Obese 16 year old - questions

LegacyUser

I'm 16 years old and weigh 17st 5lbs (about 245lbs)
My height is 5'9''. My waist size is 44''.

Basically, I really LOVE food and unhealthy food at that.

I am currently hoping to lose weight as getting around makes me out of breath very easily, etc. and was wondering if anyone has any tips.

Also, at my current size it's quite hard to find clothes (especially trousers) that fit and I was wondering if anyone could recommend anywhere in Dublin or online that sell trousers that big.

Any help you can offer me is appreciated.

Nevyn

Start with going to your dr and getting thier advice and then have a look at a way of getting fit and loosing the weight which will work for you.

Plus and Minor is a shop on thomas street which does clothes for larger sizes.
http://www.yelp.ie/biz/plus-and-minors-dublin

cafecolour

Eat less, eat healthy, exercise. Sorry, there's no magic pill yet

Start slowly, don't try to suddenly run marathons tomorrow, and don't beat yourself up if you're 'good' for a few days, and then have a 'bad' day.

Exercise wise, start just by going on some longer and longer walks (or bicycling), maybe some swimming. Eventually you'll want to starts some weights too.

Food wise, find some other loves, and try and identify what makes you eat. Eat slower, start trying to prepare your own, healthy foods.

mrpink6789

Have you looked in to weight watchers or unislim or anything like that? I lost over 7 stone with the help of weight watchers. You can still sometimes eat unhealthy food, just in moderation! Example I went out boozing every weekend with the lads, stayed away from dodgy kebabs though!

tenchi-fan

Don't calorie count, just make yourself aware of portion sizes.

For example, a portion of steak is the size of a deck of cards & not the mammoth slab you get in restaurants. A portion of cheese is the size of a domino. It's quality, not quantity. If you really love food, try appreciating flavours rather than associating a good meal with one that makes you feel full and bloated.

You can make your dinner as large as you want. But make sure there's only a small, lean piece of meat, a couple of scoops of potato, and the rest of your dinner can consist of vegetables.

While walking isn't considered moderate exercise for most people, given your weight you will burn more calories by walking than a healthy person. Walking should also take your mind off food and give you something to do, so I recommend a lot of walking. You should also do some weight lifting and more aerobic exercise for at least 30 mins a day.

The main thing is this will be a huge lifestyle change for you. You will need to dump bad habits and replace them with good habits.

LegacyUser

Hi OP, just wanted to say that you are not alone!

I lost about 3 stone with Weight Watchers a few years ago - unfortunately 1 stone has slowly crept back. I found the WW stuff good - I know a couple of friends who felt that they were pushing their own brand food though. Was just having a look earlier to see about doing WW again online.

I would say the 2 big things for me were:
1. Get better at cooking - when you can make your own tasty things, you don't have that deprived 'but it's rabbit food' thing going on. Tbh it was also a shocker at the relatively little loss of tastiness, for reducing the fat intake by loads
2. Portion sizes - I was seriously deluded about what a 'normal' portion was. I remember them saying that 1 portion of cheese was the size of a matchbox. I won't tell you what I would've considered a portion!

I've never gone back completely to my old ways - but it is so easy to slip ... hence my mission today, checking out the WW online thing, and making a giant pot of chilli for handy dinners and lunches.

Personally, I found giving up pasta and bread made a big difference. I'd eat rice, but generally brown.

I'm not so good (at all!) at doing exercise, but I'm making plans to get back into that.

Good luck OP, it all seems very daunting at the start, but once you get into the habit it isn't too bad.

LegacyUser

Meant to also say that getting lots of flavour into low calorie meals can be easily done by getting used to adding more spices. I found that after I started to make my own stuff from scratch, I found ready made food and jars of sauces very bland and unsatisfying.

And it is perfectly possible to make 'bad' things like home made pizza (pitta base, lean ham, lots of veg - but very little cheese!), and home made spicy wedges - I loved doing stuff like that before, yummy - but just being careful with oils/fats and of course cheese on the pizza (and not the giant portions you'd get if you ordered them out!).

