~ QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ~

How Do I Lose Weight

=> I am in gr5 and I way 47 and have asthma how do I loose weight and do u think I am fat => i want to lose 40lbs ( ill probably be 150) im 193 . i dont like being fat. how can i lose 40lbs and how long will it take? => It's really hard to loose weight for me but I want to know how to loose weight and how I stick to it and not get off track. => i weigh 134 and i am in 5th grade i want to be skinny for middle school but i don't know how to lose weight so please help me i am the 2nd biggest person in the class i hate it summer is in a month so please help me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! => I am 12 years old and obese, yet I eat more and don't exercise. Whenever I go on a weight loss program or diet, I give up after a few days. PLEASE HELP ME FIND A SOLUTION!!!!!!! => how can i control my weight? i hate being the fat kid!!!!!!!!! => i have always been over weight and i REALLY want to lose like 20 pounds because all the girls i hang out with are really skinny and they can do more than me and i, just not as skinny and in 5th grade girls are very competitive and they all wear bikinis and i wear and 1 piece and it mades me feel like a missfit and i just want to fit in => i try to be heathy i dont drink soda i drink water a lot but acoring to the scale i am obbesse i workout i try to loose i only lost 5 pounds and i went up then i stay up please help me

Making the decision to lose weight is a great first step. To be successful, you must first commit to changing your current lifestyle. You will need to ask yourself: "HOW WILLING AM I TO SAY GOODBYE TO A LIFE OF EATING EVERYTHING I WANT? Eating everything you want whenever you want is one reason you became overweight. You must CHANGE YOUR EATING BEHAVIOR if you truly want to lose weight. ARE YOU READY? HERE ARE A FEW STEPS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED: 1. CHECK YOUR WEIGHT on the weight calculator. 2. CHECK WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER. They will help you determine how much and at what rate it is safe for you to lose weight. Usually, 1-2 pounds a week is a safe weight loss range depending on your age, current weight, and weight loss goals. 3. TAKE INVENTORY OF YOURSELF. Write down the answers to these questions: - WHY DO I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? - HOW DID I BECOME MY CURRENT WEIGHT? - HOW COMMITTED AND MOTIVATED AM I TO CHANGE MY CURRENT LIFESTYLE? - WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT DO I HAVE? Will my parents buy healthy food and keep junk food out of the house? Will they help me to exercise and do fun activities? Will my friends support and encourage me? 4. WHAT ARE MY EATING HABITS. - WHAT KIND AND HOW MUCH FOOD DO I EAT EVERYDAY? Do you have certain problem foods that you have trouble avoiding? - HOW OFTEN AND WHEN DO I EAT? Do I eat when I'm hungry, or when I am sad, depressed, stressed or other reasons? - DESCRIBE THE SITUATIONS WHEN YOU TEND TO EAT. Write down how you are feeling, and what and how much you eat at those times. This will help you figure out your emotions and what distracting things you can do instead of eat when they occur. - KEEP A FOOD DIARY. THIS IS IMPORTANT! List ALL THE FOOD and ALL THE AMOUNTS you eat for MEALS and SNACKS for several days. BE HONEST. You may find that it is not WHAT you are eating as much as HOW MUCH you eat that is causing you to gain weight. TIP: - TRY CUTTING DOWN FOOD PORTIONS. Use a salad plate and cut down food portions. DON'T HAVE SECONDS. Check out serving size and portion control tips for more information. - CUT FOOD IN HALF WHEN YOU GO OUT. Limit eating out but when you do, box up half the food when it comes to the table before you start to eat and save the other half for the next day for lunch or dinner. 5. WHAT'S MY EXERCISE/ACTIVITY LEVEL? Write down your usual daily routine for 3-4 days. - WHAT AND HOW MUCH EXERCISE OR ACTIVITY DO I DO? - WHAT ACTIVITY OR EXERCISE WOULD I LIKE TRY? Make a list of all the things you'd like to try. - Do something on your fun activities / distractions list EVERY DAY! If you don't feel like doing something, review Why I Want To Lose Weight. Your list should give you motivation. When you do a fun activity you don't even think about food. It works! Here's the simple truth: NO MOTIVATION = NO WEIGHT LOSS. If you have little motivation to eat less junk food, eat less food amounts, or stop eating when you aren't really hungry, you will not lose weight. If you don't distract yourself with other activities when you aren't really hungry, you will not lose weight. 6. PICK A SHORT TERM GOAL like lose 2 pounds this week. - Check your progress at the end of every day. Weigh yourself EVERY DAY. That helps you stay on track and stay motivated. Then, start your next goal. The key is to lose weight step by step, one day at a time. 7. SET REALISTIC SHORT TERM GOALS. You will be more successful if you start with a short term goal, say 10 or 15 pounds. Then, once you reach that goal, set another short term goal. Success builds success! 8. ASK YOUR FRIENDS FOR HELP. They can be very supportive and help you to stay away from unhealthy foods. Ask your parents to help you cut down food amounts and be active as well. 9. HOW WILL I MAINTAIN MY WEIGHT LOSS? Think about how to keep your goals. Am I willing to give up food for pleasure? What things can I do to replace eating for pleasure in my life? This requires a long term commitment to a healthy lifestyle. It gets easier the longer you practice your goals. So, keep following your goals step by step. Soon you will be living your new healthy you! Keep working at it. YOU CAN DO IT! 10. MORE HELPFUL SOURCES AND THINGS THAT HAVE HELPED OTHERS: - There is more information about motivation in the Healthy Weight School. - Check out the Teen Bulletin Board, pre-teen, and Success Boards for more tips and inspiration. - Try the chatroom and check out ideas in the tips area. - Get In Touch With Your Feelings. Learn to get in touch with your feelings and emotions. You'll have ups and downs but keep at it. Keep positive, you can lose weight too!!

