Am I expecting to much? losing motivation

lusir113

Hi all I am about 150 cm, entering the 5th month of my journey this May started at 75kgs and now at 65kgs. I exercise a minimum of 4 days a week (mainly cardio). I try my best to eat healthy, I barely touch foods like bread, rice and pasta and stay far away from junk food. My calorie intake goal is 1200, but if I have to be honest the I am consuming about 1100 or below sometimes. I get full easily and drink quite a lot of water, I know I might be under eating but I am scared that I may also over eat if I eat more when I'm full to reach my goal. I am losing motivation the scale says 10kg but I do not see it physically. Although I was not expecting to transform my body completely during this time I was expecting a little more progress. I find myself comparing my progress with individuals on Instagram who have amazing results weighing at a similar starting weight to me and being on the journey for a similar period to me. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

jen_bush

Do you weigh all your food precisely? Do you use entries that are as close to your actual food consumed as possible? Do you eat your exercise calories back?

judith1188

1100 is way to little.... If I were you, I would a) reverse diet and end up at 1600 (and don't eat exercise calories back) b) go and lift weight or try to do group lessons such as body pump. It makes your muscles grow and therefore, you will burn more calories. Plus it will shape you body and make you look good

sc487

Agree with Judith. If I eat too little, I stop losing.

kommodevaran

You are having unrealistic expectations. Do not compare yourself to instagrammers. They may be using unfair tactics - undereating, lying, photoshop. 10 kilos will not necessarily make any remarkable difference on how your body looks, to you - but others may see it, and you will have become healthier. This is a lot more important.

There is no reason to cut out bread, rica and pasta - you can lose weight eating nothing but Skittles (not that anyone would recommend that).

One day here and there eating more or less than your goal does not matter - the average intake over time matters. Make sure you are logging correctly - weighing averything and checking labels.

LivingtheLeanDream

Don't compare your weight loss to others.

You need to eat more than 1100 calories - don't feel that eating more will mean you wont lose, you will but you will lose less muscle along with the fat when you do eat more. It also means your body will get the fuel and nutrition it needs.

And there's no need to cut out/back on certain food groups, its all about being in deficit overall, not what you eat.

lusir113

Thanks guys really appreciate all the replies. I do not currently weigh my food but I will be purchasing a kitchen scale over the weekend, from reading other forums it seems helpful and essential to have one. I think I do under eat sometimes but it’s not on purpose, I have never been one to constantly eat or over eat for the sake of it. Have been hesitant in purposely increasing my intake to reach the 1200 goal because I didn't want to risk undoing what I have lost so far but I definitely don't want to lose muscle so will be giving it a go over the next few weeks.

jen_bush

You don't gain from undereating. If you did, anorexics would be obese. It's not healthy, no, but my theory is that you are underestimating what you eat and overestimating your exercise burns (MFP does that a lot)