There seem to be so many websites and books with dieting tips for adults, but very few with dieting tips for teens. It doesn’t make sense, though, since if you learn a healthy diet while you’re a teen, you’re more likely to be at a healthy weight as an adult, right? Here are 10 dieting tips for teens, all geared toward helping you form healthy lifestyle habits for life.
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1. Learn the Math
Losing weight really is as simple as a math equation. To lose weight, the calories you eat must be LESS THAN the calories you burn (through exercise). Keep track of how many calories you eat, and subtract the calories you burn, to see if the equation is working in your favor. If not, adjust. Take a few calories away from what you eat, and add a little more exercise.
2. Try for Five
Did you know that you’re supposed to be eating five servings of fruits and veggies each day? Most of us aren’t though, are we? This is one of the easiest dieting tips for teens: try your best to eat those five servings of fresh fruits and veggies each day… you won’t have any appetite left for the junk!
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3. Turn It off!
One random day, keep track of how much time you spend on the computer or watching TV. It’s a lot of time, isn’t it? No wonder you don’t have time to work out! Turn off the computer and the TV and MAKE time for physical activity. If you just can’t tear yourself away, then at least do a physical activity that you can do while watching TV, like riding a stationary bike or using an elliptical machine. This isn’t just dieting tip for teens — this goes for adults, too!
4. Get up and Move!
Even if the TV and computer are off, you might be tempted to sit around in your room and do nothing, especially in winter. Don’t! Get up and move, girl! You’ll be surprised how quickly these extra calories you burn doing housework or chasing your dog around will add up! Plus, if you’re up moving around, you’re a lot less likely to eat junk food snacks.
5. Find a Friend
If you’re serious about losing weight, then enlist the help of a friend who wants to lose weight, too. Dieting tips for teens are a lot easier to stick to if you have a friend to encourage you… and bonus! You’ll be helping her, too!
6. Ditch the Frenemies
No-one will ruin your teen weight loss faster than a frenemy. If one of your friends is always trash-talking your diet plans or rolling her eyes when you share a weight loss success story, ditch her. You do NOT need the negativity!
7. Know Your Body
I actually think most dieting tips for teens forget this, and maybe you have too: your body is still developing. I was thin as a rail, growing a foot almost overnight, while my sister didn’t hit a growth spurt til much later… she felt chubby even though she just wasn’t done growing yet. Be patient. Your body is still growing.
8. Skip the Soda
Did you know a bottle of soda contains TWO servings, not one, and that each serving contains 120 calories, most of which comes from sugar in the form of nasty high fructose corn syrup? That’s not how you want to use your calories for the day! Ditch the soda and stick to no-sugar added mixed fruit juices, green tea with no sugar or high fructose corn syrup, or water with lemon, instead.
9. Forget Fast Food
It’s truly this simple: fast food, aimed at busy families and especially teenagers, is terrible for you. With the exception of a few salads (without dressing), it’s loaded with fat and sodium (not to mention deadly e coli contamination!) … do yourself a teen weight loss favor and forget fast food. The same goes for prepared foods, anything that comes in a can or a box.
10. Ask for Help
If you’re trying to lose weight, and none of these diet tips for teens are helping, you really should talk to your parents and your doctor. It’s very rare, but occasionally there are medical conditions that can have an effect on your weight. Rule those out before getting frustrated. Also, a doctor or your mom can help you design a diet plan that will work for you, one that will teach you these good habits, and more.
Remember, the eating and exercise habits you learn now will stay with you for the rest of your life, so it’s important to use these dieting tips for teens now! Don’t wait! Which of these weight loss tips for teens will you use first? Or do you have another tip to share?
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Comments
Sara: I am 14 years old and I want to start a diet and exersises, it has been a while I have not played sports and I gained about 2 kg just this winter!!! I really want to lose them fast for the summer but have no idea where to start ( I also want to a diet but something I can stay for like the rest of my life healthy food and all that) help!
Jena: Around june I began exercising alot to try and lose weight, and dropped my weight from 135 to 112. I now want to lose 12 more pounds but I feel like it will never happen. I started seriously exercising in june and lose all those pounds up until october. Since october my weight has really stayed the same. My calories are varying each day. Sometimes I each 500 calories a day when I am trying to control it , and other days I find myself eating 1500. I always eat fruits and vegetables as my meals and I am a vegitarian. Is it bad that my calories keep fluctuating? All I can think about is food all day and what is going into my body. Everytime I think about eating something that isnt a fruit or veg I feel guilty after it is done. How do I drop the pounds and stop worrying so much about this? Everytime I eat something even as simple as a banana I fear weight gain
Anonymous: Ok, PLEASE no one laugh. I am 13 years old (almost 14), 5'7, and I weigh around 144. Most of that is muscle and bone, (Tallness, strong big bones, and lean muscles run in my family) however, I absolutely HATE my stomach. It is the only part of my body that bothers me (I am lean everywhere else, and I have a very mature body for my age). My legs and arms are toned, I love sports, and I eat pretty healthy, but I have this layer of fat on my stomach about an inch and a half thick. I REALLY want to get rid of it before summer, but no matter how I cut my calories or exercise, I can't lose it. Any ideas Denise or Jennifer? I would really like to have it gone by summer so I can actually feel good in a bathing suit. Thank you muches! =)
Anonymous: The word "diet" is a general term meaning "what you eat". Having a poor diet might consist of fast food and fried foods. Having a good diet might be eating all the food groups, no friend food, whatever. The word diet doesn't always refer to losing weight. There aren't many diet tips for teens because teens aren't suppose to "diet" per say. You don't stop developing until into you early to mid twenties and dieting as a teenager can have negative effects on your overall health. If parents are making sure their kids are eating right and not wasting their life on video games, tv, and texting and actually getting up and doing something, like play outside or play a sport, then kids wouldn't overweight. And if they did this, they wouldn't need to diet, which for teens is very dangerous and unhealthy.
Molly: I'm only 19 and when I was 13 weights, diets and working out were the last thing I thought about but then again, didn't even have a smart phone to be allowed apps like this. My advice, go out and have fun. Play sports, go to the park, ride your bikes because it's the most fun way to burn off calories and be a kid. You'll be grown up soon enough!
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