Is it good to only eat 900 calories a day if your a 12 year old female?

Question

I weigh 140 and i am 12. I want to go on a diet badly. I want to only eat 900 calories a day for like 3 months. Is that good? Is it bad? Why? Please i want a specific answers. No one word answer. Thank you :)

Answer 1

Do calories matter or do you simply need to eat certain foods and that will guarantee you’ll lose weight? Should you count calories or can you just count “portions?” Is it necessary to keep a food diary? Is it unrealistic to count calories for the rest of your life or is that just part of the price you pay for a better body? You’re about to learn the answers to these questions and discover a simple solution for keeping track of your food intake without having to crunch numbers every day or become a fanatic about it.

In many popular diet books, “Calories don’t count” is a frequently repeated theme. Other popular programs, such as Bill Phillip's "Body For Life," stress the importance of energy intake versus energy output, but recommend that you count “portions” rather than calories…

Phillips wrote,

"There aren't many people who can keep track of their calorie intake for an extended period of time. As an alternative, I recommend counting 'portions.' A portion of food is roughly equal to the size of your clenched fist or the palm of your hand. Each portion of protein or carbohydrate typically contains between 100 and 150 calories. For example, one chicken breast is approximately one portion of protein, and one medium-sized baked potato is approximately one portion of carbohydrate."

Phillips makes a good point that trying to count every single calorie - in the literal sense - can drive you crazy and is probably not realistic as a lifestyle for the long term. It's one thing to count portions instead of calories – that is at least acknowledging the importance of portion control. However, it's another altogether to deny that calories matter.

Calories do count! Any diet program that tells you, "calories don't count" or you can "eat all you want and still lose weight" is a diet you should avoid because you are being lied to. The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet sound easier to follow.

Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories, eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential customers! The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics: Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.

I believe that it's very important to develop an understanding of and a respect for portion control and the law of calorie balance. I also believe it's an important part of nutrition education to learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis – including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants.

The law of calorie balance says:

To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of calories you burn. To gain weight, you must consume more calories than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn.

If you only count portions or if you haven't the slightest idea how many calories you're eating, it's a lot more likely that you'll eat more than you realize. (Or you might take in fewer calories than you should, which triggers your body’s "starvation mode" and causes your metabolism to shut down).

So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations with a nutrition program that gets results? Here's a solution that’s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just guessing:

Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories, protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, print it, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner) and you now have an eating "goal" for the day, including a caloric target.

Rather than writing down every calorie one by one from every morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life, create a menu plan you can use as a daily goal and guideline. If you’re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal at least one time in your life for at least 4-12 weeks is a great idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really need to get started on the road to a better body is one good menu on paper. If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your primary menu as a template.

Using this meal planning method, you really only need to “count calories” once when you create your menus, not every day, ad infinitum. After you've got a knack for calories from this initial discipline of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future and get a pretty good (and more educated) ballpark figure.

So what’s the bottom line? Is it really necessary to count every calorie to lose weight? No. But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn. Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or you don’t count calories and eat less than you burn, the end result is the same – you lose weight. Which would you rather do: Take a wild guess, or increase your chance for success with some simple menu planning? I think the right choice is obvious.

For more information on calories (including how calculate precisely how many you should eat based on your age, activity and personal goals, and for even more practical, proven fat loss techniques to help you lose body fat safely, healthfully and permanently, check out my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle at

http://www.fightfatphilly.com/tom_venuto_fitness_articles.html

To learn more about building your best body ever, simply go to http://www.ChristianHealthandFitness.com to download YOUR FREE copy of ‘The Christian’s Guide To Maximal Fat Loss’ sample plan. You will also find some more great fitness tips from Matt Shuebrook at http://www.FightFatPhilly.com/articles.html and http://www.MyPhiladelphiaFitnessExpert.com

Answer 2

If you eat only this many calories your body will go into starvation mode, then when you do stop eating this way the weight will pile on. Get some help from a group that has a good diet you can stick to like weight watchers or TOPS. The best is to eat good foods, not junk (high fat, and sugar) and get more exercise walking, and maybe some core strengthening exercises, there are also lots of support sites on the internet. and mostly don't stress too much about (10-20?) extra pounds.

Answer 3

Too many factors are involved to give a simple answer to the question, but there are several ways you can speed up your metabolism and lose weight quickly. By quick, I'm talking 2-5 pounds a week.

