safe maintain amount?

Hello, I am about 112 pounds and 5'4".  I am 18 years old and I try to run about 45 minutes 5 days a week.  Currently I eat between 1200-1400 calories a day...and although I do not want to keep losing weight, I have a strange fear of gaining weight if I stop counting calories.  It has become kind of obsessive, any tips? Help!

In some ways, I'm the same way. I don't "need" to lose any more weight, but believe it or not, the weight loss habit is hard to break. I wouldn't suggest dropping all calorie counting if it's too scary (it is for me, too.) BUT once or twice a week, have a healthy but high-cal meal or just a big meal at a restaurant and really blow it. Don't consistently overeat or you may gain, but try to focus on giving yourself a break.

I know it's hard to balance loss, gain, and maintenance. i'm insecure enough to feel fat no matter what my weight, but don't let that even start to happen to you.You're in control!

You're showing all the signs of disordered eating, I'm afraid.   Not eating enough,  exercising excessively, a fear of gaining weight.  These are all classic symptoms.  Someone of your height, weight and activity level needs about 1900 - 2100 cals a day simply to maintain a healthy body and brain function.  At 112lbs you are not underweight but you cannot afford to lose any more.  You're risking poor mental health, vitamin deficiencies, anaemia, bone-density problems, menstruation problems, hair loss, skin complaints and a host of other medical issues if you carry on as you are.

Right now you are in a position to stop what you're doing and break the habit by stopping calorie counting and dispensing with the bathroom scales.   Focus on other areas of life so that weight, diet and fitness take a back seat.  If you find you can't do that then you should seek professional medical advice or you are heading for a fall.

I am in the same boat w/becca and marconi685. i feel kind of overweight or that i am gaining weight on most days even though i have been maintaining for over a year? i am most of the time worried if i ate too much or too little. if i eat sweeets, i feel i automatically causes me to gain some weight and i am losing all my tone and definition in muscles.

U know what, I am like that too, I am so scared of gaining weight, it's like the only thing that i think about most of the time. Although recently it's much better, I think if u have some sort of a scheduled food everyday then u dont think about half as much, more of a patterned food choices therefore u dont think about what ur going to eat for lunch, dinner, snacks n so on but make sure they're healthy choices. I know it can seem dull if u eat the same stuf everyday but u can still vary it right? Then when u reach the weekend, u can go a bit off the routine, go to a nice restaurant n eat ice cream.

i'm there too (5'4" around 105). i think there are 2 things going on.

(1) it's cool to see your weight trending downward, less cool to see it staying flat or increasing. you have to get used to the sawtooth ups & downs of the charts & know that you're where you want to be in spite of the 1-2 pound fluctuations our bodies go through from day to week to month.

(2) the fear is there too, but it's not rational. you've learned the lifestyle, now's the time to live it and let it work for you. of course you need to not get off track too badly too often, but for the most part you don't have any reason to be fearful. relax & have confidence that if you go up a pound or two, you know the techniques to get back to where you want to be; and know that any rapid gain is not 'real' and it'll all even back out if you are reasonable about food & exercise.

I am currently struggling with the same thing, even though  I am trying to gain muscle mass and thus weight it kills me to see the scale move and I have to will myself to eat more, I am trying to even out as I go though major restrictive times and then I will binge, its a hard battle but we will all get though it.  Today was my cheat day which I have not taken in a while and I had above 1200 cals for breakfast, just felt like peanut butter sandwiches so I had alot of them lol, ah one day i hope to even it all out.

I'm in the same boat, although 11 years your senior. (wow, I've never referred to myself as someone's senior before..lol)

All I can say is -deep breaths-

one day at a time, or for me, sometimes, one minute at a time

your self-worth has nothing to do with a damn number on a scale