LegacyUser

You have to be very careful with weight like that so young, I take it you haven't even started drinking alcohol yet and if/when you start on that in a few years time the calories in that alone will make things even worse. The long term outcome of obesity can be diabetes or heart disease, and by long term I'm taking about within the next 20years.
But the good news is that you want to address it and you can do so very easily and without much effort.
First of all you have to accept that you won't see any overnight results, weight loss happens in the same way as weight gain, you don't really notice it for months. Give yourself a 6 to 8 month plan to lose 2 to 3 stone to begin with and follow these simple steps. (This worked for me, I went from 18stone to 12stone in 6 months).

1. Drink water or tea instead of sugar drinks (this includes giving up orange juice, coke etc)
2. Stop eating white bread, switch to wholewheat brown bread
3. Never eat fried foods or deep friend foods
4. Learn to leave 1/4 of your food behind after eating, it gets you used to smaller portions
5. Porridge as cereal in the mornings (and as a snack)
6. Fruit is good, apples, grapes, oranges etc.
7. Fresh vegetables, snack on raw carrotts
8. Oven cook or grill most foods and keep away from pre-packaged foods like pizza

Just try that for 6 months. It will be awful for the first 4 weeks but then your taste buds will change and you'll appreciate the new flavours. Walk as much as you can, it takes an effort but just try it, a mile a day if possible.

I guarantee you'll be down at least 4 stone or more by the end of that if you stick to it. But as previous posters suggested, see your GP and ask your GP to arrangte an appointment with a dietician (they advise on foods not on starvation). Your GP will take this very seriously and will do everything they can to help you.

Finally, best of luck, you'll feel so much better if you can just focus for 6 months and achieve this.

cgcsb

The easiest things you can do that will help are

1)drink plenty of water

2)No fizzy drinks, if you must have a fizzy drink, get the sugar free option (coke zero, diet 7up etc.) Try drinking some fruit juice or smoothies(I highly recommend smoothies)

3)because you're a big lad, walking will be your number 1 friend. people should be walking at least 1.5km a day, I walk more than that to college, and I dont even think of it as excercise, but it helps. But I mean EVERY day, even when it's lashing rain out.

4) get lifting some weights, it'll burn fat and build muscel, slowly but surely. Start on a small weight for week one and gradually increase the number of reps everyday, whatever you're comfortable. DON'T strain yourself, if you're tired/sore, rest. Maybe start with 10 reps on a 5kg weight.

5) Ignore your weighing scales for a while. looking at it everyday will only make you impatient and you'll get frustrated with it. This will be a slow process, and could take months/a year and you have to commit yourself to it.

6)Absolutely no eating fast food out(for the first month at least), McD's, Burger King, SuperMac's, say goodbye to them. If you're out somewhere and you feel the hunger go to a shop and get yourself a sandwich/roll (or better yet, a wrap)

7)Bread, it's one of Ireland's bigggest bloaters, switch to brown bread(preferably wholegrain) and limit your intake to two slices per day.

8)Breakfast. Cereals(the vast majority of them) are crap, avoid them. Have a bowl of porridge(very satisfying) on a cold morning and maybe some meusli on a warm day, follow it up with a portion of fruit, apples are very filling and full of vitamins.

9) lunch, any meats you have at lunch should be lean meats. Chicken, Turkey, Tuna fish, lean pork or ham. Cherry tomatoes are an amazing lunchtime food, they'll make you feel great, eggs are good too, plenty of protein

10) This is the tricky one, Dinner. Considering your age, I would guess that your parent(s) prepare your dinner fo you. For this one, you should talk to your parents. At 16, you shouldn't bother yourself with portion sizes, think about what you're eating though. Stick to your meat, veg and a portion of carbs(potato, rice, pasta etc.). just eat whatever makes you full and ya can't go wrong.

