Help me please

Emmaharton · August 2016

I am 18 years old 5 4' and weigh 137 pounds. Last year August I weighed 105 pounds. I was starving myself but still eating occasionally. I started to eat healthy foods and on a regular basis and I gained weight till I was at 118 pounds. I stayed at this weight from November till January. Then I began gaining weight again reaching 145 in April, despite my diet and activity level staying the same. It's gone down a bit (see current weight above).I don't drink soda, eat sweets on a regular basis, or consume fatty foods like pizza. I eat much healthier than most people my age but still I gained weight and seem bigger than my friends. In the past couple months I have been working out 3 times a week doing intense cardio. I went to the doctor and they ruled out a thyroid problem. I eat about 1,000-1,200 calories a day and am still confused as to why I gained the weight and how to lose it. Any insight would be helpful.

StaciMarie1974 · August 2016

First, try to avoid comparing yourself to others. Unless you are with them 24-7 there is too much unknown about another person's health/wellness/actions.

You indicate you eat 'about 1000-1200' per day. How do you log/track this?

PennWalker · August 2016

I am 5'4" and believe that 137 pounds is in the high normal range for women that height (I think you're female but not sure). You said you've been working out the past couple of months. Muscle weighs more than fat.

I agree not to compare yourself to other people.

Some questions you could ask yourself:
Do you look good in your clothes? Does everything fit?
Do you feel okay?
Are you really sure you're eating 1000-1200 calories a day? That's not very much. Do you keep a food journal and weigh everything?

Maxematics · August 2016

I'm 5'3.5" and 108 pounds but I do eat foods like pizza. It's not what you eat, it is how much of it you eat. You gained weight because you were too restrictive and now you're not losing it because even though you're eating "healthy" you're probably eating more calories than you think.

dmt4641 · August 2016

It sounds like you have an unhealthy relationship with food and poor body image. Starving yourself to get thin is never the answer, is not sustainable, and can lead to a host of physical problems. After a period of starvation, the body naturally tries to recover by eating more and gaining the weight back (and then some in some cases). That is why crash dieting doesn't work.

You don't have to eat only "healthy" foods to maintain a healthy weight. It is all about calories in calories out. Put your stats into mfp. Maybe just start at maintaining for now for a while so your body can fully recover from starving. Eat at maintenance, have healthy foods along with some treats and pizza that fits in your calories. Maybe start a strength training program to regain some of the muscle you probably lost while restricting.

Once you feel healthy and get the hang of logging calories, set yourself up to lose .5 lb a week. You will lose slow and steady, but it will be healthy and sustainable. Once you reach a healthy weight for your height (not underweight range), go back to maintenance and start focusing on other things like fitness, progressing in your strength training. You can't keep chasing a number on the scale and starving yourself to get there. That is a recipe for an ED and health issues.

Emmaharton · August 2016

I track all of my calories on the mfp app and have a goal amount of 1200 but leave 200 calories at least just in case I forget anything

Emmaharton · August 2016

I cook a lot of my own food and take the calorie contents of all the different ingredients

JeanLaw131 · August 2016

Wait, weren't you just 16 in another post?

dmt4641 · August 2016

Eating 1000 calories a day is not going to get you the results you want. You are just setting yourself up for a vicious cycle of crash dieting followed by gaining the weight back when your starving body forces you to eat. Or you will wind up with an eating disorder. Please stop this TODAY, right now.

With your stats, you maintain at 1750 even without any exercise at all. So you are eating at a 750 calorie deficit at least, even if you don't exercise at all. That is too much of a deficit for how little weight you have to lose.

My suggestion, again, eat at maintenance for a while. Stop restricting. Then, when your mind and body are healthy, do small cut. This would mean 1500 calories if you never exercise. And several hundred more a day if you do exercise.

cerise_noir · August 2016

Do you use a food scale to weigh all your food except liquids?

malibu927 · August 2016

jluselawrence wrote: »

Wait, weren't you just 16 in another post?

This. OP, please seek help from Sparkteens. You are too young to be using this website.

ksz1104 · August 2016

You definitely aren't eating enough.

CattOfTheGarage · August 2016

I am 5'4. 147lb is my ultimate goal weight. Why are you starving yourself when you're already at a healthy weight? Eat at maintenance and work hard on getting a healthy relationship with food and getting your head into the right place. Later, if you decide you still want to be a little leaner, you can cut maybe a few hundred calories a day to gradually adjust your weight, but since you are already in the normal range there's no way you should be eating a little as you are, it is not healthy. The closer you are to goal, the smaller your deficit needs to be. Yours is huge and will cause physical and psychological side effects.

Bxqtie116 · August 2016

I think you should do more strength training and less cardio. Eat at whatever your maintenance level is and you'll begin to see the difference. Sometimes it's not about the number on the scale, but how you look and feel in your own skin.

Help me please

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