what's a healthy day of food for a teen?

In the past I've had problems with both undereating and overeating and even though I've been a healthy weight for about 12/14 months now I'm finding it REALLY hard to understand what a 'normal' amount of food is like. I understand it varies from person to person, but I was wondering if anyone could share examples of what a healthy days worth of food might look like? I really want to try and get away from counting calories, I have been trying to do this for at least the last 12 months, but have found it IMPOSSIBLE and continue to compulsively weigh and count e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.. I depend on calories & weights to calculate what an acceptable amount is for me, but still find it impossible to make decisions on portions, food groups, meals and so on, without weighing and counting.

Ideas of healthy, balanced meals and snacks would be great, so hopefully I can look at them and maybe get an idea of what might be right for my body/lifestyle etc. Like what would a healthy teenager eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? What would their snacks look like? Again, I know everyone is different, I suppose I'm hoping that seeing different people's opinions will help me to find my own balance. 

Thanks.

I'd say it's abnormal to eat a perfect amount of calories and nutrients everyday of your life for the rest of your life in a routine, some days you eat a little less, others a little more, it all evens out, the difference with you is your obsession with weighing/counting, which also is no way to live the rest of your life.

Without numbers, just food, normal and healthy, what I ate when I was maintaining a healthy weight, before I decided to "lose weight" and then got to college and gained weight and lost my healthy perception of food.

For breakfast I have a bowl of cereal (1 serving, high(ish) calorie like kashi golean crunch or a granola type cereal), skim milk, and a serving of fruit (apple or banana)

Lunch: I have a sandwich with grilled chicken on whole wheat bread, a lot of different veggies and mustard, sometimes an ounce of cheese if we have good cheese in the house (I won't use kraft singles but if we have some extra sharp provolone I'll eat that) or a natural PB and banana sandwich on wheat. I'll pack a full lunch box containing that sandwich, 2 servings of fruit (usually an apple and a couple clementines), a serving of veggies (I like raw bell peppers or raw snap peas, a dannon light and fit yogurt or a fage 0% greek yogurt with a couple packets of honey and a "treat" desert. My treat was usually either a 100 calorie pack, 2 chips ahoy cookies, a serving of wheat thins, 3 or so hershey kisses or mini reeses. I would start eating it at school lunch and eat the rest of the food spaced out throughout my school day.

Snack: I usually had a big afterschool snack but it depended on my hunger. A lot of days I had fruit and yogurt (nonfat greek or yogurt or dannon light and fit). My parents work at night and my mom usually doesn't cook dinner but she does usually cook lunch and almost always saved me some for dinner or a snack so I'd often eat a small portion of the leftovers from lunch - maybe 2 turkey meatballs or a serving of 3 bean chilli. Or I'd make a boca burger on a whole grain english muffin. Or I'd have 1 fried egg on a piece of whole wheat toast. Something hearty usually

Dinner: I almost always ate chicken or fish with some kind of veggie - usually sauteed onions and mushrooms with a salmon fillet. Or I'd eat a nice big salad with grilled chicken. This was usually calorically a light meal since I usually had a pretty hearty filling snack.

Nighttime snack: Something sweet - a serving of ben and jerry's fro yo was a big one in my house, or maybe a handful of semi sweet chocolate chips, fruit with whipped cream, or a maybe another yogurt and fruit combination

Oh gosh I hope this helped - I really miss my naturally healthy eating habits!

It's a long time since I was a skinny teen but it was fun thinking about how/what I used to eat in the course of a day way back when.... here goes.

• Breakfast: Cereals followed by toast, jam and lots of cups of tea
• Morning snack:  A chocolate bar or a packet of crisps
• Lunch:  Hot school meal of the 'meat & 2 veg with potatoes' variety.  Water to drink
• After school snack... bread & butter with jam
• Supper:  Another 'meat & 2 veg with potatoes' meal.  (Occasionally a portion of fish & chips) Canned fruit with ice-cream for dessert or masses of cheese and biscuits!!!   Lots more cups of tea
• Late snack: Usually toast with Marmite and a cup of cocoa

thanks! passions_child i agree with you completely.. 

jane your teen diet looks so british! i love it. although, marmite..  haha

You know, I have no idea.

Today, I began restricting down to 600 calories (from a previous 1000, then 800, with 3 weeks each). That may sound like alarmingly little, but you can get 3 square meals out of it and plenty of fluids.

I'm trying to lose 15 pounds, and it's really working. 

So, yesterday I ate:

Breakfast: Rivita slice with low fat margarine, marmite and 3 sliced cherry tomatoes and a cup of green tea, sweetened with canderel. 

Lunch: Half a tin of tuna, 100 grams of cherry tomatoes and two rivita slices, each with marge and marmite...yes, I like marmite!! And a pepsi max for refreshment.

Dinner: 1 boiled egg with soilders (1 slice of breads worth) and low fat margerine.. with some breakfast tea (no milk, slice of lemon) 

Before bed I had my only cup of tea with (semi skimmed)  milk of that day, and one mcvities rich tea biscuit. 

Original Post by gretchen_knochen:

You know, I have no idea.

Today, I began restricting down to 600 calories (from a previous 1000, then 800, with 3 weeks each). That may sound like alarmingly little, but you can get 3 square meals out of it and plenty of fluids.

I'm trying to lose 15 pounds, and it's really working. 

So, yesterday I ate:

Breakfast: Rivita slice with low fat margarine, marmite and 3 sliced cherry tomatoes and a cup of green tea, sweetened with canderel. 

Lunch: Half a tin of tuna, 100 grams of cherry tomatoes and two rivita slices, each with marge and marmite...yes, I like marmite!! And a pepsi max for refreshment.

Dinner: 1 boiled egg with soilders (1 slice of breads worth) and low fat margerine.. with some breakfast tea (no milk, slice of lemon) 

Before bed I had my only cup of tea with (semi skimmed)  milk of that day, and one mcvities rich tea biscuit. 

this is a starvation diet and is so incredibly dangerous and unhealthy. it doesn't matter if you felt "full". i used to feel "full" on 200 calories during my eating disorder. take it from someone who knows... not only are you risking medical complications (heart trouble, etc.) but you are messing up your metabolism. good luck loosing weight while your body is clinging to every ounce of muscle and fat it can.

as a teen you need the absolute minimum of 1500 calories a day, and you are not the exception.