Unfortunately there’s no magic bullet to lose weight – despite all of the ads in magazines that promise quick weight loss. Most of these fad diets are hard to stay on. This means that you can’t stick with them for long and once you stop following the diet, you’ll probably gain back the weight you lost. Many fad diets only allow you to eat certain foods, which means they can be harmful to your body. Fad diets usually don’t provide enough vitamins and minerals, which can lead to health problems such as anemia (low iron in your blood) and osteoporosis (a condition that causes your bones to break easily).
However, you can make some easy changes that will help you to cut back on the amount of calories you consume by:
- Choosing less sugary beverages. Drinks such as soda and juice are loaded with sugar and empty calories.
- Eating breakfast will prevent you from getting too hungry during the day and give you energy to think at school.
- Packing fruit for a snack instead of buying chips or candy.
- Eating more whole grains. Choose whole grain bread, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, and high-fiber cereals. They are more filling than refined grains.
- Choosing lean meats such as chicken and fish or vegetarian sources of protein such as beans and tofu over fatty meats.
- Eating a serving of fruit and/or vegetable at most meals and for snacks.
- Watching your portion sizes. Eat until you are satisfied.
Don’t forget to fit exercise into your day by:
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
- Walking instead of taking the bus
- Joining a gym
- Joining a sports team or a dance team
- Going for a walk with your family or friends
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.