Hi there,

Thanks for your email.

Looking at all of your information, and the limited Food Diary information that we have for you, it certainly does appear that you're not recording that many calories in your diary. If you are only eating 1,200 calories per day, then the Dietitan that you have spoken to suggesting a 'starvation' mode may explain some of the issue.

When you are looking to lose weight it is really important to record absolutely everything that you eat and drink during the day. It's also important to be as accurate as possible when it comes to portions - we recommend that you weigh everything you eat for at least the first few weeks to get a good idea of what your portion sizes are. This way you know exactly what you're eating, and you can accurately record it in your Food Diary to see the amount of calories you have eaten and have remaining for the day.

In terms of eating enough, this is also really important. As the Dietitan explained, not having enough calories can cause the body to hang onto the calories that you have in your body in case no more food arrives. If you find the thought of eating your full calorie allowance an issue, then try and increase gradually to make sure you're getting enough to support you properly. Try and increase by 200 calories every few days to try and get as close to your allowance as possible. Your allowance has been calculated to be personal to you and for you personally to lose weight, so you should ideally be eating on or around this amount.

When you think about your calories, break them down into smaller chunks to make them more manageable. You should be aiming for about 20% of your calories at breakfast time, 30% for lunch, 30% for dinner, leaving around 20% for snacks during the day. Having your 5 a day is important, as is  choosing lean proteins (e.g. chicken, fish, Quorn, Low Fat Cottage cheese etc), complex carbohydrates (e.g. wholegrain breads, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, new potatoes with the skin on), low fat dairy foods such as milk, cheese or low fat yogurt plus plenty of fluids.

The best option might be to plan a week of really embracing using the Food Diary system - recording everything you eat and drink including weights, eating 3 meals a day plus healthy snacks, and keeping up your exercise. You may be surprised by how much more energy you have, and you may also start to see some weight loss.

The plan you are on is all about gradual and healthy weight loss, so we would expect to see around 1-2lbs weight loss per week. Anything more than this isn't sustainable, so don't get disheartened too quickly - losing weight isn't something that we should rush. Gradually and sensibly will mean longer term weight maintenance.

I hope that this helps - if you have any further questions or feel you need any further support please don't hesitate to get back in touch.

All the best