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Hi, I am a 17 year old female and I've had a tough time with controlling my weight. I peaked in weight in 6th grade when I was about 5 feet tall and weighed 190 pounds. I started playing sports in middle school (soccer mostly) and I continued until I was 15. I lost 35 pounds by playing soccer, and I didn't consciously change my diet. At this point, I weighed 155 pounds and was about 5'3" (which is overweight. The line between normal weight and overweight for my height is about 140 pounds). I stopped playing soccer, and plateaued at 155, so after a few months I decided to diet to get down to a healthy weight (big mistake). I started counting calories and exercising sporadically, and I lost 25 pounds in about six months.
However, looking back, dieting was a horrible idea. I was very restrictive, maxing out at 1,200 calories a day or less for six months straight. I was having dizzy spells, very lethargic, I passed out, and there were other physical ramifications as well. Due to restricting my diet, I started binge eating (where I would compulsively eat 3,00-6,000 calories within a 1 to 2 hour period of time). To compensate I would restrict the next day, eating between 400 and 600 calories. This led to a cycle where my binge eating got worse and I began to put the weight back on. Now, 1.5 years later, I weigh 172 pounds (obese) and am still 5'3".
I would have been better off not dieting. I don't know what to do. I've pretty much stopped gaining weight at this point, but I don't know how to lose weight the right way. If I restrict I'll start binging again, and I don't really know how to just eat normally anymore. I've also pretty much completely stopped exercising. I've only been at a normal body weight for about two months out of my entire adolescence (after I dieted). I'm at a loss. I feel like every new approach I take to this I fail at. Please help me get back on track to getting to a healthy body weight. I especially want to start losing weight again because I'll be starting college in about sixth months. Thank you for your help and advice.
You need to start writing down everything you eat in a food journal,then take it to a dietary professional to get you on a healthy diet. The binge eating is a psychological problem that you may need to explore the cause with a psychiatrist.
I would have been better off not dieting. I don't know what to do. I've pretty much stopped gaining weight at this point, but I don't know how to lose weight the right way. If I restrict I'll start binging again, and I don't really know how to just eat normally anymore. I've also pretty much completely stopped exercising. I've only been at a normal body weight for about two months out of my entire adolescence (after I dieted). I'm at a loss. I feel like every new approach I take to this I fail at. Please help me get back on track to getting to a healthy body weight. I especially want to start losing weight again because I'll be starting college in about sixth months. Thank you for your help and advice.
You have an eating disorder. Talk to your parents and see a doctor who can help you and monitor your health. You'll want to get on top of this before you go off to college and your support system changes.
I have the same "problem" as you and it isn't as uncommon as you'd like to think. It's the dark side of dieting -- severe restriction does promote binge eating. Sure, 1200 calories, is the bare minimum you should eat, but that's it..the bare minimum. It's very low and I personally couldn't do it. You don't have to eat so few calories in order to lose weight and I'm not about to encourage you to eat that few. Most of all, you shouldn't start out eating so few calories. You are doomed to failure if you do that.
That is why overly restrictive diets won't work. You'll need to reduce gradually. In addition, you are not exercising. That is a big problem. Download a fitness app (LoseIt, Myfitness pal) to establish how many calories you should be eating to safely lose weight. Record all of your food. Learn the art of portion control. That will be the toughest part but once you learn it, your body will adapt. Put exercise back into your life so that you can burn more calories. You're young, so you are at an advantage.
Reducing caloric consumption can be as simple as eating 200 fewer calories per day as a start. Try and substitute healthier alternatives of your favorite foods. If you like dessert, eat ONE serving.
It might be helpful to have a "cheat meal", where you eat something that you really enjoy, once per week. This will help with the bingeing, trust me on that one.
I've lost 60 lbs and I'm more than twice your age. You can do this. Good luck. If there's any help you need, DM me.
I think that 1,200 calories a day is too low for anyone..it's just simply not enough food. I think you could have eaten 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day, exercised regularly and lost weight at a steady and healthy pace. But counting calories can make some people feel too restricted and cause them to start overeating..
