How to break through fat-loss plateau (going under 12-13% BF)

[kekeli]

I started slowly slimming down over 6+ months but then i got to around 12% BF (no official test) and stopped dropping, even cut out another 200 calories and upped my physical activity (so burning at least 100 more)

still nothing for 2 months i was at 2000 calories/day and burning at least 3000, most days 3200-3300 range, yet i didn't drop at all, not in weight or in measurement around the waist.

clearly my body is changing my metabolism as a 1000 calorie+ deficit for that long would see results, so i'm probably not really burning that much.

but just dropping more seems like a bad answer at best, stupid and dangerous at worst. and most stuff you see online is obviously for/from roid users, or people who just want to lose weight and don't care about muscle.

so any suggestions to drop from around 12% BF to 9-10%? The best i could thing of is doing a keto diet to force my body to use stored fat, yet after i read more about actually doing it, they says to NOT do a high protein diet because the protein can convert to glucose and F it up and being in a caloric deficit you would want a high protein diet to protect from muscle degradation .

thanks for any suggestion or any personal experience that worked for you

 

[dawn16]

@kekeli So you’re trying to say that you were in a 1000 calorie deficit daily for two months and didn’t lose weight? Sorry bro you were not in a 1000 calorie deficit …

 

[yeesern]

@dawn16 Exactly, the laws of physics aren't wrong, your calculations are.

 

[kekeli]

@dawn16 ok its hard to know.

you can measure it in anyway but only get an approximation of the calories burned.

the problem is as you get lower and lower in BF you base metabolic rate will lower, but you really can't know by how much.

which is why i had the exact same caloric intake working to drop fat for months but suddenly started to plateau and then stop and still stopped even after cutting 200 more

 

[dawn16]

@kekeli So now you know your new maintenance, and can calculate your deficit from there.

 

[kekeli]

@dawn16 not really

first, even if you know the exact calories you need, simply cutting out more calories is not always a good decision as its hard to get proper nutrition the more you cut

second that does not accurately say what your calorie requirement is. if you eat 2000 calories for months and don't lose weight or gain it does not mean that is how many calories you burned, as your body has multiple options other than burning fat or adding it. To name just a few, burning muscle, changing metabolic rate, not repairing cellular damage, not repairing tissue damage

just becuase you are not losing weight does not mean you are at equilibrium, which is why i said its dangerous to keep cutting indefinitely

 

[dawn16]

@kekeli Dude I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t teach someone with your attitude, but good luck!

 

[kekeli]

@dawn16 what do you mean attitude?

you tried to make it seem simple, and its often not that simple, and all i did was describe the ways in which it can be very complicated to calculate caloric need, and the problems that can occur to your body when in caloric or nutritional deficit, which are many and can be very serious

 

[dawn16]

@kekeli You can try upping your calories + cardio or eating at maintenance for a bit to get everything back in line, hormones could be crashed from stress etc.

 

[kekeli]

@dawn16 yes i might try the increasing and then re-cutting (as suggested by 2 others) as that could help increase my basal metabolic rate again.

i could also try doing a lot more cardio to increase my current deficit, but i think i would need to consult a doctor before cutting even more from my diet as that can obviously have bad consequences

thanks

 

[dawn16]

@kekeli You are making strange assumptions and statements which are false. I’m not here to argue with you and I won’t prove you wrong because honestly I don’t care.

 

[kekeli]

@dawn16 what do you mean strange and false?

what did i say thats false, everything i said is a possibility that depends on a variety of factors

its foolish and dangerous to tell someone, hey you aren't dropping fat? well just keep cutting calories until you do.

No doctor or nutritionist would give you that advice, especially not in such a blanket statement

 

[dawn16]

@kekeli Neither did I give that advice. I don’t know what you’re on about honestly, but I’m out of here …

 

[pinetowntree]

@kekeli

burning at least 3000, most days 3200-3300 range

How did you calculate this?

 

[kekeli]

@pinetowntree several online calculators, most give you a similar result but of course they do have you guess things like "physical activity level"

but yes that number is impossible to truly know, but i know i was in a caloric deficit (as i was losing weight) and then even cut back off of that

 

[pinetowntree]

@kekeli I would stop trying to calculate your “calories burned” part of the equation.

If you ate 2000 calories every day for two weeks, and your weight stays exactly the same, assume your maintenance is 2000 calories.

Weigh yourself every morning and track steps per day. Track your gym performance as well. If your weight is going down on average one pound per week, that’s perfect. If your gym performance is cratering, take a diet break. If you’re not losing one pound per week, reduce food intake and increase step count. If you’re losing more than 2 lbs per week, increase food and lower step count.

That’s what I do and it’s effective.

 

[dawn16]

@pinetowntree As a newbie to the community, I found this helpful. Thank you.

 

[kekeli]

@pinetowntree ok

yes i agree the calculators used are clearly not accurate as your basal metabolic rate will change as you get lower at this is the main source of calories burned so once it changes the calculation is way off

problem is i've already gone under 2000 calories per day, probably 1800 for atleast 2 weeks, and going much lower would mean potential nutritional problems.

but i guess i can try a massive increase in cardio, but thats very annoying as cutting 300 calories is easy, burning 300 calories more can be a bitch

thanks, oh and can i ask how low % you have gotten?

 

[pinetowntree]

@kekeli You’re not necessarily calculating calories correctly either. How much do you weigh?

Like 10%? I’m not totally certain, it wasn’t for a bodybuilding show or anything.

 

[saara]

@kekeli Get a fit bit,wear it everyday.

Multiply the calories burned stat by 0.75 for accuracy, they usually overshoot but from experience that's the sweet spot. That's a fairly accurate way to tell what you're doing.