Weight stalled out but muscle growing

[SunsetRunner]

I got my fitbit about 2 months ago and since I have been actually paying attention to weight and coloric intake. 

I have noticed that my weight has stalled out. My wife says that I am looking smaller and I am lifting more. I am 6'4'' ~260lbs and that fluctuates wildly. Averaging about 1800 calories in and 3600 out each week. 

I hit the gym 5 days a week and usually working out for 1.5-2 hours each time. I do a lot of strength training and usually 30 minutes on the stationary bike

I am wondering if hitting the gym too much and having too much of a deficit could cause weight to stall out. 

[shuckyshark]

It sounds like it - you're deficit is way too much. Try keeping it to no more than 1000 calorie deficit.

If you starve your body too much, it will go into starvation mode and try and keep as much fat as possible.

The other possibility is you're building a significant amount of muscle tissue, counter acting the weight loss.

Fat is about 80% the weight of muscle...

Instead of looking at the weigh scale, look in the mirror and also, check to see how your clothes fit. 

[SunsetRunner]

I assumed that it was doing that, but at some point it would start eating that fat... I don't pay too close attention to the numbers on the scale, I have a smart scale that syncs with my phone and the FB app so most the time I just step on the scale, wait about 20 seconds and get off and walk away. 

I know that I am actively replacing fat with muscle and I honestly think that it is still under a layer of fat that is hiding it lol

[shuckyshark]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat...I went from 26% BF to 18% BF and seem to have stalled for almost 3 months, but now my upper abs are starting to show. My goal is 10-12%. I was doing some research on scales and the BF readings could be off by as much as 5%, depending on how much water you've drunk, etc...so I'm using it just to track linearly to ensure it's tracking down vs up.

I'm only cutting about 500 calories now, but with the workouts, I have a hard time meeting my target calories...and I've started tracking macro nutrients to ensure I get enough protein. Supplements are helping, but it's crazy...

[SunsetRunner]

I don't trust the BF reading on my scale very much...According to my scale I am in the 30% BF range, which is probably decently accurate, but it was a cheap scale, the weight is accurate and it has bluetooth so I am happy lol.

I am noticing body changes for sure, and I don't feel like I am overly hungry during the day, so not overly concerned about having too little food. I am learning to fight the urge to "bored" eat.