The last 3%

[smash]

Hey all,

I'm hoping to get a little advice on this. I could very well just be over thinking it and should relax but I need to put my mind at ease. Right now I'm 5'6, 140lbs with roughly 12% body fat. From January to March I lost 25 lbs thanks to eating well and marathon training. I'm attempting to cut down to 10% or lower but I'm afraid of losing too much lean mass or, even worse, all lean mass instead of fat. Right now I'm running at 1500 cals a day with 45mins of cardio 4x a week and weight training 3x a week.

My question is: Do you think I should stick to this and be patient or should I drop/raise cals?

Thanks!

[The PhytoAthlete]

Sometimes your body will hit a plateu during weight loss, where you may stay at for awhile then start losing again. So unless you really want to lose the weight in a hurry I would be patient and concentrate on eating healthy.

[Iron Clad Ben]

I think cleanliness of diet (eating all or mostly whole foods) and keeping the fat content relatively low is most important. If you restrict cals you're not going to be able to retain muscle mass. I got to single digits eating unlimited calls of whole foods and working out 4-5 days a week.

[ryansmith]

For me change is a must. I all ways look for an alternate technique. Just change your diet a bit make a list of all whole grain foods and vegetables. Consuming lesser calories will all ways be your positive point, but your body need and adequate amount of calories for your muscle. So just balance your calorie chart and use some new technique of gym or yoga to cut down your weight.

[smash]

I don't doubt the cleanliness of my diet one bit, so I doubt that's the issue. The only thing close to processed food I eat is two slices of sprouted wheat bread every morning, an almond shake with hemp protein, and tofu *maybe* once a week. I think my biggest issue is trying to find where my maintenance calories lie. Online calculators tend to give me anywhere from 1600-2200 for maintenance and staying at 1500 tends to leave me pretty hungry. I've moved up to 1800 cals to try that for a few weeks so we'll see what happens. I've been just under 12% for over a month and it's really starting to get frustrating. I have no idea how people are able to get six pack abs