]

OP, Whatever you posted is irrelevant.

No human being that is 6' 4" tall and weighs 190lbs. has a TDEE in the 1400 cal/day range. You would have to be in not only a coma, but in a hypothermic (body temp 8+ degrees below normal) state as well for that to be possible.

So if you haven't lost weight in nearly a month, then you are eating at, or close to your maintenance calories and there is utterly no way in Hell that your maintenance is "1400 cal/day". I mean at your size, it really cannot even be "2400 cal/day".

You are eating far, far more than you have been claiming to.

So either you are not telling the truth to us about how much you are eating OR you are completely wrong about the amounts and caloric values of what have been going into your mouth.

Not really any other options.

[imirish34]

OP, Whatever you posted is irrelevant.

No human being that is 6' 4" tall and weighs 190lbs. has a TDEE in the 1400 cal/day range. You would have to be in not only a coma, but in a hypothermic (body temp 8+ degrees below normal) state as well for that to be possible.

So if you haven't lost weight in nearly a month, then you are eating at, or close to your maintenance calories and there is utterly no way in Hell that your maintenance is "1400 cal/day". I mean at your size, it really cannot even be "2400 cal/day".

You are eating far, far more than you have been claiming to.

So either you are not telling the truth to us about how much you are eating OR you are completely wrong about the amounts and caloric values of what have been going into your mouth.

Not really any other options.

I've never had troubles dieting before. I ran into some health complications with my back and heart awhile back so i had to stay off lifting for awhile which is why my physique isn't where I want it to be right now. I only say that because I haven't came across this issue before. There's no reason to lie to you. I'm just looking for answers. That is everything I ate except for some lawrys on my tilapia and if something looks off please tell me. You say whatever I've posted is irrelevant but it's what I ate. Is that not important when narrowing down issues of weightloss on a cut? I'm not looking for attention.. I'm just trying to put in good, honest work and see results.

And what makes you think someone who's 6'4 at 190 lbs cant have a likely maintenance at 2400 cal/day? I know tdee calculators are ballpark and not specific but even throwing in those stats at 19% body fat gives me a 2,250 maintenance at sedentary activity. I don't think having one under 2400 is unlikely..

I'm willing to admit somethings wrong on my end, I don't know what else it could be except a Thyroid issue but even then I'm not sure where to look. No one has mentioned my point about dietary fat yet so I'm assuming its not that. My guess is the labeling on one of the bulk foods I'm eat (chicken, tilapia, broccoli, yogurt) is off. But otherwise nothing goes in my body without being weighed first.

[imirish34]

I'm wondering if it has to do with the occasional sugar replacement drinks I make. I switched from crystal light (yes I count that too :P) to koolaid for now when sugar cravings hit. I make a gallon that lasts 2-3 days usually with about 25 packets of splenda so 100 cals (switching to pure sucralose soon from bulk supplements). I know it's not the best for me but it just helps keep me sane with calories so low. I don't count the koolaid powder because there's nothing to count on it from what I've found. But other than that, no idea.

I appreciate your guys' patience and willingness to help. None of it goes unnoticed.

[AdamWW]

I'm wondering if it has to do with the occasional sugar replacement drinks I make. I switched from crystal light (yes I count that too :P) to koolaid for now when sugar cravings hit. I make a gallon that lasts 2-3 days usually with about 25 packets of splenda so 100 cals (switching to pure sucralose soon from bulk supplements). I know it's not the best for me but it just helps keep me sane with calories so low. I don't count the koolaid powder because there's nothing to count on it from what I've found. But other than that, no idea.

I appreciate your guys' patience and willingness to help. None of it goes unnoticed.

I think the point here is that you're eating UNDER your BMR by your count... so fat loss would be inevitable to that were true.

[imirish34]

I think the point here is that you're eating UNDER your BMR by your count... so fat loss would be inevitable to that were true.

