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Teen
Weight Loss
Teen
Weight Loss- The "Don'ts" of Teen Dieting
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Even
though the urge to try a quick diet pill or a fad diet to lose weight
fast is something all overweight people want, the truth is these
methods are unsafe and eventually lead to weight gain – often more
weight than where we started.
An effective teen weight loss
program is one where you can lose weight and more importantly, keep the
weight off.
Although my kids are no longer teens (they are now
27, 26 and 23), I remember the days of their impatience of wanting
anything and everything now. So I can relate, or at least
understand, why teens are looking for a quick weight
loss. |
I
also know that these methods, while giving some nice results at first,
are not lasting results and furthermore can be harmful to your health.
So,
before moving on to the some healthy quick ways for teen weight
loss, I wanted to first address what not to do for a quick
weight
loss.
Don’t
Crash Diet
As
a teen, your body is still growing and changing, and getting the proper
nutrition is critical to your growth process. Crash dieting
usually in tales extreme reduction of calories, depriving your body of
key energy and nutrients. In fact, crash dieting for anyone,
including adults, generally leads to reduced metabolism and ultimately
weight gain.
Fad
diets and crash diets that reduce calorie
intake too extreme will show some short term results, even for
teens. However, the body’s natural defenses take over and
will
slow down your metabolism, conserving energy.
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It begins to
store
your foods as fat and reduces your Basal
Metabolic Rate. This is
why after the short period of time, instead of seeing quick weight loss
results, people hit a weight loss plateau and then eventually
gain the weight
back and then some.
An extremely low calorie teen weight loss diet can cause
health problems for anyone but is especially damaging to
teens.
Because teenagers are still growing, their body needs higher amounts of
calories and nutrients to supply the body with the energy it needs for
the growing process. Without these nutrients and calories,
you
may experience skin and hair problems, extreme tiredness, bone weakness
as well as hormonal problems.
Don’t
use Laxatives
and Unsafe Supplements
Recent
surveys show that some teenagers are resorting to using laxatives as a
way for quick weight loss for teens. Laxatives are for a
specific
purpose and weight loss is not one of them.
Using laxatives
for
teen weight loss is neither a healthy approach nor a successful
approach. Here’s why laxatives don’t work as an easy weight
loss
for teens and can be harmful to your health.
- Most of the weight loss is primarily water
weight loss and not fat loss
- Using laxatives speeds up the digestive system
which can reduce the
absorption of vitamins and nutrients you need.
- Extended use of laxatives can ultimately lead
to dependency on
laxatives for bowel movements. This is because it can damage
and
upset the colon.
Instead of using laxatives, make sure you are getting enough fiberous
foods, yogurts and fruits.
Don’t
Fall for Fad
Diets
Most
fad diets
have some kind of gimmick that they use to lure you into their “perfect
and fast way to lose weight”.
The truth is, most fad diets
are
just a fancy way of saying an extremely low calorie diet. Fad
diets, like crash dieting, can be harmful to your growing process and
tend to lead to additional weight gain once the initial quick weight
loss is over.
With any diet plan, you need to make sure it
consists of a healthy eating plan. This advice applies to
both
adults and teens, but for teens is especially critical. Not
only
do you need to make sure you are getting the right types of foods and
teen
calorie intake, you are at a younger age where building a new
healthy
lifestyle is critical for not only your teen years, but your adult
life.
Now that
we’ve talked about what not to do, you
are probably asking yourself, what can I do to lose weight?
Check
out these quick
weight loss for teens tips to help you start losing
weight today.
Back to Teen
Weight Loss
Related
Articles
Tips
for Parents with Overweight Teens
Parents play a special support role in helping teens lose weight and
maintain their self esteem. Find out how you can help your
teenager.
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