Lara, can u help me?

[shortnsweet20201]

Hey Lara!
This is my first post in this forum, but based on what i have read so far, u are really good at giving advice! :) I was hoping that you could help me out... I am extremely small (5 ft exactly), 95 pounds. I have always been slim, but not in a way that looks unhealthy. However, recently, I gained a layer of fat on my stomach. I have tried to get rid of it by restricting my calories and doing a workout for abs (5 different types of exercises, 30 repititions each) 6 days a week. I have definitely lost most of the fat on my upper abs, but i still have a stubborn "pouch" of fat on my lower stomach. Do you have any excercises you would recommend?
Also, I'm not sure exactly how many calories I should be eating a day. I have calculated my average calorie intake for lunch and dinner (I've never been big on breakfast), and added a 400 calorie allowance for extra calories in meals/snacksthroughout the day. This brings me to a total of about 1200 calories...I know it doens't sound like a lot, but keep in mind that I'm TINY, but the meals are very well-balanced, and, anyways, I hardly ever feel hungry when I eat that amount. Still, is it possible that my body is in "starvation mode," thus preventing me from losing that extra fat? I'm relatively athletic- I burn around 1500 calories a day with sports and whatnot. How many calories would you recommend that I eat a day?
Sorry this post was so long LOL...Thanks a bunch for any help that you can give me!

[Lara]

Hi Shortnsweet20201!!! I'm sorry to not have answered this sooner. I've been MIA the past few days do to some issues with my daughter.

Yes, 1200 calories is way too low for you especially since you are active. For you, I calculated that your body needs about 1253 (this will vary depending on your age) at rest alone to thrive. This means if you just laid in one spot all day, you would still need this amount of calories. Now add in what you burn during sports and just normal activity and you are way above the 1200 calorie mark.

What caused you to gain the layer of fat in the first place? Can you give me some more information? Did you stop doing sports for a while? Did you start eating more food than usual?

I need more information so that I can calculate how many calories you actually need per day and then we can go from there for weight loss. Please also let me know your age and what sports you do. Also, how often and how long you do them. :)

Ab exercises are great, but alone they aren't going to get rid of the layer of fat on your stomach. This will come from a good eating program combined with exercise. Please answer my questions and we can get you on the right track. :)

[shortnsweet20201]

well the weird thing is that I really don't know why I gained the fat. It happened about a month and a half ago. It was so random...i've eaten anything i wanted ever since i was little and was always really slim, which is partly because my family hardly ever buys junk food or fast food. I didn't change my diet or anything, but I did have a bigger appetite than when I was younger, but I was still eating smaller than average portions.
actually now that I think about it, a month and a half ago was when I wasn't doing any sports- cheerleading had just ended, and lacrosse hadn't started yet. As of now, lacrosse (every day, 3 hours, mid-march to mid-may) has just ended and cheerleading starts in about a month. For that, I have practice 6 hrs. a week from late June to early February, plus one game a week during football season and 2-3 during basketball season....and i know it's not a sport, but i also do vinyasa yoga every week for an hour and a half.
The fat has not really gotten much worse since it first appeared, which I suspect is because of all the calories I burned during lacrosse. However, it has not gotten much better either. I am scared that will get worse now, since I'm basically not going to be active with sports for another month. oh, and i just turned 16...
Feel free to ask any other questions you have. Thanks so much for your help! :)

[Lara]

Okay, so it seems like you gained a few pounds because you were eating the same, but not burning all the calories like you were when you were in cheerleading. Now you said that it didn't get much better even with Lacrosse. Are you more active with cheerleading than lacrosse? Something you need to keep in mind is that at your age your hormones and activity levels are different from when you were younger. While you are still active in sports, you may not be as active as when you were constantly running around as a child. Now that you are developing into a woman, you will find that you will be filling out in some places that weren't previously filled. All of these factors could be what's caused you to add the layer of fat. You certainly don't seem overweight. Perhaps you can tell me what you normally eat in a day. I'm sure with your activity levels and just a slight change in your eating, you can tone up your abs to where you want them. :)

[shortnsweet20201]

Well I usually skip breakfast (I don't really have time because I have to get to school by 7 am), but I do drink a cup of tea and ocaisionally an apple before I leave. I have lunch at school at 10:00, and I usually have two slices of turkey with a slice of American cheese and lettuce on a sandwich roll, along with a half a cup of fruit (whatever they're serving that day), and about a half a cup of rice, and a small cup of soup. I usually have a snack before cheerleading at around 2:30 (a couple of handfuls of whole wheat crackers). For dinner (at around 6), i have whatever my mom makes, which almost always includes a cup of rice, a cup of vegetables, and seafood of some sort. Once in agreat while, I'll have meat, but I'm not a huge fan of it. My snacks are basically what I have a craving for...usually something sweet LOL but I don't really go overboard or anything. I also drink lots of water/tea throughout the day.
Thank you so much for your efforts so far. Let me know if you need any more information!

[Lara]

The information you gave me is helpful. First, skipping breakfast is not helping. Breakfast kickstarts the metabolism for the day and fuels the body. If you can't make yourself eat "real" food, then get some Zone bars or meal replacement bars/shakes. They are easy to eat, taste great and give you what you need. Second, you do need your protein. Protein is the building blocks of muscle and with your activities, you need all the muscle you can get. Please start incorporating protein in each of your meals and snacks. Good protein sources are lean beef, chicken and fish and eggs (whites are preferable) and/or protein shakes. The dinner your mom makes is ideally what you should be eating for each of your meals (except for breakfast,of course, unless you like "dinner" for breakfast. :)) Protein is also "thermic". This means that it takes more energy to digest thereby raising your metabolism (real foods are much more "thermic" than supplements, i.e., protein shakes, bars). A raised metabolism results in quicker fat burning. If you only adjusted the way you eat, I bet you will see the results you are looking for. :)

By the way, occasional sweets aren't harmful as long as you don't go, as you said, overboard. :) Try to keep it down to once per week if you are trying to lose fat.

Lara :D

[shortnsweet20201]

Thanks for your help...I will keep you posted on what happens! :)