Help

I'm 15 years old (5'7") and I've been dieting since the end of August. About
Thanksgiving time I reached my goal of 125 lbs, and I maintained that for at
least two weeks. But then I started gaining weight, even though I continued
to consume only 1200 calories per day. At the time I was exercising (jogging)
every day for 30 or more minutes, and now I've cut down to about 3x a week
for about 20 minutes. I now weigh about 131, and I have no idea how I
possibly gained 6 lbs. When I weighed 125, I fit quite well into size 7 pants,
and now I'm cramming into them.

My diet consists of Special K for breakfast and lunch accompanied with fruit,
and a larger supper of fresh meat and vegetables. I usually have a kind of
light dessert, such as one serving of light ice cream or a half a piece of
lite cake. I also usually have fruit before I go to bed. I drink 20 oz. of
water at most per day, and every now and then I have some juice.

So my question is if I've been doing something wrong that caused me to gain
6lbs, and what should I change in order to re-lose it? Is 1200 calories too
little for me to be eating? I'd really like to continue my 3x a week exercise
routine as it works quite well for me, but is that too little? And if I do
get back down to my weight of 125, how many calories should I be having?

--
Message posted via http://www.weightadviser.com

equinekrazed via WeightAdviser.com wrote:

I'm 15 years old (5'7") and I've been dieting since the end of August. About
Thanksgiving time I reached my goal of 125 lbs, and I maintained that for at
least two weeks.

125 pounds of what? It's meaningless without knowing body composition.
You don't want to lose muscle or bone density, you want to lose excess
fat. Usually this is best done by some sort of moderately balanced diet
including resistance training. Here, try this website for starters:

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

But then I started gaining weight, even though I continued
to consume only 1200 calories per day. At the time I was exercising (jogging)
every day for 30 or more minutes, and now I've cut down to about 3x a week
for about 20 minutes. I now weigh about 131, and I have no idea how I
possibly gained 6 lbs. When I weighed 125, I fit quite well into size 7 pants,
and now I'm cramming into them.

Between the ages of 15 and 18 you will put on some fat stores as your
body changes from that of a girl into a woman. You'll get breasts,
hips, buttocks and thighs. This is normal, desirable and expected.
Your body is becoming a woman.

My diet consists of Special K for breakfast and lunch accompanied with fruit,
and a larger supper of fresh meat and vegetables. I usually have a kind of
light dessert, such as one serving of light ice cream or a half a piece of
lite cake. I also usually have fruit before I go to bed. I drink 20 oz. of
water at most per day, and every now and then I have some juice.

You've got one thing right: it DOES matter what you put into your body.
Just because people sell things as being consumable doesn't mean it's
actually food that you should use to fuel your body.

What you're missing in the concept of "balanced" where it reflects
balanced macronutrients. You need HEALTHY fats, like nut and fish oils,
and reasonable amounts of lean protein. Special K isn't a good choice
for either breakfast OR lunch and certainly not both - it's refined
carbs. You need something with protein AND fiber AND healthy fats.
Half a whole wheat bagel with peanutbutter, or oatmeal mixed with
protein powder, or a scrambled egg on whole wheat toast - try to get
some protein into every single meal.

The part you seem to be doing well on is getting fruits and veggies,
though there really isn't much call for juice. Try to eat a range of
fruits and veggies. You can also eat whole grains like oatmeal, bulgar,
and brown basmati rice.

Avoid refined flour products.

So my question is if I've been doing something wrong that caused me to gain
6lbs, and what should I change in order to re-lose it?

With 15 year olds weighing 131 pounds all we hope for is that you'll
just learn and practice healthy eating and exercise habits. Act like a
slender person and your body will grow into one.

Is 1200 calories too
little for me to be eating?

Maybe. I wouldn't go below that. It's hard to be exact in this arena.
I have no idea what your base metabolism is like, but I wouldn't be
surprised if you're burning 1500 calories or so a day normally.

I'd really like to continue my 3x a week exercise
routine as it works quite well for me, but is that too little? And if I do
get back down to my weight of 125, how many calories should I be having?

