Wow this is bad

Ok so I just turned 15 and I'm a boy. I pretty much had an unexpected pig-out event.

I was going to have about 10 peanuts for idk why and then I ended up eating a whole bunch of stuff. I went on a eating rampage and I feel terrible. It wasn't ice cream or anything REAL bad. Most of it would be considered healthy but I ate A LOT...

Let's just say I ate 1,900-2,100 calories just now. Consisting of peanuts, various types of cereal, 2 granola bars, 8-12 vanilla wafers, one small healthy cookie thing, an apple, baked tortilla chips with salsa, and some cinnamon crackers with milk.....

I know this is really bad. I think my daily total now is about 3,000 calories. I exercised for an hour today but still. I'm not covered am I?

I feel really bad. Like I have completely failed. I let my cravings get to me. How do I erase these thoughts? I know I can't change it and I know I just have to start clean tomorrow. But how can I move on from this guilt... Again I'm a 15 year old boy and this is only like the 2nd time this has happened to me ever... What do I do? I feel so terrible...

Actually when I think about it my total is probably 3,100-3,200 calories....great...

Hey man, don't worry about it. We all have our off days. Today was mine too! I've had 2 pieces of pie, an ice cream sundae cone, and a pack of peanut M&Ms...and a bunch of other stuff.

You're young. From your picture you don't even look like you need to lose weight! Just shrug it off and go on with your day. You aren't going to instantly gain 5 pounds.

That's actually an old picture from before I lost weight. hehe.. But that picture makes me look better then I did.

I used to weigh 132 now I weigh 106.

How much weight do you think I will gain from today? 1/4 of a pound? 1/2?

Or maybe this is good for me. Because I ate WAY more than my body needed and maybe it will increase my metabalism. Then I will eat in the morning, exercise then get right back on track. Maybe I will exercise for 30 minutes right now! would that help?

I've done that type of thing lots of times before.  Usually it happens when I'm being too restrictive about what I eat.  

Truth be told if you only weigh 106 and your 5'2" tall, you might be on the light side for a 15 year old guy.  Also if you want to keep growing, you need to really keep a good balance between getting enough healthy calories and not eating too much junk.  

My kid is 14 and totally loves lifting weights and being very fit.  He eats a ton of food too, but not junk stuff.  Everything you ate sounded pretty good to me, so stay calm :)

In this world with the amount of crappy yet unfortunately delicious food it is hard to stay on track. Its not impossible but with the food around it isnt that hard to go overboard. Well, your a growing dude. And if you worked out for an hour then you are ok. You wont gain weight so no harm no foul. Unless you continue doing this everyday for a week or so then you should be alarmed. Otherwise shrug it off and just call it a free day. When the urge to eat everything in sight happens to me I will normally write down everything I want to eat, add up the cals and let the huge number soak in. And that normally keeps me from doing it. Just practice that self control and realize food is not the enemy, yet you wont let it ruin your day

Good news: I exercised for 30 minutes.

Bad news: I still feel like crap... After I exercised I think I drank too much water. Like 30 ounces at once. I feel like I'm going to explode. Actually, I've been feeling like I'm going to explode for the past 3 hours.lol.

Thank you for your post figurethefat...lol cool username

Everyone always tells me to eat more. Like my mom told me to eat more but more of the healthy stuff. Like, how? If I have an extra cup of cereal that would be too much protein and fiber. It's 10 grams of protein per cup and 6 grams of fiber I think. It's the kashi go lean. If I have 2 sandwhiches which she suggests I would be too full. I don't want to eat that much more at dinner so...

ok, I will give you what I eat on my average day...Today is NOT my average day.lol

Breakfast: 1 cup of kashi go lean, little skim milk, and an apple.

Then I exercise for an hour

Snack: scoop of whey protein powder in 12 ounces of water. (24 grams of protein) This is right after my workout

Lunch: Two handfulls of salad. romain and spinach. With about a tablespoon of homemade dressing which is pretty healthy, and feta cheese. A deli meat sandwhich with this really good and healthy flatbread. And a piece of fruit

Snack: Oatmeal. And I am starting to experiment with it. Like baking it, putting fruit, chopped nuts, or other such things in it.

Dinner: Usually whatever my mom makes and she tries to be healthy so example... Grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, baked potatoes, and sometimes cut up fruit and sometimes salad instead of steamed vegetables. We VERY rarely have steak or hamburgers. So I combine all of that on a small plate and keep the portion small. And if she doesn't make dinner or we are having fast food I will fix a frozen dinner. This is usually every 4-6 days. So not that often. It's the lean quisine meals. Usually about 350 calories each and they are pretty good tasting too. Sometmes I'll have a piece of fruit with this.

