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Am I being healthy?
mccartymorganl
Posts: 2
I am a 21 year old female weighing 105 lbs, I am 5'8". I am currently eating around 1600-1800 calories a day and going on daily walks averaging about 4 miles. should this be making me lose, gain, or maintain weight?
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Replies
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Your BMI is 16 0_0, so you need to gain.0
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Looking at your picture and the fact that you want to lose 15 more pounds is troubling.0
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You're severely underweight. We don't know how active you are outside of walking, so we don't know what those calories will do. You need to speak to a doctor who can tell you what to do.0
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Is your ticker on your profile correct? You are trying to lose 15lbs?
What are your goals? (*keeps fingers crossed that it is to gain*)
And I'll leave this link just in case:
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1575987-eating-disorder-resources0 -
It should make you seek professional help for an obvious eating disorder...mccartymorganl wrote: »I am a 21 year old female weighing 105 lbs, I am 5'8". I am currently eating around 1600-1800 calories a day and going on daily walks averaging about 4 miles. should this be making me lose, gain, or maintain weight?
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It should make you seek professional help for an obvious eating disorder...mccartymorganl wrote: »I am a 21 year old female weighing 105 lbs, I am 5'8". I am currently eating around 1600-1800 calories a day and going on daily walks averaging about 4 miles. should this be making me lose, gain, or maintain weight?
this times a thousand..
OP - get some help, seriously …you need to gain 15 pounds and lift heavy ...0 -
and no, you are not being healthy...0
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a person your height should be 126lbs-154 lbs0
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oh gosh no, those goals are incorrect, i need to be gaining AT LEAST 15 more pounds0
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mccartymorganl wrote: »oh gosh no, those goals are incorrect, i need to be gaining AT LEAST 15 more pounds
Very happy to hear that.
In regards to your question, it's up to you. The calculators will give you estimates for your goal. Stick with it for 4-6 weeks. If you find yourself still losing (or maintaining), then increase your calories by 50-150 calories and again, stick with 4-6 weeks before making additional changes if needed.
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Oh really...mccartymorganl wrote: »oh gosh no, those goals are incorrect, i need to be gaining AT LEAST 15 more pounds
Your Ticker is confusing.
Anyway, follow the MFP recommendations for 2 pounds gained per week, then once you hit that mark, work on maintaining weight, eating well and staying healthy.
And best wishes to you...
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"You need to start lifting" is a bit silly to be giving as advice here. I mean, sure, lift weights if you want to -- there's nothing wrong with it. But you don't need to do that in order to be healthy. Just if you want to build more muscle. But simply eating more and making sure you are getting adequate nutrition and putting on some pounds of fat (in your case, not a bad thing) will help you get back to a healthy weight. If your preferred form of exercise is to walk 4 miles instead of lifting weights in a gym, there's nothing wrong with that either.0
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According to the calculators, it appears you need 1,800 to maintain and likely more to gain. This is with no exercise. You will need more calories to compensate for exercise. Cross-checking several weight gain calculators gave me 2,000-2,200 calories as a recommended intake, depending on how fast you want to gain (and assuming you are lightly active).
Eating 2,000 cals. may be difficult for you, but perhaps you could baseline at 1,800 and start working your way up? (Similar to what PikaKnight is saying...) Here's a decent weight gain calculator to cross-check MFP:
http://www.prokerala.com/health/health-calculators/weight-gain-calculator.php
I'd consider participating in the gaining weight forum to get moral support from folks with similar goals. Also, you may wish to hide the weight loss forum from view (as I have hidden the weight gain forum).
Good luck in your journey to a healthier you!
BMI Calculator: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm0 -
"You need to start lifting" is a bit silly to be giving as advice here. I mean, sure, lift weights if you want to -- there's nothing wrong with it. But you don't need to do that in order to be healthy. Just if you want to build more muscle. But simply eating more and making sure you are getting adequate nutrition and putting on some pounds of fat (in your case, not a bad thing) will help you get back to a healthy weight. If your preferred form of exercise is to walk 4 miles instead of lifting weights in a gym, there's nothing wrong with that either.
judging from OP's pictures she has about 0% muscle mass and could a good strength training program would help ….
not sure how recommending a program that will retain/add muscle to OP's physique is "silly"….
also, plenty of people lift to be healthy, not just to "build muscle"….
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You definitely need to put some weight on. I work with a woman who's 3 years younger and your height. She's 145 pound vegan, still very thin, and she looks so much healthier. So please keep eating, and good luck. 0
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Yes, but it seems like your answer to every single question that everyone asks is "lift weights". I get that you lift. I get that you enjoy it. I'm saying that the OP asked about the calories she needs to eat and whether she should be looking to gain weight. She didn't ask for advice about weightlifting programs.
