I've got to agree - anything less than ~10 kcals per lb on a long term basis is asking for your metabolism to get shot, especially if you are active.   You might also be one of the lucky few that can gain a significant amount of lean whilst continuing to lose fat, so let the mirror be just as much the judge as the scale.

if your metabolism is anything like mine, you'll need to jumpstart it every once in a while...

a couple years ago i hit nearly 300 pounds... by dropping my caloric intake to 1500-2000 per day and doing some low impact exercise... i dropped 70 pounds in only a few months...

but after the initial weight loss after a month or so, i'd be in the same predicament as you... especially if you were like me eating close to 3000 calories per day...

when i ended up like this i would up my intake to 3000-3500 calories of decent foods (low carb, high protein, lots of veggies, salad, chicken, fish, egg whites) for ONE day... and it would break the plateau...

i hit a plateau 3 times... once when i dropped from ~300 to 264... did the above and broke into the high 250's but unfortunately stopped at around 250... did the above and broke into the 240's... hit 240 and stopped... did the above, and got down to 230...

i've been lazy over the past couple of years since then, and went back up to 250... fortunately i carry weight well and typically people guess i am 30-40 pounds lighter than i am... (GREAT AT CARNIVALS... )

good luck! it's hard but it sounds like you are losing weight the right way, so you should be able to keep it off...

as the others have said, don't rely solely on the scale.

clothes sizes as well as health factors are better than just a number... i've met people 40 pounds lighter than me that are in worse shape and look like fat slobs...

i know right now my clothes all fit comfortably, my cholesterol levels are perfect, my blood pressure is spot on (125/80), i am not tired, my knees don't hurt, and i don't get out of breath doing physical activities... despite the scale saying 250...

Just remember that muscle is denser than fat.  You could be burning fat and gaining muscle at the same time.


CJ

First off, congrats on the loss.

Second, plateaus suck.  I'm had a couple.  I would definitely try shaking up your diet.  I do regular free or refeed days where I eat what I like.  It both keeps my sanity and I think it actually helps keep my metabolism high.  

Last, something that helped w/ my last plateau was to track my calories on fitday.org.  I don't know if it was coincidence or that I ate less, but it helped.

Good luck

I am by no means an expert so take this with a grain of salt.

I would guess that your diet and cardio put your body in a state where it fed on both muscle and fat for your prior weight loss.

I think you have depleted your muscle mass to a point where it has reached equilibrium with your current diet.

I would take the cardio down to 30-40 minutes of 135-145 bpm heart rate in the morning. This should avoid going into a catabolic state where muscle is used for energy, while helping to boost your metabolism.

Later in the day I would add in weight training for additional calorie burn and hopefully retention of or addition to your muscle mass.

Real professionals please chime in and correct me if I am wrong.

No wonder I am not an expert!

Congratulations.

Upon rereading your initial post I see that you are in fact weight training. I am still leary of all that High Intesity cardio, but you cannot argue with success!

Super good job on the dieting. There is no way in the world I can eat that clean.

Keep up the good work.

Quoted: Just remember that muscle is denser than fat.  You could be burning fat and gaining muscle at the same time. CJ

You cannot lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Just like fat requires an excess of calories to build, so does muscle.

Have you considered doing a weightlifting lifting routine such as Rippetoe's 3X5, and cutting back the cardio to every other day?  

That way, you will gain muscle, which will help you burn fat.  

Generally, I go in cycles gaining muscle and then losing weight by increasing cardio,decreasing intake while maintaining muscle. Sometimes I have been on a strict diet. At one point, I remember hitting a plateau, where i couldn't lose weight.Fast-forward a couple weeks, I went out of town for my birthday. I ate horribly for several days, pancakes, birthday cake, ect. I got home and weighed myself and I had actually lost several pounds. It wasn't water weight either, I specifically remember drinking water the whole time. Not sure exactly why, but I assumed it was due to not having enough calorie intake for several weeks. Not saying you should get off your plan, just an experience I had.

Excellent!  Way to not let discouragement keep you down!

BTW, your username has me curious as to if you're a flight instructor?

Cool, I am a private pilot and that is one reason I am working on getting back in fighting shape, so I can fit back in a 172 with a grown up.  Losing weight for you has definitely got to open up your potential client base.  Keep up the good work, and maybe I'll bump into you at an FBO somewhere.

I am glad that you have broken your plateau CFII, they can be a bitch to break. I am in a nasty one right now.