whats a good amount of calorie intake?

i am 5'9" and 130, i run atleast 3-4 times a week (3-5miles)or use the elliptical for 40 min, sometimes i weight lift but i focus on cardio more. anyway, i like only eating 900-1200 calories a day. is that too low? i guess what im more worried about is what if on some days i all the sudden jump to 1500-2000 calories in one day?  this website recomends i eat 2500! which is way to much!

it has worked fine so far, ive weighed the same since highschool and now im 22.  but for 3 of those years i struggled with eating disorders. so im barely getting on the right track!

how does everyone else maintain there weight? howmany calories is good for me in one day?

You really should be eating WAY more than what you are based on your activity level; you should be eating more even if all you did was sit around and do nothing otherwise you're going to start losing muscle and bone density.

But, I really shouldn't talk. I'm 5'3" and weigh 107.5 lbs (I've lost about 28lbs in the last year and 3 months).  I'm lucky if I make it to 1200 calories in one day and I do the same type  of cardio workouts.  Four days a week I do cardio; mostly high intesity interval training on the elliptical and treadmill for 30 to 40 minutes,  plus I lift twice a week.  The site recommends I eat over 2000 calories and my brain tells me to eat more, but I just can't bring myself to do it. 

Is there anyone that can help Bonnie and I?  After restricting calories for so long how do you just 'eat normal' again?

I agree with ahoffman50 you need more than that, although I completly understand how hard it is to eat more after eating less for so long.

I am 5ft 7 and weigh 122 and am terrified of putting on weight, so I don't like to eat too much!

I have found that I have gradually built myslef up to eating more by adding the odd ingredient to my diet! It was really hard as i used to beat myself up about having it and then exercise for ages to work it off, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE!

Just add the odd thing here and there and soon you won't even realise your doing it! Example: add some cheese to your sandwhich, put sugar in your tea and have an extra handful of cerial/ slice of toast. I can even have the odd dessert now and not feel (too) guilty!

Good Luck!

x

i think this is a good idea. what iv'e noticed in logging or writing down what i eat during the day, i can calculate how much more i can "cheat" or get away with. ex: today i had 1300 calories, so i could probably get away with adding some other type of snack without feeling too guilty.  although it still seems bad to eat that much in the first place! i think that i will see what happens if i do eat whats recemended.

everyones body is different! so not one "calculated" recemendation isnt correct!

we'll see!

I had the same problem.  But then I realized that I needed to start eating more, and it had to be "good stuff."  If you eat about six meals a day... well, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack, it will keep your metabolism going faster than the three squares plan.  My recommendation is 2600 calories, but I tend to stay in the ballpark of 2000.  If you follow the six meals plan, your calories will restrict themselves (somewhat) because you are full and won't be hungry for other things.  Give it a try, it might work for you too!

What you need to realize is that your caloric intake should be directly related to your activity level.  If you have a day "off" sitting around the house watching tv, then you should lower your caloric intake and on those days 1200-1500 calories might be enough.  However, on high activity days, a 3-5 mile run burns a significant amount of calories and you need to compensate for that by eating lean proteins, vegtables, fruits and some healthy carbs like brown rice, whole wheat bread. 

The most important part is listening to your body, without indulging to an emotional extreme.  Being a person with a history of an eating disorder, mentally every calorie going in your body becomes instantaneous fat, guilt, or anxiety.  So to avoid that, when you're adding calories make sure they the right kind.  Usually non processed food is the best.  Fruit is great, a plum only has around 40 cal, but think of how full you are after. A half cantaloupe is only 150 calories! Another great post workout snack that I like is steamed broccoli and carrots, just cover and place in microwave, put some light dressing on, and there you go a 130 cal (depending on the dressing) snack that is huge and doesn't feed into guilt. 

So remeber, listen to you body and put in foods that are healthy, yet fulfilling.    Keep up the hard work, half the battle is figuring out how to maintain!

~Sully

I tried to listen to my body and I think this is a good recommendation, jujyf10.

But sometimes I have to 'fight' with my ED and I have days when I'm so confused, and I feel so guilty...

I'm trying not to take over 1800 calories/day, but today I felt so hungry... I think I was eating at each 2 - 2.30 hours. I ate 2100 calories and now I feel like 'a pig' (a big one...). I lost weight by starvation and I'm quite afraid of eating, now. My parents are always telling me "Eat more. Eat more!" like they would like to put some kg on me and this increase my feeling of 'pig'.

I purely don't understand why I'm so hungry, althought I eat a lot. And I'm sure is hunger and not only craving. I'm not eating from boredom, stress or something else; I drink a lot of water hopping it will fill up my stomach ... but in vain.

I'm hungry and I don't understand why. When I was eating only 200-300 calories/day I realised I'm not ok and I need more, so I slowly increased my calories. At the beggining it was quite 'imposible' to eat more, but now I'm on 1800 calories and I'm hungry. Why? It's really hunger? I really need more? Should I listen to my body? I'm afraid of becoming a gourmet, a big one...

