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I just can't lose weight
I am 17 f and am the fattest in my year, I know for most teenagers being thinner is just a part of anxiety and hormones however I have been told by doctors that if I don't start losing weight soon I am going to have to deal with several health problems when I am older like heart attacks and diabeties. I have been given diet plans by doctors but I just can't stick to them, it's starting to affect my confidence because people are so judgemental. I need a way to convince the rest if my body that it is a time for a change. I need diets that are easy and effective. Because it is not just my physical health that it will be affecting, please help. Thanks
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Maybe give some free advice about: Nutrition?
Go vegan. I went vegan this year and have lost 40 pounds, with minimal exercise, bringing down my BMI from 30 to 24. I weigh less now than I did throughout high school, as an overweight teenager, even when I exercised for hours while on Junior Varsity and Varsity sports teams.
My goal for next year is to lose 30-40 more pounds, I just need to start exercising on a regular basis. Nothing crazy, just 30-60 minutes of jogging, Ballet Beautiful, bike riding.. things like that.
I think it's amazing what I've accomplished so far, just by changing my diet, though. It's a lot easier to go vegan than it seems. I was never vegetarian, I went from being able to eat an entire box of pizza or entire tub of ice cream in one sitting to a full-fledged vegan. I now spend a lot less money on groceries, have more energy (never need caffeine, and never feel lethargic like I used to on a regular basis), have more concentration, and etc. Try it for a week, that's how I started, and I felt so good that I just kept going, and it's now been 5 months! You can get every nutrient from plant foods, including protein!
Where do you get your protein?! 10 comebacks from a Vegan.
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The only vitamin you need to supplement is B12, and one I personally recommend is Garden of Life's B12 spray (cause I personally hate swallowing pills, and methylcobalamin is better than cyanocobalamin). You can buy it at any health foods store (Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, etc.), or online.
More on vitamin B12
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These two movies turned me into a vegan overnight.
Forks Over Knives
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Processed People
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Cowspiracy
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Here are some good YouTube channels that have helped me, too.
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Good luck!
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Here's the thing when it comes to losing weight and dieting it's not suppose to be easy. That's the truth the media and all the celebs you see just dropping pounds don't tell you. I would start simple. For me I have PCOS which is very hard to lose weight with and very easy to gain weight with. So one thing you should do is go to the doctors and see if anything could be causing your weight issue. It could even be a thyroid problem. But that's a big thing because if you have a health issue holding you back, you're going to have to work ten times harder to lose weight or at least reach a healthy balance. Once you find out if there is an issue you can take it from there. If there is a problem a doctor might put you on pills or tell you what kind of foods you need to digest. Whether there is a problem or not you need to tell your family that you want to eat healthier and to put healthier things for you in the fridge and cut down your proportions. Drink Tea in the morning and before sleep. Green tea with a lemon wedge always curves my hungers and drink plenty of water throughout the day I have these two gigantic bottles of water I refill over and over and everyone thinks it's hilarious that I drink these but drinking that water keeps your body clean and helps a lot with digestion and hunger. don't skip breakfast. don't skip meals in general. Keep small things around if you think you might. Like a granola bar and a fruit for breakfast because that's easy if you have school. Exercise has to happen. it's a huge part of losing weight. you need at least 40 mins of exercise per day to really see an impact. and you have 24 hours a day to do that. even if it's dancing for an hour. Since you're at risk for diabetes, it's a huge thing for you to work on sweets intake. if you drink soda, it's got to go. Soda not even diet is not good for you. infact diet soda is worse. as a dr pepper lover I can tell you cutting out soda will be the worst. (*cries a little "I LOVE YOU DR PEPPER") no reallly it sucked a lot.
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I went through exactly what you're going through. Dieting is incredibly hard, but it's not supposed to be a 'diet'. It should be a lifestyle change. A healthy diet is something you live with forever, not a temporary thing to lose weight. Diets are hard, but they aren't impossible. You CAN keep to healthy eating and exercise but you don't.
This is how I lost weight, but honestly, I think everyone makes this journey in their own way.
1. I stopped looking at healthy food as a "diet". I stopped trying to starve myself or eat only particular foods because it wasn't about a quick or short term change, I wanted to lose weight and keep it off.
2. I researched. I looked up so many tips about food and exercise and compared them with other websites for the best answer. This helped me understand that with my height, weight and level of exercise, I needed to consume a certain amount of calories every day from food. If I ate more, I had to work out. If I ate less, my body would store the fat it was consuming because it thought I was starving (starvation mode).
3. I started to remove bad food from my house and life. This was hard because I lived with my mum and siblings, so I had to use a lot of self control not to eat the food like chocolates and chips that they wanted in the house. When I was out, I would pick the healthier option or wait until I got home to make something better than fatty or fried food. Instead of ordering a pasta like my friends at dinner, I'd order a vegetarian salad .
4. I ate regularly. I started forcing myself to stick to the breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-dinner cycle. When I ate a meal, I used portion control (always a small plate to make sure I didn't over eat) and wouldn't eat until my next food session. My snacks were healthy (fruit, nuts..etc). It takes a lot of control at first to do this, but once you're on a habit it's easier and you'll notice you aren't as hungry.
5. I started exercising. At first I was walking my dog but one day I decided to go for a run. I figured that it didn't matter how big I was and if people saw me running, because at least I was doing something about my weight. It turns out that I love running. At first I could only run for a minute then walked the rest of the way, but now I run for 15-20 minutes. Dieting is 70% of weightloss, but exercising will help you burn that fat faster than just eating well.
6. I counted calories. I lost a lot of weight without doing this for a long time, but after a while I gave it a try. It really opened my eyes to how many calories are in the things we eat and that a donut or a can of coke really isn't worth it when you see how sugary and fatty they are.
7. I substituted. Over the years I learned more and more about food and you would be surprised how many healthy alternatives there are. Instead of full cream milk, I drink skim milk. Instead of white sugar, I use raw sugar. Instead of soft drink, I go for tea or water with lemon. Instead of lollies, I eat berries or apples for a sugary hit. You might really want a fatty snack, but if you eat an apple instead of a bag of lollies, you'll feel full afterwards.
I can't do strict diet plans, it's just not me. But once I understood what was healthy food, what wasn't, and used a little willpower to change my food habits, it was easy. I still eat a bad meal or sweets now and then, but only rarely, which is how your diet should always be. Exercise was harder than food, but the results over time were amazing. I never thought I would have a small stomach! That's from cardio (running/walking) and ab exercises.
Good luck with your journey, but remember that you CAN lose weight, the only person stopping you is you.
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