How many calories should I consume daily to maintain my weight?

Question
QUESTION: Hi I'm a 16 year old girl who is 5'10" and 135 lbs. Recently lost around 50 lbs and am happy with my weight and only want to keep in shape and keep toning up. The problem is I am having difficulties with upping my calorie intake to maintain weight, I keep thinking I'll eat too much and gain weight back. I usually eat around 1400-1500, but sometimes only 1300-1350, calories a day and I do some form of exercise everyday like running, walking, lifting weights ect. My mom worries I am not eating enough even though I eat healthy foods to get my nutrition like protien and such. I haven't had a period more than a few months but I have visited the doctor and they are trying to figure that one out and I don't know if calorie intake had anything to do with that. I guess in short I just want to know what I should aim for in calorie intake to maintain my weight and keep healthy?

ANSWER: Hi Haley, thanks for writing in.
First of all great job on your weight loss. 50 pounds is an amazing success.
Your caloric intake though sounds rather low. That 1300 number is pretty scary. That isn't even factoring in your workouts. Remember that your body has a safe mode, if it does not find it is getting enough calories each day it will slow your metabolism. Too low a caloric intake the body will store as much fat as possible and eventually start to shut down to compensate. you need atleast around 800 just for basic survival functions. Look at it like this, 800 for survival, in a weight lift session or run alone you may burn 300-400, thats 1200 right there and that doesn't even factor in the calories you burn in everyday life doing activity.
I can only estimate with the information you gave me but you should do well around 2000-2200.
If you are working out as you stated then you need a lot more than 1500 if your goal is to maintain. I always tell people that 1200 is the extreme minimum anyone should ever go to. and since you're only 16 your body is still developing and needs the proper nutrition.  
I bet if you at least up your intake to 2000 you'll feel a lot better.

Do you know how to read a nutrition label? There is a lot of good information there. However I'm not one to get strict with calorie count. I believe you can have success by just being smart and preplanning all your meals within that 2000.

Aim to eat every 3-4 hours, that should get you anywhere from 5-7 meals a day. Every meal should include all 3 macronutrients, protein, fat and carbohydrates. Contrary to what is out there, fat is not bad. Fat helps you feel full longer. Get your fat from healthy sources like nuts, olive oils, fish, and low fat dairy. The best fats you can get are monounsaturated fats like the ones found in olive oil.

Also be sure to eat before and after your workouts, especially if you're lifting weights. Lifting empty and not eating after is counter productive. Muscles need fuel to work and rebuild.

Hopefully this helps a little. Feel free to write back in if you need more information.
you can also check out my website at www.bestfitnessnow.com There are a bunch of great articles there on nutrition and training.
Best of luck to you though.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi first off I wanna thank you for taking the time to answer my question! But I have another follow up question! Is the 2000-2200 calories with or without my exercise calories burned included? The number I gave you of 1300-1500 calories was what I ate after I subtracted the calories burned in my workout, so I was just wondering.

Answer
Hi Haley. Regardless, the 1300-1500 is still pretty low, you'll see why as you read on.
Below I have done a rough estimate for you based on the information you've provided.


1324 is your BMR. Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of calories burned in 24 hours. This is that minimum I mentioned that your body uses to stay alive. This number does not include any activity. It is an estimate of the amount of calories your body burns to maintain life functions while awake.

I'm going to estimate your body fat percentage based on your weight to height ratio.
Assuming you do moderate exercise like running, playing sports, light weight lifting, etc.

By using a formula putting your BMR together with your activity level I get a estimate of 2184 calories.

Please keep in mind that this is a loose estimate based on the information you have provided.

Hopefully this helps you out. If any of it is confusing feel free to write back in.  

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