Eating over 900 calories too hard?!

samrockrocks

OP- I just want to reiterate that it is being HEALTHY for YOU that is important, and not the number you may see on a scale.

I weighed about 115 pounds at 18 and was 5'7''. It wasn't by choice. I just had a very high metabolism and wasn't gaining weight. I was HEALTHY, just very thin. It worked for me. As my body changed though, I filled out more. I've found that the right weight for me is about 130-135 pounds (I'm still 5'7'').

I gain my weight in my hips and thighs. Even 5-10 pounds is very noticeable. Two years ago I had thyroiditis in it's hypo-active phase and gained about 20 pounds in a matter of months. I shot up to 151 pounds. I do not feel healthy or look good at 151 pounds. I lost 16 pounds (unintentionally) when my thyroiditis went hyper-active and was finally diagnosed WITH the thyroiditis after passing out in a sandwich shop. (That was fun.) The thyroiditis has since subsided and I'm back to dealing with my weight on my own, without my thyroid being crazy. I'm back up to 142 pounds and aiming to get back down to the 130-135 range.

MY POINT: Everyone is different. When I was 18, 115 pounds worked for me. Now at 24, it doesn't. I would focus more on what is healthy for YOU and not the size of your clothes or the number on the scale. I'm not suggesting that is the case, I'm just speaking from experience that when I've gained and lost weight, it's hard not to focus on the numbers.

Like others, I'd suggest talking to a doctor about what a healthy weight is for you. If it's 100 pounds, then aim for it. If it's 110 pounds, aim for that. Just remember to stay healthy.

PS- I can't imagine commuting 2 hours for school! Props to you! Feel free to add me, I LOVE learning about other cultures It's easy to forget how the rest of the world doesn't live like Americans live.

TheMommyWifeLife

Frozen yogurt, fruits, veggies, milk, etc!

nicleed

Grab 20 almonds as you walk out the door..eat them as you walk to the bus. 140 cals right there.

Problem solved.

Also, an 18 year old who says she can;t wear skirts rings all sorts of body image alarms bells for me. Get help, please.

nphect

eat 1200 calories, but work out your extra calories instead of taking it from your diet. So if you go to the gym and burn 1000 calories, you can actually cut more calories but still be within a healthy range. Like 1700 is my minumum calories healthy range(which is a 700 calorie deficit) But if i want to loose lots of weight fast, I will work out 1000-1200 calories and eat 2000-2100 calorie which is a 1400-1500 deficit , but still in healthy range. Now you just have to find the time.

namluv

I agree with others that adding in avocado, dairy, and nuts is an easy way to boost calories.

I also wanted to suggest that it may be easier for you to just focus on increasing activity/strength training than trying to limit calories. I'm saying this as someone who is just over 5' and was just over 100 pounds in college... and thought I needed to lose weight. I realize now (when I unfortunately DO have lots of weight to lose!) that what I really needed to do back then was to learn how to eat healthier and to focus on exercise/toning. I probably would have ended up weighing more... but been smaller and in much better shape! Just something to think on... I am sure there are some people on here who can help with that as well. I know I have seen some amazing pics during my time here of ladies who have not lost weight but lost a lot of inches/gained muscle simply by upping exercise.

Yes, I think you may be confusing a need to lose weight with a need to tone up and convert fat to muscle. After all a person 116 lb with say 30% body fat will look bigger than 116 lb with 25% body fat - have you checked your body fat? That is generally more telling than weight when it comes down to it.

gingerveg

100 lb is NOT unreasonable for a person who is very petite. At 5'2" and an extremely tiny build (narrow hips and ribs, small hands, feet, wrists, and ankles), I appear very healthy at 100lb. I appear overweight at 120lb. Both are considered within "healthy" range for my height.

It's very difficult for a petite person to be thin. There is a fine line between eating enough to be nutritionally healthy and eating little enough to lose the extra inches that very few pounds show as.

Average-to-large people do not understand how difficult this is for small people and need to stop being hateful. Every person comes with their own hurdles to overcome. A lifelong obese person has to deal with their food addiction. A much-below-average-size person has to deal with gaining weight on what a "normal" person would lose weight on.

Don't be a ****.

