Food help!

Discogirl15

Cut your Carbs by 75% and quadruple your protein.

She doesn't need to cut her carbs that low. She's 18 (or younger since the site is full of minors who say they're 18) and probably doing just cardio, she needs those carbs.

OP, you're not eating enough of anything. Medically speaking, you're still growing up. You gave us nothing about your height and weight and unless you are tiny, this 800~ calories on average will cause you health problems in the long run. Are you overweight or are you trying to 'see bones'? I'm sorry for asking but it's the common trend.

I am 5'7" and 136 pounds (currently) I would really like to get down to 120 pounds becasue tere are still rolls on my stomach and my legs are fat.

Discogirl15

Eat more food. Add in vegetables and fruits. Get rid of the fake meat products. They're loaded with GMO's.

But it seems like I am eating so much already! And lately I have been feeling super guilty after EVERY meal. Is this normal? and no, I am not, or ever was, anorexic. I just want to lose about 15 more pounds and tone up a sit so I can look good in a swimsuit. Sometimes, I can barely eat enough in a day to reach 800 calories. Any suggestions?

bathsheba_c

EAT MORE!

I would also VERY strongly suggest consulting a doctor about your diet. It worries me that your are 2 inches taller than I am, but trying to lose fifteen pounds below my goal weight. Honestly, at this weight, you should be worried less about cardio, and more about building muscle.

Discogirl15

EAT MORE!

I would also VERY strongly suggest consulting a doctor about your diet. It worries me that your are 2 inches taller than I am, but trying to lose fifteen pounds below my goal weight. Honestly, at this weight, you should be worried less about cardio, and more about building muscle.

For some reason, i am finding it really hard to build muscle. Any suggestions?

corrinnebrown

Try this...Breakfast 250 calories. - high in protein. I eat 2 eggs and half a chicken sausage
Lunch - 400 Calories - lean protein and lots of veggies
Snack 150 calories - high in protein like green yogurt or a handful of nuts
Dinner 400 Calories - lean protein and lots of veggies

Make sure you eat at least 1200 calories even when you are exercising. Good luck!

bathsheba_c

EAT MORE!

I would also VERY strongly suggest consulting a doctor about your diet. It worries me that your are 2 inches taller than I am, but trying to lose fifteen pounds below my goal weight. Honestly, at this weight, you should be worried less about cardio, and more about building muscle.

For some reason, i am finding it really hard to build muscle. Any suggestions?

Yes. You can't build muscle on a calorie deficit because your body is still breaking up fat and muscle to cover the shortfall. Eat more. :flowerforyou:

skonly

I would switch out a lot of that bread for protein or veggies. Eat more protein anyway and add more veggies.

Also, don't slouch when you sit. (sorry, I'm a mom)

Do you have any lunch ideas that are cheep and do not involve bread?

I eat a lot of leftovers for lunch. My dinners usually consist of mostly beans and frozen veggies. I buy dry beans and make big batches at a time in the crockpot. When I don't have time I usually eat half a can of some sort. Last night I just had polenta with black eye peas. Not the fanciest in the world but it works for me.

I'm on a very low budget myself. I usually have very low calories days but it's still packed with nutrients. I'm not starving myself. I haven't cut much out other than ketchup and watch the coffee creamer now. Those two things were about 400 calories a day for me!

Romaine lettuce leaves can be used to wrap whatever you would put on a sandwich. Add veggies in there too if you like. I like them. It seems like you are eating more because they are big and crunchy. People think I'm strange cuz I can eat just a bowl of peas or beans. It fills me up and is good healthy.
Don't starve yourself. People think I am but I'm honestly not.

DeTaart

You are a perfectly healthy weight. If you want to lose a bit and gain some muscle, fine, it's your body - BUT a teenage body needs way more energy - you can eat 1800, workout and still lose weight and see results.

1200 is crazy at your age/weight. 800 is going to develop into an eating disorder regardless of whether you've ever had an eating problem in the past.

My advice would be not to count calories quite frankly.

xarge

I am 5'7" and 136 pounds (currently) I would really like to get down to 120 pounds becasue tere are still rolls on my stomach and my legs are fat.

Your weight is not unhealthy so you should never aim for a fast loss. What you can lose though, is some fat mass. For that, a mild cardio~ brisk walk of 20 minutes every day and 45-60 minutes of medium to heavy weight lifting~ full body workout twice a week will be more effective for you.

