Is this a plateau or what? Help?

[lrwinters]

I have been exercising and preparing for a figure show in May. My problem is the scale. I have been consistently 160 lbs for the past three months. I increased my cardio this month(Jan) to 5days..45minutes(low intensity). I weight train 4 days a week...back/tris, shoulders, chest/bis, and legs. My diet consist of 5-6 meals a day. 1st meal- 1/2cup oatmeal and 4eggwhites, 1 yolk
2nd meal-protein shake
3rd meal-4 oz chix, and veggies
4th meal-protein shake
5th meal-chix or fish and veggies
I am reallly going crazy, I do see changes and I have gotten smaller in some areas: arms,breast, legs. But not enough to see real definition. I have been an athlete for most of my life. I do have muscle. I am also 40 and 5'7". It just seems like with all the effort I should be slimmer. Should I worry about that BMR? I just want to make sure I am doing my best so that I can have the best possible outcome. Thank you in advance.

[Scrutiny]

Welcome to the forum.

How long have you been performing that routine?
Do you know exactly how much you require from your diet?

The BMR does matter if you are serious about results.
Without having an idea of what you require, you can very easily over or under-eat.
Might be a good idea to check out the articles in this section to grab a grip on the diet:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/art...nutrition.html

Take a look at these articles regarding healthy fatloss.
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/art...rning-fat.html

[lrwinters]

Ok...BMR totals 2540. This means I should be eating approx. 2500 calories a day? Even when I am trying to lean out? I dont think I am eating that.
In November, diet and exercise were off and on...Dec. about 85% consistent and Jan. 100% consistent. This includes one cheat meal a week.

[muscletrainerdh]

Originally Posted by lrwinters

Ok...BMR totals 2540. This means I should be eating approx. 2500 calories a day? Even when I am trying to lean out? I dont think I am eating that.
In November, diet and exercise were off and on...Dec. about 85% consistent and Jan. 100% consistent. This includes one cheat meal a week.

2540 would be your calories for maintenance.

If you are "Leaning Out" you need to subtract calories from that to put yourself in a calorie deficit.

Most would do Maintenance - 500 calories, so that puts you around 2000 calories a day.

[lrwinters]

So, should I do a zig zag with that 2000 calories? Should there be high and low days? Oh...and thanks for all your help guys!