Hello myohmywhatawonderfulday
You have done so well and I have loved your posts. Thank you so much. I totally get it that your weight has again crept up a little.
I am just a little bit over 5foot tall and weigh similar to you at 9 stone 2.75lbs.
I should admit that I look okay-ish in my clothes. People around me are often bigger. However my short fat legs are not a good look.
Losing a stone or especially the last half stone is very hard. I would like to be 8 1/2 stone or even better ....8 stone! I need a new way of life. I have dieted over the last few years and lose the bit I want and then it goes back on.
To lose weight I am like you myohmywhatawonderfulday - I need a Ridiculously Low Cal diet of 800- 1000 calories ...as my normal dietary need is only 1300 and something. It means I cannot eat sensibly in the same manner as a taller, larger framed, long legged lady who is say 5’6.... I would just turn to blubber! This is why my weight fluctuates- I eat the same as people I am around and yet those portions I desire just like everybody else, are too big for my small frame.
I agree with all your advice, especially AVOID THE KITCHEN. When I clear up or prep food, I pick little morsels and then crave carb food like fresh french bread and butter that I have in for the family.
I enjoy having STEAMED WHITE CABBAGE as a rice or pasta substitute- so try that if you haven’t so far. I flavour it with black pepper.
Also, I avoid EATING OUT. Only eat at home and NOT IN THE CAR, never mind restaurants.
I have started growing microgreens like pea shoots at home, so to have fresh salad on hand, and I don’t have to shop so often. I also grow cress like a preschooler!
I love sweet potato and butternut squash and I roast those. I fry courgette rings. Perhaps the little bit of oil I use is too much? That seems ridiculous when everyone around me is eating chips and burgers in baps.
There is very little advice and support for small ladies wanting to have a fit, smooth and lithe figure so they can feel energetic and flexible, and can run or skim stones without pulling an unfit muscle. And we want to look good every day and it’s easier without the couple of extra chins!
Today’s culture is all about cocktails, snacks and luxury foods, luxury dining and yummy readymades or takeaways. It seems, I need to be an outsider to all that culture and only have an occasional treats ..and never so much as look at chocolate or drink orange juice! 
I have lost 4lb in the last three weeks and have another 1/2 stone or even a whole stone to go. So the next bit will be harder than those first 4lbs.
To lose those pounds, on an already okay-weight woman, are the hardest won pounds in anybody’s assessment. Don’t be hard on yourself and try to get there slowly.
Some bigger people have said to me, “It’s okay for you. You can eat what you like and stay slim.”
But that is so untrue. I deny myself food I fancy every day, and have done all my life (telling myself one piece of cake is enough) and a small portion of something calorific for me adds up to my weight creeping up.
Can I ask?...Is it true it takes a 3000 calorie deficit to lose a pound of fat? So ten days of 1000 calories for me, I would lose one pound? No wonder small people like us myohmywhatawonderfulday find it very hard to keep going.
I am joining you on your ambition to feel great with the weight loss and then to have a system of keeping it off.
My current preferred ‘rule’ is to almost fast two days a week (doing the 5:2 but not having the advised 500cals those days, having something smaller) and to be good on all the other days.
I will also always include social drinks and/or also having birthday cakes or tasting other social foodie gifts offered. I love joining in with family and friends and during this horrid pandemic some things are more important than my eating plan. It will slow my progress but it is also important to me to be part of social life.
Sending loving support to you al all. This thread and all the contributors have been really good!