Dieting is horrendous

Can I make a big suggestion as this worked for me? Cutting cals was making me miserable, tired even dizzy sometimes and also obsessed with food. I swapped on advice of a PT to low inflammation low GI. It basically just means no processed, all natural and you keep an eye on your macros and fibre. It was life changing for me as the cals could be higher than the usual miserablr lo cal doet, my blood sugar was stable, the protein and fibre kept me fuller and i just wasnt hungry nearly as much. It worked realy well and its basically how I eat all the time now more or less. You can get a low GI factsheet for free of the internet and chatgpt can even work out your macros for you.

Google TDEE calculator and put your details in

No! Nowhere near enough. Sweet potato, cottage cheese and salad might be getting somewhere! Or chickpea scramble if vegan or dairy intolerant.

How do you know how many calories you need to eat a day?

Also, 1600 on maintenance seem incredible little, OP.
I am 5ft3 and moderately active and my maintenance is around 2000 kcals. I lose weight at 1800 kcals a day, althoug very slowly (which for me is a good thing as I know I can stick to it)

Your kcals seem way too low. Cutting calories down so much is never a good strategy because even if you do lose the weight, you will end up gaining it all back.
You need to find a sweet spot that allows you to lose weight slowly and in a sustainable manner, more of a lifestyle change, not eating the calories of a 3 years old, OP!

Sod half fat cheese too. If the small amount of cheese makes the difference between a meal having satiety, eat it. Just make it a tiny amount.

Half fat and low fat will make you feel deprived.

I had a sweet potato for tea yesterday which is good for you isn't it?

I still felt weak

You need to give up or cut down on the cheese

Eggs are a great source of protein so will keep you fuller for longer around 70 C an egg so three eggs will be 210 c

Which means you have nearly 300 cal in cheese and veg is low in calories

Your next meal includes cheese again

Cheese is lovely I love cheese but you’re getting very small amount for a lot of calories even when it’s half fat cheese

I hate to say it, but even if you stick to this ludicrously low amount of calories, you'll only put the weight back on again.

You need to eat good, filling high fibre foods. 3 meals a day, no snacks, no eating 2 hours before bedtime.

The weight will come off slowly and sustainably.

You’re not eating the right foods if you feel weak. Have a look at your macros and drink litres of water.

That’s true, but it also means for 80-85 percent of people it’s a good indicator, and of course height to waist should also be taken into account

Counting calories is miserable and almost always a sure way to failure when trying to lose weight.

I think that’s fair and of course you will be right, I also admire you for just stating it and not coaching it with and everyone who takes it is about to die.sigh

My thighs are solid and my boobs probably weigh as much as a small child. I am not a size 10/12 across my chest. Buttons are NOT my friend.

I AM an outlier, I know this. It's why I'm not bothered about my BMI. But it's also why I am suspicious of it as a measure of health - your question about my waist was much more pertinent.

At a reasonable estimate, about 15-20% of people have circumstances where BMI on its own is a noticeably poorer guide than waist to height ratio or other measures. That's about 1 in 5 of us that aren't lying when we say BMI is shite - that's not really a negligible number of people.

Even the NHS says BMI should be used in conjunction with waist/height ratio, and many researchers are calling for it to be the primary tool. It's the one that my GP surgery uses with me, because both the scales and my BMI bely what your eyes can see and my bloods/blood pressure tells you.

The bloody 10 year risk of mortality score doesn't use it though, so my NHS app is still depressing reading relative to the work I've done to improve my health.

Yes it’s not cheap. I do earn enough to afford it when I’m saving so much on food and booze as I liked a drink every weekend and I don’t want it now and we got a takeaway once a month which I’m not doing now. If you’re scrimping anyway though I get you can’t afford it so I’d just calorie count. That’s what I’m doing anyway but I don’t need the willpower anymore which for some reason became so hard for me during perimenopause. I’m being lazy basically (not physically but mentally!).

To be fair I think it is quite unusual for someone to have a bmi of 31 and be a size ten you’re a bit of an outlier I’d suggest. You must have a lot of muscle.

Agreed 1000% re UK sizes. For reference, all my clothes come from either Sainsbury's or Oliver Bonas. And trousers are more often a 12 because of my hips - fixed waistband skirts are a 10.

To loose weight we have to eat so few calories. Which is a struggle for people

That's why it's so harder to lose weight than gain weight.

It took me six months to lose four pounds. Then I ate more than I normally would at Christmas and put four pounds on in two weeks. I was so sad

I think this is a reflection of women's clothes sizing being rubbish! According to actual clothing charts, a 32" waist is a size 14-16. The fact you can fit into size 10-12 trousers just demonstrates how poorly clothes are sized. I too can fit into clothes much smaller than size charts indicate I should be able to. But my waist isn't actually that size.

I have no comment on whether you look thin, fat, or anything else though! Everybody looks different and I can't see you. Health wise, a waist to height ratio is more useful in many ways than BMI, and you say you are within the healthy range for this so I'm sure you're fine.

Totally agree. I have been really good for the last two months and granted, my skin looks good due to all the veg, but I reckon I've only actually lost about 4 pounds???

It's really hard

It really is horrendous.
Food is suddenly everywhere and you feel so hungry, your stomach may begin to eat itself.
Then you turn a corner. You lose some weight and you realise you can do it.
You can definitely do this
Keep going and flipping good luck x

I wouldn't be able to afford 70 pounds a month. I don't think that a lot of people can

On my current salary, I can just last on the money I have to the end of the month

Someone else highly educated and knowledgeable will be along shortly to tell you again how obese you are don’t worry . As if it’s helpful

Wegovy is less than £70 a month on Voy if that’s any use. I just up my protein and do weights to save muscle, I’m also in a calorie deficit and it does make it easier. I can go for a run without needing to binge later in the day.