Advice for teen weight loss?

[stitchon]

Hey everyone.

My name's Alec and I'm 15 years old. I'm 6'2 and I weigh (at last check) 220 pounds. Before I start to actually attempt to lose weight, I decided I would consult everyone here at the DIS on it first.

Now, I'm trying to get down to 170 before mid-August (the beginning of school). I have a treadmill at home, and I haven't used it in a while since I'm getting so caught up with current events on the internet and such. I'm asking for some advice on how I should tackle my goal (do note that I have school from now until May) because I'm flat out of ideas to the point where I feel terrible that I'm even thinking of weight loss. The rest of my family is overweight as well, and I really want to show them that if I can do it, they can too. I'm still not sure of what type of exercise I should be doing, and I'd greatly appreciate some helpful advice or encouragement.

Thank you in advance.

 

[ohMom]

Alec!! i am really proud of you and your determination to reach healthy goals assuming your goal weight is appropriate for your height/build? is there a way you could make a dr. appt and get a full check-up and discuss healthy changes with your doctor? if that is not possible, since you are very computer literate, i'm sure if you googled your stats and weight you'd find some readings on the different schools of thought. may I just ask, at your goal weight, what is your waist size?

you have 6 months to lose 50 pounds...that sounds very realistic to me (without knowing your specifics) breaking the overall goal into mini-goals may help you mentally stay in the game. if you lose 10 lbs, 5 times, you still have the result without facing an overwhelming goal.

how many calories do you eat a day? could you track your normal eating for 3 days, figuring calories and either share here, or just really give it a look-see. think about it, are there empty calories that ditching wouldn't be hard? pop? pastries? even what seems healthy (fruit juice) though it has vitamins the natural state of food is always the healthiest way. i.e. orange vs orange juice

as for exercise -- are you currently working out? get that butt on the TM, walk at a speed that you can keep up with, able to talk but don't want to. start out with 15 mins a day, or 30 mins every other day. take it slowly so you don't injure yourself

most of all -- NEVER GIVE UP! you are worthy of a healthy body to live in, and I think it's awesome you want to use your success to encourage your family!

 

[MonkeyPants]

weight loss is simple in principle, all it is about is calories in vs.calories out

find out what you basic metabolic rate is (just google search BMR calculator and you'll find a billion of them, it will ask, age, sex, height,weight) that will tell you roughly what your how many calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. You can also get use an active metabolic calculator which basically takes your BMR and averages in what calories you burn based on how active you are...but honestly easy enough just to use the standard BMR. So if you have your BMR you know know the calories you need to eat to maintain, well to lose weight you need to create a deficit. So take that number of calories in your BMR and drop it by like 500. IF you do that, then in theory, even without exercise your body would lose 1 pound a week (1 pound =3500 calories) Now add in exercise to the equation and the 500 calorie daily deficit + exercise should equal quicker weight loss.

seems easy right? and in theory it is, but most of us that need to drop some pounds, dont like exercise, like food a little too much and dont know or keep an accurate accounting of our daily caloric intake.

anyway, good luck

 

[My2E's]

Hey Alec!!!!!

Sounds like you are ready to make some changes in your life. I think maybe you should talk with your mom or dad, which ever one does the grocery shopping in the house. Try to get them on board with just trying to eat a little healthier. Maybe you can motivate them that way instead of calling it a "diet". A lot of times if I don't have myself motivated yet and don't have my mind made up when I go on a diet i feel deprived and end up splurging and eating more than I would have normally. Your family might be more willing to join you on this journey if they view it as just trying to be healthier. You will need their support since you are only 15. You are still depending on someone else to supply the food in the house. Try to have them buy more fruits and veggies to eat with meals and at snack time. Eating these instead of chips or snack cakes (my kids favorites) will really help jump start the weight loss.

Also, I know my 14 yr old pretty much thinks she could live off of Dr. Pepper. She is VERY lucky that she took after my hubby's side of the family and is naturally skinny and not my side of the family. I too come from a overweight family. (My mom is a teacher and complains about her legs hurting all the time, and about how tired she is. If she could loose a little weight she would have so much more energy and would feel so much better.) Anyway, my point is... if you are a soda drinker like most 15 yr olds, it probably is contributing to your weight problem. Try slowly tapering off of the sodas and substituting in water or some caffeine free sugar free drink like Crystal Light. It really makes a difference. The more water you can drink the better! Aim to drink water with every meal. You might not be able to get in lots while at school during the day, plus with all the potty breaks, you may want to wait until you get home to load up on the water. But try to get in at LEAST 64 oz of water a day. If you aren't a water drinker, just start slow and build up to it. Take it from me, eventually you will get used to drinking water, and may even start to like it!