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Building Self Confidence and Getting Motivation

=> Should I sign up for the kids workout class at my local YMCA? Its for kids 12-15 and I'm 13. I feel very self conscious when I excersize because I jiggle a lot. Also its embarrasing when I'm with younger kids but I really want to be healthy. Please help! ! => i am almost 13 years old, i am 5'6 and weigh 170 pounds. i am very self-consious of my weight. all the girls at school are all so tiny, and im jelous of them. i need some help on how i can get working at being ealthy. for my goal, i want to weigh around 140, to start. please help me. => hello. i am very unhappy about my weight. i think to myself everyday that im fat, nobody calls me fat or makes fun of my weight, i just feel uncomfterable when it comes to my weight. i eat alot, but very unhealthy foods as well. i dont get motivated very well when i try to do an excersise video, because ill do it one day but will stop after that. can you please tell me some tips of how i can start getting healthier. even at my age, i am very tall but also wide, so i dont like my weight,i cant run far because i get too out of breath, i need some help. how can i start feeling better about myself? => I am 12 and I weigh 166 pounds. I want to loose wieght but its very hard for me. I want to fill good about my slef and i dont know what to do. Do i make myslef through up so i can loose wieght fast? I know that it is very bad to do that but i dont like it when boys on the bus call me fat. I think I am very beautiful but I dont want to hurt myself. What can i do? Please Help!.

Is your Self Confidence and Motivation Level To Lose Weight on empty? If so, you are not alone. It's common to feel self-conscious about ones weight yet lack the motivation to lose the weight. Here are some things you can do to build up your self confidence and increase your motivation to lose weight: 1. Work on building up your self esteem (self confidence). Try some of the self confidence tips and you will start to feel better about who you are now. Start thinking positive and believe in YOU! You will feel more confident about yourself and it will show! 2. Make a list of some of the qualities that you admire in yourself. YOUR FRIENDS LIKE YOU FOR YOUR QUALITIES, NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE THIN. You might be good at art or math, or a patient listener. You might be funny, caring, honest, nice to others. See! 3. Take a look at the tips area, Healthy Weight School, and the How To Lose Weight area for lots of ideas. Then, make a plan and get started! 4. Be honest with friends and parents and ask them for help in losing weight. You’ll be amazed at how willing they are to support you if you just ask. Ask them to do fun things with you like go for bike rides or walks, play games or practice dance steps. Here are more ways you can ask your friends for help. YOU CAN DO IT!!! 5. Re-Fuel Your Motivation! Here's help to find MOTIVATION. Get started on making your own MOTIVATION CHART. Make a list of what you will need to do to reach each goal. Plan to do something on your list EVERYDAY!!!! 6. Get Lots of SUPPORT! Get support from all the kids on the site in the chatroom and from other kids on the pre-teen and teen bulletin boards. 7. Don't forget, every Wednesday "Lucy" is in the chat room to answer questions too! FILL UP YOUR SELF CONFIDENCE AND MOTIVATION TANK AND GET MOVING! IT CAN BE FUN WHEN WE DO IT TOGETHER!!!

