Thirteen-year-olds can lose weight like anyone else by increasing physical activity and decreasing caloric intake. At your age, your body has plenty of natural fat burning hormones like HGH or human growth hormone. Moreover, you are constantly growing and changing which takes a lot of calories. By making a few simple dietary changes and getting a little more physical exercise you can lose weight and learn to develop healthy eating habits early, so that you can stay lean for the rest of your life.
Get More Exercise
Get more cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis to burn more calories. This could mean walking, jogging, swimming or bike-riding. If your parents are regular gym-goers, consider tagging along and using the treadmills, exercise bikes or elliptical machines there. Another option is to play recreational sports like basketball or soccer, which do not feel as much like exercise because you will be having fun. Try to get 30 minutes of activity three to five days per week.
Body Weight Training
While it is not recommended that you engage in weight training until after you growth plates have solidified, this does not mean that you cannot do some resistance training. Body weight training can work wonders for burning fat, according to "Combat the Fat" author Jeff Anderson. Just look at any military soldier and you will see the proof. Pull-ups, push-ups, body weight squats and dips are all great options for getting into shape and losing weight.
Meal Plan
earn to follow a meal plan to promote healthy weight management. At 13 your body is changing and you are starting to become an adult. What a great time to start practicing eating like one. Rather than eating three large meals, which promotes fat-gain, spread your daily nutrition out over two or three smaller meals and two or three healthy snacks. A healthy snack might be a string cheese or yogurt, a handful of peanuts and an apple. A meal might include a piece of chicken breast, a 1/2 cup of brown rice and some green vegetables.
Cut Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates and sugars are making America fat and causing an epidemic of type II diabetes among adults and children, according to "The Fat Burning Bible." As a teenager it is difficult to avoid all of these but you can pick and choose the lesser of evils and time these foods so that they do not negatively impact your weight loss. Choose lower glycemic carbohydrate choices like oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat and sweet potatoes. Avoid anything with white flour or high-fructose corn syrup.
Food Choices
Carbohydrates are not the only nutrients that can ruin your weight loss plan. Make sure to choose lean proteins like chicken, turkey, fish and eggs rather than fatty cuts of meat that contain high amounts of saturated fat. Fats are essential nutrients and some of them will actually help you to lose weight. Chooses fats like nuts and seeds, natural peanut butter and avocados.
Nutrient Timing
If you take in large amounts of carbohydrates, especially sugars, do it earlier in the day or before a workout when these calories are more likely to be burned as energy rather than stored as fat. The time of the day and what you are doing when you eat a certain food determine how your body will use those calories. In the evening, take in lean proteins, vegetables and healthy fats, rather than sugars and carbs.
References
- "The Fat Burning Bible"; Mackie Shilstone; 2005
- "Xtreme Lean"; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2005
- "Combat the Fat"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
- Muscle & Performance; "Five Ways to Keep Your Get-Lean Diet on Track"; Eric Velazquez, February 2010
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