Online calculators give around 1450-1500 cals for your BMR. BMR is basal metabolic rate which is the amount of calories your body needs if you were in a coma. It's the calories your body needs to properly function so you will not want to go much below that, especially since you are young and your body needs it to fully develop. Try a diet of 35% protein 35% carbs and 30% fats (40%/30%/30% or 30%/40%/30% are also good, I don't think you need a high carb or high fat diet). You can set your goals through My Home > Goals > Change Goals > Custom.

Lean meats (red meat, poultry, seafood), dairy, legumes such as beans and lentils, eggs are all good sources of protein. For carbohydrates, stick to complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, again legumes, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. For fats, saturated fats are not evil but you'll want most of your fat to be unsaturated, especially monounsaturated and omega 3. Go with olive oil, fish oil, nuts, macadamia oil, coconut oil etc. You have many alternatives here but by default you'll have the purest fatty acids your body needs from unprocessed sources so a handful of walnuts or almonds will give you a better quality fat compared to refined oils.

Briefly, this is it.

Xanne

When you take in too few calories, you body goes into "starvation mode", and tries to conserve as much fat as possible. Sound like you need toning; you are NOT overweight! I would suggest a better breakfast - more protein especially and definitely some good fat.

Discogirl15

I am 5'7" and 136 pounds (currently) I would really like to get down to 120 pounds becasue tere are still rolls on my stomach and my legs are fat.

Your weight is not unhealthy so you should never aim for a fast loss. What you can lose though, is some fat mass. For that, a mild cardio~ brisk walk of 20 minutes every day and 45-60 minutes of medium to heavy weight lifting~ full body workout twice a week will be more effective for you.

Online calculators give around 1450-1500 cals for your BMR. BMR is basal metabolic rate which is the amount of calories your body needs if you were in a coma. It's the calories your body needs to properly function so you will not want to go much below that, especially since you are young and your body needs it to fully develop. Try a diet of 35% protein 35% carbs and 30% fats (40%/30%/30% or 30%/40%/30% are also good, I don't think you need a high carb or high fat diet). You can set your goals through My Home > Goals > Change Goals > Custom.

Lean meats (red meat, poultry, seafood), dairy, legumes such as beans and lentils, eggs are all good sources of protein. For carbohydrates, stick to complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, again legumes, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. For fats, saturated fats are not evil but you'll want most of your fat to be unsaturated, especially monounsaturated and omega 3. Go with olive oil, fish oil, nuts, macadamia oil, coconut oil etc. You have many alternatives here but by default you'll have the purest fatty acids your body needs from unprocessed sources so a handful of walnuts or almonds will give you a better quality fat compared to refined oils.

Briefly, this is it.

Thanks for the info. All I have access to are 5 pound hand weights and I only know how to do 3 exercises with them. Any ideas? Also, what exactly is a full body workout?

xarge

Thanks for the info. All I have access to are 5 pound hand weights and I only know how to do 3 exercises with them. Any ideas? Also, what exactly is a full body workout?

Full body workout is where you train your whole body, arms, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, quadriceps, calves, glutes etc via different exercises. It's one of the most commonly used workout compared to an alternating upper body and lower body workout. The thing with weight lifting is that you need to give time off for your muscles to recover. That's typically 1-2 days depending on the intensity of your exercise.

As you are new to lifting let's say a workout on tuesday and then on friday will give you the chance to adjust and recover as beginning while you work on your diet. Sure you can workout more, do alternating lower body upper body every other day but you are currently not eating enough to support it. 5lbs dumbbells will be a good start for you. You can look for bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges, while some are less effective than others, these never go wrong) which will be good for some strength training. Google and look for videos on youtube for any of those.

MadeInDR022

Eat. Eat. Eat. Its been said enough, but one more suggestion wont' hurt.

bigd65

Cut your Carbs by 75% and quadruple your protein.

She doesn't need to cut her carbs that low. She's 18 (or younger since the site is full of minors who say they're 18) and probably doing just cardio, she needs those carbs.

OP, you're not eating enough of anything. Medically speaking, you're still growing up. You gave us nothing about your height and weight and unless you are tiny, this 800~ calories on average will cause you health problems in the long run. Are you overweight or are you trying to 'see bones'? I'm sorry for asking but it's the common trend.

Please explain why she needs the carbs, I am not saying she is eating the right amount of calories, but I would love to hear the reasoning behind why you say she needs the carbs? Is it for energy couldn't that come from fats? Please explain your reasoning

Raynne413

For some reason, i am finding it really hard to build muscle. Any suggestions?

