Cutting down from 15% BF to 10 or below

[davidm0712]

I’m a 5’7” 32 y/o M, over the last year and a half or so I’ve lost roughly 30lbs. Was 190 and last weighed in at 159. The last 2-3 months I cut down 11 lbs following a pretty strict diet/workout routine. Breakfast is a smoothie with 1C almond milk, a banana, 2 tbsp fresh ground peanut butter, 2 scoops of whey protein. Lunch and dinner is 6oz lean protein, 1C green vegetable, and a fat whether it’s avocado, hard boiled egg, salad dressing. With one of the meals I’ll have a cup of a carb(rice/beans/sweet potato). Once I hit 160 that diet has really slowed down, was steadily decreasing week to week then feels like I’ve hit a wall. Not sure what to cut out or change. Would like to get around 10% to start a bulking/cutting phase. I lift weights 5 days a week for about an hour and do a 10 minute warmup on the treadmill before, followed by 20 minute steady state cardio on the treadmill after. Any thoughts/ideas on what I can tweak to get things going again would be greatly appreciated. Done all this over the last year losing all this weight I’d like to just get in the best shape of my life at this point and really go all in

[xsquid99]

The same principles that you used to get from 190 down to 159 are the same you need to apply to go even lower, only now your maintenance is about 300 calories lower than it was before.

Drop cals further to re-start the weight loss, or increase the cardio. Or both.

Going below 15% is where the rubber meets the road, its tough going from here on out for most people, you may be hungry, tired, and irritable. All part of the process.

[SuffolkPunch]

It would be worth posting a photo - we can give you an opinion about if it's worth continuing. It may be that you don't yet have enough muscle to end up with good definition without looking really skinny (especially in clothes). Of course all fat loss and muscle gain represents steps towards a final goal, just that you might not get there in a single phase of each one.

[sunsean]

As said above, your maintenance calories are lower than they were when you started. As your weight drops, so do your caloric needs.

You list meals but not calorie count. Calculate what you're currently eating and subtract a few hundred calories from your daily total. You can keep eating the same things if it's working for you, just adjust to slightly smaller portions.

Going off your stats and history, I'm guessing you still carry a good bit of fat. But pics are always helpful to paint a fuller picture.

[Tommy W.]

You don't need to get tp 10% to move forward. The time and energy required to get there is unnecessary and a waste of time.

[smokinal]

The same principles that you used to get from 190 down to 159 are the same you need to apply to go even lower, only now your maintenance is about 300 calories lower than it was before.

Drop cals further to re-start the weight loss, or increase the cardio. Or both.

Going below 15% is where the rubber meets the road, its tough going from here on out for most people, you will be hungry, tired, and irritable. All part of the process.

This, absolutely.
A lot of people think they've "stalled" or platued...really, just their tdee is lower now that they weigh less.
Just drop another 100 cals for 2 weeks and reasess. Drop another 100 if you haven't lost 1 lb per week. Keep dropping 100 cals per day until you are losing about 1 lb per week.

Oh, and fixed that for you xsquid99