Need some advice

Janerspencer

Hi! I am 18 years old and weigh around 115 pounds. I am comfortable and happy with this weight, and for the first time in a while, I am slightly confident in my body! I'm about 5'6 and I do an hour of cardio 6 days a week and lift as heavy as I can about 3 days a week. This summer, I was about 130lbs, and with the approval of my mom, I decided to lose a bit of weight. I didn't realize it, but I was eating about 1,000 calories a day for about a month, then I upped it to 1,200 and now I am up to 1,300. I didn't realize how little I was eating at the time, and I wish I could go back, because I would never have done that if I had known!! I realized how little I was eating last week when I started to get very lightheaded and it was harder to workout, and I calculated, and realized how little I was eating! For someone that burns about 800 calories a day just through exercise, that is not nearly enough to eat!! I am afraid that by bringing my calorie intake down so low I have damaged my metabolism. I've been at a low calorie intake for about 3 months. I want to increase my calories, but I am afraid that if I increase too much too soon, I'll gain weight, which I don't want to do! I want to increase to as high as my body needs to fuel me properly as fast as possible without gaining weight! Can anyone help me?? My original plan was to increase by 100 calories every 1-2 weeks, but I am worried that that process will be too long. Was my original plan good? How many calories should I be eating, and how can I repair the damage on my metabolism I have done, and how do I increase my calories without gaining weight?

Patttience

YOu can easily eat more food and not gain weight. Your metabolism will respond quickly. you may notice a slight rise at first but i wouldn't worry about it.

You do need to increase your calories. If i were you i would immediately increase my calories to 1500 every day. Your body needs these calories now and will not cause weight gain. At the moment while you are eating less than you need, your body is coping by not doing some jobs. It is conserving calories and Your body has most likely been taking extra energy from your fat stores but when you run really low on fat, there will be some health consequences so its not something you should do long term. But ideally women should have about 22% body fat and i think should not go less than something like 15% i can't remember though exactly.

After about a month on 1500, you could probably easily increase it some more. You probably should be eating around 2000 calories a day. So long as you are exercising as much as you are, you are extremely unlikely to add any fat.

Don't worry about your metabolism. but do eat a wide variety of healthy foods. Including protein, fats and carbs. Minimise junk food.

Sort of like if you have a tight budget, you not only go without buying clothes and going out to the movies but you also walk to work or school instead of taking the train and you eat poorer quality food because you can't afford vegetables.

When you get a budget increase, you can start taking the train or even buy a car and of course eat proper food again, and none of that is going to have a negative effect on your life or fill your house up with junk. Of course you can fill your house up with junk but being a sensible person, you will spend your money wisely and not buy more than you need of anything.

pander101

It takes a lot more than that to slow your metabolism, your metabolism is fine. Calculate your TDEE and eat at maintenence.

performfully

Just eat more, you will be fine.
800 calories burnt is a lot for someone at such a low weight. What are you doing?

KA___

There's a group on here and a website called 'eat more 2 weigh less', Think it would really help you, I know it has helped me a lot

Liftng4Lis

For the amount you are exercising, eating more shouldn't be a problem at all. Add a hundred calories every other day, if this makes you feel more comfortable, until you're at maintenance.

terbusha

It's called a reverse diet. Go up 100 cal/day and maintain that for 2 weeks. If you haven't gained weight after 2 weeks, bump up another 100 cal/day and repeat. If you've gained a little weight, flip it for another 2 weeks and then re-evaluate. I've been doing this for the past 5 months. I was maintaining weight at 1800 cal/day. Now I'm maintaining my weight at 2800 cal/day. It's a great way to add in calories.

Allan