To the OP it is quite difficult to know what is happening but it is very likely if you've been accurate with your calories that fat loss has not stopped, just your weight loss.

That said I would advise you to lift weights.

More details on your specifics such as height, how you're determining your calories and typical macro breakdown would be helpful.

Goodluck.

JohnP is exactly right.

If you are uncomfortable increasing your calories, then you could calorie cycle a bit. I do up days now and then, but never higher than maintenance on up days. It seems to get me going when I've stalled out a bit. I lift 3 days and run 3 days and I've been pretty steadily losing for the most part.

I'm 6' 2" and I eat about 1800-2000 calories a day. On up days I go to 2400 calories. I don't, usually, go more than 1 day at maintenance a week. That gives me a little flexibility for special occasions and such.

At 5'10" and at only 186 lbs ... maybe your body is just resting; and/ doesn't want to lose any more weight at this time, especially since you are eating less and exercising a lot. Is your job also physical? That would have to be factored in as well.

You may need to eat more; seriously (just a bit more); and cycling is a good strategie too (try up to 1800 or even 2000) .. just my 2 cents. :D

Oh, and I agree with John P about the weights.

I have a sedentary desk-job that doesn't help, but even still, I think my maintenance level should be more than 1650 calories a day (as I'm not losing on this), even if I didn't exercise at all. It's true that I may be losing fat but not weight, but one can only put on about five pounds of muscle a year. I don't think I'm adding so much muscle that it's offsetting the fat loss; I should still be losing in spite of any muscle gain (and I'm only going two, sometimes three, times a week to the gym, so I'm not going to be Mr. Universe anytime soon).

I'm 5'10" and currently stuck at 190, medium build. I calorie-count everything and generally stay away from sweets and high-carb items. I want as much food as 1600 calories a day can get me, which means eating a lot of protein (it's more filling), green vegetables, and - yum - mashed potatoes. My treats are 100-calorie bags of popcorn and Peppermint Patties for my enormous sweet tooth.

I'm carefully staggering what I eat throughout the day so I won't get *too* hungry, but at any point during the day I could scarf down a couple of cheeseburgers if I so desired. At this point I'm just biding my time and waiting for the day that I finally let go of 190 - if it ever happens.

Yeah, you're right about the muscle gain. You're not going to gain very much muscle at all on a calorie deficit anyway. I'm not sure that's even possible. Are you lifting heavy? I work a sedentary job too so I know how that goes. Have you tried calorie cycling or bumping up your calories for a day or so? I'm not talking 1000 calories, but maybe 100 or two. Try going to 1750 or 1850 for a day or two and then dropping back to 1650 for 3 days and see if you make any progress. It's not going to set you back any so it might be worth a try.

How are you counting calories? Weighing food including all ingredients?

I agree you should be losing on 1600 a day at your height/weight and it is entirely possible you are losing but retaining water. You could drop 3-4 lbs in a day after a woosh.

That said - while you might not be adding lbs of muscle if you just started working out you can add lbs of LBM which includes additional water and glyogen stored in muscle tissue as your body is adapting to the exercise you're putting it through.

At the end of the day it is possible (but unlikely) that you simply have a very slow metabolism. I say unlikely because if this were true you would probably be much heavier than you are now.

I'd stay the course of a high protein diet. Measure calories carefully with a scale if you're not already including all ingredients used in the preparation. If you're not lifting weights - start doing so.

Actually it is possible. These are called newbie (or beginner) gains. If you're new to lifitng for a period of time (3-6 months) you can add muscle in a deficit if you're a man or a woman because your body is adapting to the changes and fueling the muscle growth by partitioning the energy you ingest towards growth and fueling other needs with fat.

Too large a deficit and this will not be possible for long. If you're not overweight this will not last long.

After initial adapations this will not be possible unless you're extraordinarily gifted genetically or using PEDs.

I agree with what other posters have said. I think you need a bit more calories. Don't "resort to desperate measures". I doubt you're are in a dire health straits with your weight as is. Why would you resort to desperate measures? You're gonna lose weight slowly b/c you don't have that much to lose. What maybe 25-30 pounds? Why not just fuel your body and challenge your metabolism with a few more calories so when you go workout your body knows it doesn't need to conserve b/c more are coming?

I don't necessarily believe in "starvation mode" as we know it but you can damage your metabolism by setting the standard so low with your calories and those studies that proved this metabolic damage really did literally starve people to see what would happen and many of the study participants became food obsessed along with their metabolic damage.

Give your body what it needs to be a lean, mean fat burning machine. It will turn into one. Care for your body, don't beat it into submission. No point in reducing your weight if you damage your health. Don't take more time at the gym, go home and run around with those babies you have, enjoy your life. :)

Well, you know, lots of women go through this experience; so it's interesting to see a man go through it as well. We often hit plateaus, stalls, and occasionally "walls" ... :lol: However, you may still be losing inches and sizes; and your body may also still be shifting or redistributing its composition.

I have noticed that even when I am not losing lbs, my fat composition is changing; it is getting looser. Where it felt firm and hard, it is loosening up -- it feels softer and more squishy, or so my DH says (sorry, if that's TMI). ;) And, my clothes are getting looser all the time too. I am having to take them in right now; my pant leg hems for the second time.

So maybe John P is correct; maybe you still do lose fat even when the lbs don't show up on the scale. Water weight could be a factor there becuz you do lift weights 2-3 times a week. Have you cut the sodium down in your diet? That can cause you to hold water weight too.

At 190 lbs x 12 (moderately active) = 2280 - 1600 = 680 calories per day x 7 days = 4760 dv/by 3500 = 1.36 lbs per week. So you definitely should be losing something; but you are not, so there has to be another factor you are missing. Or you have just hit a "wall" -- that mysterious place where you do everything right, but your body holds the weight anyways. This resting state could be good practice for maintenance too.

The only solution is to either change things up a bit and/ wait it out. I am surprised to hear you say you would just quit eating healthy. Wouldn't it be best to be at 190 lbs forever and be healthy than eat like crap, gain it all back and have health issues down the road?

Why not get involved in some activities with your wife and kiddies; take them to the park, walking, biking, sliding, hiking, or sports, etc. All that would be good for you and them; and you could spend precious time with them too like 4star suggests ... :D

Well, I didn't say I would resort to eating unhealthy - only that even if I did, as long as I stayed under 1600 calories a day, I should still lose weight. I never said that was a healthy thing to do.

I"ve upped my exercise regime in an effort to shake something up. I'm hoping that if I can get the weight loss snowball going, it'll break the plateau. It means extra time out of my day, but I have to do something.

OK, let us know if that works for you -- if the scale budges. If it doesn't, try tweaking your food: change what you are eating i.e. no popcorn or mint patties for one week; and maybe skip the mash every other day -- try subbing with more veggies or a salad. See if that helps.

If all that fails, then try the calorie cycling: 1600, 1800, 1600, 1700, 1600. Gee, try to prove us wrong at least ... :lol: Good luck; hope one of these strategies works for you.