11)Snacktime. Crisps are LEATHAL!!!! get rid of them. I hate the things. Have an individual portion of popcorn instead. Fruits are a great snack, when you get peckish help yourself to some strawberries, bananas, grapes, yummy! Forzen foods are mosrtly a no no. If it's frozen and it looks brown/beige/white it ain't right. No sausage rolls, no frozen chips/wedges/waffles. For a treat there are these frozen pizzas, I think they're Dr. Oetger brand or something like that, they have a thin base(always go for thin base) and mozzerella, spinach and olives on them, taste amazing and won't bloat ya.

12) Sandwiches, no more than one a day. only brown rolls or brown bread of course. Ideally you should have a wrap instead, but let's face facts, you're a growing lad, not a Ken doll. Butter, avoid it if possible, if not use Low Low or a margerine. Mayo is a no no, although if you're eating tuna fish, it's forgivable. Instead of mayo try using a salsa sauce as a spread, amazing flavour, feck all calories.
Sun Dried tomatoes are god's gift to the sandwich, and they are basically a little vitamine C bomb. Peppers are always good. Lattuce gives ya a bit of crunch. No Coleslaw, Sweet corn is also advisable.

13) The most important things to remember through all of this are.
a)honesty, if you slip up, you slip up, don't lie to yourself, you know you did it, get over it and make try your best not to do it again.
b)Patients, even if you follow every rule to the letter, you're not going to look like arnold shwartznigger. These steps, if followed will get make you feel better, give you more energy, you will loose some weight, but that's a bonus. Your goal should be to be healthier, to feel better about yourself etc. weight loss is a secondary objective. For a lad your size your ideal weight is 13-14 stone, these steps won't get you there alone, they might get you down to 15 at best, the rest will have to be made up by some serious dedication, exorcise and hard work, it won't be easy.

These steps will boost your confidence and get you started. If you stick to this, don't bother looking at your weighing scales in the first month.

LegacyUser

I was in the exact same situation as you before over the space of 6 months i went from sround 17st to around 14st by sticking with the following .

1. I never ate a breakfast as had a break at 10 so i would ensure that i would have prepared lunches ready for 10 and 1 , usually consisted of a small sandwich at each break with a piece of fruit at 1 .

2. Water is your friend , cut out any fizzy drinks and fruit juices . If you have trouble sticking with water find a dilute that you like and can add a small amount to the water .

3. Dinner i cut back on bread and potatoes and upped the protein , so had extra meat to feel full . And i never ate anything later than 7.30 if at all possible . This way i was goin to bed slightly hungry and would sleep through till morning no problem .

4. No snacks , this is where the willpower kicks in just get between meals without snacks.

Get a good digital scales and weigh yourself at the same time each week only once a week, its money well spent keep track each week of your progress theres no better motivator than being really good one week and seing the weight drop.

Firetrap

Have you a family member or a friend who can help you out? Like for example joining you in whatever exercise you choose to take? Or if you go down the Weightwatchers/Unislim route, going along with you to the meetings for moral support? If you don't want to pay money to these clubs, how about having them weigh you at the same time each week and have a chart where you mark your weight? Just a couple of thoughts...

Katgurl

Some good news for you op. I'm in my 30s. When I was a teen all my friends were naturally skinny except me. I worried and worried. Then (like you) I started investigating how to change it. Now I am the most educated about food, diet, exercise and when everyone else moans about how awful it is to be getting old, losing our looks (seriously this isthe rubbish I have to listen to) and saying goodbye to svelte bodies I just laugh because I've a better body now than I did then.

I do sympathise bcause even though I wasn't remotely obese I really hated feeling different.