I totally agree while it seems low 100 lbs might be reasonable for someone 5'2" who has a very small frame. I also think people are forgetting 18 year olds generally aren't all the way "filled out". But with that said I would like to encourage the OP to eat at least 1200 calories (especially breakfast). You can do this and still lose weight. I also think that we shouldn't judge people big or small ( for instance saying someone is obese because they have an eating problem is as uncool as calling people on the small side anorexic). I think good advice has already been given so I'll just say good luck.

geekyjock76

I don't mind getting answers that are "not nice". I appreciate all of your advice. You're helping m to realize my goal may be too low. I'm going to really consider it. I swear I'm not going for the skin and bones look. I used to very skinny naturally. My mom is very skinny too.
As for my breakfast and routine I basically only have coffee with milk and sugar before I leave home since I have to wake up at 5am and travel 2 hours to my university. Then at 10 am I have some kind of snack. I really don't have much time to work out.

It's good to know that there are people out there with the same problem who understand

I hope you are aware that your bones are still growing at your age and if young girls eat 800 calories a day, you may be losing bone mass density. You keep that up and calcium supplementation nor estrogen therapy may not replace the bone mass you lose due to chronic calorie restriction of that magnitude.

slkehl

Your metabolism sounds screwed up if it's that easy for you to stay under 900 calories a day. You need more than that to give your body the nutrients it needs (supplements will NOT help here) and energy to fuel your day to day activities. How do you fix it? By eating more, even when you are not hungry. If you get too full eating more during a meal, snack throughout the day. Eventually you should get to a point where it will be easy for you to eat over 1,200 simply because you're hungry, and your body will thank you for it.

BR3ANDA

I have lived all over the world and never had a problem finding calorie dense foods like nuts, spreads, or cheeses. Its very easy to up your calories, have some toast with your morning coffee. You said you dont pack food because its too crowded on the train, well, a handful of nuts and maybe a piece of hard cheese should fit into your backpack without comprising space. Those 2 little changes right there can add 350 cals without any effort.

Louiseisme

I just discussed what I should weigh with my physician. He told be 114lbs for the first 60" of height and 10lbs for each inch over that is the beginning basics of determining a healthy weight he told me at 5'1.5" 130 would be a good place.

slkehl

Thank you sobmch everybody! I've never gotten so many replies this fast on a forum. Well I am 5'1''. Although I realize I'm not overweight, I think for being so young I should be not only skinnier but living a healthier life. Since I hit puberty I haven't been able to wear a skirt in public.
Sadly I can't buy peanut butter as I'm not from the US but all the other advice is great. Thank you.

Keep in mind that your body is changing from that of a girl to a woman. Though you might have been very skinny before you hit puberty, that is likely no longer your ideal size. It might be worth going to a dietitian to get a greater understanding of what reasonable goals and expectations are for yourself and for girls your age.

It definitely does take time getting used to your transforming body, but you may learn to love your new shape. I remember in my late teens wishing I was stick thin like I used to be, but now I realize that I have a normal shape for a woman. It takes a while to understand what should be "normal" for you.

onyxgirl17

I just discussed what I should weigh with my physician. He told be 114lbs for the first 60" of height and 10lbs for each inch over that is the beginning basics of determining a healthy weight he told me at 5'1.5" 130 would be a good place.

I wonder what he's taking into consideration with that. Because I ran that calculation for my height I should weigh 169, overweight and closer to the obese category than healthy category. I was busting out of size 12/14

x_JT_x

I just discussed what I should weigh with my physician. He told be 114lbs for the first 60" of height and 10lbs for each inch over that is the beginning basics of determining a healthy weight he told me at 5'1.5" 130 would be a good place.

Going by that method, at 5'6" I should weigh 174 lbs. I'm sorry but either you misunderstood your doc or he's made an error somewhere. I found this online and it seems much more accurate:

"Women, Medium Frame: 100 pounds for first 5 feet of height, plus 5 pounds for each inch over 5 feet. Add 10% for a large frame and deduct 10% of a small frame."

FlaxMilk

Definitely try eating a handful of nuts when you get up as an easy way to boost those calories up. Change that coffee into a latte. Doing those two things would probably boost you up to 1200 calories without having to take time to eat or prepare a big meal.

nxd10

A glass of orange juice or whole milk is a few hundred calories. A piece of fruit or blueberries or a protein shake is healthy. Nuts!

