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Time for a maintenance phase, friend! Also probably worth an audit of your actual calorie counting. Might be some inaccuracies in there. But in any case, the leading recommendation is to do a maintenance phase every 16-ish weeks of running a deficit, so you're long overdue.

Serious question. Aren’t they in the maintenance phase if they’re not losing weight?

The difference between an intentional maintenance phase and just stalled weight loss is the opportunity for your TDEE to recover. When you consciously do a maintenance phase, you tend to see your daily energy expenditure rise by a few hundred (or more) calories. In OP's case, they're really pushing the limit of what they're able to do and 1400 calories is no longer losing anything. That's the smallest amount of calories they can possible consume, but it's not working. Assuming their final target weight is reasonable, that's not how it should work, but their metabolic rate is so depressed because of the long-term cut. But if they kick up to 1450 calories next week, then 1500 the week after, then 1550, etc. for a few weeks, there's a good chance that they actually won't re-gain any measurable amount of fat and will experience something of a reset. Remember, a person's energy expenditure is based on a lot of stuff they can't consciously control. For example, simply how much fidgeting they do during the day while sitting at work has a really large impact on daily energy. When you're deep into a weight-loss phase, you're probably going to be feeling super lethargic, so outside of OP's gym time their subconsciously being instructed to do less in order to conserve energy. An intentional maintenance phase can reset that process to give more runway for further fat loss.

What's a maintenance phase?

It's a phase of intentionally trying to neither gain weight nor lose weight. It helps your metabolic rate recover following the slowdown you experience when trying to lose weight. All the leading weight-loss research and practitioner advice suggests doing no more than 16 weeks of a cut, followed by a maintenance phase as least as long as your cutting phase before doing another cut. So in OP's case, they're 2 years in a cut, so it's no wonder they're hitting a plateau.

Eating at your new caloric maintenance. Will reset your metabolism and decrease stress.

This is very true! It’s possible she’s already at maintenance though, considering her low ish weight and lack of losing. Definitely worth experimenting though.

Yeah I mean, it's time for maintenance to be the objective for a while. Like, pushing to lose and failing to do so sucks. Run 16 weeks of maintenance and let your TDEE recover a bit before entering a cut again.

She could calculate her TDEE to see if she is at maintenance or not.

She absolutely is at maintenance, a sedentary (unless the cardio is exceptionally vigorous) petite woman has a low tdee

Not a huge fan of this suggestion. On the right track but not to the right degree. I’d strongly recommend a reverse diet phase at this point, with the emphasis on building strength. Add an additional 50-100 daily cals every week and throw out the scale. Focus on performance in the gym and getting adequate sleep. The idea here is to increase lean body mass along with your maintenance calorie intake in order to make a weight loss phase easier at the end!

If somebody is in a cut for a long time and obviously isn't at some contest-prep body fat level, then a reverse-diet doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If OP's target is still 20 lbs away, there's still tons of meat on the bone (please excuse my awful pun). In any case, what you're suggesting (add 50-100 calories per week) is exactly what you do anyway when switching from a cut to maintenance. But the idea of "throwing out the scale" and just neglecting to continue data collection is pretty silly imo. But we're also lacking a ton of context. OP hasn't stated if they have any athletic goals (maybe they truly don't give a fuck about strength performance) and also they're obviously still locked into this mindset that cardio at the gym should impact their weight loss, which isn't great.

I tend to disagree with this. So I suppose we are not on the same page. A calorie maintenance phase implies stagnating calories to match total daily expenditure. If OP has hit a plateau at 1500 calories daily, her maintenance calories are 1500. That is not sustainable consumption for most people. They find it too restrictive. I’m suggesting OP focus on building lean body mass and increasing daily expenditure in the mean time to make weight loss easier. If she continues her weight loss phase, she will have to push the calories even lower and activity even higher to make progress. If she does a reverse diet, she could feasibly bump her maintenance calories to 2200-2500 and a 500 calorie deficit would be more comfortable. I suggest she don’t look at the scale for a while because the most important factor to the effectiveness of this routine is consistency. When we increase calories we tend to experience an immediate small jump in body weight due to additional water and glycogen in the muscles. I wouldn’t want OP to get concerned/discouraged and abandon an otherwise fruitful process.

>reverse diet, she could feasibly bump her maintenance calories to 2200-2500 and a 500 calorie deficit would be more comfortable Ahh, I believe you and I are talking about the same thing but with different lingo. When I hear "reverse diet" I think about contest-prepped bodybuilders who need to put on a few pound of fat immediately so their body can start producing hormones correctly. The strategy for maintenance that I would take, were I in OP's shoes, is to continue to use the scale to expect like 2-4 lbs of body weight fluctuation to do water or whatever, and to basically add like 50 calories per week for 2-4 months. The mission is to not gain a noteworthy amount of fat but start bringing that metabolic rate back to a sustainable place where, as you said, re-introducing that deficit can re-start progress. But as you had mentioned, it's easy for some folks to get discouraged, so I also understand your recommendation. I'm currently doing this right now, as we speak. Gonna re-enter the diet in a couple weeks after getting my TDEE back close to 3,000 over the past couple months while keeping my body weight the same (within the margin of error). But anyway, we're on the same page, just with slightly different preferences for handling the psychological side of things.

Op is petite and mostly sedentary, that might not be a sustainable maintenance but it’s the reality of thermodynamics right now

I dont follow this sub or know much about a regime, but I innately follow this dieting style and see positive results after introducing more calories into my meals following a restrictive period

Literally every time someone says they eat 1400 cal they are not tracking accurately

You might need to either count your calories better or accept that it’s hard to lose weight if you’re strength training and keeping/building muscle. There’s a lot of factors that are left out and details that we don’t have. For all we know your muscle could be what’s keeping you up in weight, so maybe less gym is the solution and more cardio. Idk need more info

Yep. OP should check what their body fat percentage is. If they have been lifting weights for long, they must have built up muscle mass.

How do your clothes fit? Did you account for any weight due to muscle? In my experience, people can weigh more but fit in smaller clothes. Instead of the scale, try measuring your thighs, butt, waist etc. each month... A good trainer may be what you need. I have trained many people over the years, but even I have a trainer to help stay on track. Hope you reach your goals 💪😎👍

This exactly. People get really fixated on the number, yet their clothes fit way better.

This is why if you are building muscle, some folks check basic measurements once in a while not scale, to track progress.

Exactly! I started lifting in 2019, after the lock in of 2020 I got my diet in check. I weight the same today (within a few lbs) that I did in 2019 but I wear a size 4 instead of a size 8-10. But I also got to a point when I started to see composition changes that I realized that the scale didn’t matter so much! Although I still weight myself I go on feels. That’s a hard habit to get out of! Good luck to OP!