Give up on a weight goal. Think more about body fat percentages. But
even having said that, chances are you've still got 10 pounds of fat to
slather on your body as you become a woman - concentrate on exercise and
healthy eating rather than getting to some specific weight. Weight
goals make people do illogical and damaging things.

Jogging three times a week for half an hour is a great start, but I'd do
something else the other three times a week - whatever works for you.
It could be yoga or volleyball or riding a bike or rollerblading. I
think a weightlifting class would be enormously helpful as you develop
strong bones and learn to use your body.

Good luck. Muck around a bit on Krista's site: she has a great article
on Eating 101 that you should read.

Dally

I believe that when I was 125, I was mostly muscle as I was working out every
day for (what seemed like) a long time. Now that I've cut back I've been
gaining, and I was wondering if that might be part of the problem I'm putting
on weight all of a sudden.

I know that my body fat % is about 24%; we just calculated that about a week
ago in my fitness class at school. I don't know if that's high or low?

I would love to try weightlifting; I used to do it last year during one of my
free periods at school, but unfortunately my schedule doesn't have time this
year. =[ But you think just plain jogging is okay? I've been doing 20 minutes
lately, is that enough or should I be doing more?

Thanks for your help! I've seen that site before and it really is helpful. =]

Dally wrote:
I'm 15 years old (5'7") and I've been dieting since the end of August. About
Thanksgiving time I reached my goal of 125 lbs, and I maintained that for at
least two weeks.

125 pounds of what? It's meaningless without knowing body composition.
You don't want to lose muscle or bone density, you want to lose excess
fat. Usually this is best done by some sort of moderately balanced diet
including resistance training. Here, try this website for starters:

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

But then I started gaining weight, even though I continued
to consume only 1200 calories per day. At the time I was exercising (jogging)
every day for 30 or more minutes, and now I've cut down to about 3x a week
for about 20 minutes. I now weigh about 131, and I have no idea how I
possibly gained 6 lbs. When I weighed 125, I fit quite well into size 7 pants,
and now I'm cramming into them.

Between the ages of 15 and 18 you will put on some fat stores as your
body changes from that of a girl into a woman. You'll get breasts,
hips, buttocks and thighs. This is normal, desirable and expected.
Your body is becoming a woman.

My diet consists of Special K for breakfast and lunch accompanied with fruit,
and a larger supper of fresh meat and vegetables. I usually have a kind of
light dessert, such as one serving of light ice cream or a half a piece of
lite cake. I also usually have fruit before I go to bed. I drink 20 oz. of
water at most per day, and every now and then I have some juice.

You've got one thing right: it DOES matter what you put into your body.
Just because people sell things as being consumable doesn't mean it's
actually food that you should use to fuel your body.

What you're missing in the concept of "balanced" where it reflects
balanced macronutrients. You need HEALTHY fats, like nut and fish oils,
and reasonable amounts of lean protein. Special K isn't a good choice
for either breakfast OR lunch and certainly not both - it's refined
carbs. You need something with protein AND fiber AND healthy fats.
Half a whole wheat bagel with peanutbutter, or oatmeal mixed with
protein powder, or a scrambled egg on whole wheat toast - try to get
some protein into every single meal.

The part you seem to be doing well on is getting fruits and veggies,
though there really isn't much call for juice. Try to eat a range of
fruits and veggies. You can also eat whole grains like oatmeal, bulgar,
and brown basmati rice.

Avoid refined flour products.

So my question is if I've been doing something wrong that caused me to gain
6lbs, and what should I change in order to re-lose it?

With 15 year olds weighing 131 pounds all we hope for is that you'll
just learn and practice healthy eating and exercise habits. Act like a
slender person and your body will grow into one.

Is 1200 calories too
little for me to be eating?

Maybe. I wouldn't go below that. It's hard to be exact in this arena.
I have no idea what your base metabolism is like, but I wouldn't be
surprised if you're burning 1500 calories or so a day normally.

I'd really like to continue my 3x a week exercise
routine as it works quite well for me, but is that too little? And if I do
get back down to my weight of 125, how many calories should I be having?