Frankly I love toast with butter and on after I've worked out. Not the healthiest but yummy and does give me calories when I need them.

cutiepieinchi

I studied abroad in Brazil so I can understand the different meal times. Many people were just eating dinner at 9 or 10 so I had to get used to it. I also saw some of the buses there and they were insane! I do think that regardless you can get some more healthy fats in your diet. I can't judge your weight goal but my doctor always said to aim towards the middle of your weight loss zone.
good luck!

juuliv

OK i don't want to sound demeaning but, your 18 you have a computer (apparently) and internet. You must have some form of money (iternet wouldnt be here) So anyone enterprising enough could ORDER peanut butter no matter if it was available in your country. I know it may not be as easy, but doable.

As for your weight, your goal may be a bit small but then again, my sister in law is that size. I just wanna say she looks better at 115 than she did at 100.

I can totally see why you would think I could order peanut butter. It's hard to explain, but I'll try: first of all, stores like walmart don't ship internationally. You have to enter a ZIP code for them to ship products to you, therefore, you hve to live in the US. (I don't know about Canada). Secondly, my country's economic policy right now does not allow the importation of goods. So I can't order a book, a computer or peanut butter. Sucks, right?

But anyway I can do without the peanut butter. We have dulce de leche here, and I think it's just as caloric. And good

maricash

I don't know how so much of this thread came to be about the worldwide availability of peanut butter, but I don't think that's the important thing here.

The important thing, as I see it, is that your image of yourself is off and it is causing you to develop some unhealthy habits, which is the opposite of what you say you want.

The fact that you feel that you "can't" wear a skirt shows that you have a skewed body image. You aren't the least bit overweight and, even if you were obese like I am, you could still wear a skirt. You are self-conscious, not fat.

A weight that you need to under eat to maintain is probably not a healthy weight for you. You are already a healthy weight for your height. In fact, you are at the low end of the scale for your height.

If you want to change what you look like, I think you would be better off trying to build muscle and get fit rather than trying to get to a certain number on the scale.

I also think you should try to accept that your are beautiful, right now, today. And that you don't have to change in order to wear what you want, when you want.

Also breakfast is not the biggest meal of the day in America. Tourists always think that because they end up being served huge breakfasts on their vacations, but I don't think it's true for most people here. At least, not anyone that I know.

Finally, your English is perfect. I would never have known it wasn't your first language.

mearlie

Yes I agree about the English! You've got more knowledge than many Americans I know!

juuliv

Thank you everyone!!

To sum up I really appreciate all of your comments and advice. I will aim for a higher weight goal. And I will start thinking about when I can have free time to work out. I know it's not all up to the scale number, more like the opposite.

And finally I know I'm not overweight! I just think I have the same desire to feel good about myself as everyone. I know for someone that is 150 lbs over their ideal weight, my issue means nothing. But I really want to start a healthier life.


Thank you again!

Joreanasaurous

why do you want to weigh 100 lbs? that seems low to me...but who am I ::huh:

i'd like to weigh 100lbs too. i;m 5ft and this would be a heakthy weight for me.

perhaps the OP is the same?

I'm 5 foot and want to go down to 100 too.

Lift_hard_eat_big

If I can eat nearly 3,000 kcal in one meal, then you can eat over 900 kcal in an ENTIRE day. Get more caloric dense foods in your diet, increase calories and be healthy.

Julicat6

IMHO, you are well within a healthy weight range for your height and age. I would focus on health, physical and mental. If you can't eat breakfast that early, just add a bit more milk to your coffee for protein and calcium, and have a few bites of fruit, nuts, or even a bit of meat left-over from dinner the previous night. For toning, one thing you could try while riding on the bus is Isometric exercise. Mentally focus in on a particular muscle group and tense the muscles in that group for 10-20 seconds then relax that muscle group. This works really well for abdominal and Gluteus muscle groups. If you are standing and have room, try mini-heel raises, these will tone your calves. Daily remind yourself that you are achieving your educational goals and that you love who you are becoming.

redlady82

I think a lot of people are overlooking a cultural difference here and economics. Like you pointed out imports are not allowed and your travel is a little different. Add in some locro, the beans would really give some protein and extra calories or snag some faina and dip it in chimchurri the olive oil from that would add some extra calories for you as well. Have the faine with spinach and if you really need it throw some blue cheese on there. Stick to things that are easily obtained for you. Carbonada criolla would be a good option, the meat would be great protein and stew is filling. Just a couple extra options to try. And of course don't be afraid to get started on some cardio, jog if you can and try to find a way to get in some strength training or calisthenics. You could try squats and pushups with some running to help shape your muscles and you will see your body change if you pair this with adding some more calories to stay healthier than keeping them too low. Good luck!