Hi I'm an 18 year old girl who weighs 118 pounds. I restrict myself to eating 1300 calories on most days because I try so hard to not gain weight. I know its bad to weigh yourself every morning, but I feel like I have to reassure myself that I didn't do anything wrong the previous day. And I only maintain my weight to 118 when I eat 1300 calories. I think the reason why I fear gaining weight is because I have a pretty high percentage of body fat. Im skinny but my skin is loose. My stomach is flat but its not hard at all. Therefore I feel that whenever I eat something outside of my diet my body literally changes, like my stomach becomes more jiggly. If I were to have more muscle throughout my body, would I be able to eat a bit more freely like I normal teenager without gaining weight so easily? How would I tone up every part of my body? Im not sure if Im making so much sense... I just want to know if being more toned would allow me to eat more without exactly getting bigger? And by eat more, I don't necessarily mean junk food; I would still eat healthy but I just wouldn't restrict my calorie intake as much as I do now. Thank you so much for your help, I feel very desperate as I feel like I don't eat enough right now because of my fear of getting bigger. I sometimes get hunger a few hours after having dinner but I ignore it because I feel my dinner was big enough. Once again, thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Answered by Jamie Kerem Hi there,
Yes, you are making sense, and do not fret, thousands of teenage girls like yourself worry about this issue.
In a sense, yes, if you were more toned you would be able to eat more. Let me explain why.
Muscle burns calories. The more muscle mass and tissue you have in your body, the more calories your body burns in an attempt to maintain that muscle mass and fuel it.
Never be afraid to eat! Your diet should never control you. You need to take the reigns and feel fully in control of what goes in your body, what doesn't, and how you feel because of it.
You should also listen to your body. If it's hungry, feed it. Work with your body and not against it.
You seem to have a firm grasp of eating healthy foods, so you shouldn't have to worry about an extra meal when that meal is chock full of nutrition your body is obviously crying for.
Now, in order to put on the required muscle, you're going to have to start doing some resistance training. Next time you go to the gym, pick up a dumbell instead of spending your time on the treadmill.
If you'd like to know what kinds of exercises to be doing, feel free to comment below.
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