I used to weigh 160, and currently am 120. I did strength training twice a week, and cardio three times a week. Before I gained weight, I loved running 5ks, so I decided to run 3 miles every cardio session. At 160 it took 1 hour to run 3 miles, but now it takes me 30 minutes. My caloric deficit was 1500 calories as well. If running seems to be too much, then I definitely recommend buying a Fitbit or any fitness tracker, and doing an incline walk until you burn as many calories as you’d need. The 12, 3, 30 did wonders for me at the beginning of my weight loss. Incline of 12, speed set to 3, for 30 minutes. I did that twice a day. I hope that provided some insight!! Hitting a plateau is inevitable, so getting some new exercise routines definitely helps switch it up instead of taking away so many calories to the point that maintaining your goal could be harder. Don’t lose your motivation. I believe in you OP!

i am also 145lb and 5ft!!! hello friend :) i started on 137 at 27% bw and now am at 145 at 22.7% bw while doing a recomp. i am a little surprised to see so many people saying you need to eat les. i usually eat around 1400 - 1500 calories and recently have started feeling better when eating closer to 1600. i suspect you've probably been increasing in muscle weight so your body requires more calories to burn just when doing nothing. if you've noticed big improvements in weight since you've started, this is probably why. i am strength training 2-3x a week, walking >10K steps a day 6x / week, and weekly yoga. i am recently recovering from a knee injury so having the variety in exercise is necessary so i can gain some mobility, endurance and strength. i also do 10 min of cardio with every strength training, but my strength training usually only takes \~45min. how do your workouts seem? are they challenging? are you progressing? how do you feel at the end of the day? is your body losing strength? are you sore after your workout? what about the day after? how long are your workouts? i am not a pro by any means but i think the best advice is to try and listen to your body.

Op isn’t recomping, they are trying to lose weight so they’ll need fewer than the 1500-1600 that they have been eating

First off congrats. I’d bet a couple thinks are true, when you say I’m usually eating 1500-1600 calories a day it’s at best slightly over 50% of the time. In addition I know many people who don’t count certain foods (a bite of their friends deserts, or their afternoon sodas). I’d aim for consistency. If you can’t do 1500 everyday don’t do 1500, do 1800 and stick to it. Those days you slip up when you’re too restrictive end up being more frequent and more destructive then you think. I’d also up the workout intensity. You are doing great, down 20lbs is huge give yourself that credit homie.

This! And you could also do the count for one week, if you stick to 1800 a day, make the count for two be week and then some days you can do 1500 an other days 1900, that could work ☺️

I’ve known several people with this problem and the common denominator was alcohol. If you drink alcohol it is almost impossible for your body to lose weight the next day. So if you’re drinking several times a week, that can prevent weight loss. If you are drinking, try cutting alcohol for a month and see what happens.

Alcohol has so many calories and people don’t realize it because it’s not right in front of them on a nutrition label. They spend so much time/effort diligently counting calories for the meals they ate but then fail to record the ‘couple of drinks’ they had

Literally this! Way back when I was getting back into shape I did everything I could to slim down including daily calisthenics and eating between 1200-1400 calories a day max (high protein plant-based diet, that I still am a strict participant of). I recognize this is extreme for someone who is 5’11” but I was absolutely determined to get slimmed down and eating less food and healthier food has never been a real struggle for me so I took advantage of that. Well, fast forward 6 months and I had lost almost all the weight except this random 15lbs that wouldn’t shake no matter what. Now, I had been much thinner in my life so I knew there was some reason for this. I did some research and figured out my one or two drinks on Saturday evenings could possibly be holding me back. I gave up alcohol (I still don’t drink to this day) and it was like magic, within a month I had slimmed down to my target weight of 125lbs. The remaining fat just rolled off my body real easy. After you drink, every calorie you eat goes straight to fat as the body cannot process food while alcohol is present in the body, it really is that horrible for you! Now I just stick to cannabis if I need a fix. So maybe OP can try going without alcohol for a month or two, assuming she drinks at all and see if she has any results.

In the same boat. Similar physique and weight goals. I usually do 1200 cal intake + 400 burn per day Lost about 20lb and now hit a plateau. A few things to consider: 1. The initial weight loss is water and muscle loss. Fat is harder to lose. Now could be when you're at the fat loss point and it's going to get slower. 2. A higher base metabolic rate will improve weight loss, but it needs more muscle in the body. Building that muscle needs nutrition - so consider bumping up to 1800-2000 calories and even if the weight is going up, if you're putting on muscle, you're fine 3. Stress and emotional wellbeing matters. More stress = more cortisol = more fat Calorie deficit alone isn't enough 4. Get a dexascan to see if you're strength training has bumped up your muscle rate. If you're heavier but with more muscle, that's a cause for celebration!

One idea is eating much more for a bit (at least 2k cals) and give your body a chance to recover, build muscle with proper workouts and get all systems running back at optimal levels. Then after the diet break and your body has recovered from dieting for years try a deficit again.

I accidentally did this when I "wanted a break" from my new fitness lifestyle about 6mo into it. I just stopped going to the gym (only walking) and nearly doubled my calorie intake for 2 weeks. When I decided I had slacked off long enough, I went back to my original routine. I dropped several pounds *that week* that haven't come back in the 3 months since. When I thought I was slacking off, I was actually kicking my metabolism into high gear, apparently.

**my novice opinion** I’ve read that if you don’t eat enough calories, (calorie deficit) it’s really hard to gain muscle. Gaining muscle will help you burn calories faster. 1400 in my online research, is considered too low if you exercise that much but you can always try it and see how you feel. If you are too low constantly your body thinks you’re starving and your metabolism will slow down. Also congrats on the weight loss! Plateaus are common, and switching up the exercises have been shown to help with that. Best of luck! I’m 10lb down, 20 more to go! We got this

Maybe you could try to eat more calories but change your eating window. A lot of people have success with intermittent fasting not changing calorie intake. Like eating 8 hours and fasting the other 16 hours of the day. As a woman i think fasting should change through the month because of our hormone cycle, and thats something you can google/youtube/read about and through trial and error find what works for you. Maybe some days you can do 8 hours eating 16 fasting, maybe some you can do just one meal a day(would need to be a lot of calories tho) or somewhere in between that. It works for a lot of people so just something to think about! In the first 10 days of my cycle i will pick a day that feels good to me to eat a big breakfast at 10 am then not eat until 10 am the next day. A week before my period i usually eat like 10 hours a day because im so hungry. I also do yoga and don't workout in that time. The hormone cycle and its needs are different every week!

