How Teenagers Should Lose Weight

As a teen, it might surprise you how many teenagers are overweight or obese. This is a point in your life when you probably don’t have so much time to plan a healthy diet and follow it through. So you may be very fond of fast foods, fried snacks, and soda. When you become attached to these fast foods, fruits, and veggies won’t seem that attractive or palatable anymore. The World Health Organization reports that 1 in 10 adolescents are obese as a result of poor eating habits and an unhealthy lifestyle. Being overweight or obese as a teen could affect your health status as an adult. There is always an increased risk of heart disease, joint complications, and diabetes.
It is important for teenagers to maintain healthy body weight and work against obesity. You will be improving your overall health by losing a few pounds. Now, we are highlighting 13 tips for a healthy weight loss process for teenagers. With these tips, you will shed some weight and maintain an improved health condition.

13 Ways Teenagers Can Lose Weight

Avoid Junk Food

Junk food may seem so attractive and convenient, but it’s not good for you. You need to stay away from this category of foods that are immersed in high quantities of trans fats, calories, sugar, salt, and saturated fats. Consuming these foods is a sure ticket to gaining stubborn and excess body fat, and the fat you acquire from these foods can be more difficult to get rid of later on. Steer clear of fast food meals and switch to something healthier.
You can choose to snack on healthy alternatives such as baked chips, homemade fruit juice, nuts, cucumber, plain popcorn, hummus, and baby carrots. You should drink more of freshly blended fruits or detox water.
Some fruits and nuts can replace your sweets and candies. A fruit and veggie smoothie instead of a cup of ice cream. A square of dark full cocoa chocolate and low-fat yogurt is also a healthier snack you can pick up. Let your snacks and drinks revolve around organic fruits and vegetables.

Be Active

Don’t be physically passive, keep moving always. Our bodies are designed to function well and be in good shape only if engaged in physical activity frequently. As a teenager, you have every reason to stay active, and there are several options open to you such as gymnastics, hiking, dancing, cycling, skating, and many others. Everyone should have an active lifestyle, however, teens are expected to be more involved in physical activities compared to older people. The more popular and conscious method of keeping your body active is through exercise. Here are some exercises for losing body weight:

• Scissor kicks – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Jump squats – 3 sets of 12 reps
• High knees – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Spider climbers – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Mountain climbers – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Alternate standing cross kicks – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Lying leg raises – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Lying ankle taps – 3 sets of 20 reps
• Rope jumping – 3 sets of 25 reps
• Crunches – 3 sets of 8 reps
• Bicycle crunches – 3 sets of 8 reps
• Plank up-downs – 2 sets of 10 reps
• Elbow plank – 2 sets of 30 seconds hold

Before each of these exercises, you should have about 10 minutes of warm-up. Cool down for 10 minutes between each workout session.

Stop Skipping Breakfast

You might have been skipping breakfast recently, perhaps because you`re usually occupied with something early in the morning. Don’t think it will aid your loss of extra body weight; your breakfast is actually highly important, and you must have it right on time. On the contrary, skipping breakfast adds to body weight.
Get enough food early, as early as an hour or two after waking up. To eat well is to consume good food. This will include dietary fiber, healthy carbs, and protein. By eating a balanced meal, you start your day properly and encourage a better metabolism process. You will be curbing any possible episode of hunger pangs that might lead you to indiscriminate consumption of food later on.

Get Adequate Sleep

You need to develop a proper sleep pattern if you are not paying attention to the quality of sleep you get. Those who are deprived of sleep, or without a proper sleep pattern are usually gaining body weight easily. You feel the effects of not getting enough rest, and this prevents you from being as active as you should be.
You need to plan your sleep schedule and follow through with it; always go to bed and rise up at specific times. Turn the lights off and stay away from the TV when sleeping, as light affects your sleep pattern at night.

