I'm so discouraged! What am I doing wrong?????

I'm 17 years old, 5'3.5" and I weigh 130 lbs. I lost some weight WAY back in October.. got down to 120 lbs, and I felt very happy at that weight. But I did it a bit unhealthily, this was before I got informed... so I was eating maybe 800-1100 cals a day, exercising somewhat normally.. like walking for an hour 3-4 times a week, nothing serious.

Anyway, I lost about 10 lbs in October and some of November... probably too quickly. Then after Christmas I was maintaining... didn't diet, just exercised.. but I wasn't really eating much and was disappointed that I hadn't lost anything, I actually gained a bit. In januaryI realized I had been eating too little in Oct and Nov ..so I upped my calories to about 1500--1700 cals a day for all of January. My weight stayed the same at about 122-123lbs. Now I've started consciously dieting, recording my food and stuff.. staying at about 1400--1600 cals now. AND I'M GAINING. I've gained about 7 or 8 pounds in two weeks. My sodium intake is NORMAL and I've been exercising and eating relatively "clean". I just finished my period a few days ago, I thought it was bloating due to that, but my weight has not budged. so my cycle has nothing to do with it.

I don't understand!!!! My goal is to be back down between 115--120lbs. But at the rate I'm going, that's not going to happen. please, please help me!

Original Post by salmander23:

I'm 17 years old, 5'3.5" and I weigh 130 lbs. I lost some weight WAY back in October.. got down to 120 lbs, and I felt very happy at that weight. But I did it a bit unhealthily, this was before I got informed... so I was eating maybe 800-1100 cals a day, exercising somewhat normally.. like walking for an hour 3-4 times a week, nothing serious.

Anyway, I lost about 10 lbs in October and some of November... probably too quickly. Then after Christmas I was maintaining... didn't diet, just exercised.. but I wasn't really eating much and was disappointed that I hadn't lost anything, I actually gained a bit. In januaryI realized I had been eating too little in Oct and Nov ..so I upped my calories to about 1500--1700 cals a day for all of January. My weight stayed the same at about 122-123lbs. Now I've started consciously dieting, recording my food and stuff.. staying at about 1400--1600 cals now. AND I'M GAINING. I've gained about 7 or 8 pounds in two weeks. My sodium intake is NORMAL and I've been exercising and eating relatively "clean". I just finished my period a few days ago, I thought it was bloating due to that, but my weight has not budged. so my cycle has nothing to do with it.

I don't understand!!!! My goal is to be back down between 115--120lbs. But at the rate I'm going, that's not going to happen. please, please help me!

I'll probably be informed that I have an eating disorder for saying thing, but I think you're eating too much. Try to drop back to around 1200-1300 calories a day.

Did you use the calorie calculator to figure out how much you should be eating a day?

well, according to this website: http://www.kidsnutrition.org/bodycomp/bmiz2.h tml I need about 2000 calories, since I am lightly active. When I use adult calculators such as www.phord.com/cc my results are about 1800 cals needed to maintain my current weight. Either way, I should be losing weight on 1400 cals, even just a little weight, not GAINING!!...... right?

Original Post by ithilien7:

Original Post by salmander23:

I'm 17 years old,

I'll probably be informed that I have an eating disorder for saying thing, but I think you're eating too much. Try to drop back to around 1200-1300 calories a day.

 

Did you use the calorie calculator to figure out how much you should be eating a day?

ithilien, I can't comment if you have an ed, but you are misinformed about teen nutrition.

salamander, teens need more calories than adults. Some reading:

Especially for Teens

• Calculator and calorie information for Teens
• Nutrition, Exercise & Weight Management for Teens
• More Nutrition & Health for Teens
• Weight Management for Kids/Teens - this is a great thread started by one of our own CCers with tons of useful information about how and why kids should maintain their weight healthfully. It also will help parents to educate their children. It is great for both parents and guardians of children/teens as well as teens themselves!

amethystgirl, thanks for the reading, it was very interesting. But I still don't understand why I am gaining from eating the MINUMUM requirement for me (according to the kids nutrition website you provided)... and I'm GAINING! i stopped growing height-wise several years ago..... I am only a few months from being 18 years old... should I really go by the adult recommendations that I eat 1200-1300 to lose weight now?

Salamander,

Glad you figured out that the starvation diet was a bad thing. That will also cause some yo-yo'ing of your weight and make your body think it should pack on fat to weather the famine.

You haven't mentioned what you eat or what your eating patterns are like but I'm going to assume you're eating healthy and limiting high fat, high sugar foods and you eat regular meals during the day.

If you're healthy and you're following all of the standard nutritional guidelines (correct mix of carbs, proteins, fats) then the next logical thing would be to look at how many calories you're burning and what kind of exercise your doing. Maybe you simply need to increase the amount of or intensity of the exercise you're doing. Could be that you may need to change the type of exercise you're doing.

If you're keeping track of the calories you take in are you also keeping track of the calories you're burning?  If you are, and you're burning more calories than you're taking in, but still gaining weight, you may want to discuss with a healthcare expert.

My opinion is that 130 lbs for a woman who is 5'3" isn't overweight but if you want to lose the weight I don't think that decreasing your calorie intake is the best way to go. I think keeping your calories around 2000 and increasing the amount and intensity of exercise (reasonably) will be more beneficial to you in the long run. You may still see a slow decline in what shows on the scales as you increase muscle mass (which in turn helps to burn more calories) but you'll definitely notice it in how clothes fit and how you feel.

Good luck.

In my humble opinion, when it comes to weight loss and exercise....

1. Guidelines are just that...

2. You're unique, just like everyone else.

3. Weight scales will lie to you; clothes won't...

4. Don't do any exercise where you can't talk while you're doing it (swimming and scuba diving excepted...)

I think you're being a bit too hard on yourself.  I am only 5 feet tall, and my goal weight is 125.  I know at 130 you can't be too much in need of losing any weight.  In fact, I would guess you are right on target as to where you should be.  Check with your doctor to be sure - they are usually very honest about whether you could stand to lose a few.  Maybe you are just looking for a more toned appearance?  If so, I would suggest adding weight lifting to your workout if you're not doing that already.  Nothing too heavy - but lots of reptitions.  Every trainer I've ever had says weight lifting is key to both weight loss and toning.  Plus, adding more muscle will cause you to burn more calories (higher matabolism).

I have quite a small frame, and I look better at around 120-ish--everyone has told me so when i've asked. I have added weight training in the past 3 weeks... the weeks that I've gained 8 pounds. I have not lost inches,however, so the weight gain can't be contributed to muscle gain. I'm just feeling very confused why I've been gaining weight so steadily when I've been doing everything right.