What I'm getting from you response is that your eating habits are swayed by guilt.  Eating 2100 calories one day makes you feel guilty and might lead you to only eat 1200 the next day.  You might want to trying using your rational thought processes to plan what you eat.  For example, if you feel like your starving eat something small that maybe isn't exactly what you wanted, but is a healthy alternative, like if you want a gallon of ice cream, try instead 3/4 cup soy icecream.  Then plan out what your next meal/snack will be and make sure that its in a range of cal that you are ok with. Give into your indulgences, but don't be overrun by emotional hunger (like when you feel like your starving but you know your not).  If your still hungry in 20-30min, try distracting yourself.  Go for a walk, read a book, study, the goal is to keep your mind occupied so your not thinking about how hungry you are.  Now this won't always work.  Its a hard thing to control impulses, but learning to avoid bindges is an uphill process, but rewarding at the end.  The goal is to maintain a consistant number of calories.  It will help with feeling guilty.  However, there will be days that you go crazy and eat a lot, and when that happens, instead of feeling guilty, think about why it happened, how you can prevent it, and if it does happen again how you can keep in under control.  Guilt breeds guilt.  It is a slippery slope that lets our emotional mind take over any rational thought processes we have, and we do anything without thinking twice.  Learn from mistakes, don't do the same thing over and over and over again. 

As your your family, thats difficult.  Maybe they feel like your not being healthy by being thin, and because of your past they would rather see you a little overweight.  Because if your overweight, despite how bad the foods are that you are eating, your not starving yourself.  Its a way for your family to help you without actually knowing how to help you.  "Here stuff your face with whatever, just eat something, that will solve the problem"  They don't realize that just eating and eating makes you want to go back to what you used to do.  What i've had to do with my family is tell them that I can not just eat.  That I am not starving myself, but trying to be a healthy person, and if they are concerned that I'm not eating then they need to tell me that directly.  I've also had to tell them not to make comments on what I'm eating or how much in a casual setting (like during dinner or in the kitchen) because it makes me feel uncomfortable, self conscious, and makes me think about food more.  Sit them down, be serious, be poised, and let them know how they can help you be healthy.

Hope this helps, sorry its so long

~Sully

Original Post by jujyf10:

For example, if you feel like your starving eat something small that maybe isn't exactly what you wanted, but is a healthy alternative, like if you want a gallon of ice cream, try instead 3/4 cup soy icecream.  Then plan out what your next meal/snack will be and make sure that its in a range of cal that you are ok with. Give into your indulgences, but don't be overrun by emotional hunger (like when you feel like your starving but you know your not).

I forgot to say: I ate 2100 calories yesterday, but I didn't have even a small piece of chocolate. Additionally I ate a big quince, some yoghurt and fat-less cheese and other things that theoretical are healthy. Last night I was seriously thinking at these things and I think it really was hunger and not emotional hunger.

Thanks for your response and advices!

Your right - I must talk frankly with my parents; I know theirs intentions aren't bad and they want me to be healthy, but sometimes they over-act.

Thanks again. Have a nice day!

bonnie21, you sound alot like myself, i'm 5'7 about 122. Over the past year i've been maintaining my weight by working out 3-4 times a week and running about 4 miles each time. I eat around 1200 - 1500 calories a day and was maintaining my weight but now with my class and work schedule its almost impossible to fit in the workouts especially 4 times a week.

I'm lucky now if I can fit in 2 day/week of a 4 mile run. Its horrible and I feel so guilty eating when I know I haven't worked out in x amount of days. I guess working out those couple times is better than nothing but now i'm starting to creep up in my weight.

I think you should definitely try to stay more towards 1200 calories and see if your still the same. I always noticed that the more carbs I consumed on my off days the better I felt running the next day.

1200?   You need more than that even!  I would guess around 1700 not including exercise!  I'm almost 5'8" and I was maintaining 110 pounds on at least 1600 calories for a while before I decided to gain 10 pounds.  Now I'm maintaining 120 on around 1600-1800 calories with no exercise besides walking to class.  If you slowly increase your intake, you most likely won't gain weight and you'll speed up your metabolism.  Your body has adapted to eating so little and that's why you're maintaining on so few calories, but I would seriously suggest starting to slowly increase your intake.  I'd try around 100 calories a week increase, just to make sure you don't gain. 

i know wut u mean. when u eat so little for a long time and not feeling hungry at all, and then u start to eat a normal amount and u feel hungry. ur metabolism is going again and ur body needs more calories. when u eat so little, u go into starvation mode and like ur metabolism stops and ur body tries not to use any calories for extra things. so dont worry that ur hungry! u probally got ur metabolism back to normal, and probably could eat more. if ur really hungry u should eat something since its not emotional or anything. cuz then ull go back into starvation mode and when u start to eat again ull actually gain more weight than if u were eating normal the whole time.