OP needs to gain back some weight to get to a healthy bodyweight. Lifting weights could very well be part of that program, but it doesn't have to be. The answer starts with eating more. Everything else is up to her. (Well, so is eating more... but I hope she will heed that advice!)-1 -
Yes, but it seems like your answer to every single question that everyone asks is "lift weights". I get that you lift. I get that you enjoy it. I'm saying that the OP asked about the calories she needs to eat and whether she should be looking to gain weight. She didn't ask for advice about weightlifting programs.
OP needs to gain back some weight to get to a healthy bodyweight. Lifting weights could very well be part of that program, but it doesn't have to be. The answer starts with eating more. Everything else is up to her. (Well, so is eating more... but I hope she will heed that advice!)
Please point out where anyone said to "Just lift" without including the fact that she needs to eat more.
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PikaKnight wrote: »Please point out where anyone said to "Just lift" without including the fact that she needs to eat more.
I never said anyone said "just lift". What was said was that she needed to eat more "and lift" implying that the two were of equal importance.
Anyway, I don't want this thread to derail here. It's all good. Have a nice night, all.0 -
Yes, but it seems like your answer to every single question that everyone asks is "lift weights". I get that you lift. I get that you enjoy it. I'm saying that the OP asked about the calories she needs to eat and whether she should be looking to gain weight. She didn't ask for advice about weightlifting programs.
OP needs to gain back some weight to get to a healthy bodyweight. Lifting weights could very well be part of that program, but it doesn't have to be. The answer starts with eating more. Everything else is up to her. (Well, so is eating more... but I hope she will heed that advice!)
i specifically said she should eat more …
nitpick much???
so what if I suggested she lift weights along with eating more..? Would it fit better into your world view if I said "take a walk," or "do some cardio"…
I was not aware that because OP did not specially ask about lifting weights, that responses were just limited to just "eat more…"0 -
PikaKnight wrote: »Please point out where anyone said to "Just lift" without including the fact that she needs to eat more.
I never said anyone said "just lift". What was said was that she needed to eat more "and lift" implying that the two were of equal importance.
Anyway, I don't want this thread to derail here. It's all good. Have a nice night, all.
And why does it matter if people are just recommending lifting as long as they aren't saying that it's the only solution, especially if people believe that it will benefit her in the long run along with eating more?
Are we all supposed to just give advice as YOU see fit?
ETA: And though it might not be of "equal importance" doesn't mean it might not be important or something to mention, especially seeing that there is a real possibility she has very low muscle mass.0 -
PikaKnight wrote: »Please point out where anyone said to "Just lift" without including the fact that she needs to eat more.
I never said anyone said "just lift". What was said was that she needed to eat more "and lift" implying that the two were of equal importance.
Anyway, I don't want this thread to derail here. It's all good. Have a nice night, all.
does not want to derail thread, after derailing thread…..legit...0 -
Okay, I've obviously triggered the "weightlifting is god, you've insulted my god" people.
That's enough. Over and out.0 -
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Okay, I've obviously triggered the "weightlifting is god, you've insulted my god" people.
That's enough. Over and out.
LOL I could care less what you think about lifting..I just find it hilarious that you think that because the topic is about gaining weight we can't recommend additional strategies to get to said goal …
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Definitely need to gain, please eat more.0
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That's a lot of walking if it is for exercise only. Less cardio will make it easier to gain. Do some moderate exercise you enjoy.0
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OP's trolling. Come on, guys. Just ignore.-2
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"You need to start lifting" is a bit silly to be giving as advice here. I mean, sure, lift weights if you want to -- there's nothing wrong with it. But you don't need to do that in order to be healthy. Just if you want to build more muscle. But simply eating more and making sure you are getting adequate nutrition and putting on some pounds of fat (in your case, not a bad thing) will help you get back to a healthy weight. If your preferred form of exercise is to walk 4 miles instead of lifting weights in a gym, there's nothing wrong with that either.
judging from OP's pictures she has about 0% muscle mass and could a good strength training program would help ….
not sure how recommending a program that will retain/add muscle to OP's physique is "silly"….
also, plenty of people lift to be healthy, not just to "build muscle"….
It may not be "silly," but it could certainly be dangerous for someone as underweight (and quite possibly malnourished) as the OP to begin an exercise program, especially a strenuous one, without getting medical clearance first.
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mccartymorganl wrote: »I am a 21 year old female weighing 105 lbs, I am 5'8". I am currently eating around 1600-1800 calories a day and going on daily walks averaging about 4 miles. should this be making me lose, gain, or maintain weight?
I'm 30 years older than you and four inches shorter, and I lose on 1600-1800 calories even on days with no exercise beyond walking 2 to 3 miles a day. So 1600 to 1800 calories should definitely be a deficit for you, and you'll need to increase your calories substantially to meet your goal of gaining 15 lbs. I would think a minimum of 2500 calories, and adjust up from there. If that seems daunting, add more calorie-dense foods to your day (think nuts, nut butters, seeds, full-fat dairy, olive oil on your salads and veggies).
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This discussion has been closed.
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