What is happening to me?

Question
I changed my lifestyle around Christmas, deciding that I really wanted to be healthy. So I began watching what I ate and exercising everyday. When I began I wasn't logging the calories I ate, but when I started doing that, I realized that I only ate around 700-800 calories a day. I wasn't hungry, and I felt perfectly fine. Before I started this lifestyle, I snacked all day and ate constantly when I wasn't hungry, so I made my best effort to eat when I was hungry and stop when I was full.  Nevertheless, once I discovered that this was unhealthy (maybe in the first week of January) I upped my calories to 1250-ish. I'm 15, so I know that it's recommended that I eat more, but 1200 felt totally fine to me. I don't think I could have eaten 1500 calories. This was fine for a while, and I lost 20 pounds this way, going from 152 to 132 pounds in a little more than two months. Lately, however, I hardly have an appetite. I don't get hungry after I eat around 1000 calories, but I force myself to eat the extra 250 or so. My appetite fluctuates a lot throughout the month - sometimes I'm ravenous, and sometimes I'm not very hungry at all. In order to make sure I reach calories, because of my lack of appetite, I've put myself on an eating schedule - five 250 spaced 3 hours apart, the first one around 6 am and the last one around 6 pm. I really want to be healty, and I've heard both "listen to your body" and "make sure you eat at least 1200." I really appreciate any help you could give me.

Answer
Dear Kay, The average recommended calorie intake for a maturing 15 year old teenage girl of normal weight is about 2,200 calories per day. I'm curious to see who told you that it is Ok for a teenage girl to eat only 1200 calories per day. For weight loss, you should consume about 1500-1800 calories per day and the foods should be from the food triangle so you can obtain the maximum nutrients possible. There is no physical way to obtain the needed nutrients for growth and development eating only 1200 calories per day. Teenage girls at 15 years of age are still maturing hormonally and structurally. You will not reach your peak bone mass till about twenty years of age. At this time in your life you should be eating at least 1200-1500 mg of calcium per day, which is found in 4 servings of dairy. Your body is trying to build bone for your later years. This is only one example of a needed nutrient found in food, another one is iron.
My suggestion is to see your doctor about your eating problem, because when you have to make yourself eat, then it is a problem and not one that you should try to fix by yourself. Let your doctor decide what you should weigh for your height and how many calories you should consume per day. Hope that helps, Laura Kraemer,Slimkids.com

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