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Exercise - Can It Make You Look Fatter

=> I'm a 16 year old girl and I have been eating healthily and working out 6 days of the week to lose weight. I heard that certain exercises cause muscles to go big under the fat which makes a fat person look fatter - is this true? My workout is cardio and aerobic based and involves a lot of repetition. Thanks

General cardio and aerobic exercise combined with healthy eating are great ways to help lose and maintain your weight. Repetition exercises done in moderation can also help to tone and strengthen your body. Sometimes, using too heavy of weights can cause bulging of muscles so start with light (1 kg = 2.2 pound) weights if you use them at all. It is the repetition of the exercise that tones and strengthens your body, and that is what you are striving to achieve. Keep up the great work out!

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Lose Weight Without Exercising

=> How can I lose weight without working out ?

Healthy weight loss is a combination of eating smaller portions of healthy foods and moderate exercise. You can lose weight by eating smaller portions without exercise but the benefits of exercise (healthy heart and keeping your bones strong) is a good idea at any age. Even doing 15-30 minutes a day of exercise or an activity with movement can make a difference. You may find stationary gym work outs boring. Why not try other distracting activities that get you moving. Any activity that gets you moving is beneficial. Here are some ideas: 1. Pick an exercise or activity you like! Remember, whether it’s walking, dancing or playing a sport, any activity that gets you moving burns calories / energy. Burning calories helps you lose weight. 2. Do some kind of activity every day. Why be bored? 3. Mix it up. 4. Get a weight loss buddy. You can help each other and keep each other motivated.

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Stress Eating - How To Stop

=> i have an really bad eating problem and i nedd help. The thing that is causing my eating problem is because i stress alot and when i stress i eat a "BIG" portion of food. I am really sick and tierd of people calling my names like "oh your so fat" and "no wonder you never got a good grade in gym because your the size of a cow." help me with my problem. Im only 11 and Im a size 14 in womens jeans and I just want to get into a size 8 in womens.

STRESS EATING - WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP: We already know that using food to cope with stress only makes us feel worse. Identifying the source of our stress and coming up with a plan to reduce or eliminate stress eating should help. Here are some ideas to try: 1. Learn to recognize what your stress triggers (the things that cause you stress) are and write them down on a piece of paper. For example: dealing with homework, talking in front of a group, dealing with my step parent. 2. Write down a plan for each stress trigger. For example: Call a friend for support when I am stressed about my homework. Use this list of DISTRACTING ACTIVITIES to find things you can do to avoid eating. 3. Do a distracting activity whenever you feel the urge to eat for reasons other than hunger. Remember, you can do these activities whenever you feel some uncomfortable feelings. Squeezing your hands together tight, and slow deep breathing are other ways to relieve stress. Learn to cope with stress without using food. Practice doing distracting activities instead of stress eating. You can do it!

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Exercise - Best Time To Do It

=> when is the best time to excersize? When is the best time to eat lunch and dinner?

The best time to exercise is ANYTIME! It's a good idea to start thinking of exercise as "FUN ACTIVITY!" The most important thing is to DO SOME FUN ACTIVITY EVERYDAY! Here are some fun ideas: 1. PICK A DIFFERENT FUN ACTIVITY EVERYDAY. Write down as many activities that you can think of on separate slips of paper and place them in a BIG JAR. Some examples of fun activities might be dancing, jumping rope, walking or running up and down stairs, shooting hoops or simply going for a walk. It's a fact, if you like doing an activity, you will be more likely to do it! That’s what counts. When you feel lazy or are about to eat something even if you aren’t hungry, reach into the jar, grab an activity, and DO IT!!! Right Now!! Be creative, mix it up, have fun! 2. Make exercise / fun activities a habit! like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Find the time each day and DO IT!!! The best time to eat lunch and dinner is when you are hungry. Use hunger as your guide and eat only when you are truly hungry at mealtimes. Try to avoid snacking in between meals or limit it to small amounts of fruits or vegetables. Eating a healthy breakfast also helps you to control overeating throughout the day.

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Family Support - How Family Can Help You Lose Weight

=> I'm 5'5" and 13 years old. I used to be 185-195 but now I'm 176.9 because I cut back on juice. What are some ways to get my family to help me lose weight?

