LOCKED TOPIC

wanna know a routine that actually works?

There is no way that on so few calories you are fuelling your body with what it needs. The minimum intake for a sedentary female over 21 is 1200 calories per day. For a sedentary female under 21 or a man over 21 it is 1500 per day, and a sedentary male under 21 1800 per day. And believe it or not, that’s only the sedentary minimum. Unless you are very, very short and small, and/or if you are working out it is very likely you will need even more calories than those minimum guidelines.

If you are 21 or older use CC's tools to work out your BMR so you have a number to work from for your diet: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-bur ned.php. If you are under 21, CC's tools are inaccurate and you should use this calculator instead: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html as you are still growing. Yes, even in the later years - there's more going on inside of you that you simply can't see.

Eating too low a calorie intake, or having a deficit from your BMR greater than 1000 results in something called "survival mode", where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:

• Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.
• The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time. 
• "Obesity on 700 Calories" - A tale of starvation mode's devistating effects, and proof you don't have to be underweight to be starving.
• From Ask Mary, the segment provided by our CC nutritionist Mary Hartley: On the dangers of undereating and what it does to your body.

The physical dangers that come with undereating are numerous. You put yourself at risk of osteoporosis, of loss of fertility if you lose your period, hair loss, electrolyte problems, a weakening of the immune system, low blood pressure, blood disorders such as anemia, heart problems, and even death. The mental woes that come alongside can be just as devestating. Depression is common in undereaters, as well as distorted perceptions and problems like Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Crash dieting will do nothing to help you lose weight as the weight will likely come straight back on, and undereating can easily do more damage than good. Think about it - your health or your vanity? Weight is easily lost if you do it in a healthy and sustainable manner which is what CC is all about. 

I think you ought to read the following link: An Unofficial Calorie Count Guide to a Fad-Free 2009. It covers the basics of calorie counting, largely in how to do so safely and sensibly without resorting to drastic methods. And please remember:

Posting Guidelines

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.

• Your post is subject to modification or deletion by our moderators. Repetitive, off-topic, disruptive, and frivolous posts will be removed. We will take down any posts that violate either the letter or the spirit of any of these rules.
• Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

- Ellie
Calorie Count Volunteer Moderator

im 14 so im younger and need less calories plus im not saying you dont eat a lot

i had a banana for breakfast
totinos pizza for lunch
some ritz chips for a snack
and ill have dinner still

Sigh. You've totally misunderstood. Even if you aren't eating below 1500 on that menu you're advocating what could easily be WAY too little for someone's specific needs. And that includes yours.

Okay, good - you're younger, you've got that. But you need a LOT more calories. I am telling you you aren't eating enough. One banana does not a balanced breakfast make.

WORK OUT YOUR BURN. As you are under 21, CC's tools are inaccurate and you should use this calculator instead: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

Here, I'll do it for you. A 14 year old girl of 5'9, 168lbs and very active burns 3160 calories. To lose a pound a week, a HEALTHY and steady state of loss that you can maintain - unlike four pounds, which was probably largely water loss - you should be eating about 2700 calories.

As you aren't anywhere near this, you need to increase your calorie intake. And I must stress this: Calorie Count promotes healthy, sustainable weight management. Crash dieting, which is what you are doing, does not equate this. If you are not aiming for this and continue promoting what you are doing your posts and account can face deletion.

Posting Guidelines

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.

• Your post is subject to modification or deletion by our moderators. Repetitive, off-topic, disruptive, and frivolous posts will be removed. We will take down any posts that violate either the letter or the spirit of any of these rules.
• Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

- Ellie
Calorie Count Volunteer Moderator

Original Post by jessicaxjetstream:

im 14 so im younger and need less calories plus im not saying you dont eat a lot

i had a banana for breakfast
totinos pizza for lunch
some ritz chips for a snack
and ill have dinner still

Actually, this is backwards.  When you're 14, you need more calories.  Particularly during the crucial developmental years for teens.  As you get older, your calorie requirements will drop and you'll find that you burn less when you exercise, but at the age of 14, your body is constantly either preparing for growth in the vertical direction or developing internally.  If you don't get enough calories during these years you risk your body being unable to perform these crucial functions.

pizza and ritz chips?

Jessica, you need to listen to lala - as a teen you need a ton more calories than an adult - growing requires calories. And not just your body - your brain needs calories! Please don't head down this road.

Jessica,

I'm 17 and also trying to lose weight. I've been dieting for about 4 or 5 days and I've lost 2 pounds already. I eat about 1500-1700 calories per day and I exercise. If you don't eat enough, it won't be pretty. Your period will get messed up and when it gets back to normal, you'll have horrible cramps and it'll be really hurry. It happened to me and it's no fun.

Be careful.

Original Post by jessicaxjetstream:

im 14 so im younger and need less calories plus im not saying you dont eat a lot

i had a banana for breakfast
totinos pizza for lunch
some ritz chips for a snack
and ill have dinner still

 So you had a banana and junk food?  What happened to the healthy meals you talked about in your original post? 

You don't need to read a silly magazine article written by lord knows who.  You have the advice of real experts right here at CC. 

If you want a meal plan that is proven to work, and that will provide you with the right nutrients, try this, by Mary Hartley, our nutritionist, from our Advice section.  Add 300 calories to feed your growing body.

1500 Calories in Six Meals-a-Day
Six meals may sound like a lot of food, but the portions are key and probably smaller than you think.

