No progress.... EVER! Frustration!

2 thoughts--
1. Make absolutely sure your numbers are as accurate as possible. Don't estimate on calories. I don't know if that's you or not, like I said, it's just a thought.

2. If you've been restricting for awhile maybe your body needs a reset. Dan gave me some great advice when I was in a 3 month plateau, and it was simply to go back to maintenance for awhile. I did that for a month, and then I cut calories again and the weight started coming off again.

Unfortunately there's no way to spot train so overall fat loss is the only way (short of surgery) to get rid of belly fat. I don't have that problem but mine settles on my thighs. No matter how skinny I get my thighs barely change, it can be frustrating!

How's your protein? Aim for at least 1gram per pound of lean body mass.

And are you taking progress photos? If I look in the mirror, I see the same person I saw ~15 pounds ago. It isn't until I compare photos side by side that I see progress.

Plus, it's next to impossible to change our basic shape. Some folks have wider hips, some have wider shoulders, some have wider waistlines. Focus on being the best you you can be, not fitting some imagined ideal. I have a short torso, small boobs and meaty legs. I'm never going to look like a Victoria's Secrets model unless I have several more vertebrae added to my spine and can transfer my inner thighs up to my chest. But I can still be happy with what I got.

Open your diary if you want more specific advice. What are your macros? "Eating clean" is great, but it doesn't mean much. I eat clean most of the day, but I eat ice cream and frozen yogurt most days, and they aren't homemade.

I am in maintenance, eating about 2000 per day and working out 5-6 days per week, and my waist hasn't changed in months either, including over the last couple of months that I was still losing about a pound a week. And while I would like it to, I'm not sure it's going to get any smaller. Just keep doing what you are doing if it's what you want to be doing. If not, shake it up and see what happens.

2 months and no progress? lower the calories.

Bump.

Since you're otherwise quite small, light and slender, maybe you should check with a doctor to see if you're having any food intolerance that's causing bloating.

I train 6 days per week, I eat perfectly, and still there are no inches coming off my damned naval. I know it takes time but SURELY I should see SOME kind of progress.. even half a damned inch?! I've been at this for like 2 months or something and I've been running 3 times a week since March ffs!

Been there. Done that. The story of how I finally got over it ---> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout

It kind of depends on where you are at, are you short or tall, do you have a lot of weight to lose or are you near the end of your transformation.

The 1200 calorie minimum is relative to your BMR. If you are a bigger person this is a low number, if you are small like me this is a large number, barely below my RMR. This 1200 may work okay for most people but for short females like me it's way too much. If you are like me, petite and short and you think you might fall into the same category then you need to seek approval of your doctor. I went lower and when I showed my doctor the research links for eating less in Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat and the calorie guide for me in “The Venus Index Workout Manual” he said “Great. Do it!” So I did and it worked, but I think that is because I am short.

Taller people have more room in their calorie budget to go up or down. Shorter people like me have less room and get frustrated with "eat more" because that typically does not work for us. If you are confused about it don't just listen to the "eat more" bullies, do some research and get approval from your doctor, then tell the bullies who "call you on the pad for eating too low" that you are under a doctor’s care and to please leave you alone.

Once I got leaner I had to taper UP my calories. The leaner you get the less of a calorie deficit your body can handle. It needs to be a long slow shallow deficit. For me still under a doctor’s care, this is around 1000-1200 calories because I am so short, petite, and am under 12% body fat where I truly can go into starvation mode if I ate under 1000 calories. I have supporting documentation below. Again, you must seek your doctor’s advice. No one here can tell you how many calories to eat, either up or down.

Seek advice from your doctor. Myself or anyone else on here can’t tell you how much to eat, or to go up or down. If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for woman over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I pretty much proved that for myself by staying strong and building muscle and doing what I did. I'm the leanest, most muscular, and most fit that I have ever been in my life at almost 52 years old. My doctor looked at my blood work throughout my journey and it remained fine even with “taking breaks from eating” for periods of time and eating less. Even now at less than 12% body fat everything is A-OKAY. I am healthy, active, and vibrant, muscular not skinny. I have never had eating disorders nor do I now. If you have eating disorders you should not be on a diet unless you are under a doctor’s care and/or get those issues resolved first. I do not advocate unhealthy eating or promote eating disorders.

While there is no one size fits all I listed the things that worked for me here --> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout

I found the following quotes helpful for sorting through all the myths plastered all over the place.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Switch it up. Take a break from the cardio 2 days/wk like mentioned, eat a few more calories. Shock ur body Get it out of it's routine think way

You're already at a pretty low weight. Probably in your BMI unless you're extremely short. When you get in the lower numbers of your BMI, your body gets comfortable and doesn't want to lose, so it's harder. I learned in a bio class about it I forget the term, but it's our body's biological set weight. Some people's set weight is higher or lower depending on their genetics. Take it easy. The lower you get into the numbers of your BMI, the harder to lose. Just like it's easier to lose for heavier people. It's frustrating, but it might take you longer, be patient.