Confused about my Weight?

Question

I’m really confused about my weight. I’m a 15 year old female, 5 foot 3 and 97 pounds. According to the chart for children I’m a healthy weight. There are things that are making me second guess that however. You see, I’ve always been really muscular and now that I run I’m even more muscular. Tiny, yet very lean and muscular. Doesn’t muscle weigh more than fat yet take up less space? Kids that weigh the same as me with the same heights don’t look anywhere near as skinny as me. I'm being honest here too. I don’t have my period yet and I’m 15! My ribs pop out without me trying and so do my hip bones, neck and back bones and a lot of other bones. Everyone around me says I look anorexic. How can I be a normal weight when I look so painfully thin? Could someone please explain this to me?

Answer 1

Please be careful and balance your love of running with proper food intake. Do not take as "gospel" what someone in YA tells you to do, get the professional input from those trained to do so and who at the same time know you.

Extreme exercising can create all of the symptoms you are exhibiting, including no period. You should speak with your doctor and perhaps ask about a referral to a nutritionist. You also should speak with someone who may suggest an optimum regime, along with a coordinated diet, where the nutritionist comes in.

You may be running so much that your body is in essence "consuming itself" once it gets past all consumed calories. Then it heads toward fat, then whatever it can burn.

Since this could actually become something serious, I did a search using these words "excessive exercise poor diet", here are some of the results:

Study links body image to athletes' fertility
University Park, Pa. --- A Penn State study of female athletes has linked psychological stress resulting from a poor body image, along with inadequate diet and excessive exercise, to transient menstrual disturbances that could render a woman temporarily infertile.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1999-06/PS-Slbi-020699.php

The Deal With Diets
People diet for many reasons. ... weight and need to pay closer attention to their eating and exercise habits. ... can lead to poor growth and other health ...
http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/dieting/dieting.html

You may find it of value to read the entire articles as well as do your own search.

Answer 2

You answered your own question. Fat takes up about 15 to 20 % more space in your body than muscle. Look at any friend of yours that is about your weight but you think looks normal. So a person that doesn't have your muscle could be potentially 20% bigger than you and still weigh the same. This is a good thing though, your body need needs this fat while your still developing. You cold be harming yourself by being too muscular. So sit down, eat a pizza, and gain a couple of pounds of fat, it'll look good on ya.

Answer 3

You are absolutely right. Muscle weighs far more than fat, so if you are "normal weight" and very muscular, you are probably underweight.

If you are underweight AND exercising a lot, that could be delaying the start of your periods and that could be damaging for your health when you get older - it could even affect whether you can have babies.

This isn't unusual - a lot of ballet dancers and competitive athletes, who do really hard training in their early teens, have the same problem (and regret it later in life). I'm not suggesting you should give up your running, but you do need to:

(a) make sure that you are training, not OVER training

(b) make sure that you don't limit your diet. If you are doing a lot of training, then you need to fuel your body. Of course you shouldn't eat junk food, but don't limit your portions. Listen to your body and give it what it asks for. Some athletes eat three or four bowls of cereal each morning! Don't limit fats and oils - your body needs them to develop properly, and only sedentary people need to worry about cutting them out.

Answer 4

Weight alone is a terrible way to measure health. What does your doctor say? Have you ever done a body density test or any of the other measurements to determine your ratio of body fat?

You sound underweight based on the premise that the bony points should be protected and padded- or at least a little dehydrated.

Runners and some other athletes tend to mess up their body mass ratios- burning off too much fat, not replenishing it enough, etc. It is not healthy, and really stresses the heart.

If I were you, I'd talk to a good sports medicine person or sports nutritionist.

Answer 5

Muscle does weigh more than fat, but if you're not balancing your diet by eating enough carbs than you might be losing muscle rather than building it. Make sure you eat foods with a lot of carbs and calories in it, and if you want to gain weight, drink protein powder (in health food stores) and try energy bars and drinks. It may just be your metabolism too, don't worry by the time you hit 30 you'll be trying to lose weight. (:

Answer 6

You're still in puberty, don't stress about it. I'm a small girl too. It just takes time. If you want to try and put on some weight do it in a healthy mannor--the best of the best ways are to add avocado into your diet and cold pressed virgin olive oil.

Answer 7

You must have a high metabolism.Try eating foods with a little more fat and carbs. I know it sounds unhealthy, but if you want to add a few pounds.....

Answer 8

eat fries