On the Right Track?

So, since school has gotten out and I am no longer under the "exam stress eat whatever since there's no time" diet, I've gotten really serious about my weight and being healthy.

I've been with a (somewhat slack) routine for a week and a half now. Can anyone give me tips and suggestions for my routine?

Here are my stats:

5'4'', 16 y.o.

SW: 145

CW: 142

GW: 125 by start of school in the 2nd week of August

As you can see, I would like to lose seventeen more pounds in 11 weeks.

I have began to count my calories and I never top more than 1200-1300 calories a day eating only light meals throughout the day. Example of my meals:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup (equivalent to 2 eggs) of eggbeaters and a cup of strawberries

Lunch: Fat free refried beans on a whole wheat low carb tortilla with lettuce and lite cream cheese

Dinner: a grilled chicken breast with green beans and corn

I have a snack almost every other hour and they are usually things like an apple, a cup of cottage cheese, or a frozen fruit sherbet tube (with only 55 calories they are my new favorite dessert addiction.)

For exercise: I usually exercise after dinner and walk 3-4 miles (or jog 2), and do about a half an hour of tummy crunches, jumping jacks, sit ups, or leg lifts.

As well as tips/suggestions, do you think I can lose 17 pounds in 11 weeks? Has anyone done this (or lost even more safely in this amount of time) before? I don't need the motivation, just the reassurance!

Thank you in advance to everyone here.

Well, I've lost 21.5 in 13 weeks, and it's been between 1 and 2 lbs/week most weeks. I'm definitely doing this the healthy way-I want it gone for good! Hope this helps! 

P.S. What sherbert tubes do you eat?

P.P.S. Chobani Greek Plain Yogurt is a great sour cream replacement. Low calories and is packed with a TON on protein. It also still has that more tart flavor of sour cream, so it's not a good sweet tooth yogurt.

Hello Tabby.

On the right track? Eh. You've got motivation, but you're not eating enough. Essentially 1200-1300 calories is STARVING yourself. Starving yourself leads to a lifetime of health problems if you start at such a young age, and also makes it really freakin' hard to lose weight in the long run.

Someone under 21 needs to eat 1500 calories to survive. Unless you're incredibly short, you'll need to eat more then that if you're exercising (ie doing anything that's not sitting on your bum all day.. walking is included in exercise).

CC's tools were developed for people over the age of 21, so they're highly inaccurate for you. Here's the handy dandy calculator for anyone under 21: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

For someone 5'4" (64 inches) and 142 pounds..

• Sedentary maintenance = 1830
• Low Activity (under 30 minutes) maintenance= 2180
• Moderate Activity (about an hour) maintenance= 2500
• Very Active (over an hour) maintenance = 3000

I'd say you're in the very active or moderately active area. Up your calories to atleast 2000. On days you run more or do other activities with your exercise (such as walking around with friends or going to a party or something of that variety) eat atleast 2500 calories so you'll have a healthy 500 calorie deficit.

 If you lose fast starving yourself you'll have saggy skin, and maintaining the weight loss will be a b*tch to do, and you might even spiral into a frustrating-as-hell binge eating disorder because your body thinks you're starving and then you get addicted to being able to eat large quantities of food.. Next thing you know, you're on CC again next summer trying to lose the weight you gained via binging. I would know.

Some liek totully awesum snacks that are pretty high in calorie:

- Anything + peanut butter (my favorites being PB oat sammiches, pb oat "cookie", peanut butter mixed into oatmeal, an entire freaking 1/4 cup of peanut butter.. peanut butter on crackers. Oh it can go on forever.

- Olive oil + Toast or Salad. Flavorful and delicious.

- Whole milk.

- Cheese.

- Hummus.

- Whole eggs.

Weight gainers has a high cal food list. :D I personally am more of a fan of animal crackers, ice cream, oatmeal, and peanut butter for my extra calories.

I hope you'll adjust your calorie intake!

And uh. FYI, losing more then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy. You got about 10 weeks. You can lose up to 10-20 pounds within this time. Don't be disappointed if you lose less then 17, because bodies are confusing and one week you might not lose, the other week you will. It happens. I'd say just focus on maintaining a workout and eating regimen and seeing how far your body will let you go in terms of weight loss. :D

I didn't think about how young she was. Good catch bucket. 

The fruit sherbet things are the Del Monte Fruit Chillers tubes. I get the strawberry ones. They are amazing. 

I'll also take a look at the yogurt. I love sour cream but it's definitely something I can't eat now. Thanks! ^_^

Thanks bucket for the advice. I'm thinking of upping the caloric intake to 1900-2000. I'm in no way NEEDING to lose this weight, but I am borderline slightly overweight and i would like to take on a new, healthier self for the next school year. So, I now understand in order to be healthy, I need to get more. I'm usually not that hungry anymore (I went through a stage right after puberty where I was ALWAYS hungry and I think that's where my weight gain came in), so I'll definitely eat things like peanut butter and hummus to get in my calories before I realize it's the end of the day and I'm still at 1200 calories. It's actually exciting to hear that I can eat things like peanut butter and hummus, because I LOVE hummus and peanut butter's really good too.

As for my weight loss goal, thanks for reassuring me that it's in a healthy range, as long as I eat more. I can do this now!