7 Proven Weight Loss Tips for Teenagers
We heard it over and over again, the facts on how to lose weight are freely available but the rest is all up to you. I’ve known some teenager friends who try to lose weight by starving themselves and we know that it is just silly.
We understand that once your child is going through the teenage years, they begin to feel conscious about themselves but as a parent we can help them lose weight by making healthy choices for them while setting a good example.
You can start practicing a nightly walk as a family or other sort of activities that will make everyone feels better about themselves. A positive environment could really help motivate your teens to achieve their goal weight.
Here are the basic rules to a Healthy diet for Teenagers
1.) Starvation is not a solution so eat healthy – It’s a common practice especially when there is an upcoming special event, a dance or a prom for girls to starve themselves in order to lose weight fast. I remember my niece who wished to lose weight because she wanted to get attention from guys.
Therefore, she started to deprive herself from eating food, after 2 weeks, she actually lost 10 lbs due to water weight loss but she developed some ugly spots on her skin that made her embarrassed to go out. But the worst is, she was so depleted of energy and spent couple of weeks under the care of her doctor as she passed out due to starvation.
So one lesson learned here, once you stop eating, your body fails to function normally because we stop supplying nutrients to keep our body healthy.
2.) Healthy Eating is better Than “Dieting” – due to unhealthy weight loss diets; most teenagers experience weight problems and in the course of time become sick. Teen Diets should be carefully weighed until complete physical growth that usually occurs at the age of 18.
3. Dieting Can Cause Health Problems in Teens – Teen Diets are really bad if you are still under 18 because during your teen years (12-17 yrs old), almost 90% of your bone mass and body frame structure are being established as a foundation to adulthood. Therefore, this is not the right time to deprive your body of the important nutrients and vitamins such as calcium, vitamins C & D.
Teen Diets can point to low levels of iron and folic acid which are helpful to avoid being anemic. If you are an anemic person, you often feel tired and exhausted so your intellectual performance become less effective.
4. What Does Healthy Eating really mean – It doesn’t matter what varieties of nutritional foods you take as long as you eat the right portions and you are getting all the nutrients your body requires.
5. Are Certain Foods are Off-Limits – If you take your food in moderation, there is nothing as off limits. So don’t deprive yourself in eating hamburgers, ice cream or pasta as long as your food intake is under control, you can enjoy your food
6. Snack on Fruits to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth –Bring fruits to school for healthy snacks like Brazilian nuts or walnuts.
7. General Rule of Eating Well – bear in mind when eating your meals, you should divide your plate in half with vegetables and the other half will be equally divided between carbohydrates ( pasta, rice, potatoes) and protein (eggs, beans, meat).
