Is it true that your body will go into "starvation mode" if you eat at a caloric deficit for too long? Im worried because my weight loss is stalling along with my strength gains.

I was 177lbs March 29, today on May 21st Im 167lb. My goal is to see my abs then eat at a caloric surplus of about 300 and see if my strength goes up. At this rate it will take ages, should I try to eat even less?

Ive been doing a basic lifting program and about 170 flights of stairs per day, although this week I started doing 250-300.