eating 1350 calories and gaining weight??!

i am a 5'4" 17 year old female, and 125 pounds, and eat about 1350 calories per day.. i recently began eating meat a few days ago after being a vegetarian for almost 2 years..

 i want to be able to eat around 1500.. and get to about 115 pounds, which is where i feel most comfortable and healthy with my body. However, the last couple of days, I have been gaining weight while only eating 1,350 calories.. i did not work out for a couple of days, but as a teenager, shouldnt i burn over 1,350 calories a day without exercise?!

any suggestions??

Maybe you had a higher salt intake than normal and are retaining more water weight? Hard to say after only a couple days, maybe it will go back down soon.

yeahh maybe.. it just really freaked me out because i thought i was doing well! lol

The problem is that you're not overweight.  In fact, you're a perfectly healthy weight for your height.  Because you're only 17 your body is most likely still developing from 'girl' to 'woman'... acquiring a few curves, etc.  People who are already very slim will find it difficult to get any slimmer.   If you've been regularly getting 1350 your body has probably got used to it... your metabolism has slowed right down...  so when you increase to 1500 you gain a little.

I'd suggest you work out your total energy needs (in your case about 2100-2300 cals a day depending on how active you are) and get that for a week or so.  You may see small gains initially but that would be normal.  Once you've stabilised on 2100-2300 you would then be able to lose weight on a more sensible amount

Better still, rather than cutting calories at all, you could probably tone up your body and look slimmer if you went for a better diet and did more exercise. The number on the scales wouldn't matter then

From your duplicate thread:

susiecue
Sep 23 2009 01:49

As a teenager, you should definitely be eating a bare minimum of 1500 calories/day.

Possibly reintroducing meat into your diet means you're consuming more sodium than you used to so your body is retaining water?  Or possibly you're growing, given that you're still a teenager?  (Not so much growing taller, but you're at about the age when a girl's hips and chest fill out to give her a more womanly shape.)

The meat is probably sitting in your gut like a fermenting alien baby. You will lose weight when you pass it.

okk that makes sense! thank you :)

so.. if i begin eating more calories, my body will adjust so that i can eat a healthy amount without gaining?

yes, but the most important thing is Don't Freak Out.  Yes, you will gain a little, but think long-term.  A few weeks 5lbs heavier, or subsisting on 1300 calories forever?  Wait it out.

Original Post by kat49912:

so.. if i begin eating more calories, my body will adjust so that i can eat a healthy amount without gaining?

 Yes, it will. As tealparadise said, be sure not to freak out in the beginning if you gain a bit of weight. But believe me, in the end, you'll be glad you raised your calories!!

great.. thanks!