You are having problems gaining muscle because you aren't eating enough. Your body won't put on muscle when you are running on that big of a deficit.

xarge

She doesn't need to cut her carbs that low. She's 18 (or younger since the site is full of minors who say they're 18) and probably doing just cardio, she needs those carbs.

OP, you're not eating enough of anything. Medically speaking, you're still growing up. You gave us nothing about your height and weight and unless you are tiny, this 800~ calories on average will cause you health problems in the long run. Are you overweight or are you trying to 'see bones'? I'm sorry for asking but it's the common trend.

Please explain why she needs the carbs, I am not saying she is eating the right amount of calories, but I would love to hear the reasoning behind why you say she needs the carbs? Is it for energy couldn't that come from fats? Please explain your reasoning

Because she needs the vitamins and minerals along with insoluble fiber from vegetables and fruits, soluble fiber from legumes. And it's redundant to take them in forms of supplements when she can have better eating habits.

What's the point of cutting down her carbs to 40 grams? Please explain your reasoning if you're supporting that.

ETA: 40 grams~ her intake is 120g already on average if not less, cutting it down by 75% is 40g on average. A medium sized banana has around 25g of carbs.

Discogirl15

Thanks for the info. All I have access to are 5 pound hand weights and I only know how to do 3 exercises with them. Any ideas? Also, what exactly is a full body workout?

Full body workout is where you train your whole body, arms, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, quadriceps, calves, glutes etc via different exercises. It's one of the most commonly used workout compared to an alternating upper body and lower body workout. The thing with weight lifting is that you need to give time off for your muscles to recover. That's typically 1-2 days depending on the intensity of your exercise.

As you are new to lifting let's say a workout on tuesday and then on friday will give you the chance to adjust and recover as beginning while you work on your diet. Sure you can workout more, do alternating lower body upper body every other day but you are currently not eating enough to support it. 5lbs dumbbells will be a good start for you. You can look for bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges, while some are less effective than others, these never go wrong) which will be good for some strength training. Google and look for videos on youtube for any of those.

THanks,

SO i just did some exercises that I found via Google (Leg lifts, crunches, weight presses etc...) And I did them for about 30 minutes. I am sore, do you think it is enough? I will take a break from strength training tomorrow and do some cardio. Tell me what you think.

xarge

THanks,

SO i just did some exercises that I found via Google (Leg lifts, crunches, weight presses etc...) And I did them for about 30 minutes. I am sore, do you think it is enough? I will take a break from strength training tomorrow and do some cardio. Tell me what you think.

I suggest tracking your exercises, number of sets and repetitions instead of doing for X minutes. So let's say you do 2x 20 lunges today while resting for a minute between each 20. Record them down and either increase the repetitions or the number of sets whenever you feel like your body is too comfortable with your exercise. Same goes for cardio exercises, it's good to keep track of your distance (if you can) and time, if not speed (again, if you can). Your priority should be your food, though. Your exercises won't be efficient if you strain your body with lack of nutrients as well.

Discogirl15

THanks,

SO i just did some exercises that I found via Google (Leg lifts, crunches, weight presses etc...) And I did them for about 30 minutes. I am sore, do you think it is enough? I will take a break from strength training tomorrow and do some cardio. Tell me what you think.

I suggest tracking your exercises, number of sets and repetitions instead of doing for X minutes. So let's say you do 2x 20 lunges today while resting for a minute between each 20. Record them down and either increase the repetitions or the number of sets whenever you feel like your body is too comfortable with your exercise. Same goes for cardio exercises, it's good to keep track of your distance (if you can) and time, if not speed (again, if you can). Your priority should be your food, though. Your exercises won't be efficient if you strain your body with lack of nutrients as well.

I did track them, for example, I did 5 reps of 5 sets of leg lifts, I did 12 sets of 3 reps of hand weight lifts etc. How do I know if I'm doing enough?

xarge

I did track them, for example, I did 5 reps of 5 sets of leg lifts, I did 12 sets of 3 reps of hand weight lifts etc. How do I know if I'm doing enough?

Easy easy Don't fret that you may not be exercising enough. As an easy rule for any exercise, if you are doing your exercises with little to no effort, then you need to increase your pace, your repetitions, or add more stress via inclination or added weights. If you are doing 3x 30 squats easily then it's more productive to start using your handweights and in time increase it even more. Stick to your current exercise for two weeks and at the end of two weeks see if you need to adjust your exercise.

Look for bodyweight exercise routines on google like the one here: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/full-body-bodyweight-workout.html (this is the second link that came up on google search). It will give you a better idea of what a workout plan should be.