Hi!
I've been at calorie-counting for about five or six months. I've pretty much managed to cut out junk food (haven't eaten out in months) but I'm hearing all sorts of different things about calorie intake
I do about 30 minutes of vigorous calisthenics 3-4 times a week
Some websites tell me to eat at about 1400 for weight loss, others say 2000...
Can someone help me?
I'm currently, 5'3", 17 years old, 130 pounds. I know that my BMI is healthy but I'm really extremely chubby around the arms and stomach so I want to get toned. What should I be eating?
1. I say this to everyone. toned/toning doesn't exist. as a verb its a joke. you can't "tone" or "scultp"
2. 1400 is what you should be eating should you ever be in a coma. To find out how many calories to consume, subtract 500 cal from what you burn each day. To do that you need to find a TEEN calorie calculator. For activity I'd say you're very active
3. protein is sooo important. aim for a 40/40/20 ratio
4.you're never going to fully attain your goals without weight lifting. it builds/maintains muscle. on a caloric deficit it is near impossible to gain more that 1-2 pounds of muscle. you WILL NOT get bulked out. even if you were on a bulking diet you would not gain mass muscle.
cardio helps a smidge when it comes to cutting fat, but not significantly. ppl here will prob disagree with me on this, saying they lost weight with cardio blah blah blah. well, they lost a sh*tload of muscle, not fat.
so, in all, at every meal, have a portion of carbs, a portion protein, and veggies in at least two of those meal. if you do this, and eat human sized portions, you don't need to count calories. by taking the right portions of carbs and proteins at every meal, you will be building a healthy eating foundation for a lifetime.
Any links for a teen calorie counter? I can't seem to find a good one.
That's actually really helpful. Thanks! The problem with exercise is that I really can't work out for more than 2-3 hours a week because of school. For weight training, how effective are resistance bands? I don't have access to dumbbells or a gym.
Also, isn't it true that healthy weight loss occurs by losing fat and builidng/maintaining muscle mass? So if I eat enough for my body to maintain its muscle mass while still keeping a deficiet, is that safe and healthy?
Original Post by mercy_bobcat:
1. I say this to everyone. toned/toning doesn't exist. as a verb its a joke. you can't "tone" or "scultp"
i suppose that depends on how you are defining "tone". if you properly weight train your muscles become larger and more defined and this is what i call "toning" it has nothing really to do with weight loss. (it can actually result in weight gain since the muscle is getting larger)
apple, if you are in a healthy BMI range and mostly interested in getting tone then you need to find a way to get some weight training in. i believe that the resistance bands would help with this. it's like weights, only you use your own body to provide the "weight"/resistance.
keep in mind if you are very close to your "ideal" weight it's will be difficult to maintain a healthy diet (as in getting the correct amount of vitamins and nutrients) and loose weight IF all you are doing is restricting calories. this is another reason to get in more exercise, it allows you to eat more and get in all your daily requirements. also you should consider that since you are still a teenager your calorie needs are most likely going to be higher than they are for us overweight adults. 
(sorry i don't know any teen calorie counters, but you could search that phrase in old forum posts)
good luck!
CC's tools are not accurate for under 21's. If you are a female under 21 you need a minimum of 1500 calories sedentary, and if you are male under 21 you need a minimum of 1800 calories sedentary to survive. If you are exercising, you need even more than that. And this is the bare minimum.
Unless you are very, very short and small it is very likely you will need even more calories than those minimum guidelines. If you are under 21, CC's tools are inaccurate and you should use this calculator instead: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html as you are still growing. Yes, even in the later years - there's more going on inside of you that you simply can't see.
Eating too low a calorie intake, or having a deficit from your BMR greater than 1000 results in something called "survival mode", where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:
- Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.
- The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time.
Use the calculator for under 21s - again, http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html - to figure out your actual burn suited to your activity level (which I would say is lightly active) never going under 1500 for a female and 1800 for a male. You've had lots of good advice on toning itself and can always ask about suitable exercises for shaping your body rather than losing weight in the Fitness forum. Beyond that: good luck!
