Am I Eating Right?

my name is nadia and i'm fourteen years old, female,5 foot 4, medium (leaning toward large) frame, and 137 pounds. my goal weight is 130 pounds. I'm trying to figure out how my body works. people keep on telling me that the burn meter on calorie count doesn't work for people under 21, and i've gone on other websites and am still not sure how much i should eat everyday. I go to school everyday and go up and down stairs a couple times a day and often i end up walking outside after lunch for about 5-10 minutes. At home I am pretty sedentary except when I am making my dinner or going to the bathroom. My average daily calorie intake is 1400. Can someone help me figure how much I burn everyday. By the way does "activity" or being "active" count as the regular events in a day or extra stuff, and does walking count? Please help!! Also what do you think of my current eating habits based on the following;

This is what I ate today:

Breakfast- oatmeal and coffee= 161

Lunch- tomato sandwhich and apple= 169 

Dinner- stuffed hamburger peppers and pita bread with hummus= 725

Snacks Throughout The Day- 1 plum, 1 whole red pepper, 5 baby carrots,1 nectarine, 2 strawberries= 141

Dessert- banana,apple, and a peach=158

TOTAL= 1353

You're eating too little. 1500 in the minimum for under 21.

I plugged your info in here : http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

I'd say you're lightly active with just walking around and such. You'll survive with 1300-ish calories, but you won't thrive. :(

Yeah I agree...at 14, 1300-1400 is definitely too little, even if you're trying to loose weight. Eating to little while you're still growing will definitely slow your metabolism way down, which will make it really hard to lose weight in the future.

You're definitely eating too little for a growing teenager. Plus, you need a lot more protein than you're getting. The only protein rich food I see is hummus. Even if you're vegan, there are plenty of good protein sources out there -- beans, tofu, seitan, lots of soy products, nuts to a certain extent. Plus, you need to make sure you get enough calcium. Your bones are still growing, so if you don't eat dairy products or other calcium rich foods, you need to take a calcium supplement.

Like the others said, you're not eating enough.  You're also not eating enough protein, and you're not eating enough fat.  Eating fat is actually essential for your brain, hair, nails, and skin, and it will not hurt your weight loss.

In addition to the meals you posted, should add something to your breakfast.  You could have scrambled eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts, a latte instead of coffee, or some other food with both protein & fat.

You could add something similar to lunch too - add meat, tofu, or hummus to your sandwich, plus have a side (yogurt/nuts/etc), plus the fruit.

Your dinner looks good.

Add a calcium supplement and a multi-vitamin to your daily intake.  You do need to add some protein too and some form of fat...pour olive oil all over the hummus if you like.   

 

for godssake,ur 14,u dont need any diet,just eat right,and stay away from fast food,chocolate and sodas.

dieting at a young age can be very dangerous without proper guidense.

 

Original Post by missrawr18:

my name is nadia and i'm fourteen years old, female,5 foot 4, medium (leaning toward large) frame, and 137 pounds. my goal weight is 130 pounds. I'm trying to figure out how my body works. people keep on telling me that the burn meter on calorie count doesn't work for people under 21, and i've gone on other websites and am still not sure how much i should eat everyday. I go to school everyday and go up and down stairs a couple times a day and often i end up walking outside after lunch for about 5-10 minutes. At home I am pretty sedentary except when I am making my dinner or going to the bathroom. My average daily calorie intake is 1400. Can someone help me figure how much I burn everyday. By the way does "activity" or being "active" count as the regular events in a day or extra stuff, and does walking count? Please help!! Also what do you think of my current eating habits based on the following;

This is what I ate today:

Breakfast- oatmeal and coffee= 161

Lunch- tomato sandwhich and apple= 169 

Dinner- stuffed peppers and pita bread with hummus= 725

Snacks Throughout The Day- 1 plum, 1 whole red pepper, 5 baby carrots,1 nectarine, 2 strawberries= 141

Dessert- banana,apple, and a peach=158

TOTAL= 1353

You are not gonna get a hard low-fat body with that diet, you need more protein, and less carbohydrates.  Increase your protein intake like chicken, egg-whites, egg-beaters, tuna, turkey, whey-protein. these are good sources of protein.  You eat too much fruit at night. fruits increase insulin levels and elevated insulin levels will increase fat storage.  Have a piece of chicken at night with green salad or something like that, and some ham or egg-whites for snacks

 

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Are you vegan? I don't see any animal-source food on your menu. As people have said you need a bit more protein - ask around in the Vegetarian forum.

