Nine Tips Teens Can Apply To Their Weight-Loss Strategies
Q. I am an overweight teenager. I have no idea how to go about dieting. Do you have any tips?
A. Figuring out a strategy for losing weight is a great first step! I have several tips for you that not only will help you lose weight, but help you to keep the weight off for a lifetime.
1. Forget blame and guilt: It is important for you to make sure that you don’t blame anyone — either yourself or your parents — for where you are right now. Feeling guilty about your appearance is a negative feeling that won’t help.
2. Take the long term approach: Look at what you are about to undertake not as a short term, quick, weight loss, but rather a change in lifestyle to last a lifetime. You will begin to make more nutritious food choices, add exercise, and cut back somewhat on your eating. If you falter along the way, you don’t need to look at it as a failure because you know that you have a long time to make the changes. For example, if you go with your friends to eat at a fast food restaurant, and you indulge in a large order of fries, there is no need to feel guilty because you know that eating them is not a regular habit, and that at the next meal you will eat more sensibly.
3. Set reasonable goals: Losing one-half to one pound per week is very realistic. Don’t drop your calorie intake to below 1,300 calories because it would be hard to get all the important nutrition that you need in less than that, plus, you probably won’t feel satisfied.
4. Add daily exercise: I suspect that you may be caught in a vicious cycle of not exercising, eating and not having energy. Exercising actually makes you feel more energetic once you have made a habit of it. If you don’t feel like you have energy to exercise now, start out with some physical activity that will get you moving, but won’t require a lot energy. How about taking the dog for a walk? Or, if you don’t have a dog, take the neighbor’s dog for a walk. Once you have done some walking, every day for a couple of weeks, try running for a short distance. Get out on your bicycle, or roller blades, or shoot some baskets in the driveway. If you are at a loss for exercise ideas, speak to your gym teacher. I’ll bet they would love to help you out. Most teachers are thrilled with kids that are self-motivated to improve.
5. Enlist the support of your family: Have a serious talk with your parents and ask them to help. They should be able to help you find materials on nutritious eating, and can help purchase the foods that will help, such as fresh fruits for snacks and whole grain cereals for breakfast. And they can avoid purchasing foods that will tempt you with poor choices, such as sodas, chips, candy, donuts or cookies.
6. Find measures of success besides weight loss: This isn’t just about losing weight, it’s about getting healthier for good. So, don’t measure your success merely on how much weight you lose. Other things you can look at (for example) may be the amount of time you spent being physically active and not watching television, an increase in endurance (for example, biking for a longer distance or jogging for a longer period of time), or a week of making nutritious snack choices (for example, after school you picked a yogurt fruit smoothie instead of cookies and a soda).
7. Block out cultural messages that emphasize being thin: Decide not to focus on the television shows with actresses or actors that are too thin, as well as fashion magazines with overly thin models. In the real world, most people don’t look like that. In fact, it is hard to look like a model and still get the appropriate nutrition from an adequate amount of food. Instead, take a look at high school and college athletes. Most of them are muscular, full bodied and brimming over with good health! You don’t have to be a full fledged athlete to look or feel that way, but once you have developed an active lifestyle and good eating habits , you will.
8. Schedule a visit with your health-care provider: If you think your energy level is unusually low, have your mom or dad call the doctor. It may be that some health problem is contributing to how you feel.
9. Find your motivation from within: Weight loss won’t happen unless the desire comes from inside you. No amount of outside pressure will do the job.
Good luck to you and have fun developing a happy and healthy lifestyle.
References: Sue Gilbert M.S.
Forwarded By, Natalie Pyles
Fitness & Weight-Loss Expert, Nutrition Specialist
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How many times aday should I eat and what should I eat for those meals in order to lose weight?They say that 90% of weight loss is nutrition and I need to lose 60 lbs so can anyone help. possibly a fitness trainer
About Author
Who I Am Hello, my name is Natalie Pyles. I am a Local Fitness & Nutritional Expert. I have over 16 years of experience in both the Health and Fitness Industry. I’d like to share my Personal story of overcoming my battles with weight loss that began as an early adolescent. I struggled from the ages of 13-18, I realized that I had a severe problem and decided then and there to take action. I Conquered Weight Loss I hired a Personal Trainer and Licensed Nutritionist, like myself, and the rest is history. Basically, I learned at an early age, there is no quick fix… only hard work, perseverance, and committment to a healthier lifestyle will guarantee results. I quit looking for the magic solution and got educated. How Can I Help You I am now the owner of Fitness Elements & Associates. I want to help You realize your true Fitness Potential and levels of Optimal Health. I have committed my life to to helping others achieve the success that I have found through Fitness and Nutrition. If you have the desire and the will… together we can make your dreams a reality. You deserve to know the truth; what you are capable of and really can achieve.
