Weight Loss Plateau?

[tanyavolt]

I've been using my FitBit for just over a year now and have successfully lost 17kgs (37lbs) and 10% bf and am the lightest I've ever been as an adult. I'm incredibly happy as this is the first time I've maintained my weight loss and haven't put it on again. 

I'm now wanting to push it just a bit more, and want to hit a "healthy" weight range (am 165cm/5'5") and healthier body fat percentage. 

Been hovering around 71kg (156lb), 35% body fat and the same waist/hip measurements now since October. I've been hitting my step goals every day, eating moderately and watching my serving sizes, drinking plenty of water every day - and especially in the last few weeks I've increased my cardio and have been running/walking hills more and doing more step challenges with friends to almost doubling my step goal every day, been lifting weights and increasing intensity on there, intensified my cardio routine and varying that too, and still nothing's changing.  Even had a big Christmas dinner to see if that would help! 

What's the next step to try and overcome this?

[too_spicy]

The only advice I can think of to give you is change up WHAT you're eating rather than HOW MUCH you're eating. If you're eating a lot of carb-heavy foods (and I'm not talking fibrous vegetables here) you could be storing that, in addition to extra water weight. Very salty foods can also increase water weight. Increasing your fat and protein intake will increase your satiety throughout the day and could be what you're missing. Dunno what you eat though, so it's just a guess.

It could also just be stress-- it's holiday season and everyone's got a lot going on, plus you're adding additional stress to your body by working out more. It's a positive stressor, but a stressor nonetheless. Take some time out to love your awesome new bod EVERY DAY. Whatever your thing is-- yoga, spa days, chilling and reading a book-- do that. TREAT YO SELF. Keep doing what you're doing if you feel like you're doing everything right, but remember to play hard (or lay hard) after you work hard. 

[Heybales]

Does eating moderately mean eating at a moderate deficit to what you burn?

Because you could get all your nutrients in if that's what you mean, eating very little - but that doesn't mean your body has enough calories to be happy with.

And the closer you are to a healthy weight, the more stressed and adapting your body will be if you attempt to lose fast with a big deficit.

So this close, deficit should be very minor, probably 250 cal, since within 15 lbs.

The cardio stuff like walking isn't asking the body to improve much at this point - unless you really make it hills and go fast.

I'd suggest give more time to the strength training and watch the body transform more than weight change would even indicate. You may discover that just a little lighter with those changes makes a big appearance difference.

And don't do cardio too intense that it makes the strength training not as strong.

Meaning, you do intense cardio right before lifting - those used muscles will be weaker - and strength training only asks the body to change if overloaded by weight, not because it's tired muscle.

Even intense cardio the day before can have negative effects on lifting.

And the day after intense cardio using the same muscles could interfere with the repair process - and if you aren't repairing stronger - then workout was wasted.

[chelseasaya]

When I got to 140 pounds, I somehow stopped losing weight. Our bodies are incredibly good at adapting to new diets. I read somewhere that changing your diet can help. It did for me. I just added more veggie instead of chicken. I also started using the Lady Soma Detox, and that quickly dropped another 10 lbs. It can speed up your metabolism. That’s what I did, and it worked for me.