Well, I'm fifteen, and I know that teenagers need more calories in order to be healthy, but I'm trying to lose weight. I've been eating really healthy foods lately, and I've been feeling great about it, so I think it's going to work! For once! Yay, no more crash dieting! I'm so glad I'm over that. I currently weigh 160lbs at 5'8". That's just about the higher scale of a Normal BMI (24.4), or the lowest of overweight, depending. My goal is 130, a BMI of 19.8, but note, this is a seven month weight-loss plan.

So, lately I've been tracking my eating habits. The websites say that teens should get around 2000-2200 calories a day, so I tried doing that. It felt like so much food!!!! And then today, I ate what I felt was right, and I calculated it to be at around 1385, feeling hungry, but the kind of hungry that can wait till tomorrow and not have you craving things. But I'm eating healthy stuff. Milk, fiber, protein, iron, veggies, you know, the best stuff out there. I didn’t exercise today.

Should I be consuming more calories, or is this fine, especially if the food I eat is balanced and healthy? What should I do on the days that I do exercise? Eat the same amount of calories, or more, or less? Or did this totally confuse you?! YIKES.

Thank you so much,
Tina

If you are not exercising a lot I think aiming for somewhere between 1400 and 2000 should be alright to lose weight.

If you are active and exercise a lot then you will need more calories.

I use this calculator to find out how many calories I should eat:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculato r/NU00598

Hi Tina,

Welcome to Traineo and good luck! That's a great site, Jeff! For that calculator, I would use your goal weight and not your current weight to determine the daily calories.

Don't worry too much about having more calories on the days you exercise - try to have about the same every day. The only time exercising might affect my calories is if I'm doing a lot of HIIT and am crazy hungry, or after lifting when I have a protein supplement that might add a couple hundred calories to my day.

Other than that, try to get some exercise as often as possible, and incorporate weight training 2-3x/week. Also, don't worry about BMI as it's basically a fake number. The best metric to use is body fat %, and how you feel!

Haha, thanks for the help guys!! You rock!

Tina

Wow This says I should be eating 3,000 cals a day???? I am currently only eating 2000 to 2500 and exercising about 500 -750. So am I starving myself? Should I eat 3000 and continue exercise? I am confused now?

well, is what you're doing working for you? Are you doing weight training and measuring your BF%?

I have been weight training,just the last 4-6 weeks or so. Have not measured body fat but do notice a difference in body size. Have been at this 275 ish for a long time.

that mayo clinic one has got to be wrong.. it says if i want to lose 20 lbs and weigh 100 lbs (i was overestimating, haha) and was also INACTIVE, then i would have to eat 1550 calories a day. are they nuts?! thats a looottt. on my SUPER up days (judddd) i usually get in 1300-1500, and thats usually with exercise too. 1550 calories just seems like a hell of a lot of calories to squish in one day whilst not exercising, AND wanting to lose weight..

I lose 2-3lbs weekly on 2300/day... If I'm exercising regularly I could probably lose 1.5-2lbs per week on 2700 / day... That's eating 6 meals/day, doing 20-30min cardio most days (4-5/week), weight training 2x/week...

The mayo clinic is pretty close to the one I generally use as well, and though it certainly differs per person and the kind of diet you eat, on a normal diet, eating 5-6x/day, I think it's *fairly* accurate... You might need to adjust 10-20% per individual, but it's a great starting point.

@Stacy - If you're gaining muscle and feeling good, you're doing all right on your diet. You should start checking your BF% weekly to see how your lean mass and fat mass are changing.

Hey guys,

Newbie and still trying to find my way around... could someone push me in the direction on how to calculate my BF%?

Here

thanks much

Those links are great!

Thank you!
Suzette

I honestly think eating above two thousand calories at 15 is not a problem, if you spread your meals out, and eat the right type your going to get a diet rich of healthy carbs, fats, and proteins. Try looking at the abs diet, I try to look at weight and food consumption as more food = more ability to make muscle (especially lean look for women). When I used this moto in high school it was great, but unfortunately I let myself go (and I did because the abs diet allows for you to eat quite well). Match up with a sport or hobby and your set.