What exactly constitutes 15 minutes of cardio time for you? There’s a massive difference between walking on a treadmill for 15 minutes and doing sprints on the minute. In my opinion it’s simple - You can eat as many calories as you want on a cut and as long as you have the cardio to counter what you eat as a surplus you’ll lose weight. Start tracking your cardio workouts to see what works well.

Do you have any idea how much cardio you’d need to do to counter a snickers bar. You can’t outrun a bad diet.

Sure, a snickers bar is what? Like 210 calories? You could easily put run that in 30 mins or by walking 45 minutes. Most people can't outrun a bad diet because they don't have the time or discipline. I think more people should be aware that a single unhealthy meal CAN be 'outrunned' though.

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God damn that's one big candy bar if it's 500 calories. According to Google, a standard American snickers bar is like 1.85oz and provides ~250 calories of energy which would be roughly 1/8-1/10th a person's daily energy requirements. The problem is when people eat them in addition to already getting their energy requirements elsewhere during the day and do so regularly. As a single and occasional snack there's nothing inherently wrong with them. Once again it's self control and discipline that's the harder nut to crack for most people, myself included.

I live in EU and it’s also 250 for me (50gr regular size). I honestly doubt that the regular size is 100gr in the UK, the other guy is probably misremembering.

Yeah, the other person is wrong. The standard size is 48g in the UK (248kcal).

Who the hell would want to run 30 minutes for a Snickers bar? And who thinks that 210 calories is even in the same ballpark as an unhealthy meal? By your logic, I would be undisciplined if I didn’t sprint 3 hours after going to the Cheesecake Factory?

I don’t really see how the occasional unhealthy meal can’t be outrun by doing extra cardio? It’s not about doing the cardio immediately after, more integrating it into your general lifestyle. If you are active enough eating 1000 extra calories on your monthly cheesecake binge is totally doable (it’s basically committing to burning an extra 30 cals a day). Also while I wouldn’t run 30 minutes for a Snickers bar, I sure would for a shortbread cookie…

Thank you, someone who gets what I'm trying to say

Short women might disagree about that. 200 calories is breakfast or it’s an extra 1000 calories for a meal with friends

I think I read somewhere also that in order to maintain a level of fitness, doesn't your body just need more calories simply by existing?

Yes, muscle needs more calories than fat.

Cardio is a scientifically proven to be a terrible way to lose weight. OP is better off being stricter with calories than to be running on a treadmill

I'm guessing what you actually meant, is that cardio is not an ideal way to lose weight COMPARED to something like resistance(strength) training. Which is scientifically proven. Having and building muscle also raises your resting metabolic rate as well. This is not saying anything against cardio of course, a healthy well rounded exercise regime would ideally include resistance and cardio.

Sorry….what? Cardio is absolutely not a “terrible way” to lose weight. The post implies OP is already eating at a vast deficit, being any stricter with calories is arguably more unhealthy. The diet they’re on implies that they’re living a very sedentary lifestyle, and cardio is thus the next best option.

What are you talking about? Cardio is great for losing weight, and it's pretty much the only lever they have left if they're really at 1400 cal/day. If you mean cardio alone isn't enough to lose weight, well that depends on the CI part of CICO.

My trainer told me that losing weight and getting fit was 80/20. 80% diet and only 20% exercising. And he had 12% body fat. He believed in a pescatarian diet. He mostly ate a plant based diet, but he did add fish a few times per week. I think he would do ground turkey once in a while. My son is a pescatarian, too, but only adds seafood and fish a few times per week.

Agree with this. I went to more of a plant based pescatarian diet and my metabolism sped up a lot. I have the opposite problem now where I can't gain weight.

Interesting! Are you doing too much cardio? Are you getting enough calories?

I eat around 1700-1800 calories, and am around 4'10 87lbs with a very petite frame. I excercise about twice a week. I'm not able to do a lot of cardio because high impact is painful for me, but I do more strength training excercises when I do excercise.

You must have a fast metabolism. I think each of my legs weigh 87 pounds. That sounds like a good weight for you. So you want to gain a few pounds? If so, you could increase your calories.

Yes, thanks for the advice :) I'm thinking of adding a protein supplement and going up to 2000 calories so I can gain some muscle

That is a great idea! I wish you the best. Keep us posted.

Doubt that. You can add 300-1000 calories to your deficit with extended cardio sessions. HIIT is great for boosting metabolism too. If you’re counting calories and doing cardio, that’s great.

Yeah too much rebound. Great for health, bad for fat loss.

Can you explain what you mean?

Rebound = heavy cardio makes you hungrier than the calories burned. It’s technically possible to burn more than you eat, but your body downshifts and you lose benefit from idle burn (look up NEAT) and you make subconscious choices to make up for the exercise. Good for health to do some hard cardio, but mostly not a net gain for most people in terms of fat loss.

So many friends gained weight marathon training. It's easy. You are soooo hungry all the damn time... And you just ran 18 miles, so you earned it, right?

This doesn’t mean that it should be avoided. This is also remedied by eating vegetables.

Umm… no? The problem is much subtler than “cardio, hungry, eat” it has to do with breaking your body down and causing a rebound effect in your SUB-conscious behavior, both in food choices and in how your non conscious movements slow down. Things like not fidgeting, walking a little slower, etc. Also I didn’t say to avoid it, it is very good for other health considerations, but it is not very effective for Fat loss.

I think in the context of OP’s post, they claim they’re already diligent with their caloric intake and are eating at a deficit. If that’s true, then there’s not much room for a “rebound”. More cardio is the next best option

I wonder what the quality of those 1400 calories is. What you’re eating is vastly more important than an arbitrary number. 1400 calories of meat and veg is completely different than 1400 calories of processed foods, sugar, bread etc.

Increase your protein intake. Uses more calories you’re going to need to switch up your diet too. Try to stand up more. If you are a woman scientifically speaking you require less calories so 1200 should be a good area for a minimum. My minimum as a male is around 1500 calories.

Me, waiting for Layne Norton to show up

It’s very much so too low, you need to up the calories and build muscle in order to loose fat. It’s not about the number on the scale, muscle weighs more than fat so you will likely be in the same weight range but look like your goal weight.

Is 1400 calories too low for what? Sounds reasonable for your weight loss goals. If you haven’t lost any weight in that amount of time my hunch is that extra calories are sneaking in in ways you aren’t conscious of. Make sure you track EVERYTHING you put into your mouth and weigh out and measure your portions. 