1. Eat every 3 hours. Small meals, not like a buffet. If you don't eat for more than 3 hours your body goes into catabolism (starvation mode where muscle breakdown occurs) and your metabolism slows down. If your body has fuel to run on it will keep the metabolism at peak levels.

2. Eat protein at every meal. Protein is the building block for muscle, so eating protein will preserve lean mass. Also, protein requires twice as much energy to digest as carbs or fat, so the digestive process alone will burn more calories, resulting in faster weight loss.

3. Exercise. Exercising (low impact aerobic activity such as brisk walking or jogging) speeds up the metabolism as well, in addition to burning fat stores. Try to keep your heart rate within 65-75% of your peak rate. Subtract your age from the number 220, and then multiply that number by .65 and .75 and there you have your optimum fat-burning heart rate range.

Try to reduce high-glycemic carbos and saturated fats from your diet completely, as these are very easily converted to fat. Some examples of high-glycemic foods are candy, white potatoes and pasta, table sugar, virtually any processed food. Saturated fats are vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils. Any processed food you eat will mostly likely contain some or all of the above-mentioned items. Try to eat natural, whole foods whenever possible.

Good (low-glycemic) carbos are sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables and whole grains (oatmeal is great). Good (unsaturated) fats can be found in fish, eggs, safflower oil, olive oil. Chicken and beef contain low levels of saturated fat but it's not going to hurt you nearly as much as eating a fast-food cheeseburger.

The following link is geared toward bodybuilders and gaining weight, but the same rules apply to your goals. Bodybuilders try to gain muscle while losing fat, which is pretty much what your aim is. Use the calorie calculator on the site to figure out what your daily caloric needs are, and then just eat 300-400 calories LESS than that a day. You should probably be eating around 1600-1700 calories to lose weight at a healthy rate, but use the calculator to figure it out. If you don't know your body fat percentage just guess. 20% is a good starting point, when you get into the diet a little more you'll be able to adjust it to your needs.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi41.htm

Answer 4

Im a twelve year old girl and 97 pounds. I m 5 4. I run a lot. And I play sports. I eat around 980 calories a day. I m at a healthy wheight. I don t have abs, you can see no bones on me. But I have no fat. I m healthy at the calorie intake I eat.

Answer 5

Your body requires more calories than that (by a lot) to grow and develop normally. Your entire body is in a tremendous state of growth right now. Skimp on calories and all that comes to a halt.

FAR more important for you is to get more physical activity. I know it's not the news anyone wants, but for a 12yo girl, the answer is to get plentiful calories but to eat BETTER. No garbage foods.

And get moving. Get exercise. I don't mean you need to start running marathons or go to a gym - just get active.

Answer 6

900 calories seems a little low...i think you would be happier and get better results if you ate like 1200 a day.

To get the best results, cut back on proteins n stuff and up your veggies & fruits
(but it also depends on how tall you are. Im 5'9 and weigh about that much if not a little less)

Answer 7

At your age, I'd say no because your body is still maturing. Don't go any lower than 1200 to 1500 calories. Don't forget to add in a little bit of exercise such as walking. Drink water instead of soda and eating more fiber will make you feel fuller on less food.

Answer 8

the thing about a diet for three monthes is you will lose some weight, but when you go back to your regular eating habits you will gain it right back. Eat the right foods, fruits, vegies, lean meats. Take vitamins, make sure your getting the right nutrition, your body is growing. Exercise 4-5 days a week, doing different things, whether its yardwork or walking a few miles. Do some research on the internet and talk to your doctor about what he/she recommends to help you lose weight.

Answer 9

You're still growing, so you definitely don't want to limit the amount of nutrients you receive each day.
Cutting calories might end up cutting things you need as well.

Before someone your age goes on a diet, you should really check with your doctor.
Until you can, try to limit sugar, soft drinks, and junk food, not calories.

Answer 10

Ok, are you seriusly asking this??? First of all - its is going to be realllly unhealthy for you , especially because you are still growing. You didnt give me your height, so I cant tell you if your weight is healthy enough. But if you are average height - you FINE!!! As long as you excercise daily (it doenst have to be super excercise , just walking to and from school would do), then you should be a-ok.
And babe - at 12 years old - you shouldnt have to go on a diet - just eat healthy, and cut out junk food to maybe a piece of chocolate a day.
enjoy life!!
:]

Answer 11

Good God NO! You should never eat less than 1200 cals a day because your body shuts down and goes into starvation mode. Your body will hold on to the fat, thinking that there won't be anymore. You will be tired and unhealthy.