Give up on a weight goal. Think more about body fat percentages. But
even having said that, chances are you've still got 10 pounds of fat to
slather on your body as you become a woman - concentrate on exercise and
healthy eating rather than getting to some specific weight. Weight
goals make people do illogical and damaging things.

Jogging three times a week for half an hour is a great start, but I'd do
something else the other three times a week - whatever works for you.
It could be yoga or volleyball or riding a bike or rollerblading. I
think a weightlifting class would be enormously helpful as you develop
strong bones and learn to use your body.

Good luck. Muck around a bit on Krista's site: she has a great article
on Eating 101 that you should read.

Dally

--
Message posted via http://www.weightadviser.com

Whatever you do always use proper form.

"equinekrazed via WeightAdviser.com" u16491@uwe wrote in message
news:5ac2507829db9@uwe...
I'm 15 years old (5'7") and I've been dieting since the end of August.
About
Thanksgiving time I reached my goal of 125 lbs,

What made you pick 125 as your goal? I am 5'3" and that is my goal. If I
was 4" taller, I'd be happy with around 135 I think. Whatever mathematical
calculation you used to determine your bodyfat % is probably not very
accurate. If you really want a decent idea what your bf% is, you should try
something like caliper testing, which is still only as good as the person
giving the test, so still very subjective. We all talk about the
"pants-o-meter" test, which is what you mentioned - not being able to fit
into your size 7's well. An average adult needs about 12 cal per lb of
bodyweight to maintain. A person who exercises may need more than that, and
a growing and developing person probably needs even more. If I were you, I
would put my emphasize on eating healthy, getting at least 20 minutes of
exercise every single day, and forget the weight thing. Truly, if you are
eating right and exercising, you shouldn't be gaining.

5'7 125 lbs that's a little low for a teenager, your body is still
developping..

1200 clories and working out everyday for a "long time" is pretty low.. also
1200 calories of what?

You're body is telling you that it's all too much..

What do I know though.. I would review my goals... and my methods..

--
Will~

"... so that's how liberty ends, in a round of applause."

Queen Amidala, The revenge of the Syth.


"equinekrazed via WeightAdviser.com" u16491@uwe wrote in message
news:5ac2507829db9@uwe...
I'm 15 years old (5'7") and I've been dieting since the end of August.
About
Thanksgiving time I reached my goal of 125 lbs, and I maintained that for
at
least two weeks. But then I started gaining weight, even though I
continued
to consume only 1200 calories per day. At the time I was exercising
(jogging)
every day for 30 or more minutes, and now I've cut down to about 3x a week
for about 20 minutes. I now weigh about 131, and I have no idea how I
possibly gained 6 lbs. When I weighed 125, I fit quite well into size 7
pants,
and now I'm cramming into them.

My diet consists of Special K for breakfast and lunch accompanied with
fruit,
and a larger supper of fresh meat and vegetables. I usually have a kind of
light dessert, such as one serving of light ice cream or a half a piece of
lite cake. I also usually have fruit before I go to bed. I drink 20 oz. of
water at most per day, and every now and then I have some juice.

So my question is if I've been doing something wrong that caused me to
gain
6lbs, and what should I change in order to re-lose it? Is 1200 calories
too
little for me to be eating? I'd really like to continue my 3x a week
exercise
routine as it works quite well for me, but is that too little? And if I do
get back down to my weight of 125, how many calories should I be having?

--
Message posted via http://www.weightadviser.com

My 1200 cals are all "good" foods, no high fat/high sugar desserts or crap
foods like that. I have fruit with every meal and for snacks too, lean fresh
meat for supper with vegetables, and other healthy foods for lunch and
breakfast.

What made me choose 125? I didn't, really. I got there and kind of plateaued
there, so I was fine there. Now all of a sudden I'm gaining weight out of
nowhere, but before I started gaining I had an easy time maintaining 125 so I
thought that was a good weight for me. I could fit in my size 7 jeans quite
comfortably there, too.

I weighed myself today and I was closer to 132 or 133, so I'm still gaining.
I have no idea why or how. Could it be starvation mode? I'm so concerned that
1200 cals might not be enough for my body, but if I'm gaining wouldn't it
just make me gain more to up my calorie count?