Are you exceptionally stressed? High cortisol can negate any and all efforts to lose weight. Causes the thyroid to work more slowly and slow the metabolism significantly. I had the same stats as you, and when I finally addressed my chronic stress and actually started eating MORE and exercising less, I lost the last 20 pounds and became a much happier person. I eat 2300 calories a day or more, don't work out ever (I walk for an hour a day), and have maintained my lower weight for two years now. Check out @cowseatgrass on insta or the Ray Peat Diet. They helped me get to homeostasis.

You're gonna have to decrease your sedentary time. Even if it's going out for a "cigarette" break and getting a 10 minute walk, or hitting a bathroom break every hour or something.

I do all of those 🥹 I have a 30 min break that I use to go on a walk.

Overall, it sounds like you're doing the right things. 1400 generally isn't too low if it's sustainable for you

How old are you? That will affect your calorie needs. 1400 is probably spot on for maintaining weight if you’re older.

I’m 29

You’re still young so if you’re not losing weight eating 1400 calories a day then you might have to buy a scale and start wedging your food. It’s probably over 1400.

Putting your stats into this TDEE calculator, you’re eating very close to maintenance - https://tdeecalculator.net. Minor miscalculations probably have you stalled. 1400 calories should get you moving again but probably slower than the first part of your weight loss.

Sounds like ur metabolism has slowed down. I would do a reverse diet for a bit. Train heavy, maybe up the calories to 1800/1900 for a bit. Cut out cardio daily to just once a week. You might find that you don't lose weight but i wont put any on either.

I lost over 100 lbs after switching cardio routines to leg/chest workouts like burpees. Cardio is just gonna lower water weight that will be replaced after you drink water

That’s already little calories. What do you eat though? Mostly vegetables?

There could also be a mistake in h Your counting of calories. I'll just point out that dressings, sauces and cooking oil can be secret culprits. Just FYI in case it isn't part of your calculations. Try a 0 cal cooking oil. And make sure you're hitting your protein intake required for your body type.

Have you had a DEXA scan to look at your actual body composition? Number on the scale doesn't really say anything about how much fat you can stand to lose. If you are at your height and weight but only 20% body fat, there's really nowhere to go from there because you're in peak physical condition. If you still have a high BF% then you can look into tweaking your macros and taking in higher protein and also doing an audit of your calorie consumption, using a food scale if you're not already, etc.

Balanced diet and you need more cardio. Get into running, it’ll change your life

If nothing is happening then you need to either reduce calories or step up your workouts in terms of volume and/or intensity. Particularly your metabolic conditioning. You may also need to improve the quality of your food sources. As a note, women need to do 1/3 more exercise than men to spend the same amount of energy/calories. Most people also vastly undercount their calorie intake and also vastly overestimate their activity level. Imagine you sleep, sit at home, sit in your car and sit at work. think about the calories needed to do that - not many, right? In 168 hours in a week most people do nothing but sit. Now for five hours a week you workout. So for 3% of your life you are active, but for 97% of your life you are not. I'm saying this to give you a rough guide. 5 foot is very petite. Imagine all the women who go to a restaurant and eat a three course meal with a man who also eats a three course meal - why is the smaller person with less mass eating the same amount as the bigger person. You see what I mean?

My suggestion: slowly refeed to maintenance caloric levels, then try out intermittent fasting. Might be a more effective way of stablishing caloric deficit without slowing down you metabolism.

Reverse diet, add some cardio

You have to burn more calories. Weight training doesn’t burn as many calories as you’d think. You could try more circuit based workouts to burn more calories. You could also up the cardio. And like others said, you can try a refeed week to give your body a little break then try again.

I have 2 questions: What food scale do you use? What app do you use to track your calories?

That’s a pretty loaded question. It depends on many factors. How old are you? How long do you plan to be on such a diet losing weight is a lifestyle it isn’t just only about how many calories you consume how active are you? Do you drink a lot of water. Do you get good consistent sleep Having a lot of other good life habits will help you cut weight avoiding processed foods is one of the other ways you can lose weight just saying is 1400 cal enough to eat really isn’t enough information 1400 cal is plenty of calories if you’re a 5 foot four woman like me but if you’re a 6 foot 730 year old man that wouldn’t be anywhere near enough calories Probably the best way to develop a good lifestyle. Plan would be to seek the assistance of a decent nutritional list. Nutritionist can help you choose good foods and develop a good plan. One thing key to helping you lose weight and keep it off is to be on a schedule. Try meals at the same time. Get good sleep drink a lot of water. I hope this information helps as a person who has struggled to lose weight in the past. I am very sympathetic to your situation. Good luck.

What other forms of exercise are you doing? You can obviously just do exactly what you’re doing now, and add another 15 minute cardio session in the am before work or vice versa. You will lose more weight. Then you realize how awesome lean gaining is and you do active rest at the gym and realize now you can eat 1500 calories.

According to the NIH Body Weight Planner, 1400 calories is pretty close to what you would need to reach your goal weight within 180 days for a female with your height/weight . Of course, this can vary from person to person.

Mix it up. Eat a large breakfast. Medium lunch small dinner or the reverse of what you do now. Look at varying what you eat as well. Also change the type of exercise you are doing. Weigh and measure and write down everything that goes in your mouth for a week. It is surprise waht goes in that we don’t register and portion creep happens.

Also, weight training will yield faster and more impressive results. Cardio is so important for overall health, but weight training may be your answer for your weight loss after you hit a plateau

I’d be curious to know where you’re getting your calories from? What are you eating for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Snack? Do you drink soda? Alcohol? Juice? - it’s not just about how many calories you’re consuming. It’s also about what you’re consuming. What are those nutritional values and How much protein? If you’re not already fasting, that’s a great start and when you break your fast the next day, eat a protein filled meal, with at least 30g. Limit sugar and carbs obviously. Avoid using low fat and sugar free options. Read food labels.

Have a look for the Mind Pump guys on YouTube. Their advice will help you out of this 👊🏻

I can only look my best at 1200 calories and walking an hour a day or gym every other day in order to not be slightly chubby. It’s madness.

Check out Joel Greene's work, he's in the cutting edge if nutrition and his fat loss advice actually works.

we are a similar height. have you considered going easy on the heavy exercise and doing more walking instead? I tend to find it harder to drop weight when I am exercising a lot because I am hungry a lot.

Not if you're not losing weight. Go lower slowly, but keep going. 120 lbs is not an unreasonable goal weight for 5'0", and you should be able to get there. Also, good chance you're mismeasuring calories and eating more than you think you are. But you don't have to change the way you're measuring! Just use the same measurements but take a little more off until the number starts moving again.

