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How much is too much?? [weight loss] ?
15/f (almost 16). Okay. so I have gone on a diet.
Nothing from any magazine or whatever..just a vegetable//fruits/less sweets/less food alltogether diet. It's working quite well and I see the pounds fly off.
But...I'm suddenly always starting to question what I eat. And I'm afraid it might be too much. Its getting to the point where I think eating is bad in all, and I don't eat for days. Because I'm afraid I might get fat. Even the fact that I take ballet at 6 o'clock each day doesn't help me get over this paranoia..
What can I do?
I understand people MUST eat lunch and have a good breakfast, but I'm always ALWAYS afraid I'll gain weight :( I've never been worried so much about this, in fact. I guess its just ..I like what I see when I look in the mirror.
Advice? :/
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Want to answer more questions in the Health & Fitness category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Nutrition?
Okay. Sounds like you've got a full-blown eating disorder going here. There's nothing wrong with eating clean (no junk food, no sugar, etc.). Not eating for days is definitely a bad idea, especially if you're training as a dancer. What you're doing is shifting your body to starvation mode. It starts eating up your muscle to keep running, and leaving the fat reserves for last. Chances are you're losing muscle mass and water instead of fat. (Notice the color of your urine: if it's darker, that means you're metabolizing protein.) There is help for this, and it sounds like you've caught it early. Talk to your parents, or a teacher that you trust. Heck, even talk to your ballet teacher.
Eating disorders are pretty prevalent in the dance world. My sister and I both studied ballet for years, and the pressure to be tall and thin is incredible. I'm tall, but I'm not thin; my sister is thin but not tall. Needless to say, our dance careers didn't last all that long. (All this goes back to the old corps de ballet days, when all the dancers were to be as identical as possible. Thankfully, that's being broken up. Look into modern dance groups like Pilobolus and choreographers like Bill T. Jones. Bill T. Jones in particular is famous for using non-standard body types in his company.)
You definitely need to eat more, so that you can dance properly and you won't hurt yourself. Don't worry about 'getting fat'; a clean diet and regular exercise will keep that from happening. If food is becoming an obsession, you may need professional help.
Hope this helps.
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There are a number of reasons as to why what you are doing is dangerous. First off, in order to have the sort of weight loss that one can keep off in the long term, you need to eat frequently. Three meals is not really enough (let alone not eating for days), 4-6 is the recommended range. The problem with eating rarerly is that it has an adverse effect on your metabolism. This means that you will have an easier time regaining weight.
The second thing is, that through a starvation type diet (and in combination with eating very rarely), you will digest more muscle than fat. This is both unhealthy and counterproductive for long term weight loss (since muscle burns calories to sustain itself).
Third, it is particularly important that you get the right nutrition at your age. It is bad enough for an adult, but for someone who is still growing and developing, it is particularly harmful. It hampers your immune system, your growth, etc etc.
Now, one guideline which is fairly good is not to lose more than 2 pounds a week. This number should be lower the thiner you already are. If you are not overweight, you should (obviously) not be trying to lose weight.
You NEED to eat balanced if you want to have a healthy life. That means carbs, protein, and good fats in proper proportions. That means every meal. Stick to nutritious non processed foods like lean meats, chicken, tuna, eggs, grains, rice, oats, vegetables, fruits, etc. Remember your omega fatty acids which have to feature in small daily amounts (from fish, good oils, nuts, olives, etc.).
Well, thats the short version anyway. Best of luck.
Edit: Note that what I have talked about is the physical side of things. If you find yourself unable to control the psychological side (the need to be thin and not eat), then you need to seek help from a qualified professional.
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