About 14.5 percent of American 15-year-olds have a valid reason to lose weight. Living at a Body Mass Index of greater than 25, as they do, is not healthy. Being overweight leads to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, many cancers and damage to the low back and knees. Weight loss is best accomplished slowly, according to the National Institutes of Health, but there are ways to jump-start the process.
Set a Realistic Pace
Gaining weight does't happen quickly, and, ideally, losing weight is a slow process too. A slow weight loss of one to two pounds per week is possible for most people and is sustainable, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.
With people on TV reality shows losing huge amounts of weight every week and magazines selling the promise of a diet that will let you take off 20 pounds by Tuesday, it's hard to feel excited about losing a pound a week. But in real life, people who lose weight rapidly gain it back just as fast.
If you lose four to eight pounds this month and keep it off for life, you'll have taken a step in the direction of health.
Determine a Target Number of Calories
There is a scientifically sound way to determine the number of calories that will allow for a four pound weight loss in one month through calorie reduction. Any weight loss beyond this must come through exercise. Each person has a Basal Metabolic Rate that is based on their age, gender, height and weight and this can be calculated easily using an on line BMR calculator. Multiplying the BMR by 1.2 results in the number of calories that can be consumed in a day of normal activity if you want to stay at the same weight.
Every pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories of stored energy, so losing one pound a week will require eating 500 calories less each day than the product of your BMR and 1.2. It is important to recalculate this number each week, as it will go down when you lose weight.
Select the Right Foods
There are no magic weight loss foods, but there are foods that provide the maximum amount of nutrition for the lowest number of calories. Assuming the target number of calories is 1,200, a wise place to start would be to allocate 500 calories to non-starchy vegetables including three cups of a dark, green leafy variety with high nutrient value such as kale, arugula or spinach and four other vegetables, in at least three colors.
Another 300 calories should be supplied by sources of protein that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These essential nutrients help to prevent many physical diseases associated with obesity and help with memory and mood swings as well. Three ounce servings of salmon, tuna, lake trout and halibut do this and so do an egg or a fistful of walnuts or almonds; each for 100 calories.
To round out the day's meals, add 200 calories worth of fruits high in fiber and vitamins such as blueberries, cherries and melons and 200 calories from non-fat plain yogurt or kefir, a yogurt like drink.
This plan is fairly low in carbohydrates, and low carb diets can result in greater weight loss for teens compared to a low fat diet, according to researchers from the University of Colorado, reporting in the September 2009 issue of "Internal Medicine News."
Sleeping and Walking
In support of your goal to lose four to eight pounds in one month while protecting your health, it's critical to sleep for seven hours each night. To determine your ideal bed time, start with the time you must wake up and count back 8 hours. Use the extra hour before bed as a time to close off the rest of the world, including the TV, computer, texting, phone, IM and Facebook. In June 2009, Dr. Plamen Penev reported to the Sleep Foundation that sleep deprivation caused weight gain and other health problems and accidents.
Optimal weight loss requires spending 75 minutes walking each day or engaging in a similar activity. It's important to take weight loss slowly and steadily, but that doesn't apply to walking. At a vigorous pace, this amounts to five miles or 10,000 steps each day, and that will produce another pound a week of weight loss, according to calculations by Kaiser Permanent Health System.
References
- National Institutes of Health: US Teens More Overweight than Youth in 14 Other Countries; Robert Bock; January 5, 2004
- "Internal Medicine News"; High-Protein, Low-Carb Diet Effective in Teens; Robert Finn; September 2009
- Harvard School of Public Health: The Best Diet is the One You'll Follow
- Reuters; Sleep Deprivation Linked to Weight Gain; Karla Gale; June 10, 2009
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