File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Hello /fit/, underaged (16) here, but I think I have a legitimate question... although maybe not, I'm pretty worthless when it comes to knowledge about the human body, health, fitness and such.

I'm around 5'6-8 (not exactly sure since I haven't checked in quite awhile) at 160 pounds. I'm weighing myself every morning before I've eaten anything, wearing nothing but my boxers.

Now I've been doing an hour on an exercise bike on it's highest resistance setting around 5-6 nights a week, and doing weight lifting on a pseudo-bowflex knockoff home gym... thing around every other day, along with some stretching, a slightly better diet, multivitamins, water instead of soda, etc.

Well I've been losing weight at a rate of roughly a pound a day, and I've seen people on /fit/ saying that this is unhealthy, and 1-2 pounds a week is pushing it.

Is that only true for people when you're older? Because to be honest, I could do a few more different workouts and eat much better, but I'm not, and I'm still losing a pound a day. Is this some sort of genetic thing, or is it just due to my age? As of now, I've gone from roughly 175 down to 160 in just slightly over two weeks. Even on days when I don't exercise I lose around half a pound.

Pic randomly selected and probably unrelated.
>> Anonymous
well others can correct me if I'm wrong but exercise has a greater effect during puberty. All sorts of shit fucks up during puberty. I wouldn't worry about it.
>> Anonymous
Good. I'd rather not fuck my health over by overdoing things.

So what weight should someone at that height be looking for if they're going for average muscle? (as in I'd rather not look like a skinny faggot, but I also don't want to be huge and muscle-y, some middle ground would be nice)

I figure I should stick to a health weight for awhile to get into the rhythm being healthy so I don't have to attempt to burn off my fat when I'm older and it's harder to get rid of.
>> Anonymous
If you have some type of insane fucking metabolism, it's plausible.

I hate you for that, though.

But anyway, be careful you aren't burning off muscle also. I lost 60 pounds in three months, half of it was muscle, you don't want that. Of course I was eating a can of tuna a day and running. v_V

You may just have lost a shit-load of water weight from your sudden lifestyle change, it's only been two weeks, it'll probably slow down.

Also fuck Bowflex, do some Body By Fish.

http://www.trainforstrength.com/workout1.shtml
>> Anonymous
We can't tell you what weight is perfect for you, we don't know what type of body you have, or how much muscle you have.

Just go until you feel right.
>> Anonymous
Answer me this: How many calories are you eating per day? If it is more than 30% below your maintenance levels, then you're losing weight by burning both muscle and some fat (i.e., starving yourself).

Truth be told, your threshold is probably closer to 15-20%, but a 30% deficit is the bottom of the line for even the heaviest people.
>> Anonymous
>>126342

Well I'm certainly finding all weight and lifting related activities slightly easier, so someone with my limited knowledge on the subject would assume that I'm gaining muscle. I may be wrong, though.

Also, thanks for the legitimate responses. I guess you get what you want when you don't run around acting like a dickhead all the time.
>> Anonymous
>>126345

Well as of now I'm eating what I normally eat, so I'll check around on some nutrition labels and give you an estimate.

If I had to guess, around 1,600. I generally don't eat in between meals or breakfast other than a banana or occasionally oatmeal, and based on the nutrition labels on the stuff I'm eating now and how it's usually what I eat, I'd say 16 hundred sounds about right.
>> Anonymous
>>126349

1600 is too low, especially for a growing teenager.

You can gain strength while losing weight AND muscle mass, only slightly though. Since you are new to lifting, this is a plausible explanation.

Try to eat six meals a day, and bump it up to about 2000 calories a day.

Also make sure you aren't working out before you eat breakfast.
>> Anonymous
>>126366

I'm not.

Any rough guidelines for this 6 meals a day thing? I've heard of plenty of people doing it before, but it seems like too much work for someone who is as unmotivated and lazy as me. It took enough effort to force myself to start working out and exercising daily.
>> Anonymous
>>126371

Not really, the six meals just raise your metabolism. You always want to keep your body fed, even when cutting weight, or it'll kick your ass right back.

If you really want to get fancy, eat lean protein+ complex carbs for your first three meals, then lean protein+ healthy fats for your last three meals.

Read this article if you actually want to understand what I'm talking about, but don't follow the diet, you aren't a bodybuilder.

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/13weekstohardcorefatburningdiet.php

If you don't want to micromanage, which if I were you, I wouldn't, just every like four hours just be like OH SHIT, turkey sandwich. OH SHIT, piece of chicken and some flax-seed oil.

You don't have to complicate it.
>> Anonymous
>>126378

Well then, thanks for the help.
>> Anonymous
>>126366
Why not work out before breakfast?

I'm a "growing teenager" and I do cardio before breakfast and eat around 1600 calories a day. I'm a fatass, but still.
>> Anonymous
I started working out a couple years ago when I was your age. I wasn't very active before then, but then I joined track where we ran 6 days a week. [my high school wasn't known for it's track team, so they had no problem with a slow runner joining] I lost 15 pounds in two weeks, due to the fact that I started 6 meals a day, and cut all the crap from my diet at once. My diet in combination with intervals from track increased my metabolism to a crazy high level, but weight loss slowed after the first two weeks. So yes it is normal for you to be loosing that much weight when you're sixteen, but I would increase your calorie intake if i were you. As i remember i had to leave classes because I was so hungry.

tl;dr it's normal