Have I inadvertently put myself into starvation mode?

[Persephone]

It took a midnight starvation for me to get some idea of what's going on. I'm a fairly active person who exercises (jogging at 6.5mi/hr) for an hour, around five times a week. Age sixteen, BMI around 18.5, 17% body fat (according to tape measure anyway). This year, I've tried to cut back on my calorie intake, and I've always been told by my mother that I eat entirely too much for pretty much all of my teenage years, even though I didn't think it was too much (it used to comprise of three full meals a day plus a snack). I figured she has more experience, so I went along with it, cut back, and now have five small meals a day.

It just occurred to me that I took in a grand total of 700 calories today (and probably around 800-900 on normal days, around 1200 on weekends), no protein, inadequate fat and about 150 calories of carbs and a skipped breakfast. Coming to that realization, I went down and made myself two soft boiled eggs, and guess what? I'm still starving. It's like I've never been so hungry in my life. Then, of course, I got myself whatever carbs and fiber I could get my hands on at this ungodly hour, say, about 200 calories. If I'm really in "starvation" mode, I'd like some advice as to how to get out without binging or gaining weight.

Disclaimer: I can say with a straight face I'm not secretly starving myself to imitate models. A distorted view of calorie intake, maybe, but I'm pretty ok with my self image. I'd have liked to be slimmer, but my body type's probably not the slim type, as all I'm gaining is firmer muscles, and not really "thinner".

 

[KaraCooks]

Well ... "starvation mode" is a much more complex thing that most people think and it doesn't exactly exist in the way most people on the boards talk about it.

However, at your age and with the amount of exercise you're getting, you're certainly not eating enough. With your BMI and bodyfat level, you do NOT need to be losing more weight. A BMI of 18 is considered underweight, in fact.

I would say that you definitely need to be eating more and healthier foods. There is nothing wrong with 3 meals a day and a snack. You don't need to eat 5 meals a day or any set number of meals a day (although it's easier to get in balanced nutrition if you eat several meals rather than just 1 or 2).

I would say that at your weight you should be aiming for about 14 calories per pound of body weight, and working on maybe incorporating some weight lifting and body resistance work into your program. That will help you reshape your body w/out losing any further weight.