1. You're missing the big picture.
First, you need to learn what a healthy weight is for you. This is based on genetic and environmental factors, says Jim Mitchell, MD, of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.Talk with a health educator or your doctor about your family's weight history. "If you come from a family where people tend to be larger, what we call 'big-boned,' then a healthy body weight for you may be somewhat higher than it is for someone else," Mitchell says.
Then, work on appreciating your teen body. Maybe you have strong legs, but you’d like to have long, thin ones.
Shift your thinking away from what they look like to what they can do for you -- like haul you up the stairs with ease, or allow you to squat to see under your bed. That thinking shift will help you set goals to bring out the best in your body. Such goals may include choices like cutting out fast food and processed foods to help you do that.
2. Being a skinny teen isn't the goal: Being a healthy teen is.
Part of being a healthy teen is about reducing your risk for chronic problems and setting yourself up for a lifetime of good health, Tiongson says.Don't just focus on the numbers on your scale. Talk with your health care provider about your body mass index (BMI). That's the number used to predict your risk of weight-related complications, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Like many of your teen peers, you may be under the impression that "health problems only happen to grownups" -- that you're too young to worry about heart problems, for example. But that's not true.
"You may not feel it now," Tiongson says, "but making changes now, when you're young, can have a big impact on the rest of your life." The great thing is that building healthy habits can pay off now and in the future.
3. You'll take control of your body.
You've probably heard a lot of "rules" for losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle: You have to be active for 60 minutes a day. You have to eat five vegetables and fruits a day. You have to get at least 8 1/2 hours of sleep a night."The reality is if you try to change too many things, the chances are you're going to fail, and then you're not going to try at all," says Stephanie Walsh, MD, a pediatrician at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "You can't change your whole life at once, but you can change one small part of it," Walsh says.
You have the power to decide what that first step will be. You can decide to cut out soda Monday through Friday. Or if you watch six hours of TV a day, you can choose to trim it down to two.
"That's a step for you," says Walsh. "Ask yourself: What are changes I can make that fit into my life now?"
4. You don't have to rush to fit into this year's fashion.
We've all gotten used to convenience and speed. But pursuing a healthy, active lifestyle is not an instant change, like getting a haircut. "Everybody thinks, 'If I do all of these things, it'll be better really fast,'" Walsh says. "It's still going to take time. It's a matter of being patient with yourself."If you go on a crash diet to get into a pair of jeans by a certain date, you won't be building healthy eating habits, so you're likely to give up and gain back the weight. If your goal instead is to get healthier and reach a healthy weight for you, you're more likely to stick with it.
So give it time and commit to doable short-term goals, such as walking three times a week or cutting out junk food for a week. If you set attainable goals, you're more likely to achieve them -- and that will fuel future successes.
5. You'll feel better.
You'll actually be happier if your goal is to eat healthy and exercise regularly, not to starve yourself to fit into a skimpy outfit. "You will feel better physically," Tiongson says. "You'll have more stamina, more strength. Your mood will be better. It's about feeling good from the inside out, rather than the outside in."What made the biggest difference for Ashley was joining a program in California at a Wellspring Academy, which emphasizes health and long-term weight loss. In six months, she lost 48 pounds and went from being one of the least motivated students to one of the most active. She just signed up for a 10K and is now training for a half-marathon.
"You should do it not for other people, but for yourself," she says, "so you can see a change in yourself and be able to have confidence. I feel really happy now, and I'm comfortable with my body."