Simply cutting back on sugary drinks like soda, juice and sports drinks can help one lose weight. Good job! Remember, water is your best friend! Working together as a family on weight loss is a great idea! The whole family can benefit when everyone works together on weight loss goals. Here are some ideas that might help: 1. First, talk to your parents about your weight loss wishes and get everyone on board. If they are initially unsupportive, try other ideas like show them the weight calculator and the parent area on this site. 2. Get junk food out of the house! Out of site, out of mind! Make a list before you go grocery shopping with healthy choices. Eating before you go helps so you don't buy tempting food you don't need. 3. Plan ahead. Make a list of things you and your family can do together other than eat when you aren't hungry. Write down fun things like go for a walk, hike, ride bikes, paint or draw, dance and so forth. Then, check the list instead of eating when you aren't hungry and do something on the list. Some kids put ideas on slips of paper and put them in a big jar. Then they "draw" out an idea and GO DO IT. You can take turns drawing out an activity. Mix it Up! It's FUN. 4. Be mindful. THINK BEFORE YOU EAT! Are you really hungry? If not, DON'T EAT. THINK DISTRACT as in distracting activities. Remind each other! 5. Surround yourself with other SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE. Get support and help from friends and other kids on this site. The chatroom, pre-teen, and teen bulletin boards are great sources of ideas and information. Don't forget, every Wednesday "Lucy" is in the chat room to answer questions too!

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Weight Plateau - How to Lose The Rest

=> How do you lose the last 10 pounds I think it takes forever and I was wondering if you have any advice?

Congratulations on losing weight! Sometimes we hit what are called weight plateaus where it seems our weight is stuck. This can be very frustrating but you can break through it. As one loses weight, it takes less energy (and fewer calories) to move around a smaller body. When you reach a plateau, you will either need to increase your activity, decrease the calories you eat, or do both if you want to continue losing weight. Trying a little more activity might just do the trick. Revisit your motivation and reasons why you want to lose weight. Make a new motivation chart. Check what and how much you are eating. You may find that you are eating a little more than you realize. Cut down food portions. Use a salad plate with smaller size portions and don’t have seconds. Cutting down food portions a bit more can help you to lose the last bit of weight. Check out serving size and portion control tips for more information.

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What Should You Weigh

=> How much are you supposed to weigh at 10?

To see if you are in a healthy weight range, you can check the weight calculator on our site. If after checking your weight calculations and you decide that you want to lose weight, visit the Healthy Weight School, How To Lose Weight and the weight loss tips area for lots of ideas. Get support from all the kids on the site in the chatroom and from other kids on the pre-teen and teen bulletin boards. And, don't forget, every Wednesday "Lucy" is in the chat room to answer questions too!

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Fast Weight Loss - Tips For Safe Weight Loss

=> im 13 year old and i people started to bothered me about my weight how can i take it down until May 5,2013 => I just turned 13 I weigh 120 pounds and am 4'11" I want to lose weight before May because the entire 7th grade class will be going to a water park at the end of the school year and i don't want to look over weight are there any tips u can give me to lose weight quickly i want to lose about 30 pounds => I am 12 years old and I weigh 127.5 lbs nd im am overweight and don't like it I want to lose about 30 lbs in about a month or two. and im really concered about my weight. please help my concern! => Hi guys I'm 5.5 in height and weigh 158 (pounds) and large build I am 12 going on 13 and I want to lose leg fat cuz that's most of it I'm a VERY healthy eater (usually) a vegetarian actually I eat fish (because they don't feel pain) and I want to lose weight I'm not over weight but I feel the need to be skinny!!! help!

Fast weight loss doesn’t work and doesn’t last! Quick diets, and food fads are usually unsafe and generally bad ideas. While most of us would like to lose weight fast, or lose weight in a certain area (typically our stomach or thighs), weight loss that occurs gradually (1-2 pounds a week) is more likely to stay off. Safe Weight Loss takes time and effort, so be patient. Generally, successful weight loss requires healthy portion controlled eating and increased activity or exercise. We need to take in less (food) and put out more (exercise) in order to lose weight. Check out How to Lose Weight and other Weight Control Tips for more information. Here are a few more tips: 1. Keep a food and activity diary. This helps you focus and tracks your progress. Try cutting back on food amounts and increase your activity. Review your progress daily. Start with small goals like weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week. 2. Check your weight on a scale every couple days. That way, if you are gaining, you can cut down food amounts a bit more and increase your activity. Lose weight the healthy way! You'll be glad you did!

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