Finally found something that works perfectly!

I'm a guy, just turned 15, 5' 2", and am currently maintaining 106 pounds. Pretty much trying to tone up. (is that just for girls.) I mean toning up like, lose a little fat and gain muscle... whatever...

I've been trying to find out how much to eat. At first I tried 2,300 then 1,800 then 2,000 and now I found out my perfect schedual. 2,200 calories a day. This is what I do.

breakfast: 400

snack: 200

Lunch: 600

Snack: 300

dinner: 400-500

snack: 100

plus a 120 calorie protein shake after workout.

This all totals up to about 2,100-2,250 usually. I have been doing this for the past 4 days and I think I am going to stick with it.

I work out for 1 hour a day every day, (jump rope), after lunch and the rest of the day I pretty much do nothing... Not even kidding. I mean maybe sometimes I will do a little something but not really. So my only active time is jumping rope.

Something said if I wanted to maintain what I had with a light activity life I would have get 2,300 calories or something. I know you guys are probably going to say I need to eat more but this is working out really well so far. It's a big step up from only having 1,500...(STUPID BEN!!)

Do you guys have plans like this? I like how I can plan my meals and if I want to have a treat I can plan it. Like for my snack between lunch and dinner. If I have oatmeal that's 160. So I could have something I have been wanting to have for a while.

Ben

Original Post by bennyboy5:

I'm a guy, just turned 15, 5' 2", and am currently maintaining 106 pounds.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with your menu plan and it's a vast improvement by the sound of it. BUT... you need to bear in mind that you're very unlikely to be 5'2" and 106lbs for the rest of your natural..... You're going to grow, get taller, get heavier and as a result your energy needs will increase substantially.   Because your 'perfect schedule' is going to get out of date quite quickly make sure that you don't stick to it too rigidly.

http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html  this chart would say that you need 2600 cals a day to maintain your weight and give you the energy to grow... So don't be frightened to eat more if you feel hungry.... and don't panic if the scales show you've gained.

Hey, thanks for that website you gave me. It says I would need about 1,900 if inactive, 2,200 if lightly active, 2,600 if moderately active, and about 3,000 if very active... I have a few questions though.

define each of these. Is inactive like playing video games then getting up and going to the computer then watching tv then eating then the same type of things? What is lightly active? walking in the city for a few hours or hanging out with friends?

I don't know what category I should put myself in... like today so far I have gone to summer school for 5 hours, got home, exercised for an hour, and now have been on the computer for an hour. If I were to be on the computer the rest of the night until I went to bed would that be considered lightly active? I don't get it. I'm inactive and then active for an hour.lol What do you call that?

OH haha I just saw that it tells me what each one is...WHOOPS

But I still feel like I should do more even though I have exercised for an hour. I feel like I'm inactive but I guess I just need to get over it or something...Right?

Would 2 hours of sports count for about an hour of exercise?

The definition is 'activity'...  If you exercise for over an hour a day (even if you're on your computer the rest of the day) you're very active.  Two hours of sport counts as two hours of exercise.... QED.  You would only be inactive if you literally rolled out of bed onto the sofa and back again at the end of the day.

So you're looking at 2600 - 3030 as your base..... more on days where you get two hours+ exercise.   What that means is that if you eat regularly get a good range of foods and plenty of vegetables then it's very, very difficult (almost impossible) for you to overeat.   It also means that you shouldn't be deliberately restricting your energy intake at all... or you could stunt your growth.

I say 'deliberately' because you're calorie-counting - and that's not necessary in a healthy teen.  (You are quite thin with those stats but you're in the normal range for someone your age....  NOT anorexic)   However, if you're really set on calorie counting, make 2600 - 3000 your target, and give yourself the leeway to eat more if you feel hungry... because you will and it doesn't help to feel bad about that.  Even if you feel you can't stop eating on occasions, don't worry, that's 100% normal.... your body needs it.  Talk to your dad about what he was like when he was your age.  He'll have been just the same.   But if you eat more on a more regular basis you're less likely to get these episodes.

If you're going to carry on standing on the scales, get your height checked at the same time.   Feel very happy if you gain weight because it's normal.  And what weight-gain often means in adolescents is that a growth-spurt in height isn't far behind.

Thank you so much. Things are so much clearer then they were a couple days ago. I went to the doctor today for a physical and weighed in at 106 and 5' 3". But I was wearing shoes so more like 5' 2"...

He said I should have about 2,800 so I will take up your advice and will try and have 2,600-3,000 calories a day. But on HEALTHY foods of course.

Original Post by bennyboy5:

But on HEALTHY foods of course.

 That's great.... just remember this very true statement... 'there are no bad foods, only bad diets'.   If you get 80% of what you need from nutritious wholesome foods you can get the other 20% from less nutritious 'fun' foods and you're still getting a healthy balanced diet.

Good luck

Thanks for the tip!