This all sums up to about 1,300-1,600 calories... It depends on the day

What can I add to this?

you are a 15 year old boy, and you weigh 106 lbs? and you want to only weigh 106 lbs? seriously? why? tip: you weigh less than most girls your size. you shoudl eat like this more often if you want to become a man.

^^ agree

Perhaps you binge because you're body wants to gain weight.

Teenagers need more calories also, it doesn't sound like you're eating enough ever. And why are you still dieting at 106 lbs? This is very at risk to become very unhealthy, and to possibly stunt development.

Pardon my two cents, but I find it very disturbing that a 15 year old would turn down an extra bowl of cereal thinking "too much protein and fiber". A normal thought would be "I have had plenty already" - for everyone, but a teenager especially. At this age you should not be so concerned with calories and nutrients, just keep a good idea on what is healthy and what is not and stay active.

1800 is the bare minimum a developing teenage boy should eat every day, if absolutely sedentary. You sound active so you should be able to lose weight safely at 2000-2500 calories a day, if not more than that.

I really hope you are able to take a step back and analyze your behaviour rationally. You are depriving your growing body of the nutrients it so badly needs, of course it will rebel against you and just start eating everything in sight! There are so many very serious health problems that you are heading for with this eating pattern. Please, please, snap out of it.

Bennyboy, you need to eat more. When you restrict your diet so much, your body is biologically programmed to want to binge - it's a survival mechanism. Eat more and you'll be less likely to have cravings. You need to keep eating treats every now and then - don't make anything off limits. You need to eat more healthy fats. And at 15, you really don't need to be calorie counting. Take your focus off weight and calories and onto what keeps you healthy, what tastes good, what you feel like eating, and what gives you enough energy to work out. The road you're on now is not a healthy one.

In reply to what can you add, here's a few ideas.  Keep in mind not everyone likes the same stuff.  I love toast, but my kids, eh!  So I would add a slice or two of whole wheat or multigrain toast with breakfast.  Put some peanut butter on it or some almond butter and sliced banana.  If time is an issue, there are some frozen waffles (by Van's) that are very healthy...

Avocado is good, maybe put some on your salad, and some tomato, and what about some croutons?  Make your own, they really make the salad more satisfying.

The nuts on the oatmeal sound really good.  Drink a glass of milk with it.

Everyone has their own agenda when it comes to formulating their eating plan, but the other posts are valid.  Kick up your daily intake to 1800 to 2000 and see how you go.  What percentages are you aiming for.  I'm a vegetarian and like 20% fat, 20% protein, 60% carbohydrates.

Okay, I don't think I'm going too crazy with this you guys. Today I have had a bowl of cereal and an apple, a protein shake, salad, smoothie, and some soup.

There might be a possibility I am adding the calories wrong and it really is like 1,800. You guys never gave me some ideas on what I can add to this. I'm kind of hungry right now but not really. I usually hold off until 3 and have oatmeal or cottage cheese.

Do you guys want me to take a picture of myself? because I'm not skinny... I guess normal now. I'm not really that hungry all the time. I'm not always thinking of food or anything like that. I'm trying to build more muscle right now so I will probably weigh more later...

The thing is. I don't feel like I'm over doing it. Please don't say YOU CAN'T DO THAT! and go all crazy just please tell me what I should do without saying I'm going to kill my body. please. What should I eat more of? Again I'm a little hungry right now. Should I eat? If so, what? Then should I wait untill dinner to eat? or can I have 2 snackes between now and dinner?

At your age, you should not be "dieting".  If you want to watch what types of foods you eat  like cutting back on sugary stuff, that's fine.   

But, you are just barely above the underweight category for your height/weight/age.

From your other posts, it would say you are lightly to mederately active, and so for a growing young man, you should take in from 2250-2600 calories a day just to maintain.     Get it from healthy things though, like lots of lean protein, "good" fats like those from nuts (either whole nuts or PB) and oily fish like salmon and olive oil, whole grains, fruits and veggies.

So, LISTEN to your body.  If your body says it's hungry, eat!  Go make yourself a PB sandwich kid!

Also from your other posts, I see you have concerns about your height.  Did you know undereating will stunt your growth?  And if that doesn't get your attention, maybe this will - undereating can delay sexual maturity as well...

And take heart, I've known my husband since we we're freshmen in highschool - He was 5'2" until the summer between Sophmore and Jr year - then he grew 4 inches in three months!  He's now 5'11", so there may be hope there yet! 