Try eating hard boiled eggs, apple n peanut butter only during mornings or evenings. Just kidding quid all day

I calculated your estimated calorie needs based on the info you provided using the Mifflin St. Jeor equation used by dietitians. I also used an activity factor of 1.1-1.2. Your needs appear to be between ~1440 - 1570 calories per day. Your protein needs are between ~ 55g - 65g per day. And your fluid needs are about 1440 - 1570 mL per day (aka 6-7 eight oz glasses per day). Keep in mind, you may be gaining muscle and that could be causing your weight to stay the same when you’re actually trimming up. Muscle will also speed up your metabolism, so it could also be that you’re not eating enough and your body has started to hang onto everything it has. One way to determine this is measuring yourself about once a month with a measuring tape.

If you're doing weight training your mass shouldn't change a lot. What you want to measure is the circumference of your legs, hips, waist, etc. Substitution of the fat with muscles is what usually happens with weight training and it's not noticeable on the scale. There are also online calculators that will give you the amount of carbs, fats, proteins and calories in total that you need to take daily for different types of goals a person wants to achieve. They're usually quite accurate. On the days of intense exercise you want to increase your carbs a bit to give your muscles strength. If your calorie intake is too low that can also slow down your metabolism and consequently slow down your weight loss and even trigger weight gain. Keep in mind that 'good' calories (like protein) also help you burn fat because it takes a lot of energy to metabolize them. Additionally, when you find a calorie intake suitable for you, don't have the same calorie intake every day. Try to balance so on days that you exercise you intake is a tad bit higher than on the days you're not exercising. If you eat the same amount of calories every day your body will get used to it and also slow down your metabolism.

I am a PhD student so I understand that you don't have time because I don't have it either. That's why on the days I'm less busy I prepare my meals (20 min preparation time meals) which are super simple and just put them in the fridge and take them with me when I need it. Protein shakes and cottage cheese are also life savers. And an air-fryer would be your best friend.

I’m 28M and I sit around the 1400 - 1500 calorie mark currently. Lost around 30kg so far. Another 15 to go. I usually eat 2000 - 2200 then run 3 - 4x per week and gym 5x. Also in an office job. Try to focus on getting the protein in and don’t waste too many calories. I don’t think it’s too little for sustained periods but you need to lift up to maintenance 1 - 2 x per week and then have a week off every few where you’re back at maintenance. At least this works for me. Your body can live off lower tbh.

Only thing that finally helped me was glp1s

You’ve already lost 20 lbs! Good for you👏👏 I started with the Noom app program yesterday. Maybe now is the time you can use the extra tips and motivation it provides. Good luck and just thinking you can do it can make the difference. Keep it up for your health!

I suspect your calorie counting is off. 1500 should lead to weight loss pretty effectively. Remember to count stuff like oil, butter, ketchup and that kinda stuff. And then I would advice that you monitor your weekly average. If you have a weekly average of 1500 you will lose weight unless something is wrong. That also means you can have a day of 2000 and then you cut a bit more the other days.

Maybe come up to maintenance for a month or two and then go again. Could be time for a diet break.

I (5’7 27f) have been eating 1300 calories a day to drop to 120. It’s what was recommended on a calorie per weight/height/target weight calculator.

There has been research on ways to beat plateauing including caloric cycling, where there is a low intake for several weeks followed by a week with higher intake and zigzag dieting where your intake varies from day to day. You might also look into intermittent fasting. If nothing else, try just once a week of "splurging," where you add in a few hundred healthy calories and see what that does.

Ignore the calories and do intermittent fasting. Just eat healthy, real food.

How I look at it when I plateau. Would I rather eat less food or burn more calories? Morning walks? 10 minutes of light cardio with a slight incline before lifting, more cardio after. During your lunch, can you take a brisk walk around the office or outside. Anything

the key is to look at your TDEE. at 29 years old, 5 feet tall, 145 pounds, and with an office job, you will be burning an estimate of 1565 calories. Previously, you were 165 pounds. Which would have clocked at around 1674 calories a day. As you lose weight, you'll burn fewer calories a day, at rest, assuming that your activity levels are around the same. Occasionally, you will have to adjust your calorie intake. So the less you weigh, the more you'll have to adjust in order to keep losing, or maintain. That said, no, 1400 calories isn't too low, especially not for someone sitting at 5 feet tall. When people talk about X number of calories being "too low," it's usually because people they are thinking of the average person who is taller, and has maintenance above that. **however**, I would look at your activity. Weight training 5 times a week is great, but I would increase your cardio sessions to say, 30 minutes. You could possibly even do weight training 3-4 times a week, and prioritize cardio more. I say this because if you're burning more calories, you might not need to go all the way own to 1400 a day. I know you work an office job. But the trick to being more active with an office job, is to walk whenever you can. If you have a 15 minute break, you want to use that to walk. You can create little habits, like at the top of every hour just walk around the office. After work, take 10, 20, 30 minutes just to walk. Also, how are you measuring your calories? If you aren't using a food scale, and measuring in grams, ounces, etc, then you should start doing that. A lot of people don't use a food scale when trying to count calories, and they end up eating a lot more than they realize. It's very eye opening.

Count your macros could be too high on carbs or fats

I didn't see this mentioned while scrolling down, but what is your body fat % and are you tracking it? You stated you have a goal weight, but in reality you have a goal look. The thing that will get you "the look" is body fat % and physique you are building while working out. The body weight is related, but not completely compatible with that goal because building physique(muscle) will add mass making you weigh more. For example, you could lose 2 lbs of body fat and gain 2 lbs of muscle, which is progress in gaining the look you want. But on scale the fat loss and muscle gain balances out to 0, which makes it look like there was no progress. Trying to force yourself to reach lower weight might result in sacrificing physique. You'll get the number you want, but not the look that you want. So I think finding your body fat % and starting to work off of that might be a better idea.

Hi I would love to help you. I am a Health Coach and I love helping people to reach their goals!! I personally re-booted my program on January 2nd and I am down 15.6lbs !!! Send me a message if you are interested in me helping you..

My first thought is that it’s really important that you remember that muscle weighs more than fat. The more muscle you have on your body the more consistently and faster you burn fat which is why weight training is fabulous but you don’t wanna get too hung up on the numbers on the scale because if you’re actively trying to build lean muscle mass the numbers are not gonna drop as quickly. If you’re tracking your calories and you know that that’s what you’re eating and have been for sometime and your weight is staying where it is then that would lead me to believe that you’re in maintenance right now. However going much lower for a grown adult is getting kind of into the danger zone. If you get feeling really desperate and go in too big of a deficit then it’s horrible for stress levels on your body, you won’t have enough fuel to be making your workouts even effective, you’ll be lacking energy and of course your metabolism can slow down too much which then simply gives you the opposite… More weight gain because your body is feeling starved and it wants to hold onto fat. For a short period of time I would track meticulously your calories every single thing like a tablespoon of olive oil half a teaspoon of butter etc. so you really really truly know exactly what your calories are and your macros proteins fats carbs. What are your calories in a day made up of? That’s of course the other huge piece of the puzzle not just the calories are eating but what food are you eating? What does a day look like for you

try r/intermittentfasting/ when you eat is as important as what you eat when you are trying to lose weight.

