COACH_DENISE
2/21/08 10:46 P
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If you are eating less than 1800 calories daily, then yes, that could be a reason why you are not losing weight. The thing is, you slow your metabolism a great deal when you don't eat enough calories for growth and development as well as typical daily functions like your heart beating, your lungs expanding, muscles contracting etc. As you start to eat nutritious calories at the recommended level, your metabolism speeds up and becomes more efficient and that is how you begin to easily lose weight AND grow and develop at the same time.
The key is to eat smaller meals and snacks more frequently. This gets the metabolism working most efficiently, gets the calories and most importantly the nutrients in and after about a week, you start to feel hunger pangs every few hours. This is a GREAT thing and indicates that your metabolism is working more efficiently and is burning up the foods that you are eating instead of storing them for future energy needs.
The best way for you to move forward is to:
1) Begin eating 6 small meals/snacks each day each consisting of 300-350 calories.
2) Focus on nutrition at each meal/snack - whole grains, fruits, veggies, low fat dairy, lean meats/nuts/beans.
3) Make sure each meal and snack is a healthy balance of protein sources (lean meats/beans/nuts and low fat dairy) and carbohydrates (fruits, veggies and whole grains).
4) Save the "junk" like fried foods and sweets like soda, pies, cakes, cookies, candy and cake for the special occasions of life.
5) Make sure you are active daily for at least 30 minutes if possible and include strength training several times a week to tone and shape your body.
This plan will allow you to have the nutrients you need for growth and development and will help you have energy for life, will improve your outlook on things and will help your find your bodies best weight and shape.
You may see a gain at first as you start to eat more in the range where you should be. Don't get worried though, that will happen because your body is in starvation mode and is still afraid that it won't be fed like it should so it will hold on to it. But the longer you eat the proper nutrition and calories, your body will realize that "hey, I don't have to hold on to all these reserves, I'm being fed" - so then it will start to release the stored fat reserves and your metabolism will speed up. I know it can be scary, especially knowing that you may gain a little at first, but if you continue with the healthy calorie/nutrition range - it will be better for you all the way around and you will start to see improvements!
If you struggle with eating that much, you can gradually increase your calories, but do your best to reach the 1800 minimum. For some helpful ideas on increasing your calories, take a look at Calorie Boosting Tips.
You may want to review these articles:
A Teen's Guide to Nutrition & Healthy Eating
A Teen's Guide to Fitness & Exercise
A Teen's Guide to Weight and Body Confidence
Coach Denise
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