How can I get the body I want

Question

I’m 15, female,55.5kg,166cm. I do 20 minutes of resistance training with a moderate to vigorous effort and 15 minutes of HIIT on my cross trainer every day at a moderate to vigorous effort (I’m usually kind of tired after resistance training but I still work up a sweat and am too tired to talk). I drink 2L of water everyday and have been in a caloric deficit of 1,300 trying my best to eat high protein and healthy fats. In conjunction with my daily workout I’ll do a 3 to 10k walk every few days and if the weather is really really bad I’ll do 35 minutes on the wii (it’s actually a nice little workout!). I’m not sure why I’m not really seeing the results I want. My perants say I have a great figure but I know that’s a little bias because no one has ever really complimented me on my figure before. I’m far from overweight, I’ve been described as skinny but not in a bad way. I have been doing sport my whole life. I’m not really sure why I’m not seeing the results I want, I may have a bit of body dysmorphia, but is there anyway you could help me? I know spot reducing fat is a myth but the part of my body I’m mostly insecure about is my waist/belly

Answer 1

First, let's take a step back and understand the basics -

1. Your body consists of living cells that need energy (an ATP molecule) to survive. It obtains this energy (ATP) from the metabolism of food. When your body has all the energy it needs, it stores most of the fuel in fat (adipose) tissue. Likewise, if your body is not getting the energy it needs, as in during times of fasting (sleep), it breaks down fat tissue or muscle to be used as energy. Exercise places your body in a state of stress, to which your body adapts depending on the type of exercise is being done. Strength training places your body in an environment such that your body needs more muscle to cope, and aerobic (endurance) exercise places your body in an environment where more muscle is not need and also fat is also not needed.

I can say for myself, and many others I know, diet was the most important factor that went into changing how my body looked. That being said, having a scheduled and pre-planned workout regimen was very important too. It is very important to calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate = how much energy your body uses at rest) and macronutrients (proteins, carbs, and fat), such that you have a good idea whats going into your body.

1. Your BMR (based on your stats) = 1357Cal/day, but is really around 2000Cal/day since you exercise daily.
2. Your macronutrients per day is for you to search since you have to determine what percentage of proteins, carbs, and fats you want per meal and per day. For myself, I took in roughly 40% protein, 35% carbs, and 25% fats per day. Any macronutrient calculator online should work fine. I should say that, given you are 15 years old, don't stress yourself too much about having a super strict diet.
3. Example diet: My diet, based on my BMR/macronutrients and my goals (strength training). Even with this being strict it still took a while to get to where I wanted to be.
4. Meal 1 (breakfast): 4 egg whites + 1 packet of oatmeal + 2 pieces of wheat toast with peanut butter
5. Meal 2: Protein shake + Banana
6. Meal 3 (lunch): 8oz chicken breast + 1 cup rice + 1 cup veggies
7. Meal 4: Protein shake + 2 gram crackers with peanut butter
8. Meal 5 (dinner): 8oz chicken breast or fish + 1 cup rice + 1 cup veggies

Lastly, at your age, don't put your body through excessive stress since it is still growing and will change over time naturally. Excessive stress can result in harmful consequences. Being consistent with a healthy diet and exercise is the best answer. This, however, may take a while to achieve (many people I know have been doing this for several years and still are not to where they want to be) so it is important to be patient and not worry about the immediate effects.