I would recommend for you to try intuitive eating.... you basically listen to your body's natural hunger signals and stop eating when you are full. You can be more successful with this if you eat mostly whole and natural foods and avoid anything processed or in a box. Whole foods don't have all these unnatural ingredients that make your body crave things all the time. Try including eggs, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, oatmeal, fish and chicken in your diet.
I also want to add that in order to achieve weight loss, there must be a caloric deficit. There's no getting around it, so you will need to reduce your intake and increase your burn. You can't overeat, rarely exercise, and expect to lose weight. If you want do those things, then be content at your size and live your life. However, if you are not content (as shown by this topic), you're going to have to be willing to make a lifestyle change. You can start by not calling eating in moderation "dieting". And while you're at it, you can effectively lose weight without following a formal diet plan. At the same time, it will require commitment from you.
It's the lack of exercise that is easily doing you in. You couple that with overeating and voila, you're obese. If you're not going to give maximum effort, do not embark on weight loss and start when you feel that you can teach your body to embrace an active lifestyle and eating less food.
Going "balls to the wall" by eating too few calories and exercising like a fiend will leave you fatigued, disheartened, and ultimately on a trainwreck. You need to download that fitness ap like I mentioned above. Then you need to look at your current eating habits and figure out how you can adjust to lose weight. It can start as simple as eating 200 fewer calories per day. As in one less granola bar or eating one cup of starch vs. two cups. Sooner or later your body will adjust to the smaller portions of food. I also suggest that you eat things that will give you more caloric bang for your buck, healthy things, but also you should allow yourself one treat per day. My reasoning is that you don't want to trigger a binge and that can easily happen if you go on a spartan "don't eat this!" type of diet. Bingeing will leave you feeling mentally defeated as well as derail your progress.
As for exercise, you are young. Start walking. Get back into sports. Join a neighborhood cheap gym. Start slowly and work your way up. You need to burn more.
I think that 1,200 calories a day is too low for anyone..it's just simply not enough food. I think you could have eaten 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day, exercised regularly and lost weight at a steady and healthy pace. But counting calories can make some people feel too restricted and cause them to start overeating..
I would recommend for you to try intuitive eating.... you basically listen to your body's natural hunger signals and stop eating when you are full. You can be more successful with this if you eat mostly whole and natural foods and avoid anything processed or in a box. Whole foods don't have all these unnatural ingredients that make your body crave things all the time. Try including eggs, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, oatmeal, fish and chicken in your diet.
1200 calories is what I shoot for to lose. And it is fine. But I am a small person.
1200 calories is what I shoot for to lose. And it is fine. But I am a small person.
Also, you're older, so your caloric needs go down as well. I just can't do 1200 calories, not with the way I work out. I'm not an exercise fiend but I need fuel and 1200 is too low. 1400 is the lowest I'd go.
Also, you're older, so your caloric needs go down as well. I just can't do 1200 calories, not with the way I work out. I'm not an exercise fiend but I need fuel and 1200 is too low. 1400 is the lowest I'd go.
If I have a hard workout I will add in 100+ calories depending if I am losing or maintaining. I like to leave a little room for some wine.
Easiest thing for me to do is forbid myself of all food items that I would call "addicting" 6 days of the week.. cookies and other refined carbs.. only allow yourself to eat fresh fruits as a treat and keep down consumption of all cookies, chips, candy, and processed, high carb/fat items to ZERO... since splurging on just one tends to make my brain think "splurge day" and I'll tend to have another and another.
Focus on lean meats, fruit, vegetables, and dairy in moderation for weight loss (cottage cheese is great)
I crave grapefruits more than cookies now after going through enough of them at work... same with cottage cheese with a couple packets of splenda in them.. simple and delicious.. sweet/salty and sweet/tart while being reasonably healthy... the new habits are far healthier. Eventually you will reach a point where you will no longer crave your high carb garbage and will crave your fresh fruit, too. Remember ONLY whole fruit, no juice.
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Remember ONLY whole fruit, no juice.