And of course you should eat several hundred more calories a day.

Original Post by binge_eater:

You are not gonna get a hard low-fat body with that diet, you need more protein, and less carbohydrates. 

 

 This is a 14 year-old child and children need a broad scope of nutrition and not some ridiculous low-carb fad diet.  Please think before posting.

 

http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

If you check this site you'll find that you're the top end healthy weight for your height.   But this is not something to worry about.   Many girls your age are going through phases of growth and development and can find they get a little heavier before a growth spurt. What height are your parents, for example?.... that's where you'll likely end up.  For that growth and development you need good nutrition rather than calorie restriction. 

My suggestion to you would be that you take the 'light' activity level of 2300 cals and then do two things

1.  Keep going with a healthy diet... plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, wholegrain foods like oats, and lots of other things as well, including the occasional chocolate bar or a piece of cake.  That's fine.  (Ignore post #7 because that member is on their own silly agenda)  If you're vegetarian (?) then make sure you get some protein in your diet e.g. yoghurt, eggs, nuts, seeds, tofu, quorn, beans, lentils.  If you're not vegetarian then you can eat meat and fish as well.

2.  Make a big effort to increase your activity to an hour a day.  Could be riding a bike, going for longer walks, jogging, joining a tennis or badminton class, dancing, horse-riding, swimming..... anything goes.  If you increase your activity you'll find the extra energy used will naturally make you slimmer.

 

 

 

Original Post by binge_eater:

Original Post by missrawr18:

my name is nadia and i'm fourteen years old, female,5 foot 4, medium (leaning toward large) frame, and 137 pounds. my goal weight is 130 pounds. I'm trying to figure out how my body works. people keep on telling me that the burn meter on calorie count doesn't work for people under 21, and i've gone on other websites and am still not sure how much i should eat everyday. I go to school everyday and go up and down stairs a couple times a day and often i end up walking outside after lunch for about 5-10 minutes. At home I am pretty sedentary except when I am making my dinner or going to the bathroom. My average daily calorie intake is 1400. Can someone help me figure how much I burn everyday. By the way does "activity" or being "active" count as the regular events in a day or extra stuff, and does walking count? Please help!! Also what do you think of my current eating habits based on the following;

This is what I ate today:

Breakfast- oatmeal and coffee= 161

Lunch- tomato sandwhich and apple= 169 

Dinner- stuffed peppers and pita bread with hummus= 725

Snacks Throughout The Day- 1 plum, 1 whole red pepper, 5 baby carrots,1 nectarine, 2 strawberries= 141

Dessert- banana,apple, and a peach=158

TOTAL= 1353

You are not gonna get a hard low-fat body with that diet, you need more protein, and less carbohydrates.  Increase your protein intake like chicken, egg-whites, egg-beaters, tuna, turkey, whey-protein. these are good sources of protein.  You eat too much fruit at night. fruits increase insulin levels and elevated insulin levels will increase fat storage.  Have a piece of chicken at night with green salad or something like that, and some ham or egg-whites for snacks

 

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 on the contrary she doesnt need less carbs,she needs to eat her proper carbs,less carbs means less seratonin lvls,meaning tons of problems,other than that leptin lvl enzymes will be hitting bottom thus decreasing her metabolism.

as said b4 best thing to do is eat normaly,and stay away from fried food,junk food,soda's, chocolat and so.

I'm actually not vegan, and the stuffed peppers have hamburger and tomato sauce in them. :)