12 Tips For Teens To Lose Weight
Sponsored Links
Here are twelve tips for teens to lose weight. Losing weight can be challenging at any age, but it can be especially hard for teenagers, who can be exposed to extra pressure regarding body image, which may make them more vulnerable to disordered eating or other unhealthy lifestyle choices. If you're a teenager who wants to lose weight (or the parent or guardian of one), here are the safest and most effective ways to go about it.
1. Do - eat healthy foods. You don't have to live on salads and never eat chocolate again, but for healthy weight loss, it's vital to base your diet around nutritious foods that have been minimally processed. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains etc are tasty and satisfying, and will leave you with plenty of energy. A sensible diet plan allows for some treats, but if most of the food you eat is of high quality, chances are your tastes will change, and you simply won't want to eat lots of junk food.
2. Don't - rely on diet pills, meal replacements etc. These products may help you to lose weight quickly, but such weight loss is unsustainable if you don't change your eating habits too, and they don't do your health much good in the long term.
3. Do - take moderate amounts of exercise. It's possible to lose weight without exercising, but it's not really a good idea to be inactive if you want to keep the weight off and feel great too. Just twenty minutes of some activity that you enjoy three or four times a week will help to speed up fat loss, and will leave you looking fit and toned, rather than like a flabby 'skinny fat person'.
4. Don't - be inactive or exercise excessively. Getting the right balance of activity is important. Too little and you'll feel sluggish and out of shape, but too much exercise brings its problems too. There's no 'right' amount for everyone, but your workouts should leave you feeling energised, not drained, and you should never force yourself to exercise if you're injured or under the weather.
5. Do - find some support, either in person or online. Losing weight can be a lonely process, especially if you're surrounded by friends who aren't interested in living healthily, as is often the case with teenagers. The whole process is much easier if you get some support from others who are in the same boat. You could choose a formal group setting, such as that offered by organisations like Weight Watchers, organise an informal group of friends, or join some of the many online weight loss communities and forums.
6. Don't - succumb to peer pressure. Most teenagers are subject to a lot of pressure to look, think and behave in certain ways, and those who don't conform are often subject to negative reactions, even from friends. If you're feeling pressured to eat junky foods and indulge in an unhealthy lifestyle, or to try to be a size zero or indulge in competitive dieting, it's important to try to resist, and not let others influence you away from what you know to be the best path for you.
7. Do - find a sensible plan to follow. It's easy to lose weight in the short term by following one of the many unbalanced diet plans on the market, but you won't keep it off in this way. To avoid the miserable yoyo cycle of weight loss and regain, choose a diet plan that's based around appropriate quantities of healthy foods.
8. Don't - use fad diets. Unfortunately a lot of the popular weight loss plans fall into this category, and expect you to starve, or cut out one or more of the major food groups, or rely on diet pills and other potentially dangerous methods. These diet plans should be avoided - while their promises of fast weight loss can be tempting, it's unlikely to be permanent, and you may end up with health problems over the long run.
9. Do - focus on making long term changes. If you're used to eating unhealthily, or overeating, it'll probably take time to retrain your eating habits. Yet it's necessary to do this if you want to keep the weight off, so be patient with yourself and remember that the first few weeks are the most difficult. After you've been eating well for a while, it becomes much easier as your body and palate adjust, and you won't feel like you're 'on a diet' any more.
10. Don't - try to lose weight too quickly. The idea of losing weight fast can be tempting, especially if there's some big event coming up, or summer is approaching, but please don't try to starve yourself or go on some crazy regime. For one thing, you won't lose fat quickly - most of the initial loss will be water, which is easily regained. And if you under-eat, you'll also lose muscle tissue, which will make it more difficult to keep the weight off (muscle is more metabolically active than fat). For successful permanent weight loss, aim to lose about two pounds a week at the most.
11. Do - be realistic. Losing weight will help most overweight people to look and feel a lot better, but remember that you'll still look like a slimmer version of yourself, and your problems won't disappear because you're thinner. Some people lose weight, feel disappointed that their lives aren't magically transformed as a result - and may begin overeating again to try to feel better. So if you have problems or body image issues that aren't actually related to your weight, tackle these separately.
12. Don't - try to be a size zero. Some people are naturally very thin, just as some are naturally larger, and most are in between. If you're not endowed with a super speedy metabolic rate and naturally skinny frame, don't try to force your body to conform to that look through dieting or excessive exercise. You'll be miserable, your body will be stressed, and you're unlikely to look as good as you would at your body's 'natural' weight. Despite what the mainstream media tries to make us all believe, extreme skinniness is not the best look for most people, and you don't need to be a size zero to be attractive.
These tips for teens to lose weight are also true for adults, since the basic principles of healthy, permanent weight loss are pretty simple and unchanging. It just takes some consistent effort to build healthy new habits, and a determination to avoid being tempted by the unhealthy quick fixes offered by many of the diet plans out there.
|
