Hello everyone, I'm new here
I am concerned with the recent weight loss I am experiencing, which I don't particularly want. I am thin and have always been this way, but any thinner I do not like. I've never had to watch what I ate, but i'm concerned and don't want to continue losing. Perhaps it is because I can't have dairy and don't have any meat either (yes to turkey though!), I am allergic to nuts and seeds, and so my diet mainly consists of fruit, veggies, bread and complex carbs, and ideas?
I thought that maybe by counting calories I could make sure i was getting the adequate amount, thing is i've never done anything like this and I need some guidance!
I guess I'll start by giving my stats. I'm 20 years old, at uni, sedentary (hard degree!), 1.60m and even though my weight fluctuates greatly from day to day, by lowest was 41.5kg yesterday. How many calories should I be consuming? I used to walk for about an hour every other day, but haven't been working out at all in the past 8 or so months.
Thank you for your help :)
It's a bit more of a problem than 'any thinner I do not like'.... If you check out this website http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html and enter your stats (5'2" and 91lbs) you'll find that you're underweight and this has health implications. Because your BMI is sub 17 you should talk to a doctor and get checked out physically.
You'll also find from the website that you need around 1700-2000 cals a day to maintain your weight assuming you're only lightly active. So to start gaining you need 2500 as a bare minimum ... every day.
To get that amount of food you need to be well prepared, start early in the day and eat 'little and often'... Food has to take priority over anything else in your life right now because your health is at risk. You can do it without dairy but you'll need to start getting plenty of fats in your diet. Olive oils, oily fish, red meats, avocados, whole eggs are all good foods. You're going to need MUCH bigger portions of complex carbohydrates like pastas, starchy vegetables, bread and other wholegrain foods. Don't eat so many vegetables since they tend to be low in calories and too bulky... you'll feel too full before you hit the calorie target. Dried fruit are a good option... dates, especially. And you can drink a lot of useful calories via fruit juices and smoothies.
Keep the CC food log as accurately as you can so that you're hitting that target day in, day out. If you don't start to gain weight, increase your intake further. Good luck
