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Obesity has reached epidemic proportions almost throughout the United States. The reasons for unhealthy weight are almost always lifestyle related, especially in teenagers like you. However, if you have been having a normal diet and find that your weight gain is sudden, uncontrollable and accompanied by tiredness and/or depression, please consult a doctor to rule out hypothyroidism and diabetes.
Weight loss is perfectly possible with a few lifestyle changes, especially in dietary habits. Here's what you need to do:
- Begin with exercise - cardiovascular exercises such as running, walking, and swimming are best to start with.
Thrice a week for thirty minutes at a time is the minimum.
- Avoid sedentary habits like watching too much television, hanging out with friends over junk food. Instead take up a sport, such as tennis or baseball, as a hobby.
- As hinted at above, curtail junk food - fries, burgers, pizzas, potato chips, fizzy drinks, cakes are all contributing to your problem. It's best to avoid them or at least to limit consumption to one modest meal once a week.
Try and embrace the following principles for a healthy diet: There are five main food groups. These are:
- Milk and milk products like cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese.
- Meat (fish, poultry, red meats) and eggs.
- Grains such as wheat, rice, oats, rye etc.
- Fruit, both taken as whole and in juice form.
- Vegetables again consumed whole or juiced.
- Eat three meals a day with two snacks - one mid morning and one in the evening.
- Do not skip your breakfast. Try and have whole grain cereals for breakfast. Limit eggs to four a week.
- Have one serving of fruit/vegetable and grain at each of your three main meals.
- Do not have meat/eggs more than once or twice a day. Consume more fish and poultry than red meat which is a lot more difficult to digest.
- Always stick to whole grain bread which has a lot more fiber than white bread.
- Snack sensibly on fruit or wholegrain crackers.
- Use unsaturated oil (preferably olive oil) for cooking instead of butter.
- Have a variety of fruit and vegetables - this will also ensure that you get your daily supply of trace minerals like vitamins and iron.
- Avoid heavy desserts with plenty of refined sugars. Instead opt for low fat yogurt and fruit.
These simple measures will go a long way in shedding those excess pounds. Good luck!
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