Strength gains and weight loss

[HighOnLife]

I'm new to posting on here but have been reading a lot of the forums of late to get some guidance in my training. I'm on a 12 week cut (into week 9) and I'm finding my weight loss has been tapering off the last couple of weeks but I'm still making some strength gains eg heavier deads (110-20), squats (110-20) and bench (80) generally. I'm trying to figure out if I've potentially put on some muscle to net out weight loss (If its even possible in calorie deficit) or if my body has just adapted to my diet and i need to cut it down further to drop the last few kilos. I always thought strength gains in deficit weren't feasible or am i getting confused with mass gains?

Below is an idea of my stats any thoughts are appreciated.

179cm

Starting weight 85kg

Current weight 78kg

4 day split weights

4-5 days cardio 300-400 calories per (sometimes fasted)

Diet:

Breakfast 1 cup rice flakes mixed with 2 scoops protein powder

Morning tea 1 cup brown rice 200gms chicken breast

Lunch same as above

afternoon 160gms tuna, handful of cashews

dinner 200gms ribeye/porterhouse steak 1 cup of veges

evening 5 egg whites 1 yolk

[gdl]

Strength gains in calorie deficit diets are GENERALLY harder although not impossible.

Just a suggestion but definitely replace those rice flakes with a cup of oats

Maybe half your serving of brown rice at meal 2 and meal 3 as well, replace with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vegies such as broccoli, cauli or asparagus

My opinion, everything else looks fairly solid, 7kgs in 9 weeks is a good effort PLUS increase in strength... well done :clap: