CONCERNS ALL who have/are living with college age females

Hi everyone,
I am coming to you all because I need insight into what amount I should really be consuming. I am a 20 year old female who is 5'1.75" and trying to maintain my frame after I have gained some weight. Basically I was honestly wondering what do other girls around my age eat to maintain who just really don't count calories religiously. I know people on this sight must be aware of others around them. Please share your awareness to help me out. Thanks

I'm several years older than you-- 27-- but I am 3/4" shorter! I think I still eat about the same way as I did when I was your age, maybe a teeny bit less since I have just started maintaining my weight after losing several pounds; I'm using MFP's calorie amount suggestions because before losing that weight, I never tracked what I ate at all, I just ate what I felt like (which was fine for years except during the school year when I was way less active than normal, which was what caused me to gain fat that I didn't like). I highly recommend using the food diary on here to honestly track what you eat, for a couple weeks or a month at least, so you can get an accurate picture of what and how much you eat-- that will be a huge help in knowing what you need to do to gain and maintain your weight as you're going to want to do. Of course, if tracking your food carefully and honestly is triggering for you, that advice is probably not for you.

Anyway, a typical day for me now, at 103-104 lbs (I think I'm eating an amount to maintain at more like 105, but I'm lighter than that right now) looks like this:

Breakfast: 3/4- 1 cup Greek yogurt, some granola or coconut and berries, usually half a serving of protein powder; or a bowl of cereal like shredded wheat and 3/4 cup of whole milk. And often a cup or two of coffee with a decent amount of half and half in it. Usually between 300-450 calories.

Lunch: Leftovers from dinner, or a turkey sandwich with veggies and mayonnaise and if I'm going to be super active that day, some full-fat cheese; or some bread and hummus and veggies and fruit. Usually 400-600 cals.

Snacks (I snack a lot-- I find that being thinner, I need to eat more often throughout the day): Some crackers, cream cheese, or peanut butter; sometimes homemade cookies; sometimes cheese or nuts. Can be anywhere from 200-600 calories depending on my activity that day.

Dinner: some kind of home-cooked dinner-- it usually includes lots of veggies, some cheese or fish, pasta or a grain of some kind, or eggs. Dessert is often a small piece of dark chocolate or some fruit. The calorie amount varies wildly depending on how active I am, since I follow MFP's eating back exercise calories method. But if I've been pretty sedentary, dinner is around 400-700 calories, and if I've been working hard outside or worked out for a long time, it can be 1000 or so.

This really is very similar to the way I ate in college, though at that time, when I was a size I was happy with, I often wouldn't eat breakfast and would have a pretty large lunch and dinner. That kind of eating doesn't work for me anymore though. My food intake generally adds up to 1600-2300ish calories, the lower amount on days when I hardly move around at all, and the higher amount when I have done several hours of gardening or hiking, or I've gone on a long bike ride or run.

Lastly, have you read anything from the blog/information site Your Eatopia? It is an excellent, informative, intelligently written source of information about ED recovery. I find myself recommending this article on threads like this frequently: http://www.youreatopia.com/blog/2011/9/14/i-need-how-many-calories.html

I hope this helps!