Been doing StrongLifts for some time and I had some questions for that and need some general fitness advice.

Hi,

I've been doing SL since Feb/March with very few breaks in between. I like the program but I have hit a lot of plateaus. And I've not lost any amount of weight. I'm overweight and was hoping this would help the cause.

25 years old Male, 178cm - 98kgs. Unemployed, mostly at home.

My Current Lifts are:

a)Squat 47.5kgs

b)Deadlift 95kgs

c)OHP 27.5kgs

d)BP 50.0 kgs

e)Barbell Rows 45kgs

I've had most difficulty getting progress in OHP, BR and Squats. I've only last week crossed 27.5 kgs for the OHP. And I'm able to manage 42.5kgs on the Barbell Rows easily but end up failing on 45 kgs multiple times.

I've been curious about one thing, on Squatting more than 50kgs, I can feel my lower back/spine kind of cracking? Or rubbing? That really freaks me out and Idk if I should do Squats. I've had four kneecap disclocations on the same knee in the past, but been clean for ten years now. But my knees are in a condition where every time I bend my knee or straighten it (like coming up on a squat) I have these cracking sounds. I've consulted a doctor in the past and he said it's nothing, he was more concerned about my weight which was the orignal cause of the disclocations in the past. So I just want some advice on the back thing.

My end goal is to be stronger and fitter but unfortunately I've not gotten any fitter in the last few months, my weight is about the same.

Diet:

Saturday - Thursday:- Lunch consists of a Salad which has a sliced cucumber and a carrot. A bowl of gravy on most days and pasta on thursdays. I hit the gym after lunch and after that I have three boiled egg whites and curd. Evening snack is usually an apple or two Dinner consists of random things but I try to have Chicken Breasts, Eggs and other protein rich things. 90% of the time I do not snack after Dinner, maybe an ice cream at times.

I'm kind of in this thought that I wanna stay strong and lift even more weights but at the same time I also wanna get slimmer ASAP. I've been trying to lose weight for years and I've never been successful. I touched 90kgs last year and I ended up quitting the gym after that and gained a lot back. I managed to hit 90 from 98 last time after doing lots of cardio and running and extreme diets. I think I might have lost muscle also in the process then. If you think some other program will work better for me, please suggest me some and I'll check them out.

TLDR: Give me advice on squatting, breaking plateaus for OHP, BR and Squats. And some bonus exercises I could do to lose weight. OR suggest me an alternative program to get stronger and lose weight. Thanks.