Calories

[Kate428]

i'm 16, 5'6" and 107 pounds and i eat about 800/900 calories a day....im 15% body fat...and i feel gross. but it's weird. sometimes i feel too skinny and bony and weak and i want to be stronger, but other times i feel too squishy and no toned. why can't i lose weight? i feel hungry all the time....changing topics....could limiting calories like this stop me from growing any taller?

[Barb135]

Thank you so much for your input - I once found myself at an age of 46 and weight of 75 lbs, so I totally identify with what you say.  Seems that too many young people think that restricting calories is the only way to lose weight -- whatever happened to a balance between calories in/calories out?  

I hope you are doing better now.  
(hugs)

[Katey H.]

At 5' 6" you should weigh at least 120.  You are underweight you should not loose any!  Why would you want to limit calories when you are a growing teen?  You said you were hungry all the time, hunger is how your body tells you that you need more food.  At your age, weight and height you should be eating at least twice those calories per day.  I know because when I was in chemo, I could barley keep any food down and I ended up at an emaciated 89 pounds.  I was on death's doorstep at that point. You don't want to be there, being starved of calories your body starts to shut organ systems down which is extremely dangerous!  I'm 5' 5", about your height, and they wanted me at no less than 120.  So, in the months after my doctors had me eating at least 3000 calories a day until I reached 120.  Sounds like a ton I know, but an underweight body needs all the nourishment it can get.  The calories you're eating aren't nearly as much as what your body is burning every day.  This deficit means you'll be loosing weight, and slowing your metabolism down.  Your body is like a car, it needs fuel to function properly, otherwise, it will shut down.  So EAT UP!  

[Barb135]

Libby said: "And you do need to loose (sic) weight" - I hope she meant to say "you do NOT need to lose weight".   You are considerably underweight.  I don't know if limiting your calories will keep you from growing taller, but I certainly know that you could very easily damage your health in other ways.  

Below is a portion of a height/weight chart for your height.

Height                Small Frame                 Medium Frame                 Large Frame
5'6"                       120-133                          130-144                          140-159

As you can see, for your height, you should weigh no less than 120 lbs.  To be healthy, you should not eat less than 1000 calories/day and that is probably not enough for you since you are young and your body is still growing/maturing.  Drastically restricting your calories can cause a variety of issues including, but not limited to irregular periods and heart problems, etc.  

You need a good balanced diet and moderate exercise in order to stay healthy.  

[Libby2999]

Well to gain muscle you should work out. Doing 30 push ups a day in a month or less you'll have some nice ton arms. Also crunchs. I do 15 push ups, 20 sit ups, 20 left sit ups, 20 right sit ups, 20 sit ups, 15 push ups and doing that everyday for a few weeks will really tone it up. Also it's okay to have a rest day every so often. There's tons of simple exercises you can do to tone up.  I also suggest getting 1,000 calories to build muscle and get protein. And you do need to loose weight. You're beautiful the way you are.