186.6 - 61.6 pounds to go (and a reset!)

I am officially sick of this plateau. Beyond even. I try to talk myself into focusing on the positives, but most days I just feel defeated. When you're counting calories and adding in more and more exercise and still not seeing the scale move, it wears on you. And over the weekend, it got to me. I threw my hands in the air and decided to message someone on MyFitnessPal whom I consider a knowledgeable resource. I was combing over the last 8 weeks in my head, wondering what I could be doing wrong and my conclusion was: nothing. I'm eating out less often, I'm exercising more, I'm pushing myself, I'm still logging everything that goes into my mouth, and yet the measurements and scale aren't moving. Something has to be wrong.

So, off to him I went, messaging him in the middle of the night, venting to him my frustrations. I explained my confusion at yet another plateau, at the increase in hunger which drove me to up my calories by 200 per day, and the need to "do more" given by the nutritionist. I gave him background information, like how I ate 1600-1650 calories per day since the start and only recently increased them, and that the first plateau landed in January, didn't end until mid-February, and yet here I am again. And in typical fashion, I walked away with a wealth of new information to consider, such as how lots of cardio while cutting can actually hinder weight loss.

Essentially, his hypothesis, which stems from this article is that my body is under too much stress. You create stress on the body when you cut calories. Now add even more stress by exercising, and adding more and more exercise because the scale isn't moving, and we have a bad formula. Too much stress can lead to chronic levels of cortisol, which can lead to decreased hormone levels like ghrelin and leptin, decreased metabolic rate, and water retention. When reading over the information, it makes sense. Do I know how accurate it is? Absolutely not. However, from what I have researched, it seems like a plausible explanation. There were times during the winter that I would barely exercise and yet the scale moved. Messed up levels of ghrelin and leptin can wreak havoc with appetite and I was recently going through that phase where I couldn't eat enough. I can't blame the nutritionist for telling me to stop being lazy and get the scale moving faster, but it might very well be too much. On the outside, it makes sense that cutting calories and exercising more would mean bigger weight losses. But on the inside, it also seems logical that my body could be freaking out and wondering what is going on! 

So, for the next 2 weeks, I'll be following Dan's advice, because quite frankly, at this point, I can't afford not to. Eight weeks of not seeing any progress is truly weighing on me and I don't want to risk sneaking food or giving up completely. His advice is as follows:

• Eat at TDEE for 2 weeks, which equals a glorious 2400 calories per day.  I used the Fat2Fit calculator, entered my current weight as my goal weight, and used the moderately active number. Dan suggested lightly active, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'd rather gain a pound than potentially not reset things.
• 90% clean food - no more than 5-6 ingredients listed, no chemicals, minimal processing, etc. (which I already do)
• Avoid soy (pretty sure I already do this too)
• Start a strong lifts program or a similar heavy lifting program (3 days of heavy lifting)
• Walk on rest days, but no running, HIIT, power walking, or other intense cardio! Allow diet to be the primary means of losing!
• Watch macros
• Protein should be at least 1g per pound of lean body mass, so at least 86g per day per this calculator
• Fat can shift from .3-.7g per pound of lean mass, so 26g-60g per day
• On workout days, eat less fat and more carbs, such as fruits, bread, pasta, starch (because carbs are fuel!)
• On rest days, eat more fats and less carbs. Greens are good choices as they have less carbs.
• Subtract dietary fiber from carbs to get true carb number