Possibly time for a diet break?

[Mosin Warrior]

I have been trying to lose body fat since May 2012, and seem to have hit a bit of a wall the last two months. I'm wondering if it isn't time for a bit of a break, (2-3 months) while eating at maintenance before taking another 8-12 weeks to get to sub 15% body fat?

Background:
Height: 6' 1"
Starting Weight: 220 on 5/13/2012
Current Weight: 184-186 @17-18% body fat
Goals: 1): get to sub 15% body fat to begin slowly adding weight again (short term goal)
2): get to 190 at 15% body fat (intermediate)
3): get to ~220 at 15% body fat (long term)

I graduated college weight a fairly sloppy 220 despite lifting 3x a week with consistency. The issue was a poor diet and drinking 2000+ calories in beer 4-7 times a week.

After graduation I cut out all drinking for 2 months and dropped from 220 to 208 in 2 months. I then took a short diet break while visiting Germany, Austria, and France for 10 days. During this time I managed to maintain my weight because I was walking 7+ miles a day sight-seeing.

By August 1, I was 199.6. I continued to make fairly steady, albeit slow progress in weight loss and by the September I was 191. From September to November 1, I only lost 2 pounds while tracking my calorie intake and hitting 2100 per day.

During November, I hovered from 187-188 while tracking calories and performing steady state cardio 2x per week and lifting 3x per week. I swapped sprints for the steady state in January and was able to push my weight down to 184 by February, however I have hovered here for about a month and am wondering if I may be in need of a diet break.

Current Diet and training:
Since September, I have been tracking my macros by weighing and measuring my portions for each meal. I log all of my food using the myfitnesspal app on my phone. My goal calorie count is 2100 per day and I shoot for 200g carbs, 180-200g protein and 55-60g fat break down of macros. I log my food 7 days a week, making sure I hit my goal each day.

My diet consists of the usual lean meats and carbs. Chicken breasts, top round london broil, and lean ground beef are my staple meats that I eat each week. For carbs, I typically eat jasmine rice, bread, and fruit as my staples. If I drink, It is 1-2x a week at most and I log my drinks as part of my macros for the day.

As for training, I train 3x per week in a upper/lower/full body split. In addition, I do conditioning 1-2x per week where I do 7 sprints for 20 seconds with 1:40 active rest between each sprint.

I feel like my body is starting to fight the weight loss and I may need to eat a maintenance for a bit to give my metabolism a break before making a final push. So, my question is should I take break from the calorie restriction by bumping calories by 3-400 a day and maintaining, or do you think I can still cut calories a bit more to make the final push?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Are you doing any refeeds during the week? What would you say compliance is at over the course of a week as far as numbers go and how much fiber/day?

[Mosin Warrior]

I currently am doing no refeeds during the week, so its 2100 cal a day, 7 times a week. Compliance is good over the course of the week. I may be +50 cals one day and -50 the next, but over the course of the week I am pretty much spot on with hitting my 14,700 calories per week, +/- 100 cals for the whole week. As for fiber, I am probably a bit deficient averaging 15-20 grams a day.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Here's what I'd do:

Hit 35g of fiber everyday and,
2x per week on your heaviest days go 220/350/50 and,
On all the rest of your days go -10g of carbs, -3g of fat.

[Mosin Warrior]

Sounds good to me. Just make sure I'm understanding the macro break down, its 220 carbs, 350 protein, and 50 grams fat? Or is it 220 protein, 350 carbs, and 50 fat?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Or is it 220 protein, 350 carbs, and 50 fat?

This one.