Agreed. That's why I'm so confused I've never had to drop so low before even when dropping 40lbs when I was a real chonkster. Life has taken a fat toll these past two months (major stress and depression) so I kinda called it a fluke for awhile maybe due to hormones or said stress. I'll stick to 1500 for another week I guess and see if it just happens to be a longer stall than usual.

[Luclin999]

And what makes you think someone who's 6'4 at 190 lbs cant have a likely maintenance at 2400 cal/day? I know tdee calculators are ballpark and not specific but even throwing in those stats at 19% body fat gives me a 2,250 maintenance at sedentary activity. I don't think having one under 2400 is unlikely..

Whatever TDEE calculator you are using is utter garbage then.

I'm 6' tall, 55 years old and 162 pounds ATM, and even on the rare day where I am stuck sitting in front of a computer all day and barely get in 4000-5000 steps (like during a ridiculous Texas Ice storm) my TDEE is still at or above 2250.

[xsquid99]

OP, TBH its hard for me to fathom someone my size eating that few calories and not dropping weight like a rock. I'm 6'5" and 200 lbs and I cut on 2600-2800 calories a day. My maintenance usually works out to around 3400-3600.

[snufy]

Try running some higher rep work for few weeks if you train for strength.

When I ran strength work, I would pyramid up, and when you get to the 3X5, 3X3 etc... you're transitioning into more training your nervous system for adaption as opposed to muscular work/cardiovascular work.

Try more bodybuilding reps/set work for a few weeks and see if that gets it moving again, if you're tired, cut back the sets... 1 warm up then 2X12 or 2X15 etc.. 2X8 is a nice place as well.

So for example, if you bench 315 for 3 seats for 3 maybe 5 reps normally, cut back to 2 sets at say 240-270 for 12.

[snufy]

OP, TBH its hard for me to fathom someone my size eating that few calories and not dropping weight like a rock. I'm 6'5" and 200 lbs and I cut on 2600-2800 calories a day. My maintenance usually works out to around 3400-3600.

I guess I'm not the only one with a sluggish metabolism it seems. (like OP)

In fairness, when I was smaller 225-230BW, I got away with ALOT more, I could easily eat 2500-3K and lose weight, but the scale will go up for me if I eat that much at my fat weight currently.

[imirish34]

Whatever TDEE calculator you are using is utter garbage then.

I'm 6' tall, 55 years old and 162 pounds ATM, and even on the rare day where I am stuck sitting in front of a computer all day and barely get in 4000-5000 steps (like during a ridiculous Texas Ice storm) my TDEE is still at or above 2250.

I usually run 3-4 different ones just to get a ballpark. Most are between 2,200 and ~2,400. I used to be a mad chonkster and put on fat pretty easily so I go with the lower end. If that still seems unreasonable to you than I envy your metabolism :P

[imirish34]

OP, TBH its hard for me to fathom someone my size eating that few calories and not dropping weight like a rock. I'm 6'5" and 200 lbs and I cut on 2600-2800 calories a day. My maintenance usually works out to around 3400-3600.

I did start at 2,300 calories and dropped weight fine for awhile so I'm not too sure either, man. I do know I put on weight pretty fast if I eat 3,400 a day though.

[imirish34]

Try running some higher rep work for few weeks if you train for strength.

When I ran strength work, I would pyramid up, and when you get to the 3X5, 3X3 etc... you're transitioning into more training your nervous system for adaption as opposed to muscular work/cardiovascular work.

Try more bodybuilding reps/set work for a few weeks and see if that gets it moving again, if you're tired, cut back the sets... 1 warm up then 2X12 or 2X15 etc.. 2X8 is a nice place as well.

So for example, if you bench 315 for 3 seats for 3 maybe 5 reps normally, cut back to 2 sets at say 240-270 for 12.

