Calories

You said you understood water weight.

If you truly did you would have been celebrating your month-long 10-14 lb loss.

But instead of celebrating your very successful beginning you went off track for a few days, in part because of your perception of a lack of continuing results.

Thankfully you're recouping.

Your calorie goal is fine for now, and if you weight and log your food correctly you really shouldn't have need to undereat it.

You didn't cut 52,500+ Calories from your true maintenance level budget during your first two weeks on this site.

On the day you've reached that (true) average deficit, that is when you will have achieved 10lbs of true fat loss.

Until that time your true fat level change will continue to be obscured by a wave of non fat water weight changes.

The first two weeks they added to your fat loss, and you celebrated

The last two weeks they detracted from your fat loss, and you despaired

Compare same points of menstrual cycle one cycle apart.

Revue weight trend results with logged deficits to determine if losses are accumulating as expected or if you need to adjust your targets.

Make changes you believe you can continue to make indefinitely, forever! Don't look for scale rewards for your hard work. Work hard at developing PRE-CONDITIONS (processes / choices / activities / little or big decisions) that will make it so that every day is driving you closer to your weight loss goal. The pre-condition is creating an "easily" sustainable, continuing, "average Caloric deficit" as compared to your "average Caloric expenditure"

Consider tracking weight in weight trend app or web site.