Its not fair

[mollykins]

I eat quite healthily (4/5 portions of fruit/veg a day and hardly ever eat chocolate and crisps ect) and i cycle 45 minutes a day when i'm cycling to school (every school day it isn't raining and we don't get much rain where i am), plus i do 2 hours in the school gym a week and an hour of badminton most weeks and walk my dog roughly once every two days (don't worry my mum and dad walk her the rest of the time so she gets two full walks a day) But i'm 9 and half stone. Is a lot of my extra weight muscle? In the gym i can lift heavier weights and more times than most of the people in my group.

But my best friend eats unhealthily (rarely gets more than 2 portions of fruit/veg a day) and eats lots of crisps and chocolate. Plus she only walks ten minutes to and from school a day and occaisonally goes on a bike ride with her little brother in the summer. But she weighs about 6 and a half stone.

Its not fair. So is most of my extra weight muscle? And what affects your metabolism, because i msut have a slow one and she have a fast one.

[ummmm]

The simple question is...are you fat? If not then it's obviously muscle.

[mollykins]

But even though i do all that exercise, i'm not fit, just strong. I come last in crosscountry and can't run more than 800 metres.

[mollykins]

But i am fat, but if you feel my arms, you can feel quite a lot of muscle, and my stomach is flabby and muscly at the same time (i can do quite alot of sit ups)

[cazzz1975]

I think you are obsessing a bit, you are plenty active, maybe carrying a little extra muscle will hamper distance running. cut down on the weights ..?

[mollykins]

I don't train on the weights, its jsut that when i do them, i am quite good.

I think my arm muscles got bigger when i was rowing in the summer, for about 4 months, i was doing about 10 hours a week of rowing, in the old style, harder boats.

[cazzz1975]

maybe you need to ask a fitness trainer at the gym what exercises you should work on for your problem area's

[craft1948]

I would do more cardiovascular work at the gym......less on building muscle and more on improving your stamina....spend more time on the exercise bike and use a treadmill and stepper more.....

[karenmac60]

At 16 it's possible you are still carrying some puppy fat - I know I was 17 or 18 before I lost all mine. Don't do anything drastic with your diet, maybe cut back on the puddings and if you drink a lot of sugary drinks cut back on them too - we sometimes don't realise how much sugar we're taking in with fizzy drinks etc. Apart from that you sound fine, as has been said, maybe some more cardio instead of weights, but don't get too hung up on it. Posh Spice is a twig but experts have said her life expectancy will be drastically reduced because she's not a healthy weight. It might not be fashionable to be a size 12, but it's a damn sight better for you.

[whiskeryron]

I can see that you are worrying about this, have a think about your family members,what shape are they ? if for instant your mum or dad ( & their relatives) are well built, you cannot expect to be thin like your friends, it's all to do with genes.
Whatever you do mollykins DO NOT go the way of some young people & start ridiculously dieting, please be sensible.

[mollykins]

all my familly are stick thin. Its hard to do much cardiovacular work because i can only cycle and swim (do rowing machines count if they're on a low resistance?) because of my asthma and a bad foot.

I always try to have a low sugar version of drinks (diet lemonade and no added sugar cordials.) and don't havemany swets or chocolate and would say that i only have a pudding about once a week, the rest of the time i have another portion of fruit.

[tamborine]

your exercises r 2 strenuous......try mine:

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to
10-lb potato bags. Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.) After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

[Velvetee]

Far too many people are obsessed with what they weigh on the scales. 6.5 stones is not normal and sounds very underweight. Concentrate more on having a good toned physique and nice shape. Everyone's build, bone structure and musculature is different, hence everyone weighing different amounts.

[mollykins]

She's on a diet to put on another stone and a half.

But i've been on this diet for a few months now and only lost 4lb. Before, i ate a packet of crisps a day, had semi skmmed milk and no skimmed milk, ate muiller corners, often with chocolatey things in it, had two fried breakfasts a week (now have non, but occasionaly a BLT) and had fatty gravy and sauces with lots of cream in them.

[Scarlett]

Metabolism is irrelevant. In tests, heavier people simply eat more than thinner people. Portion size particularly! Your friend probably eats smaller meals than you, resulting in less calories, even though you are eating healtier food. You will be a fit person and be more toned than her, too, as you exercise more. But it all comes down to calories and exercise. You are taking in more calories than she is and so you weigh more. You should try eating exactly the same as her, meal for meal and see how you feel. a lot of thin people skip meals without even noticing. Bigger people may get their 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, but they all have calories!
Either way, 9.5 stone is NOT overweight - you sound just perfect to me and are clearly fit and healthy. So stop worrying!

[mollykins]

on an average day, i have a small bowl, half filled with cereals and skimmed milk for breakfast, sandwich, two portions of fruit and a drink for lunch, a yoghurt when i get home for a snack, a healthier version fo what my parents have for tea (rarely have their fatty gravy or deep fried chips) then another portion of fruit at about 8/9pm, sometimes a pudding like crumble though instead(thats only two or three times a month though)

She told me that on an average day, she has frosties and semi skimmed milk for breakfast, At breaktime i see her have a packet of crisps, and at lunchtime she usualy has pizza/pasta bake with baked beans/ salad followed by some kind of cake and custard. When she gets home, she has a cup of tea and biscuits. And for tea they have stuff like spag bol/ pork chops(and gravy and chips and some peas)/fish and chips(no peas)/roast dinner(1 or two veggies on side)/burgers and chips(baked beans on side), followed by another pudding.