aneroxia? worried.

im almost 15, 5'4 and around 96 pounds.

i look skinny from the side, but the problem is i have excess skin or fat in my body which is really nerve racking and i want to lose it.

i started out cutting bad foods-sodas, ice cream, chips,etc and reduced my calorie intake to about 1000 calories a day. 2 weeks later i found it easy to eat less than 600 calories a day.

i have been tired alot lately, and have been feeling cold too..

i feel like a really need to lose this excess skin, and then go back to eating about 1200 calories a day and exercise regurarly.

i dont want to screw up my body for life with this weight obsession i have now.

what can i do?

You are underweight already -- losing more will not get rid of the excess skin you think you have on your body -- the only thing that can get rid of excess skin is surgery.  Please discuss your current fears and obsession with weight with a trusted adult -- parent, clergy, teacher, doctor, etc.

Undereating is not the answer.  A 15-year old girl needs at least 1500 calories per day -- you burn 2200 calories at moderate activitiy (which is about what most kids are).  You are tired and cold because you are robbing your body of insulation and nutrients.

Please check out these web sites, and understand that Calorie count is all about gaining and maintaining a healthy weight in a healthy manner.  Extreme measures, undereating, excessive exercise do not fit into the realm of a healthy manner.

calculator and calorie information for Teens 

Nutrition, Exercise & Weight Management for Teens

More Nutrition & Health for Teens

Dieting & Metabolism (explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter-productive)

The Body Neglected (explains what happens when you undereat a long time)

Something-Fishy.org (information about eating disorders)

im not very active, my parents work all day so i basically just do chores or watch tv and read all day-so im worried im not burning enough calories to support my calorie intake

First -- if you are eating only 600-1000 calories per day, you are burning far more than you are eating.  Second -- doing chores burns quite a number of calories.  Third -- a female of 15 should be eating a minimum of 1500 calories to ensure proper nutrition.  Please, check out the web sites

If you went to a nutritionist or doctor right now, you'd likely be diagnosed as anorexic. If you jumped up to 1600-1800 calories right now, you might gain a few pounds at first, but will level off and maintain [you're a teen, so the calculators on this site are not accurate for you]--and you need to continuously eat more in order to repair your metabolism. Speaking from personal experience, losing even more weight will NOT help you get rid of that flab. One thing will, though: muscle mass! I would highly recommend eating more and incorporating strength training into your routine. If you're truly afraid of gaining weight, then pleeeease seek help from a therapist or other professional.

thats great Revolution......  i wish you'd research this stuff before you go posting it on the net and scaring the life into ppl. just because ur not losing weight on 600 cals IT DOESNT MEAN UR METABOLISM HAS DROPPED TO 600. in fact the only cited article i have ever found with a substantial metabolic drop was in a 65 yr old man whos metabolism was 900 when it was supposed to be 1300. this was after years of undereating. ur metabolism doesnt just fail and fall like that. you sound more like a bully tryn to scare someone new to an eating disorder terrain.
STARTZ41 i will be honest with you. coldness and tiredness are a sign that ur body is strugglin a lot. both A due to lack of cals and B body fat. u need to get away from the 600 cal mark. i was very similar to u. i was conscious of my face. etc. i upped cals by 150 a week till i matched my output (which was about 3000.... coz i was training) i actually found the more i ate the leaner i became. and lost more weight (this is not wat u want at ur stats) but because 600 is such a lo number ur body with catabolise its muscle instead of fat (muscle is metabolically and calorifically expensive 50cas per lb where as fat is 3cals)

so i suggest getting ur metabolism going and getting up to 1500-1600 cals. at this point start doing some exercise and  lifting some weigts. this will help define and tone areas and will also help ur confidence. you do need to tackle this obsession coz it will persist. believe me......im 3 years on from where u started. do get those cals up. this is very important

okay i'll deffinently get my cals up.

thanks everyone.

**edited to reflect posting change**

Original Post by fidget84:

thats great Revolution...... i wish you'd research this stuff before you go posting it on the net and scaring the life into ppl. just because ur not losing weight on 600 cals IT DOESNT MEAN UR METABOLISM HAS DROPPED TO 600. in fact the only cited article i have ever found with a substantial metabolic drop was in a 65 yr old man whos metabolism was 900 when it was supposed to be 1300. this was after years of undereating. ur metabolism doesnt just fail and fall like that. you sound more like a bully tryn to scare someone new to an eating disorder terrain.
STARTZ41 i will be honest with you. coldness and tiredness are a sign that ur body is strugglin a lot. both A due to lack of cals and B body fat. u need to get away from the 600 cal mark. i was very similar to u. i was conscious of my face. etc. i upped cals by 150 a week till i matched my output (which was about 3000.... coz i was training) i actually found the more i ate the leaner i became. and lost more weight (this is not wat u want at ur stats) but because 600 is such a lo number ur body with catabolise its muscle instead of fat (muscle is metabolically and calorifically expensive 50cas per lb where as fat is 3cals)

so i suggest getting ur metabolism going and getting up to 1500-1600 cals. at this point start doing some exercise and lifting some weigts. this will help define and tone areas and will also help ur confidence. you do need to tackle this obsession coz it will persist. believe me......im 3 years on from where u started. do get those cals up. this is very important

Well when I was eating 800 calories a day.. I did not lose weight. I simply was referring to starvation mode in which the body burns less calories. It SEEMED that my metabolism had dropped to 800, since I wasn't losing weight. I even gave advice as to what the poster should do. I don't need to research; I'm speaking from experience. btw you scare the **** outta me. I'd like to see a mod delete that.

If you have excess fat just start doing some toning exercises to tighten your entire body.