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Caloric Intake for teenager?


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Hello!

I am 16, female, and began strength training about a month and a half ago. Other than lifting, I run a bit(1-2 miles a few days a week), and walk some(3 miles a few days a week).

I usually workout at the gym 4 days a week, and for 1 hour or 1 hour 15 minutes.

I begin by running 2 miles on the treadmill or elliptical, then strength train the rest of the time.

Since I'm just getting started, my weights aren't incredibly high yet, but I'm getting there!

Also, I struggled with an eating disorder last year, and don't feel that my metabolism is as great as it was before, but i can't be sure.

 

I'm about 5'5" and a half, 120 lbs. I've been tracking calories on MyFitnessPal, and I usually eat 1500-1800 kcal a day, but usuall 1550-1650. I also have lately been eating about 70-100g protein, around 200g carbs, and 60-70g fat.

Some days(like today), I get SUPER hungry and eat 1800, and could probs eat more. I wanted to get an estimate of how many kcal, carbs, protein, fat, etc, I should be eating daily based on my body and activity levels? I'm looking to tone and build strength.

 

Many thanks!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm about your size (5'5", 125#), albeit about a decade older. The macros you listed, even on the low end of your scales, put you over 1600 kcal/day, so first things first you may want to double check how you're calculating. Personally I think 1600kcal is a good start, but I agree with EdensDemise that you're probably getting in too few calories. Your body is still growing and especially if you're giving it the added stress of training, you might want to try to kick yourself up closer to 2000 kcal/day and see how you feel. I'm not necessarily a proponent of stuffing yourself when you're not hungry because I think our bodies do, in general, let us know what we need - but you might want to sneak in an extra shake or a good sized salad with high quality proteins during the day. If you feel like you're eating all you can and you're just not hungry, I've found good ways to bump up my calories include putting high quality olive oil in my shakes or just a ton of extra peanut butter, or eating a whole avocado (~500 kcal in those bad boys, plus they're delicious and full of good fats).

I'm not sure what type of body composition/metabolism you have, but if you're anything like me (I have a really hard time gaining weight, if I add in any cardio I feel like I have to practically double my caloric intake just to not lost mass, etc), loading some extra calories right before you go to bed might be a good idea. I know the general rule taught to us it to not eat before bed, but if you can get in a shake or a protein bar or even just a nice bowl of cereal/oatmeal before bed without having trouble sleeping, I've found that to be really helpful in my recovery.

Best of luck!!!

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