I am really proud of you for wanting to do this. I know from personal experience that it isn't easy. Some days will be better than others, and some days you just blow it, but don't let that be an excuse to continue to eat for the next few days. If you mess up, tomorrow is always a new day. A fresh start. I am reminding myself of this today, as well. Tomorrow is going to be a fresh start for me!

As far as exercise, you are very lucky to have the treadmill handy. Jump on and try to walk everyday. Maybe you're lucky enough that it's near your TV? If so you can walk while watching your favorite TV show each day.

Good luck on your journey, and these boards are a great source of inspiration and motivation for me, so I'm sure they will be for you as well.

 

[stitchon]

thanks for the help everyone. Monday should be the day I officially start, and my BMR is apparently just over 2000 calories a day, so I think I'll be able to make it for sure. Come summer I'll start walking around outside and using my bike (for once).

 

[MelanieC]

Bravo for making the step. YOU CAN DO THIS!! And we are ALL here to help you. I believe you will look awesome when you start school.

My suggestion would be to use Sparkpeople - I think they even have a teen section. I would figure out what your calories should be. Sparkpeople.com can figure this out for you once you create a free acct. Or like the others have said if you figure out your BMR and AMR you can use these numbers to figure out where you should be.

Being young you will see amazing results most likely just by cutting out soda, the white stuff (white bread, white rice, regular pasta) and sugar. Also don't get mixe up in diet sugar - its just as bad for you as regular sugar. Really try to focus on clean healthy food. Remove High Fructose Corn syrup and Trans fats from your diet (read labels). Also try to keep the chemicals out of your food. By cleaning all this stuff up and counting calories and portions you should really see great results. Age is on your side

 

[My2E's]

Hey Alec,

Just wondering how the new healthy lifestyle is working?

 

[stitchon]

Well, so far it's been going okay. We don't have a scale, so I'm not sure what exactly I've lost, but I'm walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes and cutting down the calories on everything I eat. No more sodas, just water and low-cal drink mixes.

Once I grab a scale, I'll be able to keep everyone posted. I did have an awesome moment on Monday though:

I was rummaging through my room and came across a shirt that I wore only once because it didn't fit. I tried it on, and it fit perfectly! Of course, that was during my wannabe jock/preppy guy phase, so I probably won't end up wearing it. Still cool though!

 

[momof2minnies]

Alec,
If you are able to buy Bob Harper's book "Are You Ready" from the Biggest Lose he will walk you through everything.

Also if you have the cable ability(here it is called On Demand) to watch dvds do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred- it will kick your butt at first but everyday it gets easier.

I hope you continue with this it will all be worth it in the end.September 2009 watch out school here comes the new Alec!!!!!!!!

On the journal page keep a journal of your progress and we will help keep you motivatd.It makes a huge difference to have people behind you doing the same thing.

Set a goal for yourself- like I want to run a 1/2 marathon next year at this time- something along those lines anyway.

Keep us posted! The key is to move and eating only clean healthy foods- nothing processed.

Linda

 

[My2E's]

Sounds like you are on your way to the new you!

Keep up the good work!!!

 

[stitchon]

I had to bump this up, just to say that not only did I reach my goal, I surpassed it. I'm at 150 pounds, and I've been that way since October of 2010.

And I can't be happier.

 

[CruiseBoundnKY]

 

[pjlla]

I had to bump this up, just to say that not only did I reach my goal, I surpassed it. I'm at 150 pounds, and I've been that way since October of 2010.

And I can't be happier.

That is WONDERFUL! Congratulations on your weight loss! And congratulations on giving yourself the gift of a healthy life! I'm very impressed.............P

 

[Raenstoirm]

Thats awesome! Way to go!

So you are due to graduate this year? Wont you look perfect at prom??

 

[stitchon]

That is WONDERFUL! Congratulations on your weight loss! And congratulations on giving yourself the gift of a healthy life! I'm very impressed.............P

Thank you. It took a lot of work, but I'm glad I managed to do it.

Thats awesome! Way to go!

So you are due to graduate this year? Wont you look perfect at prom??

I graduated in 2011, but it was definitely rewarding to go to prom in a small instead of an XL.

 

[FireDancer]

Thank you. It took a lot of work, but I'm glad I managed to do it.

Congratulations. I'm sure it was a lot of work and you should be proud of yourself for accomplishing it. I'm of the opinion that the younger you start a healthy lifestyle the easier it will be to maintain it through adulthood into old age.