Just join weightwatchers and take up exercise. It's a straightforward guaranteed solution. You will never look back. And when everyone elses metabolisms catch up with them it'll be you they come running to for tips.

jdivision

I think you should post up what you eat in the Nutrition and Diet forum - a lot of what you're eating now and think is healthy may not be.
Best of luck with the weight loss - it's worth it - I went down from 292 to 203 in about two years just by changing how I ate, I didn't even exercise much more. And I still eat like a horse, it's just I eat better stuff.

thefeatheredcat

as you're young I would suggest firstly talk to a GP. It doesn't have to be your family Dr but someone who can give you the right advice and nutritional advice, or even refer to a nutritionist or dietician.

That's firstly so that you can get on the right track straight away with advice and support and secondly to steer you in a positive mentality regarding losing weight, diet, fitness, exercise and body image.

I assume that you still live at home, and not necessarily the person who purchases food or prepares meals, so talk to your family about it and get their support on board. It will mean a lot in the long run, especially if it's being monitored by a GP/nutritionist, and certainly them having knowledge of it will be a relief with the openness and will win you support and encouragement that you will need to have all the way through to achieve your goal.

Ignore celeb and crash diets. They don't work. Diet sensibly and with correct guidance.

Look after your mental health: this is something most people never focus on when losing weight. When losing weight there is also a psychological process involved as once you actually start seeing the weight come off yourself, you have to accept your new physical self too. Changes in your diet may also contribute to changes in the chemicals in your brain, and therefore moods. Exercise can make you feel a lot better.

Above all, take your time and go at your pace. Don't overdo it with eating too little or changing too much too soon. Don't overdo the exercise to the point of exhaustion.

Keep regular checks with your GP/nutritionist so that they can monitor your health on an on-going basis.

Be patient with yourself and if you fall off the wagon at any point, don't be too hard on yourself, but just get back right on track. Keep your eye on the goal and enjoy the journey there and the success in achieving it and maintaining it too.

not yet

cafecolour wrote: »

Eat less, eat healthy, exercise. Sorry, there's no magic pill yet

Start slowly, don't try to suddenly run marathons tomorrow, and don't beat yourself up if you're 'good' for a few days, and then have a 'bad' day.

Exercise wise, start just by going on some longer and longer walks (or bicycling), maybe some swimming. Eventually you'll want to starts some weights too.

Food wise, find some other loves, and try and identify what makes you eat. Eat slower, start trying to prepare your own, healthy foods.

+1

Elbi

Hey

Unislim have a great new plan, there isnt a point system anymore, you are allowed 5 carbs a day 3 fat . there is lots of "free" food like chicken, veg, spices and herbs and you can have 14 treats a week, Its not like Weight Wathchers and is open at all different times so chances are when you go to be weighed in there wont be many if any people there,

I started 2 weeks ago I am only losing 2 pounds a week but its better than gaining it, I also do aerobics but usually only once or twice a week, exercise helps lose it and keep it off

Best of luck Op

LegacyUser

i met a lad when he was 16yrs old, he was a big guy, probably 18 stone.
we lost touch after a few years, i met him again when he was 22yrs old. he was half the guy i knew. he told me he had been 24 stone at his heaviest, he lost 12 stone!!

it took him 2 yrs, hard work, excersize everyday, he started walking, built up eventually to going to a gym, did a lot of swimming. started eating smaller portions.

it did take him a long time but he did it right and it stayed off!!


he is now 30 yrs old, has kept up with his healthy lifestyle.
he is now engaged to a great girl, living together and is so happy.

you can do it.
he is an inspiration to me!!

calex71

Not advice more a tip maybe.

If you must have a fizzy drink try mixing sparkling water with diluted orange etc. for a bit, yes there is a lot of sugar etc in the diluted stuff to but you control how much goes in !!!!! Add just enough to give it an orange taste or what ever.
Then eventually swap the diluted stuff for a squeeze of orange or lemon fruit or a slice of.

As others have said there is no magic pill regardless of the many ad's for diet pill on tv at the moment. Start slow seek a professionals help and set your self little goals like taking a walk. A tip there is to get an audio book to listen to only when walking, that way if it's a good one you might walk further to hear more of the story (works for me lol)

Likely silly advice I know but it might help in some way. Good luck.