Question about muscle, binge eating, and some other stuff...

First off, I didn't know where to put this topic so I just put it here. So please don't get mad that I put it in the wrong section...

I'm 15, 5' 2" and weigh 106. I think that I am at a healthy weight and don't want to lose anymore. I have a question about some stuff that I have been wondering about for a long time.

Do I need to weight lift? I don't really want to be ripped or have a lot of muscle or anything. I just want to be...idk... is the word lean? Is it true the more muscle you have the more calories you burn? like, how many more?

another thing. I have sometimes eaten A LOT of food before. Usually around 3-4 in the afternoon. Like A LOT of food. I did it once then didn't do it again for a couple weeks. Then I did it every other day a couple weeks ago. Well I have stopped because I knew it was a problem. Every once in a while I want to have a lot of food. What causes this? I'm not really hungry I just want food. What does this mean? I know you guys are probably going to say eat more but if you encourage me I will eat and eat and eat and then have 5,000 calories by the end of the day. not good... But what in the world causes this anyway??

Also I did something really stupid and looked up anorexia because my dad said I was skinny. I'm not really skinny. I'm really not, trust me. I'm not anorexic because I try to eat 3 meals a day and a few snacks and have 2,200 calories a day..so.. But anyway. There were these pictures and they scared the CRAP out of me. They looked so disgusting. I don't even know if they were real. But you could see their jaw bone and every one of their ribs and it just scared, the crap, out of me... I think a lot of them weren't real but some of them were. It just kinda set an alarm off in my mind. I don't know how to describe it but it's so freakin scary. It's like I saw a really scary movie and now I'm afraid. Except instead of a 4' 8" demon little girl with the black hair hanging over her face (whoa really descripted) It's these anorexic freaks... I do I get these weird things out of my mind??

Ben

Ben, if you are 15 and only 5'2', you are probably starting your teenage growth spurt.  That's why you want to eat a lot of food sometimes, because you NEED it to GROW.  106 pounds is too thin for a growing teenage boy, and your body is telling you that.  You should check with your doctor for what is a healthy weight for you and how many calories you would need to sustain growth while keeping your BMI in the 18-24 range that is considered normal.

If you are athletic AND growing, 5000 calories in a day is NOT bad.  You can't limit yourself to an "adult diet" of 2000-2500 calories if you are growing and/or in sports!!!!!!  Michael Phelps probably burns 7000 calories a day when he is training!!!!!!  If you only eat 2000 calories a day now, you won't grow properly and might end up shorter than expected.  And if you are just starting your growth spurt now, you could keep growing into your early 20's.

At 15, you should be focusing on school and hanging out with your friends.  If you are this concerned about your weight and anorexia, you may want to consider getting some counselling.  I recommend you see your doctor and get some recommendations about keeping a healthy body/mind balance.  Best of luck to you.

The person above me is right.

As for the anorexic girls, yeah. Freaky deaky eh? You can't stop thinking about it becuase it disturbs you. Eventually you'll ease out of the shock.

I second the previous posters (I guess I would actually be thirding the first poster, huh?).

You are still growing, and that means you will be consuming at times an amount of food that might seem indecent.  The jokes about teenage boys eating you out of house and home are close to the truth!

What is concerning to me is a 15 year old that worries about calories and binges.  Honestly, at this point, I think you should just listen to your body.  When you want to eat, eat.  It really would help you to talk with your doctor about your concerns - he can actually see you, weigh you, decide what you need to do next.

If you would like to try weight lifting, you will need to increase your calories even more to cover the burn and recovery process, and odds are you won't actually bulk up - that takes dedicated work and diet that most people won't be able to acheive.

Again, see your doctor, have him check you out, and talk with him about your concerns.  We like to help here on CC, but there is only so much we can do.