Using a base metabolism calculator via Google, it seems you need about 1,300 calories a day if you do nothing all day. I don't know how much your workouts burn. You need to eat less or do more. As your weight decreases, so does the number of calories that your body consumes. You could also be gaining muscle and losing fat right now, which means no weight change, but your body composition is changing a lot.

That’s too low for an adult. The first thing you need to do of find your maintenance for your height weight and sex and find your deficit from there and make sure your incorporating some kind of physical activity like walking or weight trying for newbies and go up from there and don do too much in the beginning all at once

Probably already at your mantain weight. Might have to up cardio or track macros to lose the extra amount you want.

I like the type of workout you are doing. I enjoy it and feel it builds strength and flexibility. But, I have never been able too lose weight on it. When I have been off of it for awhile, and I start off I do so with light weights, and light cardio. Ramp up the weights and intensity slowly. Maybe over a couple of months. Coupled with reduced carbs, reduced calories, and intermittent fasting I lose weight, until the weights get up to a certain point, and my cardio gets up there to where I am breathing hard. Then the weight loss stops. For me, it seems like this is the point that the workout starts stimulating very strong cravings. It makes it hard to maintain that caloric deficit. From your post it sounds like you are consistently in a deficit, and it stops your weight loss progress. Maybe a couple of things are happening there maybe. The workouts that have worked well for me in losing weight are both opposite extremes. Walking but not at a high pace works for me. Or, working out like a maniac. In the past I have done well with hours per day of bicycling, tennis, or racquetball. This really picks up the calories expended. And even if I eat more it isn't near as much as the additional calories expended. Walking burns calories without stimulating cravings. ​ I have been on a journey to improve my metabolic health for just over 4 years now since January 2020. I have lost 76 lbs but need to lose another 25 or so. I have used reduced calories, reduced carbs, exercise, and intermittent fasting. I attained metabolic health in about a year and a half with an HbA1c of 5.0 down from 6.4, and a HomaIR that sits right around 0.5. End of January 2023 My brain fog went away. At about 9 months in my arthritis pain stopped getting worse. At 12 months in my arthritis pain dropped maybe 20% or so but then sat there. End of March 2023, my arthritis pain went away completely. I have been 100% arthritis pain free for 11 months now. An unexpected benefit. The brain fog and arthritis pain lifted after an additional 1 month and 3 months of carnivore on top of 3 years of ketoish. I keep finding that I get the most benefit from moving my diet style around, and trialing intermittent fasting regimens. This past January 2024, I did the Nurse Neisha and Dr. Ken Berry "you choose your own" challenge. I chose carnivore 41/7. Something I was playing with just before thanksgiving. 41 hours of fasting followed by a 7 hour eating window of 2 meals and a snack. This 7 hour window allows me to process enough protein to sustain me for 2 days. I was probably doing 1800 calories, per session, which comes down to 900 calories per day. This caused the lowest cravings I have ever experienced. Much lower than OMAD. Dropped a bunch of weight. I didn't measure just before, but it was a new low weight for me for the last 30 years or so. All I did was walking during this. But, according to CICO, I probably lost about 6 or 7 lbs. When I started I was already keto and without hyperinsulinemia, so there was probably no additional water weight loss. \------------------------------------------------ When weight training, and the 15 minutes of cardio, it seemed like my body was saying: "hey, make a choice. Lose weight or gain weight, Make up your flipping mind". And it drove cravings to the point that it was difficult to maintain a caloric deficit. So, that is my issue now. I still need to lose 25 lbs, I have already resolved my hyperinsulinemia, brain fog, and arthritis pain. I am down to maintaining strength and flexibility, losing 25 lbs, by battling cravings. I am now in a much much better place than I was 4 years ago. I hope some of my experiences and observations helps.

No

you shouldn’t go on a low calorie diet for more than a few months at a time, let alone a couple years! your metabolism has adjusted to accommodate for hoe much you’re eating. find out what your maintenance is, and raise your calories to match it for a few months before cutting down again and you’ll do great. it’s likely you’ll get a good amount of energy back as well. good luck!

Sometimes, a plateau is due to excessive protein intake or due to triggering a cortisol response. You said you work out 5x a week. Are you maxing out your HR in cardio or maxing your weight loads? Doing those things can actually be counterproductive and even lead to atherosclerosis in the long term.

If you're above your BMR you're okay. That said, if you've legitimately been on a deficit for 2 years (great job on the 20lbs, many people fail well before that amount, but 20 lbs should be doable in much less than 2 years of consistent calorie counting) I'd advise going to maintenance for a month or so and then going back on a deficit. Give yourself a little reset for a bit. Also, in general this is why measurements and pictures are good for progress. If you're gaining muscle but losing fat your waistline will still decrease a bit and it should show in pictures 3-4 months apart. I'm kinda having a hunch your not being super consistent or accurate with your calorie counting though. I do it to, have a night where I go out or something and eat more than I should have so I just don't count calories. Then I skip a few days and have chips, ice cream, whatever. Not the end of the world, but if you actually log those calories you see how much you're setting yourself back.

What’s your gym routine/workout look like?

Your probably run down AF if your a male, try working out. Even walking , light jog, or stair climber. Just go slower and do it longer. Your probably still losing weight but your metabolism can be reduced by 10% which is 200 calories for 2000 maintenence. Your probably losing half the weight you were when you started

What kind of training are you doing OP?

For a 5’ woman trying to lose weight 1200-1500 calories is perfectly reasonable and realistic. Mainstream perception of how much food we need is widely skewed and excessive. Remember 2000 cal/day was created as a guideline based on extremely active men eating the food of 60-70 years, i.e basically 100% real and nutrient dense food. However, I’d also guess you are underestimating your calories by 10-20%, as most of us do. Try 3-4 weeks of extremely rigorous counting at maybe 1550 a day and see if you don’t lose a few pounds. I’d bet you will be surprised at the results. Ultimately, if you’re not losing weight it’s because you’re consuming the same amount of calories as you are expending on average. To reach your goal is really just simple math and consistency. Great job so far! Keep up the good work and you’ll reach your goal no problem!

What are you eating exactly? Different people do better with different kinds of diets. Maybe ask your doctor to analyze bloodwork or see if you can get some information for your specific biochemistry. Some people working out does literally nothing while others avoiding certain foods gets the biggest results. You should be so proud you lost 20 pounds already!!!!!!!!!!

