15 yr old - Question about how much I eat!

should I be worrying so much about how much I eat?

[whooooa I'm flooding the boards here]

I'm 15, and I used to weigh 150 and am now down to 116. I rarely go over 1000 calories and NEVER over 1350.. and I work out for an hour at least 5 days out of the week. It astonishes me how other kids my age can eat 400-calories-a-pack Pop-Tarts and giant chocolate chip cookies without gaining weight. When I DO indulge, I never eat a WHOLE candy bar.. just a square or two. Can I afford to eat more fat, or is my diet fine?

Congrats on the weight loss and you're young.  Eat, be happy.  Don't make calorie counting take over your life.  You know when you're getting heavier and need to tone it down a bit.  You probably have already read about your proper caloric intake.  You should eat more so you are healthy.  Eat healthy food, lead a healthy life.

buuuuuump

Well, yeah!! As a fellow teenager, I realize this is probably the only time we can have fun. Enjoy your youth while you have it, before you realize how hard life really is. I don't know how tall you are, but 116 seems pretty skinny to me. Live life once in a while- you may find yourself enjoying it more. : P

By the way, your calorie intake is way too low. You need to maintain, not lose more. ^^;;;

haha! I can dig it, but I'm 5'4" and wanna go down to 110.

i TOTALLY understand what you mean...

i also am a teen, and watch my friends actually BRAGGING about eating 7 slices of pizza, or say, five big macs -- THEY THINK ITS COOL.  They're all slim and they think its uncool to worry about calories/ health/fat, etc.  (i used to be the same until i one day decided I wanted to lose 3 pound, and ended up gaining 15 in the process of trying bad dieting, i finally figured it out, but my metabolism, or maybe my food conscious has never been the same, i just can't eat like them anymore -- another story)

Anways, its probably a good thing... you have a 'food conscience' now, and I'm pretty sure, no matter how hard you try, you won't ever be able to get rid of it.  It's a blessing and a curse.  But don't worry, later on it will probably work out to be more of a blessing.

I'd advise you TO EAT MORE CALORIES, for sure, but maybe not in the form of a chocolate bar.  Since you obviously no longer need to lose weight, you can if you want, it's no big deal.  But letting go of the strict routine is easier said then done. 

ugh, no kidding! it'd be super hard.. but I guess I should be grateful I'm actually AWARE of what I'm eating now. thanks ;D

Hello!

I would say you don't need to WORRY so much, as pay attention to WHAT you eat.
At your age, you NEED to make sure you are eating enough.  Having less than 1000 calories is NOT a good idea, especially ongoing.  1200 calories is the minimum I would recommend you eat on a daily basis.

You are still growing and need all the energy and nourishment your body can get.

Take care,
MC

LOL......your 15.. you can eat what you want! im 16 and i do burn a ton of calories. of course i dont reccomend you eat pop tarts, etc. BUt restrciting your calories and starving our self is terrible for you! how do you expect to grow?!!?!?!?!?!?  teens like you and me need massive amount of calories, even if they are inactive! never forget that.

i dont reccomend any teen eating less than 1500 a day, for both male and female. males espseicallly need more calories to build muscle and get taller.

stop destroying your life, and eat more darnit!!!!! stop killing your self, there i said it....

Read this through once and you'll get a lot of good ideas.  This is a Teacher Guide.

http://pub.etr.org/healthsmart/updates/HS_Tea cher_Guide.pdf

uhh...No offense, 110 seems a bit low for a good weight. I'm 5'4 and weigh roughly the amount you do, and I have a very small frame. ^^;;

In decided on your caloric limit, you have failed to take normal growth into consideration.  In my opinion, you need more than 1350 calories to keep your body growing in a healthy way. 

Childhood obesity is indeed a problem, and you've dealt with that.  However, when losing weight, it's important to remember that you are not yet done growing.  There is no need now to limit your calories, and along with it the amount of nutrition you get. 

Please remember that your bones are not yet full developed, and neither are your organs, especially the reproductive organs.  If you want to live a normal life as a healthy adult, you need to look again at how much you are eating.

To answer your question, you can afford to eat more fat in your diet.
I wouldn't focus on how many calories you are eating as much as you do though. You probably should be eating more than you do considering you are still young and you work out. Restricting can be bad when you're restricting under 1000.
I'm not saying you have to fall in with everyone else and pig out on burgers, candy and pizza but it wouldn't hurt you to indulge with a WHOLE candy bar every once in a while.

hi,
  im the same age as you and i just want to tell you to watch out...im in the same boat as you but i have had struggled for anerexia. im was 150 and then i basiclly starved myself down to 104 so i have effected my healthy and now i have no perid and b4 my hair was fallingout so if you have any questions just tell me

i know exactly how you feel. I am also 15 and i am soo worried about eating more than 1200 calories. yesterday was my "cheat" day and i only got 1395 calories. it is taking over my life. i want to stop worrying but i can't. All my friends can eat whatever they want and i know i can but i am soo worried about weight gain. i was 140 not i am 120 ish. I hate it. i just wish i could stop counting calories. it is hard to stop. I wish you the best of luck =]

livestrong, I guess we're in the same boat.. I know that it's wrong for me to worry so much and I'm afraid of weight gain, but I guess I'm more afraid that this worrying is going to take over my life. 

your problem is for a fact you dropped so much weight you dont have muscle now (im guessing) and now you need to weight lift and you have to eat much more that 1000 calories thats a fact or you will get seriously ill belive me eat nuts and seeds with things to increase calories dont drop anymore weight gain muscle now and do like 2200 cals now (depends on age weight height sex ect )

i had same probs i was like 13stone now im 8st 7lbs now realy need to gain muscle!!

You only live young once.  Try not to let losing weight ruin your teenage years.  You are only a teenager once.   When I was 15, I wanted to gain weight.  The problem was I couldn't do it. 

If you really wanted to lose a few pounds, go ahead and go for it.  But I would not cut back on what you eat.  I would eat a little more, but watch the calorie intake. 

Hope that helps.

First of all, 110 might not be that low at all, she never said how tall she was. 110 for a person who's 5'2'' would be just fine.
Secondly, you sound like you're really denying yourself of a lot.
1000 calories is hardly anything, I'm trying to lose weight and I'm eating 1400 calories a day and I feel like I'm starving myself.

I suggest that you start working up to eating at least 1200 calories a day, you work out so much that you need to replenish what you're losing whilst working out.

Congrats on the weight loss though! :)

Dancer44....True.  You do need to be careful It's seriously addicting-Dieting, The calories. By the way how tall are you-Dance44?

 No one can help you get out of it besides yourself trust me.  Just set your mind apart from the calories and seriously go read a book.  Im serious good luck  =)  Stay where you are from your pictures you're skinny to me.  And who needs smelly pop tarts anyways? 

Read this book that Im reading right now "The house of the dead and poor fold"-Fyodor Dostoevsky.

It's awesome

wellll to clarify things here, I'm 5'4" [whoa.. I started typing 'calories' instead of 'clarify']. sometimes 1200 seems like so much though.. today alone I've had eggs, toast, a strawberry smoothie, apples, yogurt, some wheat thins, and a salad, and I plan to eat a slice of pizza later on. That BARELY cracks 1000.