I forgot to mention that I exercise 1 hour every day but do nothing else the whole day. So right now I am not an any sports or active at all. so all that michael phelps crap doesn't apply to me. Are you saying I don't have to worry about not eating fast food or eating whatever I want? Because that's what got me chubby and I am not going back there. Or should I just eat more of the same stuff but just more of it? Example. I have 2 cups of cereal with milk and an apple for breakfast. Should I just add a couple of eggs to that? Or should I have a dognut that my mom buys and not worry about it? For dinner should I just pig out all I want on the food that my mom makes? Or control myself and eat until I am perfectly portioned right.

I think 2,200 calories is good for me right now. Just to let you know. Today I had about 2,500 because I had a kind of big dinner.

"You can't limit yourself to an "adult diet" of 2000-2500 calories if you are growing and/or in sports!!!!!!  Michael Phelps probably burns 7000 calories a day when he is training!!!!!!"

way to scream... and michael phelps eats like a beast because he IS a beast. He spends 8 hours a day in the pool training. I spend 7 hours on my butt and 1 hour exercising. So calm down

Please listen to me:  2200 calories a day is NOT ENOUGH for a growing teen who does an hour a day of exercise.  I'm not telling you to eat a bunch of junk food, but eating healthy foods to give you 3000-3500 calories per day may be perfect for you.  How you get there is up to you.  Yes, you could have a donut and not worry about it.  That's the wonderful thing about being a teen!

Extra milk is always a good idea for people who are growing, good protein and lots of calcium for bone growth.  Your breakfast sounds very healthy.  But you are applying adult standards to a body that should be growing at a rate of 2 to 3 inches a year!!!!  That takes a LOT of extra calories.  If you limit your intake to just about the same amount of calories as you burn, there will not be anything left to apply to muscle mass and new cell growth.

Maybe you should sit down with a nutritionist if you have this many questions about food.  Whoever encouraged you to lose weight while you were still growing was not doing you any favors.  Kids have to have enough calories to grow on, usually we recommend they hold their weight steady and "grow into" it. 

No, I won't calm down, I am worried about you damaging your health by restricting your food intake too much.  Please talk to your doctor as soon as possible.

I honestly don't think I need 3,000-3,500 calories a day. I feel perfectly fine at 2,200. Tell me healthy ways to add to my typical day diet and I might do it.

Breakfast: 2 cups of cereal, half cup skim milk, and an apple. 380

snack: right now granola bars at summer school break 180

lunch: salad with feta cheese, nuts, and lowfat dressing. Deli meat sandwhich, and a banana 600

snack: oatmeal with almonds 310

dinner: Whatever my mom makes or a frozen dinner, vegetables, and fruit 450. But usually my mom makes something so example. pulled beef sandwhiches, green beans, and fruit. about 500

snack: cottage cheese 100

What should I do? Please understand that this is quite hard to just all of the sudden change and that it makes my mind go a little bananas. I can't just go from having 2,200 calories to 3,000 very easily. Please understand what I am feeling. I don't want any weight to come back on.

I think you should really think about talking to a doctor. I have read a few of your posts and I think you may have a real problem that could lead to something bad. Your weight is normal for your age and height, but you are going to gain weight and should want to since you are a growing child and will keep growing until you're in your 20's. You don't have to go and eat Mcdonalds or a whole cake but you need to eat MORE, more protein is good, like you mentioned having eggs as well as cereal. If you know a meal is well balanced then don't worry about how many calories are in it! Eat until you feel satisfied. Your body is going through these binges because it is starving. I know you have had many posts about this and I'm curious if your parents know how into dieting/counting calories you are. Eat things that are good for you, and PLEASE talk to a councilor or doctor about your obsession with becoming over weight

Yeah my parents have an idea how serious I am about dieting and counting calories. We are planning on seeing a nutritionist soon. So your advice is pretty much eat more but not fast food or anything right? and balanced? ok

I understand your concerns about putting weight back on.  And that really worries me that you've been inappropriately encouraged to lose weight at too young of an age.

Your RDA for calcium during adolescence is 1300 mg.  That's just over 4 cups of milk a day, and you've only listed 1/2 cup with breakfast, so more dairy will help (and if you just didn't list it with your other meals, my apologies).  Maybe switch to 2% instead of skim. 