Eat More Fiber and Protein

We have stressed the importance of eating well and at the right time. You should learn to consume enough protein and dietary fiber when you are trying to lose weight, this helps to increase satiety and prevent you from overeating in response to hunger attacks. You will also have better digestion, thanks to the enhancement of gut bacteria by dietary fiber. The protein in your meals builds and protects your muscles while you lose weight. This means that you will have more protein, veggies and fruits on your plate.
Some vegetables you can add to your diet; try consuming cabbage, spinach, radish greens, asparagus, cucumber, lettuce, eggplant, tomato, okra, carrot, scallions, cilantro, chard, bell pepper, and parsley. You may also have fruits such as watermelon, blueberry, orange, apple, peach, muskmelon, pineapple, strawberry, pear, and banana.
Some foods you can rely on as sources of protein include fish, lentils, black-eyed peas, black beans, kidney beans, sprouts, mushroom, edamame, tofu, egg, and soybeans.

Practice Portion Control

When you are trying to get rid of excess body weight, the last thing you should be doing is consuming more calories than needed. Depending on how active they are, teenage girls need between 1400 and 2400 calories each day, while teenage boys need between 1600 and 3000 calories every day. It will be wise for you to practice portion control.
The plate on which you serve your meals should always be small. About half of your meal should contain fruits and vegetables, while the rest can contain equal quantities of protein and healthy carbs. Whenever you itch for a snack, go for baked chips or a square of dark chocolate. Avoid fried foods in bags.

Ditch the Soda

Frankly, it’s worrisome how widely people consume sodas these days. These fizzy drinks offer a cool taste and a lot of sugar far above your daily limit of sugar requirement. Soda is a leading contributor to diabetes and obesity. You should end your consumption of soda and go for healthy options such as homemade lemonade, freshly pressed fruit juice, and veggie smoothies.

Consume Healthy Fats

Losing body weight is often simplified as reducing body fat, but this doesn’t mean that you should stay away from all fats. Your body actually needs fat, and there are healthy fats you should consume such as omega-3 fatty acids. Rice bran oil also contains oryzanol which lowers unhealthy cholesterol levels in your body.
You can get your healthy fats from fish, sunflower seeds, melon seeds, avocado, walnut, almonds, ghee, olive oil, flax seeds, chia seeds, macadamia, rice oil, pistachios, pine nuts, and omega-3 supplements. You can also have peanut butter, but no more than two tablespoons per day. Consult your doctor before using the omega-3 supplements. Stay away from fats from margarine, pork, vegetable oil, lard, butter, chicken skin, and cheese.

Stay Hydrated

Try not to get thirsty before drinking water because dehydration aids the accumulation of toxins within the body. Toxin build-up can cause inflammation-induced obesity. Make it a priority to drink about 3 liters of water every day, this will help you to cut down on body weight and get rid of toxins. Apart from water, you can also consume freshly pressed fruit juice, fresh vegetable smoothies, and soup for hydration.

No Fast Foods

If you are attached to fast foods, now is the time to slam on the brakes. Burger, pizza, and fried chicken shouldn’t be in your diet if you are trying to lose weight or live healthily. You will be building on unhealthy amounts of fats, sugar, and salt when you eat these fast foods. Fast foods have a way of winning their way into the hearts of young people, increasing trans fats and cholesterol levels fast. You don’t want to risk obesity and heart diseases for some burgers and fried chicken.

Try Yoga

Yoga is an effective method of weight loss, irrespective of your age. It focuses on your physical and mental wellbeing. You can go with regular yoga or aerial yoga; you can also have brief sessions of yoga between other physical exercises.

Write your Goals

This is something most of us fail to do, and it often prevents us from making a notable change in weight loss. You can have a weight loss goal but struggle to achieve it if you don’t follow it closely. One of the best ways of not losing track of your weight goals is by putting it down in writing. Writing your goals helps you to better understand if it is achievable and realistic. Plan and scribble a realistic goal, then motivate yourself to keep going until you fulfill what`s on paper.

Don’t Take Exam Stress

Young people go through a lot of physical and emotional stress sometimes. You might face this whenever tests or exams are approaching. You must learn to deal with this stress and the anxiety that comes with it. If you fall under an episode of emotional stress, you will be prone to eating more than required over time.

Through these 13 ways, you can lose weight remarkably and maintain healthy body weight. You should also avoid weight loss pills and energy drinks. Practice self-control and be determined to follow through a healthier lifestyle.