Help! Need Better Eating Habits.

[turtle0423]

I'm at 5'1, weighing around 110-120 pounds, which in BMI is approaching obesity.
These days, I tend to sleep late because of lot of work so I tend to rely on snacking to keep me awake for school. Also, often, I am given 3 large meals a day because my mother says I have to eat a lot to keep up my stamina for school + sports + outside school classes. Because of those two things, I have been gaining weight. I have noticed I have been gaining muffin tops as well. I need to find a better way and reduce my eating. Does anyone have any tips to fix that?

[Melicious]

I'm just sitting here in shock that you think 110-120 lbs is obese.

[Robyn]

You wouldn't even be considered slightly overweight until 132 lbs, let alone obese, based on the BMI scale.

[Mermaid]

What BMI scale are you looking at? You are most certainly not even the slightest bit overweight.

[Robyn]

You're, what, a sophmore in high school? You're active in sports and such, so you're very likely in shape. I'd say you're probably just getting the curves that all women get. Your body fat is shifting because you're no longer a "girl".

[Mermaid]

Seriously, your post concerns me. According to the BMI scale, you are well within the normal range for either 110 or 120 lbs. In fact, at 110 lbs, you are on the low end and approaching underweight. Where on earth did you get the idea that you are approaching obesity?

[Cyndical]

Originally Posted by Melicious

I'm just sitting here in shock that you think 110-120 lbs is obese.

QFT and what Robyn said.

If these late night snacks that you're using to keep you awake are junk foods like potato chips/cheezies/doritos/coke/chocolate bars and stuff like that, then you can easily substitute apples/celery/carrots or other healthy things. But you should do that because eating too much junk is bad for you no matter what age you are, not because you want to lose weight. Believe me when I say this (and Meli, too) as someone who used to be 110lbs, one day you will look back on this day when you were so panicked that you were obese and laugh at yourself.

If you're going to school and you've got sports and you have extra school on top of that, then your mother is right. However, if your mother is feeding you deep-fried chicken, 4 cheese macaroni, lots of carbs and no veggies, then your mother is wrong. You may need large meals, but you don't need large meals filled to dripping with fat. Not because you need to lose weight but because a constant diet of that stuff is bad for you.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on BMI if I were you. It doesn't take into account frame size, for example. I am large boned (and no, I am not making that a euphemism for "fat"). I have met women who have dainty little bird-like wrists that are at least 1/2" thinner than mine at the bone because say what you will, there isn't any fat on the two farthest bony points of my wrist. I would have to starve myself to the point of looking like I just got out of a concentration camp in order to be the over-hyped (and dangerously stupid) size 00. Even then, I'm sure I still wouldn't fit because no matter how much weight I lose, my pelvis isn't going to shrink proportionately.

This concern for your weight "gain" isn't because that stupid douche who's bullying you is calling you fat or something, is it?

[turtle0423]

Idk but I googled the bmi calc for teens, when i checked my weight range was at 69%-75%, which is 10%-16% away from the scale of being obese in percentage scale(well, in teenagers they pretty much compare among all the others your age, height). Looking that I was at the high range, it pretty much concerned me

[turtle0423]

Lol. no it's not because of the douche. It's that my mom makes me eat a lot. plus, I end up snacking in class so I can stay awake.

[Cyndical]

You know what? Muscle weighs more than fat. If you're active in sports, you may weigh more not because of fat, but muscle mass. Seriously, you're too young to be freaking out about this. Unless you're 5' around in every direction, stop torturing yourself.

If your school allows it, you might want to try chewing gum instead. I find that if I need to stay awake, chewing (not so much the eating) keeps me awake so I keep a pack of gum with me in the car/on the job. I'm amazed that your school allows you to eat in class.

[tombo]

Everything they said, and:

Starving yourself to meet an arbitrary weight goal can have long-term bad health consequences, so don't do that.

Does your sports program, or your school, have a nutritionist? If so, check with them.

[mymichelle]

this sounds funny, but using smaller plates actually helps control eating.

and you're not overweight!