With healthy eating habits like yours, you might just need to double up on portions where appropriate.  More nuts, more meat, because protein is one of the main building blocks for growth.  I'm glad you're planning on seeing a nutritionist, that will answer a lot of the specific questions you have.

When you say "I don't want any of my weight to come back on" I hope you realize that you can't spend the rest of your life at 106 pounds unless you really want to stay just 5'2" tall.  If you want to grow, you will have to eat more.  The taller you are, the more calories you will naturally burn.  If you stay this thin, you will have low muscle mass which will cause you to have a slow metabolism as an adult and you will be more prone to put on fat even if you are a "normal" weight for your height.  That's why we all are saying for you to talk to your doctor, you are so worried about your weight that you may be missing the "big picture".

There are much worse things in the world than being overweight.  Give yourself a break and just enjoy being young and healthy.

Having been 5'2" and 106 pounds at different points in my life, I can attest that what you eat now will affect who you will be when you are 20. Ever notice that each generation outgrows thier parents. I.E. I am taller than my father because I had better nutrition and more food. Seems to be a trend in most advanced societies. In Countries where diet is declining, so is the average size (Laos, Sri Lanka, etc.) In China its very much the status quo in the country and boys often reach 5'10" 6'2" in the cities now (No more stereotyping chinese people as being short).

The point being, if you want to be bigger and healthier, eat more. You are 15 and will keep growing to 20 years of age. As other posters mentioned, eat healthy and avoid the crap. But you are certainly going to be changing a lot in the next 3 years. Any fat you do put on will be used up just growing.

How tall are your parents? You should prob expect to out grow your dad if you have a good diet (Lots of calcium and protein). Doing it on 2200 cals a day...don't know if its realistic.

In truth, don't even waist your time right now counting calories.... your far to short in the tooth to worry about this. Go out and chase girls and run a muck with the boys. When you are older, you'll have much more time to worry about getting fat.

 From my perspective, about half of you is missing - you're short about 40-60lbs of muscle weight at a bare minimum. Admittedly, my perspective has been known to have some shortcomings...

 Yes, the scale would be moving up and having worked hard to lose the fat it can be discouraging if you're focused too much on the scale weight instead of body composition, but adding some muscle weight to your frame would not involve gaining back fat weight.

 You don't absolutely need weights, there's a lot you can do with body weight exercise (seen a male gymnast lately?) but the downside to the whole bodyweight-exercise thing is that once you're past the beginner stage you'll need to practice up to 6-8 hours a day for those kinds of results. Unless you're actually a competitive gymnast it's hard to fit that into a life that includes things such as friends, going to the movies and doing your homework. Doesn't mean you can't start with bodyweight and move on to other things once you start needing to practice for more than an hour a day to see progress; I prefer to train people with bodyweight exercises first and then add weights once bodyweight becomes too easy to see progress without spending more time than you have on your workouts.

 Milk is generally a very good idea for anyone who needs to get in a few more healthy calories - the war cry from the weight room for the past 60 years have been "squats and milk!" for anyone who needs to gain muscle weight, and it's still good advice ;)

Well I just went to a bmi calculator thing and it says that I need 2,600 calories for the activity level I have to maintain. So I will probably have around that and maybe sometimes less because I want to lose a little more fat but I will eat about that. Maybe sometimes more.

To lose fat, you need to gain muscle.  You should NOT lose more weight.

Sorry if I sound abrupt - its the end of the day - but that IS what you need to do.

I want to lose fat and gain a little muscle. I really don't want to gain that much muscle because I have a kind of big frame and people already say I'm "buff" when I'm not really that buff. so...

The thing is - most people have to work REALLY hard and have special diets to really gain a lot of bulk.  There are LOTS of women on here that are lifting weight to gain muscle, but they don't bulk up.  Lots of MEN WANT to bulk up, but have difficulty doing so - it is not that easy.  You really don't have weight to lose, so you need to replace the fat you want to get rid of with SOMETHING.