Sincerely Your Friend in Fitness,
Natalie Pyles Owner, Fitness Elements & Associates LLC. Phone: 1-800-681-9894 or Fax 623-399-4199 www.Myfitnesselements.com FitnessElementsAssociates@yahoo.com
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February 6th, 2010 on 8:44 am
This is the BEST source of info I’ve found on the ‘net yet! Still not completely sold but I will continue to research. Thanks!
February 6th, 2010 on 8:04 am
I know. As soon as I heard about the van being found and the body, I had a feeling it was him. And the CHicago Sun times are saying it is him. It's so sad. I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt a child. Now, Jennifer and Julia (her sister) are the only ones left. But the police have released Julia's husband, William. They don't believe him to be the one who did it. Also, they have someone in custody but aren't releasing any names
EDIT: Sorry, the website that I went to had his release from prison in 2006 confused with his being transferred recently.
February 6th, 2010 on 9:10 am
I'm so sorry to hear this. Thank you for trying to help her. At least she knew love and kindness while you had her.
February 7th, 2010 on 4:49 pm
Hi, I spent 20yrs as a Milko, with no harm to physical social or mental health, as it is only 6 months, enjoy the late shift, I prefer night work. Don't spend too long at the PC many small breaks, stretch brisk walk around the room and back into it, do eye exercises, plenty of them on the net to use, prevent eye strain etc. Be happy you have a job instead of J ust O out of B roke.
February 8th, 2010 on 8:14 am
Some of you are missing the point. Just like to us we have relatives who are dead before we were born, there are those who are now living (to them) while we are dead (to them).
You see the "world" is here for at least over 100 billion years. We are here, if we're lucky, 100 years. that's 100/100,000,000,000 years. You do the math on how small the time is we are here. I guarantee you, we are dead to those born 200 years from now.
In other words, time is so large and our time here is so small that you can say that if there is an end, and nothing else, then that end would already be here and there would be nothing. Time doesnt go by slowly. If we died and nothing happened, we would be dead with nothing happening now.
I'm sorry if the concept is too large for some of us to comprehend. Your failure in comprehension is my failure as a communicator. We'll share it together. But please understand, just like we feel like we are living, others before us, feel like they are living.. But we know they are dead. So therefore, if in the end we all die and nothing happens (which i believe is not the case) then y would we be experiencing life.
To put it in laymen's terms, there would be no point of us remembering or experience life. Therefore, there must be something after death.
February 8th, 2010 on 10:45 am
Thanks for the update, but you should ensure the validity of information before posting it for all to read. This information was never released by Johns Hopkins and should no be considered as having any credability whatsoever, as it originates from a hoax email and continues to be propogated unnecessarily. For confirmation please refer to the referenced Johns Hopkins site.
February 8th, 2010 on 5:13 pm
Heavenly Father, In Jesus Name the most beloved Son of the Father I pray for Jayden and her family today and ask the thy will be done in her life. I pray that you would consider this petition that I lay at your blessed feet and ask that you help her to fully recover and that this event would not hinder her from living her life in any way. Please help her parents and all her extended family give them comfort where none can be found, give them peace, in a place of chaos. Wrap your loving arms around them and hold them all for a while and help them to know that you are there. Hold Jayden closely and help her little body to heal. We know you can If it is your will. With my whole heart I ask this in the name of Jesus, blessed be the Lamb of God.
Amen
February 9th, 2010 on 3:50 am
Yes I am waiting too. I ovualted on the 25th and took a test today and got a neg. I'm hoping I took it too early. I'm going crazy not knowing. I'm due to start my period nov 7th.
ttc #4
February 14th, 2010 on 8:42 pm
When you are trying to lose weight, the best way to do it is still by proper dieting and exercise. Avoid taking slimming pills at all cost, they do more harm than good.