[Saraclark622]

Hi. I am 19 and 5'5 and 118 pounds. I would like to maintain this weight. I have crash dieted over the years, and I am trying to find my body's "set point." Before reading this, it is important to note that I am sedentary (desk job during the summer and don't enjoy exercise). I generally go for a 15 minute walk if it is nice outside. I increased from 1200 calories to 1700 calories within the past three weeks. About 3 weeks ago, I weighed 113. As I increased and ate 1700 on a daily basis, my weight has increased 5 pounds. If I eat less than 1700, I am moody and irritable and tired. Here is what I have been eating:

Breakfast:
1/2 cup egg whites, broc****, salt, and pepper
EITHER 1 slice ezekiel bread (80 cal) OR bagel thin (110 cal) OR ezekiel english muffin (120 cal)
1 tbsp light cream cheese (40 cal)
2 cups worth of strawberries/raspberries (110 cal)
coffee with fat free cream and Splenda (40)

Snack
2 cups of plain roasted spaghetti squash (120 cal)

Lunch:
Tomaro's low carb wrap (60 cal)
4 oz grilled chicken (130 cal)
100 calorie pack of almonds by Blue Diamond.

Snack:
1 Danon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt (80 cal)
1 large carrot (60 cal)

Dinner:
Usually about 5-6 ounces of lean meat (grilled chicken, salmon, swordfish, tuna, cod, pork tenderloin, etc).
A lot of vegetables - usually 1 large summer squash and 6 broc**** florets (130 cal)
About 2 small spoonfuls of sweet potato (60 cal)

Snack:
1 cup Golean cereal (160 cal)
1 cup of Light Vanilla Soy milk (70 cal)

Do you think that I am overeating? Should I restrict? I am still preoccupied with food, although I am eating more. I have been hungry, so it is hard for me to cut anything out. Do you think I will continuously gain weight? Is my metabolism going to adjust?

[JayEll]

This is just my opinion. I don't think you're overeating. My suggestion is that you continue eating 1700 cals per day and see what happens to your weight. It may continue to go up, but then plateau and settle down a little. The important thing is to be able sustain eating at this level indefinitely and feel satisfied.

You might also want to take a look at how many grams of proteins, fats, and carbs you're eating on average per day--if you don't track this already. Many tools are available for doing this.

[ange82much]

i'm certainly no expert, but offhand i'd say that maybe you're struggling and feeling hungry because you're not getting enough (good) fat. Looks like you're choosing low fat stuff, where actually you'd feel fuller on the same calories-worth of the full-fat versions. So i'd experiment with the same calories but look at getting more good fats maybe?

[mjf]

Your diet looks mostly good, but I have a few suggestions.

I'd suggest checking the ingredients of the light cream cheese and fat free cream. Some low-fat and fat-free foods have bad things added to them.

There's nothing wrong with squash but I think more variety would be better, so I'd suggest replacing one of the squashes with another vegetable for more variety (maybe a green leafy vegetable like spinach or chard).

When you say Bagel Thins, I assume you mean whole wheat? Thomas' makes one that's whole wheat and one that's not whole wheat. Same question for the Tumaro's wraps.

On days that you don't eat fish, I'm not sure if you're getting enough healthy fats. The almonds have healthy fats, but it might not be enough. A few other good sources of healthy fats are avocado, olive oil, and chia seeds.

Does the Light Vanilla Soy milk have any added sugar?

There was a 2008 study showing that sucralose can cause several health issues in rats, including weight gain (source). I don't know if there have been similar studies with humans. Both the Splenda packets and the Danon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt contain sucralose.

I'd suggest cutting down on the swordfish, because it's higher in mercury than most fish.

How can 2 small spoonfuls of sweet potato be 60 calories? A whole sweet potato is about 115 calories. Do you mix other things with the sweet potato?

[Wannabehealthy]

It's possible she is eating canned sweet potatoes which are packed in syrup. I eat them sometimes and rinse the syrup off, but many of the calories and sugar remain.

[Defining]

"too much" is relative - if you're gaining weight, it's too much. If you're losing weight, it's too little. If you're staying the same, you're good to go! IMO, you may want to add some more protein and swap out the carbs from your cereal snack, but that's just me. Remember too that you're still quite young, and will likely put on some more fat from estrogen/puberty (think boobs & hips) - if you mentally/emotionally prepare yourself for this, it'll be less surprising/distressing.

You may be interested in reading up on reverse dieting as well, which allows you to slowly increase your TDEE over time: https://breakingmuscle.com/healthy-e...-should-try-it

For what it's worth, at 118lbs, your TDEE is right around 1,500kcal a day - the only way you can eat more than that and not put on weight is to burn it off with exercise. 30-45min of weight lifting 3x a week and running/hiking/swimming/rowing/etc 3x a week alternating days (and a rest day) will get you to the point that 1,700kcal is appropriate. You may still increase in weight, but it's FAR more likely to be in the form of muscle (which helps create a nice shape, it's a good thing) than fat if you're working out with weights.

You're in the prime time of your life to put on muscle and increase bone density - effectively setting yourself up for a life where you're less likely to break bones and have more energy and strength to try new activities that you're interested in. Please don't stay on a 1,200kcal diet, you're already at a healthy weight - at this point, take the opportunity to get stronger, more flexible, with better conditioning/endurance, and just more able to enjoy life! Go slow, have fun, be safe.

[JulesMarion]

I'd suggest reading Intuitive Eating, it's a great book. You're young and healthy, and now is a better time than ever to start a healthy relationship with food.

[Smith65]

I recommend you to eat every thing you want tp eat