plateaued on weight loss journey - need advice

[Ahmadkhalil92]

Hey guys,

I need advice so I will keep it short,

I started my cut in 12/2022 at 92 kg (202lbs) with 32% BF on all pros novice routine , now I am at 77 kg (170 lbs) and I think at around 22-23 bf%.

My weight has stayed the same for the past month and half, I was cutting at 2100 I decreased it a little bit to 1900 but the scale is not moving down. however my weights are going up in the gym and I have been able to increase weight every cycle.

Now, should I continue to cut and maybe increase my cardio or should I go recomp?my goal is to reach 15% bf , and I have been keeping protein intake at 150g per day and carb at 220-230 .
Do I need to decrease my carb intake to reach lower bf% or it does not matter?

Thanks in advance for the help

[xsquid99]

You're actually not on a cut, you're at maintenance.

If you want to get leaner its time to lower the calories (keep protein the same and lower fats/carbs).

[Ahmadkhalil92]

You're actually not on a cut, you're at maintenance.

If you want to get leaner its time to lower the calories (keep protein the same and lower fats/carbs).

I used a calculator and my maintenance is at 2500 and I took another 10% for error which leaves me at 2250. At 1900 I am at 350 - 400 deficit. I rarely take cheat days and I am on point on my diet 90% of the time.

Is my math wrong or something ?

[Geminis]

I used a calculator and my maintenance is at 2500 and I took another 10% for error which leaves me at 2250. At 1900 I am at 350 - 400 deficit. I rarely take cheat days and I am on point on my diet 90% of the time.

Is my math wrong or something ?

I have been there, at one point I was maintaining at 1300 cals/day with 1 hour weights 6xweek + 1 hour cardio + 1 hour walk. The body adapts... That being said, your deficit is small. Here is what I would do:
1) Make sure your calorie count is correct, so if you think is correct, make sure your calorie count is correct. If it is then:
2) you could lower it more, but if you are not in a hurry:
3) bring your deficit up to zero (2250) within two weeks, you might gain weight, some of it will be water weight. keep working out. And then:
4) if maintaining then keep adding calories 100 per week to find the most you can eat and then:
5) hold your calories for a few weeks (the longer the better I have read 2-6 weeks) and then:
6) cut again.

I am in the similar situation and I will do this as soon as the holidays are over. Last time I did this I was able to lose 30 lbs after that until I plateaued again. I still need to lose like 45 lbs.

prolonged diets:
1) Lowers neat
2) Lowers testosterone
3) Raises Reverse T3
4) Lowes T3 and T4.
5) Lowers body temperature.
6) Makes you weight less because you weight less and are carrying less weight all day long, so calculate your TDEE at your current weight, not your initial weight. (for example I am like 45 lbs down, so before I was carrying the equivalent to a 45 lbs black all day long, now I am not).

Take it from me fighting your body will make it so much harder to recover all your hormones.

[xsquid99]

I used a calculator and my maintenance is at 2500 and I took another 10% for error which leaves me at 2250. At 1900 I am at 350 - 400 deficit. I rarely take cheat days and I am on point on my diet 90% of the time.

Is my math wrong or something ?

Yes its wrong, precisely because you're using math and your body is not a math problem to be solved with numbers and some online calculator. Truth is you have no idea what your maintenance is unless you track your calories diligently for a few weeks (this means weighing every single thing that goes into your mouth with a food scale down to the gram) and then watch what your weight does over that time. If you're not losing weight and you've been tracking and staying on point for at least 3 weeks then you're not in a deficit and are therefore "eating at maintenance". So either you have your maintenance wrong or you're not tracking correctly (or a combination of both of these things). Remember that maintenance is not a static number, its a constant moving target based on your mass and your calorie burn for any given day. Online calculators are nothing more than a tool to help put you in the ballpark, but real world scale/tape measure data is what will ultimately drive you to a solution.

Remember as you lose weight you need to keep dropping your calories as well. As a general rule of thumb for every 10 lbs you lose you should probably drop your intake by about 100 cals per day.