I've seen most of my gains on a 4-5 day split with more "hypertrophy" sets as you're mentioning but the past year I was running a variation of a stronglifts 5x5 after my health issues. I started cutting on 5x5 as well so I'm hesitant on taking weight off of the bar and changing my routine up too much before my cut is done. I have dropped from 5 sets at 225 to 3 at 255 during this cut, then lessened the weight on my last two sets to about 185 (sets 4 and 5) and added more reps (around 10-12.)


thanks for the input brotha. I really do appreciate any help I can get

[superman704]

You need to eat more

[Luclin999]

If that still seems unreasonable to you than I envy your metabolism :P

Yes, it is ridiculously unreasonable.

Everything that you have claimed about your diet, daily calories and lack of weight loss is as utterly unreasonable as if a "six foot tall, 160 pound man" were to come to this forum claiming to have only eaten 1000 cal/day for nearly a month and had lost no weight.

That would be just as completely impossible as what you have been saying in this thread.

~ No weight loss for 3-4 weeks = eating at maintenance calories.

~ The is no way in Hell that a person your size has a maintenance calorie level of "1400 cal/day".

~ If what you have been stating here is the truth (as you know it) then this leads to a single conclusion...


Your calorie counting is wrong.

There is literally no other answer.

[snailsrus]

Yes, it is ridiculously unreasonable.

Everything that you have claimed about your diet, daily calories and lack of weight loss is as utterly unreasonable as if a "six foot tall, 160 pound man" were to come to this forum claiming to have only eaten 1000 cal/day for nearly a month and had lost no weight.

That would be just as completely impossible as what you have been saying in this thread.

~ No weight loss for 3-4 weeks = eating at maintenance calories.

~ The is no way in Hell that a person your size has a maintenance calorie level of "1400 cal/day".

~ If what you have been stating here is the truth (as you know it) then this leads to a single conclusion...


Your calorie counting is wrong.

There is literally no other answer.

i agree with you. I’m basically half ops size And id be losing a little over a pound and a half a week at 1400 calories

[EiFit91]

Hey fellas, stats at the bottom. I started my cut 4 months ago at 2300 calories and when loss slowed down I typically dropped calories a bit. Most of my strength that I lost was initial (for ex: went from benching 225 5x6 to 225 3x3-4) and I've retained the rest fairly well even while dropping calories so I don't seem to be losing muscle mass. It is very normal for me to lose quite a bit of strength initially when I diet, not sure why. Anyway. Things slowed down a bit when I hit 1800 calories and knowing I was still 19-20% body fat, I dropped lower to about 1600. Loss was still slow and eventually stalled at 190lbs so now I'm at 1400 calories at the start of my fourth month. I've been at these calories for about 3-4 weeks now and I'm still stuck in fluctuation between 188-190 lbs. I did start drinking a bit more water and had some cravings for salt so I figured it was water weight but 4 weeks is too long for that.

I weigh EVERYTHING. If I use a 0 calorie splenda/sucrolose packet I count it as 4 calories, not 0. I weigh any oil I cook with, even if it's just a quick spurt for non-stick when baking veggies. If I make some anabolic french toast and throw a spanking of cinnamon in there, I'm weighing it even if its maybe a gram. My OCD is pretty damn bad and I weigh everything to the gram and even double check it in oz measurements to make sure the labels are correct. I don't count by serving sizes like cups or (1 slice), but by the gram. I know I'm not overeating. I've made sure that wasn't the case.

One thing I did notice though was as my calories lessened, the only macro I focused on keeping at a decent level was protein which was bare minimum 150g, typically 170g, and some days at 200+ if I had prior days that were much lower. I don't count carbs and honestly stopped counting fat. Looking back through all my logs the past few weeks I noticed my fat consumption has averaged somewhere between 20g-30g. Is it possible my hormones are out of whack because of my lack of dietary fat and thus causing a plateau in weight loss?