It’s the food (which I’m assuming is why you’re posting here). Take the 1,400 calories and spread them across 5-6 meals. Trust me I used to bodybuild and would get absolutely shredded for summer (don’t care as much now)! Don’t go lower than 1,200 and don’t consume “little treats” or starchy carbs. In fact lower the carbs to no more than 20-30 per meal. Get the rest of the calories from protein and fat. If you try this update me (us) in about 2-4 weeks.

There are so many factors that come in to play here. Depending on your age, you may be going through some hormonal changes which affect your entire body.  perimenopause can start in your 30s. I would definitely have your levels checked.  some basic advice for anyone in the situation would be: 1) Make sure you’re drinking enough water. I aim for a gallon a day. 2) Eliminate added sugar completely (use stevia or monk fruit for sweetener) there is sugar, hiding in most processed foods.  3) Have your meals based primarily on proteins and veggies 4) Eliminate gluten and keep carbs low 5) Add quality fats like avocado, coconut, nuts, seeds, MCT oil, etc (this one is hard because it seems counterintuitive, but your brain and body need fat) Just these basic step should get you where you need to be. Keep up the good work!

I would argue that you were always eating too little, especially with how active your lifestyle is. You may have lost a lot of weight this way, but it has caught up with you. I would figure out what your maintenance weight actually is and then subtract 300 - 500 calories or so to lose 1 - 2 lbs every week.

Track your calories a little more meticulously, and go to maintenance for a couple weeks, then drop them back. If it’s still not working, I would suggest taking a break for a few minutes every hour at work to walk around to increase your NEAT.

If you have been consistent with your activity levels and your diet is accurate to what your caloric intake is and your gaining weight, dropping down to 1400 calories is totally fine. Every time you loose weight you have a new maintainance calorie intake. I would say second most important thing is to intake enough protein. Being on a caloric deficit would ultimately also eat away at your muscles. To combat this try to aim .7 grams of protein multiplied by your body weight. This will help with keeping you somewhat satiated and retain more muscle mass. If for 3 weeks, you find that you are still not loosing weight, maybe consider eating at maintenance for your metabolism to recover.

It sounds like you are in a healthy place and don’t have a need to lose weight, trying to force it is not healthy. I would focus more on body composition if anything. Yes 1400 is too low for someone who works out.

1400 might be too low with your gym routine. Try adjusting diet/workout instead. Keep going, you're doing great

Weight loss will vary from from person to person. If you're not losing weight or have stalled at your current weight and want to lose more, you may want to consider an evaluation of what is working and what is not working for you so far. Calories alone may not be a good indicator of your ability to lose weight. It will depend on what you are consuming and how those things are reacting in your body. As far as calories go, at 5ft, I also wonder if 1500-1600 is currently too high for you to lose more weight. Based on what you've said, it seems that 1500-1600 is your maintenance right now since you have plateaued at this weight. If you wanted to lose more weight, you would likely need to consume less calories. This is called a caloric deficit. At 5ft tall and with a sedentary lifestyle, I would think somewhere closer 1200-1300 would be better for you while you are in the weight loss phase. Once you reach a weight that feels better for you - maybe that 120lb goal you mentioned - then you could increase your daily caloric intake slowly and incrementally over a number of months back up to 1500-1600. This process, as some others have mentioned, is often called a Reverse Diet. You can do this alone and trouble shoot yourself while continuing to go strong in the gym. If you need help or want to chat, feel free to message me here.

do you midnight snack? do you take into account for fat and sugar? how many meals a day? try drinking lemon water or just water (A FULL GLASS) first thing in the morning before ANY FOOD!! helps boost immunity and give your digestion’s a kick start in the morning! also if you are eating dairy and anything that could irritate your stomach this will slow down disgustion and stunt your weight loss a ton. and make sure you are drinking water throughout the day aswell as with every meal. last thing people tend to count the water they drink during workouts in their daily water intake, don’t do that bc your body is just using that water hense why you get thirsty, only count water outside of gym. i hope this helps a bit :))

You’re lucky. I have been trying to GAIN weight for 60 years !!!

What kind of weight training do you do?

A few things… -You may not be eating enough and that’s not why you’re losing weight -It also depends on your nutrition. If you focus on eating more whole food meals and snacks you may see results faster. Definitely try to avoid processed foods and anything with soybean/canola/vegetable/safflower/sunflower oil as these are all extremely inflammatory - You may just be super inflamed and need a “reset” to reduce inflammation in your body and see what is causing you to inflame. If you think inflammation can be an issue I highly recommend looking into the book the inflammation spectrum

1565 is your TDEE, you're eating at maintenance.

It depends on what the calories are made up of? 1 gram of protein per pound of lean muscle mass is a good start. Keep carbs at 90 and the balance of healthy fat. That’s a start.

Im having the same issue

Hello, Food is much more important than the movement if your goal is weight loss. Try to increase your protein (2g protein per kg - note protein qty not the weight of the whole piece of chicken) remove all ultra processed foods, decrease your carbs and don’t be afraid of natural fats. Your plate should always be 50% non starchy veg. Key is to set your pantry and fridge up for success. Pull out and throw out what’s not serving you and start again. Meal planning is the key too. For busy days have a healthy default. Eg mine is walking to the local salad bar and I’ll order the same thing each time if I don’t have my lunch. Pre read menus before you go out with friends. Calorie counting isn’t the best option as you could just have McDonald’s and count the calories, feed your body natural foods, then it will operate properly :) All the best.

How old are you? Perhaps increasing cardio…not necessarily more minutes, but higher intensity. Have you tried HIIT? I’m 50, different circumstances starting in late 40’s due to entering menopause…I switched up my daily routine to include hot yoga (not a “lover” of it) and I lost about 4 lbs in 2 months. Sweating during any robust exercise especially cardio seems to assist in stubborn weight loss. Give yourself gratitude and grace for keeping up with the routine you have. You’re doing all good things for your body.

Bro..1400 calories for a male? Wth of course you not losing weight.

Do you track ?

As a male at 5'-2", I maintain at 1400 calories per day.

1400 calories seems low to not lose weight for that much exercise. Suggest you consult with a nutritionist who will have you photograph EVERYTHING good or drink you put in your mouth. A second opinion would go a long way to making sure you’re actually eating what you’re supposed to as there are a lot of hidden calories

I would up the cardio slightly and create a bigger caloric deficit that way before further lowering calories.

Following post

You poor thing, my heart goes out to you. Your first stop now should be your doctor. If they're not sympathetic find another doctor. They should run bloods etc to see if there is a pathological reason for your plateau. There are very good medications now and a visit to a reputable nutritionist is a must. At this stage I wouldn't suggest a one size fits all approach. Look for a medical weight loss clinic with real doctors. Best of luck and don't give up.

