Help me out really quickly.

I'm 18 for a few more months and I'm looking into losing a minimal amount of fat and eventually replacing it with lean muscle. Or, you know, something like that. I'm 5'11, male, 145/149-ish, and I keep my calories in check at about 1600 a day. Apparently this is too little, according to the teen calculator, but should I go by the teen calculator when I'm in such late teens?

I'm sure at some point before my weird eating regimens I weighed 155 (about 2 months ago), so getting on the scale and seeing numbers usually on the lower end of the 145-149 window is uplifting. However, my problem has always been that I do NOT have a flat stomach or toned legs, but I know I have muscles there because I can tense up and see them.

So! What I'm asking you is: should I up my calories to this 2400 like this teen calculator tells me too & start working at it a little harder? Or, since I'm already this funkin' old, should I stick to 1600 and work just as hard?

If you want to build/tone muscle you need to up your calorie intake. Try to put as much of it into proteins as possible which will also help muscle growth and energy for all the exercise. Plus at your age you probably still have a pretty active metabolism.

You cannot lose fat because you have none to lose.

You need to bulk up. You don't weigh enough, and you eat less than most girls.

Original Post by dm84:

You cannot lose fat because you have none to lose.

You need to bulk up. You don't weigh enough, and you eat less than most girls.

 seriously. I eat more than that, and I weigh less.. and I'm a girl.
and the main reason it's less for adults is because as people grow older, they typically reduce activity and lose muscle mass. My dad is 50 but very active, lean, and fit and probably eats around 3000 calories a day.

Hey dude I'm nearly 19 and I don't go by the teen calculator but that is because I'm a very overweight girl and have been since I hit puberty. Due to lack of physical activity I don't have that blissful teen metabolism.

It's a personal choice though, only you know your body and if you tune into it you'll know if you're getting enough food. Mybrother is 21, not extremely physically active and eats like a pig...actually let me rephrase he eats THE pig :)

You are eating only 100 cals above the bare minimum for an adult male. If your worried that its the fat covering the muscles why not find out your body fat %?