 

wow yall are twisting what im saying forget what i said then

i do eat enough okay? trust me i do. i eat how much im suppose to. and just cuz i have a banana for breakfast doesnt mean im gunna be starving myself. i know what im doign and im doing it healthy. if you think im not then thats your opinion. ive had problems with this in the past so i know that im ok so just chill. im through with this post you guys are freaking acting immature while im just tryin to tell u what i did HEALTHY without going diet crazy and it helped me. so bye.

I have one word for this: *Facepalm*

 

Jessica, I suggest you take your current diet to your family doctor and see what they have to say about it... since you don't think the people elected as moderators are giving good advice.

Quite frankly I think you are the only one acting immature in this post. You are being a know-it-all when really you dont know much. The mods here know what they're talking about and really, you dont. Listen to them because they have good advice.

And honey, you are doing it in a "Healthy" way AT ALL. You arent eating enough calories, and what you're eating is junk food.

Quit over reacting because people are trying to give you advice. Its for your own good.

Original Post by jessicaxjetstream:

wow yall are twisting what im saying forget what i said then

i do eat enough okay? trust me i do. i eat how much im suppose to. and just cuz i have a banana for breakfast doesnt mean im gunna be starving myself. i know what im doign and im doing it healthy. if you think im not then thats your opinion. ive had problems with this in the past so i know that im ok so just chill. im through with this post you guys are freaking acting immature while im just tryin to tell u what i did HEALTHY without going diet crazy and it helped me. so bye.

 I am just curious how we are twisting the fact that you believe you should eat less calories since you are younger when it has been scientifically proven children and teenagers need more calories than inactive adults? The point we are trying to make is, you need to eat more calories to save your body from going into starvation mode and you will then in the end do more harm to your self than you think. I eat 1,550 a day and I am losing about 1.5lbs a week. That is fairly decent. We are just trying to help and if you want to re-explain yourseld that makes us maybe understand you then go ahead. BUT, without sounding mean, you probably can't because you aren't doing it the healthy way. Sorry. We just want to see you succeed the right way.

All I'm saying is you do need to up your calories at a younger age instead of eating less, because think about it: Your body is burning more calories at that point because your bones, organs etc are growing and preparing you to be an adult. Once you hit 21 it's pretty much stopped.

Don't believe us? Find a BMI calculator on the web...type your age and your height weight or whatever and they will give you a number..after that keeping your same height and weight type in an age older then 21...You will see the difference in calorie needs.

Please make sure you get enough calories in because later in life you are going to regret it. Not eating enough, even if you feel you aren't starving is going to backfire in the long run especially when you get older and your metabolism does slow to a point. Because you'll just be making your metabolism slower now then it really should be which will make it very hard to lose or maintain weight later on. Please be careful. More then anything make sure you are getting enough nutrients into your body. It really needs it at this time.

breakfast: banana (1 or 2) w/ water

lunch: it had some reccomendations, but mostly it is eating a healthy balanced lunch. normally with a kind of meat some vegtables or fruit and then something else small like crackers or salad w. dressing or pasta.

a snack: something small and lite in calories. you can even have dark chocolate!

dinner: same as lunch.

 

 

.............. What is WRONG with this diet?  I dont understand everyone's complaints.  Stop preaching at the girl.  Okay, she posted what she actually ate a  few posts down and it wasn't too healthy, so work on that, but there was NO reason to jump on her before that.   Unless I guess you don't like bananas or something.... the diet just says:

"Eat a small balanced lunch and dinner, and have a snack."

 

Isn't that like, the basis of most working calorie-counting diets?  Unless someone here is a binge-breakfast eater...  Seriously, ouch.  You guys are being mean.

 

@ Jessica :  you should try to eat something with fruit and veggies at lunch.  I know that when I eat junk food I'm more likely to get hungry again before dinner, and eating tons then would undo all my hard work through the day.  So if you can't give up pizza for something else, just microwave some veggies from the freezer or have like 2 pieces of fruit with it.  Or take the same items in a tupperware to school.  Also, I'd say that for breakfast you should probably put that banana over some non-sugary cereal.  It's surprising how good some "healthier" brands taste.  I'm addicted to raisin bran.

I'm not b*tching at her I'm just being honest, she needs to eat the recommended amount for her body to grow at a regular pace without stunting it and setting herself up for a slow metabolism due to being in starvation mode. Which, I did..and I've paid all hell for it..It's not fun knowing you could be burning way more calories if you had followed a healthy diet instead of starving which might make your weight go down faster, but it doesn't last and later in life your screwed.

I do agree that she needs more fruits and veggies in there that could easily be added...like I said she needs nutrients right now it's very important.

Also, breakfast should be a good sized meal so your metabolism can get started. A banana only has like 100 calories in it. I eat that as my pre-breakfast snack. She isn't even close to hitting 1,200 calories with her current diet. Look up her example food day. She is probably closer to 700 tops! She is just damaging her body and we don't want to see it and it is shameful when it happens.  We aren't "preaching" or jumping on her. She just isn't getting the nutrition she needs for a 14 year old.

Calorie Count Plus's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management.

Your post is subject to modification or deletion by our moderators.

Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

The calorie minimum is 1200 calories for a female and 1500 calories for a male.  Add 300+ calories if you are a teenager and even more depending on your activity level.  Most teenagers require 1800-2000 calories and even more if they are active. 

Remember that the tools on CC are geared towards adults.  Please use the following links that are catered specifically for teens if you are 19yo or under.  

Calculator and calorie information for Teens

Nutrition, Exercise & Weight Management for Teens

More Nutrition & Health for Teens

Weight Management for Kids/Teens   

Your cooperation and participation in Calorie Count's mission is appreciated.

Sara

Volunteer Moderator