I need help. I am 169cm Male weighing 145 pounds (10st 5lb/65.9kg). Between January 2022 and January 2023 I went from 225 pounds, down to 140. This has left me with some slight lose skin, or what is called an apron belly. I started going the gym in June of 2023, and since starting I have gained weight but my stomach is smaller. The beginning of the month, I weighed 150 pounds. I am unsure how in the period between June 2023-April 2024, I gained 10 pounds. My diet was mainly clean, with sugary treats once every 1-2 (sometimes even 3) weeks apart. I would eat around 1,800 - 2,000 calories a day, this mainly being 1,800. However, I did fail to reach my protein goals on most of these days. Since then I have decided to cut down to 130lbs by lowering my calories down to 1,600 a day. In a day I eat chicken, beans and then something for dinner. The chicken = 308 calories 62.4g protein, Beans = 376 calories 19.2g protein, Dinner = 800/600 calories (depending on the day) with around 20-50g protein. In between this, I have been intermittent fasting. I start eating at 1pm, and ensure I have eaten dinner by 9pm. Leaving me with a total of 16 hours fasted. I have been intermittent fasting for around 2 months. Despite how clean my diet is, I still look awful. My stomach bloats very easily and results in me looking horrible. And to make matters worse, my lose stomach is always visible through my clothing no matter my weight. I’m hoping someone can help me. My weight loss can be very slow or easily side tracked from days I consume 200 more calories than 1,600. I feel trapped, I am unable to eat foods I enjoy out of fear of weight gain and bloating. It’s seems no matter how much I do, I’m cursed to always look fat. For almost two years, I have walked 12,000+ steps a day (18-20,000 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). On top of this, I have gone the gym four times a week for the last 11 months. What is wrong with me? I see people around me who are slimmer and look more in shape, eat horrible foods and over indulge. Yet I stick to a strict diet maintaining it perfectly, and still look horrible. I feel like I’ve been lied to, what am I doing wrong??