Please familiarize yourself with information in these links:

Especially for Teens

• Calculator and calorie information for Teens
• Nutrition, Exercise & Weight Management for Teens
• More Nutrition & Health for Teens
• Weight Management for Kids/Teens - this is a great thread started by one of our own CCers with tons of useful information about how and why kids should maintain their weight healthfully. It also will help parents to educate their children. It is great for both parents and guardians of children/teens as well as teens themselves!

I want you guys to notice something though. When I started doing what I have been doing I have grown 2 inches in the past 3-4 months! and still growing. So... I don't think I have stunted my growth. I think I'm kinda jump starting my growth by being healthy but whatever...

Gaining some muscle sounds like a good plan. It will make you look more fit without weight loss, and is a good goal. However, you need to be eating too many calories to gain muscle. If you're eating a calorie deficit, the body can't build muscle mass, it can only tone what you already have. So if you're serious about building muscle, well... thats the opposite of dieting for weight loss, do some searching in the fitness forums for diet/intake ideas. It will involve more high calorie/high protein foods, healthy fats, and complex carbs.

Hope this helps.

btw, now that summer has hit, many of us are having a hard time fighting low appetites. Getting all your calories can be tough, but even if you don't feel hungry, it's worth the effort. In fact, when you stop feeling hungry, it can be a sign that your metabolism has slowed and adjusted, and needs extra calories to get going again.

Dude

You are a growing 15 year old, you need at least 3000 a day with light exercise to grow.  My son who is 14 eats like that just before he grows.  Then he grow 2 inches a month all summer, from June to end of September.  You are no different than any other boy your age and if you keep it to healthy food and not junk then you will grow up to be just right, not fat and not too thin. 

Do not worry so much about losing weight but concentrate  on not gaining and when you grow you will thin out.

Original Post by bennyboy5:

Do you guys want me to take a picture of myself? because I'm not skinny... I guess normal now. I'm not really that hungry all the time. I'm not always thinking of food or anything like that. I'm trying to build more muscle right now so I will probably weigh more later...

The thing is. I don't feel like I'm over doing it. Please don't say YOU CAN'T DO THAT! and go all crazy just please tell me what I should do without saying I'm going to kill my body. please. What should I eat more of? Again I'm a little hungry right now. Should I eat? If so, what? Then should I wait untill dinner to eat? or can I have 2 snackes between now and dinner?

First off, you're clearly eating at a deficit right now and you can't gain muscle on a deficit, only maintain what you have. Eat to gain a little and work out, and you'll see much better results.

Secondly, if you weren't overdoing it you wouldn't write things like that second paragraph, which really sounds like fear and paranoia over food and what you can eat and when you can eat. If you had a healthy mindset you'd just naturally eat when you were hungry. And you wouldn't need us for suggestions - you'd just pick something you felt like. That's why people think you are overdoing it, because you sound like you have disordered eating habits.

But if you are still interested in suggestions, take a look at this. I have two younger brothers and the one who is 16 eats something like this:

Breakfast: Two pieces of wholegrain toast with jam/nutella, a big bowl of muesli with milk, glass of 3% plain or chocolate milk. Occasionally porridge with milk, brown sugar and raisins in the morning, or baked beans on toast.

Snacks: an Up'N'Go (don't know if you have them, they're a milk/fibre/protein drink) and a banana

Lunch: salad and meat sandwiches, 2-3 pieces of fruit, small bag of chips, muesli bar and a drink

After school: More toast or cereal, a glass of juice and a protein drink. If he has been training (he's a runner and rower) he can put away a foot-long sub, no problem. Either that or he comes home and eats a pile of whole-grain sandwiches, or some pasta.

Dinner: with my family. Really varied, but reasonably healthy. Anything from soup with bread rolls to home-made pizza, lasagne, stir-fries, casseroles... whatever. Always includes veges, carbs, fats and meat about 70% of the time.

After dinner: a plate of leftovers later in the evening, a muesli bar and some fruit, chocolate milk, plain (3%) milk or juice, more toast or cereal, some baked beans on toast...

My brother is one of the healthiest guys I know. He gets in his fruits and veges. He gets a lot of protein and healthy carbs, and plenty of fat and fibre too. Because he rows a lot he cares about what he eats, but he always eats when he's hungry, and there's not a scrap of fat on him. My other brother ate the same way when he was that age. You might not be stunting your growth now, but you could stop growing sooner than you want to in the future if you keep limiting your intake.

Well, I have an idea. I will try to go to a 2,000-2,200 calorie diet this next week. If things go good I will give it another go. And eventually I might raise it more. Sound good?

So I will just eat healthy stuff whenever I am hungry. Like granola bars, cottage cheese, a piece of fruit, or whatever.

Would this be better?

That sounds much better. Bear in mind you might see a jump in the scales when you first start eating more, but it will be mostly water weight, so stick at it :)