[JackMorgan]

I've seen this play out on myself. I finally realized that I can only lose about 10lb of fat before my body refuses to lose more. Further extreme calorie cuts will only cut muscle. Including dropping to zero calories on a extended fasts. One year I got down to medically underweight (and could wrap my whole hand around my upper arm) and I still had a belly so big I couldn't see my toes when standing. I apparently have some extremely famine resistant genes.

I eventually lost (and kept off for the last 6 years) all the weight I wanted by cycles of cutting and bulking. I'd slowly raise my calories, eventually settling at a slight 10% surplus for eight weeks. I'd then start tapering calories for eight weeks, eventually losing about 8 pounds of fat. I'd repeat the cycle, gaining about a quarter pound of muscle and 2 pounds of fat. Then repeat again.

Obviously this is a huge hassle, but I was able to go from obese to the lower end of healthy weight, and in the meantime got my deadlift to 2x my body weight.

Also so many veggies. Lunch and dinner, 2 cups of veggies before the main protein.

Now to keep it off, I still eat the veggies, and I also drink a ton of water before a meal. And lastly, our meals are pretty much just variations of lentils, legumes, and chickpeas. Those have good protein and fiber. We'll add olive oil for fat. Some pita, high fiber tortillas, or whole wheat bread adds carbs.