Help!! I stopped losing weight and I don't know why!

Hello everyone!

I'll try to keep it brief.  I'm female, 27, 5' 5".  I weighed 126lbs and my goal was 116lbs.  For the first two weeks I was doing great and lost 4.5 lbs, taking me down to 121.5.  I have been stuck there for the past 3 weeks!

I'm still trying to reach my goal of 116, but I can't seem to lose the next 5.5lbs.

I eat exceptionally well.  I never eat any junk food, only lean protein (turkey and fish), whole grains, lots of fresh veggies, fruit, drink 8 - 10 cups of water per day, etc. I'm consuming between 1200 and 1300 calories per day.  My base calories burned in a day is 1550.  

I'm very active.  Currently renovating a house (laying hardwood, installing a kitchen, painting, etc.) which I estimate burns an extra 500 - 1000 calories per day, depending on what I've done that day.  On days where I'm not renovating, I run and lift weights which is burning roughly 300 calories.  Technically, all of this combined with what I'm eating should be giving me a calorie deficit of 500 - 1200 calories per day! I would expect to see a 1 - 2lb weight loss per week, but for the ast 3 weeks I have plateaued.  I know I'm probably putting on some muscle, but come on... no change for 3 weeks!?!

Should I eat more? Am I not eating enough calories? Is my body eating its own lean protein and storing fat?

Also, I know I don't NEED to lose these 5.5lbs, but I want to.  I usually weight 113 - 116 so this is not an unreasonable weight goal for me.  I should also mention, the main reason I want to drop the last 5lbs is cause my pants are all a little snug right now and I'd rather lose a few lbs than buy a whole new wardrobe :)

Any advice any of you have would be so appreciated! Thanks, and have a great day.

I started 215 lbs and lost 17 lbs in three weeks. After that I am stuck at 208 lbs. Any body knows what the  reason is? Is there any mechanism in body that reduces the metabolism of the body after say three weeks of not taking enough intake?

personally, i think that you are at the "perfect" weight for your size, and you should just work on maintaining it, which you are pretty much doing now.

but, if you want to see minimal changes like with your body, you can try different exercises to maybe gain some muscle weight, which will in turn make you seem more fit and toned, which will make you look skinnier.

for example, i was on a plateu for a LONG time, and it really frustrated me, bc i worked out a lot and ate healthy every day. but, i started getting compliments about how great i looked and people asking me if i lost weight even though i was around the same weight for a month! so it turns out muscle weighs more than fat thing is true, because even though i wasnt losing weight on the scale, i was gaining muscle weight and losing fatty weight

so hopefully that helps you maybe :)

oh and i got over that plateu thingie after a few weeks, just keep it up! your obviously doing something right