My workouts consist of running for 20-30 minutes (6 to 6.5 mph), crunches and
pushups afterwards. I do intervals sometimes, too.

Could my weight gains be from muscle gain? For the past two or three weeks I
was cutting my exercise down to 15-20 minutes of intervals twice a week, and
this week I did more.

I'm really worried about why I'm gaining it all back.... Am I just obsessing
too much?

Willow wrote:
5'7 125 lbs that's a little low for a teenager, your body is still
developping..

1200 clories and working out everyday for a "long time" is pretty low.. also
1200 calories of what?

You're body is telling you that it's all too much..

What do I know though.. I would review my goals... and my methods..

I'm 15 years old (5'7") and I've been dieting since the end of August. About
Thanksgiving time I reached my goal of 125 lbs, and I maintained that for at
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
routine as it works quite well for me, but is that too little? And if I do
get back down to my weight of 125, how many calories should I be having?

--
Message posted via WeightAdviser.com
http://www.weightadviser.com/Uwe/For.../diet/200601/1

Oh, and to add to that my Body fat % was calculated by my fitness teacher. He
took our weights and heights, entered them into this hand-held machine thingy
and had us hold the machine on these metal parts. I guess it sends a small
electric shock through us, and then somehow used all that info to calculate
body fat? I don't know the name of it though.

equinekrazed wrote:
My 1200 cals are all "good" foods, no high fat/high sugar desserts or crap
foods like that. I have fruit with every meal and for snacks too, lean fresh
meat for supper with vegetables, and other healthy foods for lunch and
breakfast.

What made me choose 125? I didn't, really. I got there and kind of plateaued
there, so I was fine there. Now all of a sudden I'm gaining weight out of
nowhere, but before I started gaining I had an easy time maintaining 125 so I
thought that was a good weight for me. I could fit in my size 7 jeans quite
comfortably there, too.

I weighed myself today and I was closer to 132 or 133, so I'm still gaining.
I have no idea why or how. Could it be starvation mode? I'm so concerned that
1200 cals might not be enough for my body, but if I'm gaining wouldn't it
just make me gain more to up my calorie count?

My workouts consist of running for 20-30 minutes (6 to 6.5 mph), crunches and
pushups afterwards. I do intervals sometimes, too.

Could my weight gains be from muscle gain? For the past two or three weeks I
was cutting my exercise down to 15-20 minutes of intervals twice a week, and
this week I did more.

I'm really worried about why I'm gaining it all back.... Am I just obsessing
too much?

5'7 125 lbs that's a little low for a teenager, your body is still
developping..
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
routine as it works quite well for me, but is that too little? And if I do
get back down to my weight of 125, how many calories should I be having?

--
Message posted via WeightAdviser.com
http://www.weightadviser.com/Uwe/For.../diet/200601/1

equinekrazed via WeightAdviser.com u16491@uwe wrote:
Oh, and to add to that my Body fat % was calculated by my fitness teacher. He
took our weights and heights, entered them into this hand-held machine thingy
and had us hold the machine on these metal parts. I guess it sends a small
electric shock through us, and then somehow used all that info to calculate
body fat? I don't know the name of it though.

In my experience, the electric impulse type of body fat measurement
consumer gadgets are very unreliable and tend to over-estimate body fat
percentage overall.

--Scott

I kind of thought that might be the case; it was such a small flimsy little
mechanism.

Does anyone else have any advice? I need all the help I can get. I woke up
this morning at about 134 and it's really starting to bother me. Any and all
advice would be greatly appreciated!

Scott wrote:
Oh, and to add to that my Body fat % was calculated by my fitness teacher. He
took our weights and heights, entered them into this hand-held machine thingy
and had us hold the machine on these metal parts. I guess it sends a small
electric shock through us, and then somehow used all that info to calculate
body fat? I don't know the name of it though.

In my experience, the electric impulse type of body fat measurement
consumer gadgets are very unreliable and tend to over-estimate body fat
percentage overall.

--Scott

--
Message posted via WeightAdviser.com
http://www.weightadviser.com/Uwe/For.../diet/200601/1