Why is this not working?!

[Doodledumdums]

I have been dieting for three weeks now, and lost 3lb the first week, but since then all I have done is put on a pound and I don't understand why?! I have been using my fitness pal and literally logging every single thing that passes my lips, plus weighing things so I know exactly the quantities that I am eating. I have on the whole been eating an average of 900 calories a day, plus doing exercise twice a week (I don't have time for more than that), so am so confused about where I'm going wrong? I have mostly been eating-

Breakfast: Two hard boiled eggs (I have been told that protein for breakfast is better for weight loss than carbohydrate)
Lunch: Chicken, lettuce and cucumber salad.
Dinner: Low fat soup.
Snacks: Handful of cashew nuts (health food non salted variety! Full of good fats I'm told?!)

Why is this not working? I'm hardy eating much, and have cut out all sugar from my diet which I ate loads of before. I just don't understand!

that cannot be 900 calories surely? Maybe your body has panicked and gone into some kind of starvation mode?

It is near enough 900, it is about 200 for each meal and then 300 for the nuts. Yes maybe starvation mode, but surely it should have come out of it by now and started using some of the excess fat?! I am getting so frustrated!

You need to eat more calories than that. The absolute minimum suggested is 1200 calories. Your body will be in starvation mode and clinging to fat. Plus eating so little means you're not very likely to sustain it and more likely to have a huge blowout and eat loads of high sugar foods for energy.

So if I eat more, then I will actually lose more weight?

I hate dieting, it's so confusing!

Google TDEE calculators, they will tell you how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. A good starting point would be to eat around 80% of your TDEE, so if it's 2000 you'd be eating 1600. If you work out calories by TDEE then you don't need to eat back any exercise calories on MFP. Any change in diet or exercise needs to be given 3 weeks to work.

Is the soup homemade? Ready made soup tends to be fairly high in salt, which could lead to you retaining water. 'Starvation mode' would slow weight loss but not stop it altogether.

Are you logging all of your drinks? Things like squash and fruit juice can be surprisingly high in calories.

Thank you, I will have a look at that, definitely sounds like a good starting point!

I don't log my drinks, but the only thing I ever drink is weak sugar free squash, nothing else, so I can't imagine that is making a huge difference?

I don't make my soup, I usually buy those fresh soup pots, so that could be an issue. I should make my own, as then I wouldn't put any salt in.If it is water retention due to salt, does that mean that under the water retention I will actually be losing weight? I hope so!

Definitely! I know it sounds strange but it does work when I first started counting calories it didn't feel like I was actually dieting, but as I lost weight I recalculated how many calories I should eat so that I was only aiming to lose 1.5lbs per week. Over a year I lost 4 stone and I think because I did it gradually I got used to eating less, and what I would have normally been able to polish off easily I could no longer finish. Good luck

Remembering my time doing VLCD, 500kcals a day of meal replacement, I know my weight was hugely affected by water intake, aim for at least 3litres a day. Also the sugar free squash might be a problem, some sweetners kick you out of fat burning mode. Salt might be problematic too.

If you've been able to eat that little for 3 weeks solid, as others have said you may be eating too little - but you might find that the 5:2 plan would suit you.

Another factor to consider - it doesn't look like you're eating very much veg so you might have a full gut!

Exercise - depending on what you're doing, you could be gaining muscle which is a good thing but may lead to disappointing weight readings. Presumably what you really want to do is lose fat, rather than weight per se - so it can be helpful to use a tape measure rather than just scales.

Wow, 4 stone in a year is amazing, well done you! I'm aiming for 2 stone by July, which I thought was achievable, but not at this rate!

I have looked at the soup I'm eating and it is pretty low in salt, so I'm guessing it's not that. I think I'll cut out the squash and see what happens. Eugh, 3 litres a day?! I rarely manage one litre! I loathe drinking, I'd give it up entirely if I could! (Slight exaggeration, I probably wouldn't...but it's not something I'm a fan of!)

Okay, so my new plan is, drink more water, eat more so my calorie intake is higher, give up squash ( ) and make sure I'm getting as little salt as possible. Let's see what happens when I do all of that!

Errol What do you mean I may have a full gut? Yes, it does look like not much veg, though I usually get 3 portions of veg from the soup, and two from the salad, so that would be okay wouldn't it?

I have thought about the 5:2 diet, but I'm just wprried about dipping in amd out of dieting, I think I either need to be on it 24/7 or it wont work, as I need to be 'in the zone!'

The exercise I'm doing is swimming, badminton and squash, but only twice a week (not each, twice a week in total!), so I don't know if that's enough to build muscle?

Good point re:tape measure, probably a much more trustworthy method!

5:2 isn't 'dipping in and out of dieting' ... it's a way of eating over a week which many people find combines health benefits and weight loss. It may or may not suit you but if what you're doing now isn't working well, it could be worth thinking about.

Those activities are fun and definitely worth doing as an end in themselves but may not be doing that much for either muscle building or fat loss. You might want to look into HIIT (high intensity interval training) - there are things you can do in a very short space of time at home with no equipment.

If you're not drinking much that can lead to water retention, sounds silly but as your body isn't getting enough water it decides to hold onto as much as it can! I'm often guilty of not drinking enough, I have a 2 litre bottle that I fill with water every morning and aim to drink it all, at least, by bedtime.

Some sugar free squashes are surprisingly high in calories, and sweeteners can effect some people, so it might be worth giving up for a while to see if it makes a difference.

I second Errol's HIIT suggestion, but do what you enjoy as you're more likely to stick at it :)

I agree that 5:2 would work well for you
900 calories is definitely not enough on a daily basis. Even if you do lose weight, you will put it straight back on afterwards.