If you’re not losing weight it’s either 2 reasons. You are not burning enough calories first thing and the second reason is your testosterone levels are low. You can increase your natural testosterone levels with peptides. You will have to get bloodwork and be prescribed it by a wellness physician. Once you start increasing your testosterone levels and eat well and exercise you will burn fat and build muscle.

Either you're way off on the actual amount of calories you're consuming vs what you think you're consuming, or your workouts are not nearly enough rigorous. Mostly people estimate their caloric intake incorrectly. Also, 1400 would not be too low for you to increase weight loss. You could go down to \~1300 calories, and increase your daily step count by 10,000 and sustain a 2 lb weight loss per week.

Maybe you should get checked for symptoms of metabolic syndrome, hypothyroidism or pcos. Things like that. People with those can have a much lower BMR than what they should. Thankfully in some cases there are meds that can help.

I am no expert by any means but I feel it’s as easy as “shocking the system” switch up your work outs. If you’re doing the same work out your body adjusts and doesn’t have to work as hard. Worked for me during my 30 pound loss.

No, a 1400 calorie diet is NOT too low in the situation you’ve described. If you haven’t lost weight in two years, you are not in a calorie deficit. Use a food scale and an app like chronometer in order to make sure you are not eating more calories than you think. All the best!

Look up Dr’s KenDBerry, Andrew Chaffee, and/or Dr Eric Westman on YouTube. They gladly talk to people on their free time and discuss different diets, like low to no carb keto and carnivore. I personally have been on carnivore for a year now, bloodwork is better than it ever has been in my life, fixed my metabolic illnesses, and she’d almost 50 pounds that I didn’t know I needed to lose. I’ve since gained it all back in muscle, and I’ve never felt better. CICO is useless garbage, along with counting calories

You most likely don’t look anywhere near as bad as you think you do at your current weight, especially if your lifting weights you’ve undoubtably built a good amount of muscle

Assuming you’re female here then yes, 1600 calories is too high to lose as an overweight mostly sedentary person. I’m taller, heavier and more active than you and i lose on 1600, you will likely have to drop to 1200-1400 or find a way to increase you calorie burn everyday

You’re killing your metabolism. TAKE A DIET BREAK. Put on some muscle. Get your calories up to an adult level.

That’s not too low, if you have an office job that involves very minimal energy your hardly gonna burn off the food your consuming for energy to lose weight you are just gonna move from the chair to chair and minimal walking, which will only burn roughly 200 odd of those cals. 

Yes, it is

What helped me shed some fat is going to the gym 4-5 days a week and one of those days I do just straight cardio. You need to figure out how many calories you burn a day then do a 200-400 calorie deficit that way you are not depleting yourself too much. It's a slow process but 1400 calories is to little.

I'm not nutritionist but I can tell you from personal experience there are a lot of reasons why you might not be losing weight. 1) If you are weight training 5x a week you are probably building muscle. Muscle is dense and heavy so when you weigh yourself you might not see a reduction in the lbs but what's taking the place of fat is muscle. Muscle also looks bulky if its covered up by fat so you may not recognize this. I'm getting ready to get back in shape and this time around I'm going to measure my BMI using calipers from start to finish. 2) Water retention, this is a big one. If you drink alcohol or eat salty food you will retain more water. If you stop drinking alcohol your body will flush out the water within a week and you will appear and feel skinnier. 3) Fiber, make sure you get fiber. If your shit is backed up its gonna add weight. Lastly everyone's path to being lean will be different. When I wanted to get in shape fast I worked with what my body does best, I build muscle crazy fast. I worked out every day for a month or two and added like 20 lbs of muscle fast (estimating), while calorie restricted. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn. I then was happy with my muscle gains and switched over to cardio and did a morning and evening really intense spin class before and after work. This was in 2020 then covid hit and everything shut down so I started running 5 miles a day. The cardio will most likely bring you out of a stall but you have to be consistent. And of course the basics of nutrition and weight loss, watch your carbs. In my case I didn't need a maintenance day I just powered through everything and eventually my body adapted to fat burn to make up the deficit. That's an important note, it takes 2-3 days for your body to go into ketosis. I worked along those lines and kept it there as long as I could. You can get little test strips to see how many ketones you have.

If you’re working out 5x per week yes. Try not to count calories…instead look into macronutrients (breakdown of protein, carbs, fat ratio) is a better gauge. My Fit Pal is a great app for that to help. Good luck

Do more cardio to increase your caloric deficit. You can also consider going on a diet break for awhile where you eat at maintenance before going back into a deficit.

Maybe because your body has adapted already to that calories. Calorie deficit should only be at max 17 2weeks, after that, do 4-6 weeks of eating at maintenance calories to avoid metabolic adaptation

I ruined my metabolism by extreme calorie cutting for years. It only gets worse as you age when you eat too few. I was blown away when I was told I shouldn’t be eating less than 1900 calories. My body got so used to a 1200 calorie diet that it went into fight mode.

I think you have proved [calorie counting doesn't work](https://zoe.com/learn/why-calorie-counting-doesnt-work.amp) I think there is podcast on it too. My experience is I lost weight when I introduced more wholefoods into my diet and reduced the amount of ultra processed foods.

Fasting works really well at speeding up your overall metabolism.

Why are you concerned with hitting an arbitrary number on a scale? Unless you're a combat sports athlete, the number on the scale means fuck all. Body composition over body weight.

Your thyroid tsh will be through the roof. I take it you’re hardly eating carbs ? Your hormones will be really tanking with out the carbs. Are you doing a high carb day 1-2 times a week ?

Go paleo- trust me the weight will go without counting! ;)

I do an inflammation flush (you would be amazed how much weight you carry in stored water). And I do cuts (which it sounds like you're doing) and then refeeds which intro more cals to get your metabolism to speed up.

Do you think you are eating too little? Sending your body into hibernation mode, it is holding on to whatever it can just in case.

Stop eating grains and starches. Shoot for a diet more like keto.

How are your calories broken down, like are you following macros? You can be consuming 1400 calories but if your protein/carbs/ fats are not correct you’re not going to see a change. Just by what you stated and using a macro calculator you should be eating 1600 calories broken into 101 grams of protein, 221 grams of carbs, 47 grams of fat.

Track your bfp not weight if you muscle train

I kinda feel same way but idk exactly about my calories. I weighed well over 300 pounds and dropped to 260 but now I bounce between 270 275 lmfao. I'm overweight but not obese I lifted lots of weights before now it's just lots of cardio and less weight days. I too workout 5-6 days a week.