I think im eating too little?

Hey, well im new here but this site seems to be very informing and helpful so I wanted to see if you guys could help me out. 

Well I'm 5 11, 16 years old and weigh 135 pounds. Im pretty active play baseball and im on the swimteam for our highschool. I also try to stay in condition by going to the gym a least three times a week for an hour. Anyways my question is if im eating too little calories? Im eating about 1600-1800 on a regular basis. I lost about 25-30 pounds this summer. So I dont know If im eating too little or not?

Thanks, 

I think you need to perhaps be careful of losing any more weight because according to your height and weight your are on the low end of what's considered 'healthy'. I googled 'healthy weight chart' and the first result is here:http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweigh tchart.htm

If you need to up your caloric intake so as not to lose any more weight, do so.

I hope this helps!

I second Lisa. You probably should up your intake, especially since you're so active. However, you are still going through puberty, which does affect your weight and metabolism.

Addressing your main, original question, though -- yes, it does seem like you're eating a bit too little.

At you height and weight for your age and the amount of activity you are involved in, to maintain or weight you should be consuming atleast 2300 calories a day.

You are eating a lot too little.  Without even doing the research I would say you should be eating a minimum of 2500 -3000 to maintain.  Use the tool on this site (the one below) to determine your baseline calories and then add your activity level (which is very active).

Are you a girl or a boy -- it makes a difference.

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

Hey! I just thought that I would share my stats with you, kkrake.

I'm 5'6", I'm 21 (so a bit older), but I'm on the swim team as well.  I have practice in the afternoons M-F, and M/W/F in the morning, although 3 of those sessions are weight lifting/drill sessions, and then we usually have a meet in there somewhere, plus saturday practice.

Anyway, I find that I actually LOSE weight when I eat 2000-2200 calories/day.  Since you are younger than I am (and presumably still developing a little), but perhaps not quite as active, I would still recommend upping your calories to at least what I'm getting, around 2200.  You probably don't need to lose any more weight, as you probably have a pretty low body fat percentage already, and any more loss will just be muscle, which will hinder your performance.

So I'd try upping your calories to 2200 or so, but watch the scale.  If you start gaining, then lower them just a bit, say to 2000 or so.  If you still lose, up them by 100 or 200 calories.  But play around with it. 

Okay thanks tyrdrop. Yeah I think I will because im like hungry all the time lol. And im a guy.

As a guy, at 5' 11" and 16 years old  -- you are in prime growing stage right now -- you need to eat MUCH more than you are.  Depending on how much you swim and the intensity, eating upwards of 3000 cals per day (or MORE) would not be out of the question.

Original Post by kkrake:

I lost about 25-30 pounds this summer. So I dont know If im eating too little or not?

 

It's not normal for 16 year-old boys who are a healthy weight and eating sensibly to lose 25-30lbs in the space of a few months.   It's also not a normal situation for healthy 16 year-old boys who have access to plenty of food to 'go hungry all the time' voluntarily or even count calories.  You need easily 3500-4000 cals a day and a healthy weight for you would be 130-173lbs.  You should double your intake.

NB...... If you struggle to eat more, if calorie-counting is playing too big a part in your life and if you find the idea of weight-gain stressful then talk to the people around you about your feelings and maybe consider seeing a doctor.