Mend Your Diet

Dieting help please?

Hi, I'm 16 years old and am not overweight, but i still want to be skinnier. I have an hour of fitness class Mondays through Fridays, so I do exercise; but I really want to figure out a way to diet or any way to lose some weight - and keep it off. My big problem is that my mom is against diets completely, every time she so much as suspects that I'm dieting I get this long speech from her (which I'm sure I've already memorized). So you can see my problem; how do I lose weight but not get suspected of dieting? And yes, I'm looking for a good amount of weight loss, so don't lecture me about the dangers please. Thank you!

Public Comments

1. Limit the amount of processed foods and sugar you eat, drink lots of water and exercise. Running and biking are healthy ways to lose weight and tone up, plus you can find good home exercise routines on the internet.
2. Give your food to the dog..
3. You're not over weight but your looking to lose a good amount of weight? Sweetie you need to be lectured, and if your mom lectures your its probably for good reason. If you needed or could stand to loose weight I am sure she would support you. This is sad. This is what the zero trend does to young girls
4. Dieting is never a good idea. Lifestyle changes are though! Consider this: Weight management and weight loss/gain are all contributed to calories in (what you eat) vs calories out (burned off naturally and through physical activity). To maintain weight you have to have equal calories in to calories out. To lose weight you should choose to "portion control" so you take in less calories than you expend during activity. So basically don't worry about changing the food you eat because it sounds like you can't control that anyway with your mom making your meals. One thing you can control is how much you eat. You should keep your plate full of mostly vegetables and fruit (about 50% of your plate) think of them as the best calories you can put in your body. Then you should keep your meats not larger than the size of your fist and keep starchy foods/fats/oils to under a few tablespoons a day. Also opt for fish and wheat products over other meats and breads. Try to encourage your mom to switch from white to brown rice and white to wheat bread. Also see if she will cook meats with olive oil and not butter or other fatty oils. I think you will find (and her) that you will be healthier and have more energy than before and it WON'T BE DIETING! Good luck. Another thought: Make sure you are within a safe weight zone for your age/height. If you are very athletic you can stick to the lower side of the suggested weights. Also remember that lean muscle can burn up to 35-40 calories per pound a day! AND fat can only burn 3-4 calories per pound a day so if you weight train you may see better results too!