|
Am I starving myself?
I'm a 15 year old girl and I feel like I don't eat enough food. When I eat, I eat healthy non-processed food (my mom has a fruit and veggie garden) it's just that my portions are so small. I usually skip breakfast so I can make my bus that comes at 6:30 (I don't want to get up any earlier than I already do to get breakfast, so I don't). Then around lunch time I'm not really hungry so I'll have some carrot sticks and maybe a sandwich. Then when I get home my mom makes me eat dinner, but I sort of have a loss of appetite sometimes and only have about half of my plate. Part of the problem could be that I drink a lot of water and it sort if suppresses the urge to eat. And most of my time after school is spent on homework (all of the teachers say "this worksheet will only take half an hour", but if we have half an hour of homework in all of our classes.....) for the record, I'm not anorexic, I love my body. How to I get a better appetite and how can my habits effect me in the future?
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Health & Fitness category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Nutrition?
I wouldn't worry about it
]
If you can, snacking while doing your homework could help you with eating more. Also, eating more protein, such as meat, dairy, and nuts, could help you feel more full. Vegetables are made up mostly of carbohydrate, so you need more veggies to fill you up than you do with things filled with protein.
If you aren't feeling hungry and are concerned about your eating habits, talk to your doctor. Illness can affect your appetite.
]
A calorie intake of between 200 and 1000 calories is way to low How many calories do you actually need depends on how active you are. The more active you are the more calories you need. The minimum average daily intake of calories for someone in your age group who is not overweight should be around 1,800 a day.
Your diet is already affecting how you get through the day. It will show in your school work and how long it takes you to do things such as homework. If you do not take in enough calories you become lethargic. You do not process information correctly. You end up constantly rereading things.
With an 1,800 calorie diet you can split the calories evenly over 3 meals or split them in a manor that gives you the most calories during the day, breakfast and lunch when you need them and the least at dinner when you are more relaxed. Most import though is to eat a good breakfast, followed by a good lunch and dinner.
A quick breakfast of a protein shake such as Ensure is 250 calories, a lunch purchased at school, in our schools average around 600 to 700 calories a day. This would leave 950 for dinner which you could have at dinner or have less and leave some calories over for an after dinner snack while doing homework.
It is important to eat and take in the proper calories for your activity level. If you don't you will get sick just as if you were anorexic for you are doing to your body the same thing that anorexic do just slower.
]
Great to hear that you love your body, and from the food you describe you are not keen on filling it full of junky processed food either. THAT is something that will greatly benefit you in future and something you should hang on to. So we can, as you suggest, rule out any nervous/psychologival eating disorders like anorexia or bullimia nervosa etc. Great stuff! Fact is, in the western world many of us DO eat far more than we actually need...and in many cases much of what we eat is basically over-processd, sugar, salt and artificial flavouring laden crap! And 15 year olds are often serious offenders. Fluids like water can indeed overfil the stomach and suppress appetite (briefly, it will pass through and appetite will then return). If you aren't feeling hunger pangs, or feeling fatigued (low energy, difficulty concentrating?) then one has to assume your calorific food intake is matching your energy usage and your perfectly fine? By all means check yourself (a healthy lifestyle magazine or website should put you in the picture), or get a doctor to check a thing known as Body Mass Index. This simply equates height and build (and age) to weight. I'd be surprised if you outside acceptable limits, you'll probably be towards the very healthy end. If you do need to 'bulk up' a bit then the doc, or website will have some suggestions on foods which can help (you don't have to eat more, against your natural appetite, it's a question of WHAT foods could add a pound or too of mass). Only thing I'm not that happy about is this 'skipping breakfast' idea. Now it's widely held that this is about the most important meal of the day with regards to energy intake at the the best possible time. I appreciate you aren't an 'early bird' but getting into the habit of finding and making time for a good breakfast will be a good life-style habit to get into. You like fruit, I see. How about preparing a bowl of fresh fruit and some healthy fibre-base cereal or museli or something the night before, cover the bowl in cling-film and stash it in the chiller part of your fridge? It'll be all ready and waiting next morning, just add a little milk. With regards to building up an actual appetite then quite strenuous physical exertion is about the only natural way to get your body yelling 'Feed me!'. And it will. But I assmue you aren't going to work building houses or digging up highways, so it's about balancing energy (calorific) intake with energy usage, and not storing up 'fuel' you don't need...which simply turns into fat. I seem to be writing loads here, hope it's some help? X
ps. Regarding your evening meal. If you're THIRTY-five and cooking for a husband and kids of your own and you visit your mum for Sunday lunch she'll still probably pile enough food on your plate to feed a small village. Mums are like that!!
]
By the way, I'm 5'1 and my daily calorie intake usually ends up being between 200-1000, it varies depending on my schedule.
]
Yeah how tall are you?? im a 5'9 foot tall female and im about 150 pounds (but i just had my first child a while back and still have the baby weight, but before that i had never been over 140 in my life. so alot of it depends on you metabolism as well. Im betting that if your 15 yours is super fast still and you (like so many other young people) can get so busy with homework and what not that you naturally just FORGET to eat! and thats ok it happens to us all.
Like the other poster said though, skipping breakfast can really damage you in the long run health wise. when i was your age and in school and had to get up early to catch my bus, i would plan things ahead of time so that it wouldnt cut into the morning routine if getting up early. Showering BEFORE you go to bed can also be better for your health because youll sleep longer and more restfully if your body is relaxed because of the hot water you were in, in the shower, i should also remind you that it cuts down on laundry a bit because you dont have to change the sheets and pillow cases and blankets as often if you get into bed each night ALREADY clean ;)
(if you get into bed without showering your not only dirty and sweaty but your also dragging into your house and your bed anything from when you were outside all day. so think about that one.)
also picking out your clothes ahead of time, and maybe whipping up something you can grab out of the fridge thats already made to take with you when you run out the door could save you a ton of time. ask your parents or whoever to maybe start buying you some granola bars or something you can eat while your on you way to the bus stop that will be good for you and help fill you up. drinking water is still fine but its not a food replacement and if you have some calories your body can burn in the morning, youll be able to think better and function better at school all day.
worse case scenario, theres a pill out on the market called cg-1 thats an actual weight gainer. it helps people "fill out" in a healthier way without making them fat. but of course you should talk to your doctor first and your parents. its a natural supplement that you dont need a prescription for but since your young i think it would be best to first visit the doctor like the other poster said and ask them if your the right weight for your height. ; ) good luck!
]
Each and every person's body is different. So, there is no, one size fits all answer to how much or how little a person's body may need to take in so that it can be healthy an run effectively.
My main concern is that as a general rule, I would not skip breakfast on a regular basis. I understand that you don't want to get up any earlier, and who could blame you, 6:30 is pretty early to catch the bus. However, maybe you could either do some things the night before (like getting your clothes together or even bathing) to avoid having to do them in the morning and you can use that extra time to eat. Another option is to have something you can take with you so you may be able to eat it at the bus stop or have one of those breakfast shakes while on the go.
As far as a good way to build your appetite goes, engage in physical activities like exercise or sports.
If you are really concerned about this, you can also ask your doctor if you are in the proper weight range for your age and height. They should be able to tell you.
]
More Questions: |