Your BMI, or body mass index, indicates whether you have a healthy weight for your age and height. While adult BMI follows a simple formula, child and teen BMI depends on gender and age as well as height. You can lose weight and achieve a healthy BMI by making certain lifestyle changes. Making these lifestyle changes as a teen can help you learn positive habits for life.
Step 1
Find out what a healthy BMI value is for a teen of your age. According to Kids Health, for example, a 13-year-old with a BMI of 16 to 22 has a healthy weight, whereas an 18-year-old must have a BMI of 18 to 25 to have a healthy weight.
Step 2
Calculate your current BMI. You can ask your doctor to calculate your BMI for you, or you can enter your gender, age, height and weight into a teen BMI calculator offered by websites such as Kids Health or the Mayo Clinic. These sites will calculate whether your BMI indicates that you are overweight.
Step 3
Ask your doctor how much weight you should lose to reach a healthy BMI.
Step 4
Set a specific goal about how many pounds you want to lose each week for a certain number of weeks to reach a healthy BMI. To lose 1 lb., you must burn 3,500 more calories than you consume, according to the Mayo Clinic. Thus, if you burn 250 calories each day and cut 250 calories from your daily diet, you can lose 1 lb. in seven days.
Step 5
Begin a weekly exercise program. Set realistic goals for yourself rather than holding yourself to impossible standards. Find a form of exercise that you enjoy and can look forward to. For example, join a sports team or jog with friends in the park.
Step 6
Keep track of your exercise in a notebook to stay motivated. Set specific goals for each week. For example, try to exercise 30 minutes a day for five days each week, or 15 to 20 minutes each day for seven days a week.
Step 7
Eat a healthy diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products and lean proteins. Find healthy foods that you enjoy eating and design meals around those ingredients.
Tips and Warnings
- Estimate the number of calories you burn with your daily exercise. The rate at which you burn calories will depend on your weight and the intensity of your effort. You can use online calorie calculators at websites such as Discovery Health to estimate the calories you burn. Enter your weight in pounds, the activity and the amount of time you spent exercising to estimate the calories burned. Tell your family and close friends about your health and fitness goals so that they can support you in your efforts.
- Do not set extreme weight-loss goals or attempt to lose so much weight that you would reach an unhealthily low BMI. Once you reach a weight low enough to achieve a healthy BMI, focus on maintaining that weight rather than losing even more weight.
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