Here's the thing I suggest:  Try a weight routine for a month, along with upping your calories like previous posters have mentioned.  Don't worry so much about losing weight - just get more fit - I think that is what you want.  If you think you are getting too "bulky", well, you can do something different, but I really don't think you will.

Thank you so much. Things are so much more clearer now. Yeah I just want to be more fit. I don't want to be skinny but I don't want to be buff either. I want to be fit. It makes since that if I want to lose a little more fat I have to fill it in with muscle if I don't want to look skinny.

So 2,600 is what I should be eating right? and people keep saying that I might see a change in the scale. Like I will weigh more. How? Is it fat gain? muscle gain? I don't get it.

I weigh myself one time every week on Saturday. Do they mean temporary change? Will I look and feel the same?

You know, I don't know what others were referring to as far as a change on the scale, but I personally don't worry that much about my weight - I worry (well that's not the right word - "I keep track" is better) about how my clothes fit, how good I feel.  Really, thinking so much about weight at 15 just isn't what I would want for my own kids.

Eat healthy foods (for the most part - I mean a bit of junk food every now and then never hurt anyone), make sure you are eating about the same as you are burning, do a bit of weight training (there are weight routines here on CC that you can do, some of them don't even require equipment, and then there's the whole internet to look, or you could check out your local library) 2-3X a week.  Don't shoot for losing weight - shoot for replacing the fat, and being a more fit, healthy you.

Please feel free to message me if you want.

No, 2600 calories is NOT what you should be eating.  That's the target for an adult BMI for a person who is not growing anymore.  I'm not sure why you do not understand what I keep telling you, that you need an additional 1000 calories per day above a "maintenance" diet in order for you to GROW.  You cannot stay 5 foot 2 inches the rest of your life!!!!  I am afraid that you are "starving" yourself into permanent short stature with your calories restricted to an adult level.

If 2200 calories is what you need to stay at your exact same weight with your hour of activity every day, you need to add 700-1000 calories to that every day for GROWTH.  The adult normals do not apply to growing adolescents like you, so stop trying to find the answers on diet websites geared toward adults.  And yes, you will have to gain weight in order to grow, there's no other way to do it.  And it's not that hard to do it in a healthy way so that your weight remains proportional to your height and you won't become overweight.

You might want to look at the new food pyramid, mypyramid.gov.  You can put in your age as well as your size and it should help you get a better idea of what a teen should be eating, instead of an adult.  And please see your doctor and a nutritionist soon!  I've been a Pediatrician for as long as you've been alive, and you've got me worried sick about your unreasonable fear of gaining weight and the permanent harm you may be doing to yourself.

Original Post by theresa83:

No, 2600 calories is NOT what you should be eating.  That's the target for an adult BMI for a person who is not growing anymore.  I'm not sure why you do not understand what I keep telling you, that you need an additional 1000 calories per day above a "maintenance" diet in order for you to GROW.  You cannot stay 5 foot 2 inches the rest of your life!!!!  I am afraid that you are "starving" yourself into permanent short stature with your calories restricted to an adult level.

If 2200 calories is what you need to stay at your exact same weight with your hour of activity every day, you need to add 700-1000 calories to that every day for GROWTH.  The adult normals do not apply to growing adolescents like you, so stop trying to find the answers on diet websites geared toward adults.  And yes, you will have to gain weight in order to grow, there's no other way to do it.  And it's not that hard to do it in a healthy way so that your weight remains proportional to your height and you won't become overweight.

You might want to look at the new food pyramid, mypyramid.gov.  You can put in your age as well as your size and it should help you get a better idea of what a teen should be eating, instead of an adult.  And please see your doctor and a nutritionist soon!  I've been a Pediatrician for as long as you've been alive, and you've got me worried sick about your unreasonable fear of gaining weight and the permanent harm you may be doing to yourself.

 Thank you, theresa83 - I wanted to tell him that, but I didn't have any facts to give him.

And bennyboy, remember I said to eat what you burn - lifting weights will increase what you burn.

And please remember, every one is writing out of concern for you, so don't get upset - please talk to a doctor who can physically see you and know what you need to do.  There is only so much advice that can be given long distance like this.