I'm correcting this by increasing my fat intake but by the looks of it my macros are lookin' a little rough. Tomorrow I plan to start eating 1500 calories (100 more than what I have been) just for the sake of being able to at least eat 75g of fat and 169g of protein (even if that only leaves me with 38g of carbs left lol. I realllllly want to be able to eat broccoli still if I'm able to). I know it's not .45g of fat per lb but not sure how else to get more in on low cal.

Any tips would be highly appreciated. I'm so determined to at least hit 15%bf and banish the lower belly/love handles >, 10-12% would be my goal though so I can bulk properly this time and not get so chubby again.

Stats -
Age: 23
Height: 6'4
Current Weight: 190
Starting Cutting Calories: 2300
Current cutting Calories: 1400
Activity: Sedentary outside of gym. Usually walk with a 40lb vest just to get the blood pumping on off days for about 15-20 minutes.

Attached 2 pics in case.

Do you use MyFitnessPal to determine calorie counts on different food items?

Any cheat meals/restaurant meals?

[imirish34]

Do you use MyFitnessPal to determine calorie counts on different food items?

Any cheat meals/restaurant meals?

I use MyFitnessPal to track but I don't use the data on there unless it matches the label of the food I'm eating. No cheat meals except for in the example I gave where I had lucky charms, but even that was counted for and eaten within my caloric limit. I make sure not to snack on anything that may be out because I know how quickly "little bits" can add up.

[imirish34]

Yes, it is ridiculously unreasonable.

Everything that you have claimed about your diet, daily calories and lack of weight loss is as utterly unreasonable as if a "six foot tall, 160 pound man" were to come to this forum claiming to have only eaten 1000 cal/day for nearly a month and had lost no weight.

That would be just as completely impossible as what you have been saying in this thread.

~ No weight loss for 3-4 weeks = eating at maintenance calories.

~ The is no way in Hell that a person your size has a maintenance calorie level of "1400 cal/day".

~ If what you have been stating here is the truth (as you know it) then this leads to a single conclusion...


Your calorie counting is wrong.

There is literally no other answer.

I'm just saying that the idea of someone having a 2200 to 2400 tdee as a 6'4 male isn't unreasonable. Except for days I go to the gym and the occasional cardio, I hardly leave my room because of the stress of school and work (all done from my computer.) My situation though, yes I can see it being unreasonable since I'm eating 1400 and it sounds like its my maintenance. I'm not sure what else to say in regards to your responses though, man. I've posted the foods I've tracked. I gave the exact amounts and the calories I came up with. You say my counting is wrong and I'm 100% willing to admit that, but if something looks wrong in the information I gave please let me know. It all goes on my scale. I'm not saying it can't be that my counting is wrong.. just the issue in this case is which part of it? I'm being 100% honest about everything I've put into my body and the amounts it goes in at :/ The only reason I'm posting here is because I can't think of anything else. I'm changing up some of my foods this week in case some of the nutrition labeling may be off. I just really hope if it is somewhere I'm erring on the side of miscalculating (which again I believe is likely the main reason aswell, I've just checked and checked and not sure where I'm going wrong) that I can figure it out soon enough.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to respond regardless. I know this all sounds ridiculous. I feel all the more ridiculous having to go through it because it's so damn confusing to me given that I've NEVER had this problem dieting/counting cals before.

[EiFit91]

I use MyFitnessPal to track but I don't use the data on there unless it matches the label of the food I'm eating. No cheat meals except for in the example I gave where I had lucky charms, but even that was counted for and eaten within my caloric limit. I make sure not to snack on anything that may be out because I know how quickly "little bits" can add up.

It often contains systematic biases. To get an idea, compare the calorie counts of the app with what is stated on the food labels. Use the most conservative estimate. Does this change your estimate of what you have been eating? Bear in mind that food labels are also allowed to be 20% off and this is typically in the direction of underestimating calories, but I think it's more reliable than the app.

Did you eat rice/pasta at some point (often mistakes here)? How many calories did you assume that is?