When considering losing 20 lbs. as a teen, it's important to lose the weight in a safe and sustainable manner. The Mayo Clinic has linked extreme weight loss with severe health problems including low blood sugar, dehydration, stunted development and organ failure. However, losing 20 lbs. in four months is a reasonable weight-loss goal. At 5 lbs. per month, just 1 1/4 lb. a week, this is reachable using safe, sustainable methods that don't jeopardize health or development.
Diet
Step 1
Adjusting your diet. Aim to lose half your weight this way. A pound of fat consists of about 3,500 calories. To lose 1 1/4 lbs. per week, you need to burn an extra 4,400 calories every week. Half of that is 2,200 calories.
Step 2
Track your diet for one week using an online calorie calculator. Keep notes in your journal of everything you eat and how many calories it represents.
Step 3
Find ways to reduce your daily calorie intake by 400 per day. Most people find it easiest to do this by eliminating sweets and soda, and by reducing each meal by a small amount rather than by skipping meals during the day.
Step 4
Take one day off each week from your diet, allowing yourself the treats you've avoided all week. This will help you resist temptation on the other days, since you know you're only a few days from being able to indulge. Don't go crazy on your off day, but do enjoy those things you've craved all week long.
Step 5
Consider shifting your eating pattern to six small to medium snacks per day rather than three large set-piece meals. Celebrity trainer Bill Phillips says this pattern reduces hunger, helps eliminate cravings and sets up the body to better metabolize the calories you do take in.
Exercise
Step 1
Lose the other half of your weight through increased exercise. Use the same model, including the day off each week, as you do for your diet. This means doing 400 calories worth of exercise per day.
Step 2
Use an online calorie calculator to identify an exercise you can do at the rate your weight loss plan requires. This usually means about one hour of moderate workout each day. For example, cycling, aerobics and swimming all burn that much per hour.
Step 3
Schedule your workouts for each day and perform them without fail. You may want to consider getting a workout buddy, joining an after-school sport or other way to get other people to help encourage you to work out.
Maintenance
Step 1
Track your diet and your workouts in your journal each day.
Step 2
Give yourself nonfood rewards for successfully meeting your goals. These can be for pounds lost, days without cheating or other benchmarks that will be meaningful to you. With a four month program, you'll need to have small celebrations in order to stay focused.
Step 3
Check your weight once per week. Adjust your plan if you are losing weight to slowly or too quickly.
Step 4
Take a multivitamin daily to ensure that you get all the nutrients you might be shorting yourself on with your restricted diet.
References
- Science Daily: Negative Body Image and Teens
- "Body for Life"; Bill Philips; 2006
- Mayo Clinic: Cutting Weight
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Walter Willet & P.J. Skerrett; 2005
- "You: The Owner's Manual"; Dr. Mehmet Oz et al; 2006
Member Comments