How many calories should i eat each day?

How many calories should a 5'0, 18 year old female be eating each day?
I currently eat around 1200 per day, I always try to eat healthily and I avoid snacking between meals altogether (though I do allow myself one chocolate bar on a Saturday night) but I'm still slightly chubby.

I weigh around 98lbs and have a healthy BMI of around 19 however my stomach still has a small bulge of fat at the bottom and my thighs look like they could belong to an obese person. I always choose the low calorie options and mostly eat salads and fish/chicken so why am I fat?

Is this just the shape that my body will always be? If it is I don't think I will be able to accept that because I feel disgusting and undesirable when I look in the mirror and see how fat my legs are. I'm reluctant to eat less calories because that would mean skipping meals but I'd be willing to do that if there aren't any better ways to lose weight?

I'm a relatively active person, I do at least 30 minutes of cardio and at least 30 minutes of yoga for strength and flexibility each day and I've tried doing exercises to target my thighs but even after a year I haven't seen any results.

But I also really love food. I try not to buy anything unhealthy because I can't resist the temptation to eat it when it's in my house. The one chocolate bar I eat each week is really the thing that keeps me going and I look forward to it all week.

How can I lose weight?

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Comments ( 14 )
  • Again, You don’t need to

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  • Boojum

    It sounds like you have some very confused thinking. In one sentence, you say that your BMI is healthy, and in another you declare yourself fat.

    Even if you believe BMI is highly significant, a BMI of 19.2 (which is what the calculator I used gave me for your height and weight) is indeed in the "healthy" range, but it's only a few pounds above "underweight".

    From what you say, there seems nothing wrong with your level of activity or your diet. However, if you fixate on your tummy and thighs - and I think you may be in danger of doing that, since I strongly suspect you've asked about this before here - then there is the possibility that you could develop some very negative obsessions about exercise and food, and that could lead to huge problems. What you say about the great pleasure you take from your self-imposed ration of one chocolate bar a week suggests you could already be heading in that direction.

    You're a woman, and evolution has selected for women who are capable of nourishing their offspring during pregnancy. This means that you have fat stores on your thighs and your tummy. Since you seem to have totally bought into the current views of what a perfect woman should look like, you may not like that fact, but it is what it is.

    You don't need to adjust your food intake or how much you torture your body with exercise; you do need to recognise that you've bought into twisted views of what women should look like, and you need learn to accept and love the body you have.

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  • d0esnormalmatter

    1. Don't worry about it your healthy
    2. Probably more if anything.

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  • xxLucifer

    Not everyone can look like a super model. You are a healthy weight and that's all that really matters. I suggest you stop focusing on little imperfections.

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  • litelander8

    Relax.

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  • 666XxFURRYBEASTxX666

    Eat more food

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  • Tittywhacker2469

    If you aren’t exercising and building muscle or toning up, then it’ll be hard to achieve the body that you seem to want. A lot of pictures you see online of thin women are really just of muscular, but thin women. Muscle is what gives your body definition, and curves, etc. It also helps you with being stronger. Restricting what you eat doesn’t help in he long term, and restricting too low will give you health problems that aren’t worth the trouble, and could have just been avoided with adequate exercise and nutrition, eating right.

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  • UselessTrash2

    You don't need to lose weight. To get the stomach flab gone add sit-ups to your routine and don't worry about the thighs, they're supposed to be a bit big.

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  • candylady

    Ask somebody you trust to be honest with you if they think your belly and thighs are fat. I would bet money they’ll say no, and probably be stunned that you’d even ask. It sounds like you have body dysmorphia and I would suggest talking to a therapist before it gets out of hand and you start skipping meals or picking up other really unhealthy habits.

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  • ThatOneGuyYouNeverWantToMeet

    Until you're full.

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  • LloydAsher

    1800 calories is you minimum with your work out regiment. This will maintain a lean look.

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  • RoseIsabella

    You don't need to lose weight. If you would like to get rid of you itty bitty tummy then do some abdominal exercises.

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  • raisinbran

    You need to get your weight down to about 50lbs to lose the fat thighs and belly. I suggest either stop eating entirely or learn to accept your imperfect body.

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    • I’d probably be dead if I weighed 50lbs, I’m only looking to get down to about 85-90lbs

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