170 cm, 70 Kg 57, years old.
The ideal weight for my parameters is 54Kg - 72 Kg
I've like to get to the lower end of my ideal weight but if not at least 62 Kg. I want lean muscle, not bulky muscles.
I've cut bread and processed sugars. I'm sure that I'm in a caloric deficit. Eating more raw fruits and fibrous food like beans, more fish and less meat and fats. I sleep well. I drink a lot of water. No pop or coffee. Very little milk.
For snacks about 1/2 cup mixed nuts and one or two stalks of celery with a spoon of light ranch (25 calories per spoon)
I'm following my regular daily exercise routine, I go to the rock climbing gym Three times per week for two hours. I bike everywhere. After exercise in the morning I replace breakfast with a protein supplement.
I started mid July at +74 Kg which is the same weight I've had for years.
The first four weeks I lost 4 Kg. The only change, since then, the only change has been to increase exercise.
For the past week the weight has fluctuated between 69.2 to 69.8.
Is it normal for weight to plateau? Is it the increase of muscle mass which may be balancing other weight loss? Should I be more patient?
Please, please, please - don't focus on caloric deficits. You are trying to optimize body composition for long term, not just a one day competition. You need a solution that you can sustain long term.
The key to reducing stored body fat is to reduce your overall insulin burden. [Paper] The Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity - Beyond “Calories In, Calories Out” - 2018
Fat burning, requires the absence of insulin in the blood. People using CICO for weight control are entering a low insulin state between meals, when they sleep, etc. Any time carbohydrates are consumed, blood glucose rises, raising insulin - when insulin is elevated the body will not mobilize fat from adipose tissue, i.e. it pauses fat burning. So someone eating the standard 3 meals and 3 snacks with carbs is pausing their fat burning 6 times per day (for 2-4 hours per eating session depending on their inherit insulin resistance) - Which is almost the entire day.
As a thought experiment map out each time you eat carbohydrates on a calendar, and block out 2 hours. (the nuts, the ranch, the protein supplement, fruits, beans), see how much time per day you have left over to mobilize fat.
It's really helpful to wear a CGM for two weeks, and track your blood glucose in real time, every time its not a flat line you know you can't burn stored fat.
I find the science and literature from the ketogenic metabolism very compelling: In this model you should eat as much fat and protein as your hungry for, don't restrict yourself at all - just don't mix it with carbohydrates (that increase insulin, that pause fat mobilization). It will break your plateau.