Calorie intake for an active, 5'8" 18 yr old female?

bananzabob
bananzabob Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
I started college this year, and I feel completely junky because of all the terrible food they give us. I'm gluten intolerant, so my main food lately has been frozen grapes, broccoli, humus, A LOT of trail mix, soups, salads (no dressings), and at the end of the day-a ton of chocolate! After being concerned with my nutrition, I started counting through the myfitnesspal app and my normal goal is 1400 calories. I'm also on the triathlon team and I exercise for 2 hours a day 5 days a week (sometimes 6). Is 1400 enough? I normally don't eat that much, but I've found myself getting very hungry and I end up just filling the void with late night splurges of chocolate (like last night, 500cals worth of chocolate covered almonds...)
Also what are some easy ways to get gluten free protein when I don't have a kitchen?

Replies

  • alaskaang
    alaskaang Posts: 493 Member
    As an athlete at 5'8" and your age, 1400 is definitely not enough. Add some protein and dressing to your salads. If you have a fridge, most stores carry pre-cooked chicken, steak and shrimp. If not, keep more fruit around have that instead of the chocolate. The nuts you are eating are good. Maybe change up the chocolate almonds for apples with almond butter. If you can have dairy, cheese is filling and easy to keep on hand.

    ETA; as a triathelete you are going to burn a ton of calories. I wouldn't even worry about counting them.
  • asarwe
    asarwe Posts: 73 Member
    My brother is a triathlete. I know no person who eats as much as he does, and he loses weight during racing season because of training and racing. So you need to eat more. (1h running is like... at least 500 calories)

    You probably need carbs as well as protein though. You need to fill up your glycogen depots since they are used when you are training.

    Peanut butter has some protein and som good fats in it. Do you have a fridge? Then you could eat yoghurt, some tuna and so on. Maybe you could find some gluten-free protein bars?

Categories