Where am I going wrong in my diet?

Thats good weight loss.

How active are you? Nobody wants to hear me say this and this is just about me but to maintain a size 12 figure at 5"7 & 9.5 stone my diet is healthy food but not interesting and I don't eat breakfast. I have big portions and I really can't emphasise how little movement I do so take it with a pinch of salt as it goes against the grain of what everyone else is saying but I've recently had bloods done and they are fine, I never feel tired and I rarely get ill. Obviously I eat more if I'm being active.

Yesterday was 3x rice cakes, 3x bread and 1x soup.

Today is 3x rice cakes 1x soup with 2 bread for lunch, veggie ratatouille (with beans for protein) for dinner.

Tomorrow will be porridge at lunchtime (stuffed with seeds and fruit) and dinner is chilli with a handful of nacho chips, cheese and avocado.

Saturday will be a midmorning brunch, probably omelette, beans and mushrooms and dinner will be salad with tofu.

Sunday tea will be curry without rice. Not chosen lunch yet.

That lunch is.over 400 calories

Cut out the Pepsi Max.

My BMR is 1,500, so I should be losing a lot as my deficit is approximately 400 calories a day.

you should be working from your TDEE not your BMR. 1000 is way too low.

For context: I am 54, 5ft 7 and weigh 10st 12 ish at the moment (and have done for a few years). If I eat less than 2,000 calories a day I don't lose weight. (I have weighed 13st 8 + so am not a skinny minnie and this has been true for me always it just took me a few decades to accept it). Eat more, but eat better as PP have suggested. I am maintaining easily at the moment and eat between 1,800 and 2,500 calories a day (I'm not really monitoring but I do check sometimes). I could focus a bit and tidy up around the edges and lose some weight if I wanted to but don't have the drive right now, and am healthy so see no need to. You have been hoodwinked into thinking that the only way / best way to lose weight is low calorie diet. It's just not true. I have done low calorie diets too and I never lost weight and went loony tunes on them and nearly into eating disorder land. There are better ways to be healthy.

No breakfast, not enough veggies

Agree with this. OP you've asked where you are going wrong and people have given you advice tellingvyou that the weightloss is in the expected range. You have dismissed any advice that could actually help you. I'm not too sure what you want people to say. You've had some pretty solid advice so far.

I have a stone to loose and have lost the same as you 4lbs in the same time. Which I'm very happy about .I don't think you are eating enough really and what you eat sounds a bit dull. Have you tried Noom, it's really good

OP I mean this with kindness (I promise!) but how the thread reads a little is:

OP title: What am I doing wrong?

Lots of people: The calories are so low you're in starvation mode / drop the UPF / ditch diet drinks

OP Response: I want to keep the calories as low as they are to keep my chosen deficit / I need to keep both the diet drinks and the UPF right now.

I'm wondering what you were expecting or hoping people's advice would be if you're also not wanting to change what you're doing? Genuine question 😊 X

You can't force your body to lose weight more quickly, just as can't spot reduce fat. It's not a linear equation where you lose lb a week for a 500 calorie deficit and you lose 2lb for 1000. Bodies are more complicated than that.

I mean, the alternative is you could chop a limb off and that would cause you to lose weight, or you could get norovirus and lose lots of water weight, but in terms of losing fat you can't force your body to speed up the process. That's just the impression we get given from weight loss marketing, it isn't real.

Unsustainable at 1000 calories per day. Which means eventually you’ll lose motivation and then end up back at square one. I’d aim for say a 200 cal deficit, and a kg loss per month not per week. That would be a stone lighter by mid year and would dominate your life far less than the current misconceived effort.

as others have said, cut the cans of coke and ready meals. Personally I’d switch the latte for an americano or similar at breakfast, and add some solid food (banana / bit of carbs and protein).

I think the fact you've done multiple diets shows how bad they are. SW is a cancer on society and gets you quick results to hook you then drains you of your money to keep losing.

1000 calories is too low, increase it. Maybe speak to a PT or dietician who can give you some guidance on how calorie deficits actually work and work out a plan for you.

How to lose weight well is a great book. You could try intermittent fasting, which it goes into detail about. I agree with a pp about your diet not being optimal for your health becomes of the amount of processed items in it. They could be contributing to not losing weight, e.g. diet drinks with artificial sweeteners can disturb your gut health. I would personally remove/reduce upfs. I wouldn't be too worried about high quality fats in small quantities, e.g., butter. I'd also increase healthy protein and fibre e.g., nuts (high in calories, but your body doesn't actually absorb all the calories in nuts due to high fibre content).

