calorie intake? help!

i'm 16, 5'4" and weigh 158 pounds. i really hurt my metabolism because for about the past 9 months i've been eating way too few calories. according to this site i should be eating about 1350 calories per day and that i'll be able to lose 1.5 pounds a week. does this count for people who have already slowed down their metabolism?? i've recently increase my calorie intake to about 1200 calories a day and i've actually put on about 3 pounds.  i'm really scared to increase my calorie intake anymore.  also i looked at another website that gave me a calorie zig-zagging schedule to go by.

monday-1476, tues-1280, wed-1772, thurs-1476, fri- 1329, sat-1624, sun- 1476

will this cause me to gain weight since i already slowed down my metabolism? if i do try this how long will it take before my metabolism speeds up again and i'm able to lose weight??

What is your calorie allowance? You need to rev up your metabolism. Some ways to do this is to increase your activity, to eat 5-6 times a day, drink a lot of water, and zigzag not only your calories but your carb intake as well. Yes, you might experience a slight weight gain at first, however, if you stay below your allowance it is not possible for that to be a permanent weight gain. Good luck.

this site says my allowance is 1350, but even 1250 causes me to put on weight. i just wish i knew how long it was going to take to level off.

Sarah12491, the last paragraph on the allowance page that tells you to take in 1350 calories is correct in that a woman should not, for health reasons, take in less than 1200 calories per day. If you have gone below that for an extenced period of time, your body will certainly make adjustments as you return to a more healthy level of eating. I will reiterate, it is physically impossible for you to continue to gain weight at you allowance level. I'm not a doctor, but maybe you might want to look into having your metabolism examined by a professional. They will be able to determine exactly what is going on and help you get back on an even keel. Good luck.

When doctors do studies of overweight people who "gain on very few calories", the following facts become very evident:

-when the calories are self-reported, all the subjects really do seem to stabilize on "very few" of them

-but when the subjects are brought into a therapeutic environment and fed the amount of calories they said they were eating (measured and prepared by the experimenters) most LOSE WEIGHT.

Conclusion: People underestimate the calories they eat, by anywhere from 10%-50%.  It's not conscious and it's not even anyone's fault - we tell people to "eyeball it" and use things like fists and fingers to size their portions (but my BF's fist is 2 cups, not one!).  And calorie information is often inconsistent from one site to another and one book to another....

Metabolisms do slow somewhat but not all that much. The laws of physics do work. With careful weighing and measuring and label reading, the estimated calories can become more accurate.

Caveat: For those who have spent a long time eating too few calories, they might well underestimate their portions. Measure your 1350 calories carefully and you will wind up at a healthy weight.