Everyone needs to exercise to be healthy. It's not just about weight loss.

You are only on the cusp of over weight. You don't need to go on an unhealthy starvation diet.

If you spend all day sat on your bum, you need about 1,700 calories. Trying to only eat 1,000 is unhealthy.

You could try eating at least five portions of vegetables and fruit a day. Enough protein (70g a day should do it) and lots of fibre (30+g a day). Eat mainly whole foods cooked from scratch ( cut most of the crap out) and remember to sit down and have a couple of fully appreciated treats a week. Explore pulses and spices - try and eat 30 different plants a week.

Make sure you move your body; walk, do housework, take the stairs, chase the DC. You only have one body, treat it nicely.

That is way too little food. You won't end up sustaining that long term.

I am 5ft 3 and two years ago weighed 10 stone 13 so just a bit lighter than you but shorter.

It took me a year to lose one stone (I dropped from a dress size 14 to a 12). That was good progress for me. I lost a lot of water wight in the first moth then progress slowed considerably. Sometimes I would lose 1-2 lbs per week, other weeks nothing or I would put on 1lb.

You seriously need to increase your food intake volume. Maybe have the eggs and sourdough for breakfast instead of lunch, a salad with lean protein for lunch and try and avoid the ready meals as they are not filling. Chicken breast with loads of veg and some carbs is a great evening meal. Just avoid the oils etc. Add some Greek yoghurt to your berries as a snack.

I aim for approx 1,600 calories per day.

Starvation mode isn't a real thing

Your body will go into starvation mode on that amount of food and slow your metabolism down.

Your weight loss will slow down and once you've reached your target weight you will put the pounds back on very quickly if you return to a 2000 calorie a day diet. You need to eat more.

That dramatic loss you had with SW may be the very reason you are concerning yourself with weight loss now. If dramatic loss had worked for you then you wouldn't be here.
Some people have a dramatic loss and keep it off. Most dont though.
Time to accept that you are one of the 'most', and look forward to half a stone a month which is not inconsiderable.

By the way I am very interested in nutrition/weight loss etc so have learnt a lot about it. I lost 2.5 stone 2 years ago and have kept it off. I average around 2000 cals a day but do a LOT of exercise. I eat mostly whole foods and focus heavily on protein. I also don't always eat breakfast until around 11am, and stop eating in the evening around 7pm; fasting has helped me maintain my current weight which interestingly is only a few pounds less than what you currently weigh and I am a similar height - I would question how much weight you feel you actually need to lose?

Your expectations of weight loss are way off. That's loads of weight loss in 2 weeks. Also - it can be water weight too.

Agree to completely rid your diet of UPF, and look into eating for insulin control - that's cutting down on carbs and sugar which skyrockets your blood glucose.

Also, stop drinking Diet Coke - it makes your body think that glucose is coming because it's sweet and like PP say, horrible for your gut microbiome. So much research on this.

Start the day with proteins and fats and eat tonnes of protein throughout the day. Restrictive calorie counting never actually works, it's not feasible for the rest of your life. Whole foods with a massive focus on protein and weight training if you can.

Why are you looking to lose loads of weight? You are a healthy weight. I am 5'7 and 11stone 7 with tonnes of muscle and workout 4 x a week with heavy weights - don't feel like I need to lose fat necessarily (I have 25% body fat) and feel healthy and strong. So much better than the calorie counting days.

Fasting has helped me improve insulin sensitivity loads too.

I'd read Fast like a girl and Ultra processed people.

1-2 pounds a week is a sustainable weight loss, anything more and it's likely you'll put it back on. Also as others have said you are not really overweight so it will take longer. 1000 calories is nowhere near enough and will just mean you likely binge. You need to focus on feeling full after every meal and that will involve around 30g of protein at each meal. eg greek yogurt and fruit for breakfast, eggs & salmon for lunch, chicken for dinner. Ditch the upf ready meals. Up your water intake. I'd be looking at approx 1500 cals a day.

🙄🙄🙄🙄

Do you never hear people refer to the usual coke as full fat? It's a joke, I'm not literally suggesting it has fat in it. Good lord.

If OP wants to drink something sweet, she's far better off imo having a can of the real stuff.

Yes we all know that SuGAr Is BaaaaaD for you but honestly you have to live a little as well. Don't give up all the treats. A cold can of coke is fine now and then.

There comes a point in life where you have to exercise and diet if you want to lose weight, or... just don't worry about it.