Just wanting to be healthier

Question
I am 16 years old, 5'4 and about 170 lbs. Most of my friends would never believe this, because I look about 140 ("Not fat, just curvy," they say) but I'm becoming very dissatisfied with my health and my body. If I were 35 and had the same shape, fine, but I'm young. I want my body to look it. I'm not sure what to do about it, though. It's not like I eat horribly; I eat fruit, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats like any other health-conscious person. I just have a big appetite, and I do eat pizza, school lunches and occasionally chips or salty snacks. But so do my cousins my age, and they look normal. I don't exercise at all, is the difference. But I used to strenuously 5 days a week and I was still 140 as a 13-year-old at my height! I'm just wondering what I need to do to get rid of this weight. Should I cut out all soda and juice? I do drink a lot of empty calories and diet drinks. Should I stop eating anything whatsoever that's bad for me? Should I cut down portions or carbs or salt? Should I start walking all the time like I used to or do I need to step it up? I really don't know, and it would be great if you could help. Thank you.

Answer
Hi Alex,

Thank you for contacting allexperts.com I hope that I can assist you with your question.

In order to reach your ideal weight and remain healthy in the process, you are going to have to change your diet and your behavior. You seem to be very serious and willing to do this so the chances of your success are very high.

The first issue that comes to mind is exercise.  Everyone needs to have some exercise.  Actually, to be truthful, I am very bad at this myself, and I have to constantly push myself to get the exercise that I need.  Everybody tells me to find something that I love to do, but the problem is that there isn't anything!!!!  So if there is something that YOU love to do, then by all means, do it.  If there is not, then you have to use a little discipline (like me) and force yourself to get out and get some exercise every single day!

Because you are a tad over your ideal weight, I would recommend something low impact like water aerobics if you have access to a swimming pool through your school, local YMCA or perhaps a community or city pool.  Keeping your exercise very low impact is very important.  If this is not available to you, then walking would be a good choice, HOWEVER, you must walk on the ground NOT on concrete or asphalt.  If your local high school has one of those tracks that has a low impact surface then that would be ok, but walking on concrete and asphalt is UNNATURAL and it will damage your joints.  This is also true of jogging.  I cringe every time I see a jogger merrily running along a city street or sidewalk destroying their hips, knees and spine.  It is a small wonder that hip and knee replacement surgery is very common for people of a very young age these days who are "into fitness".

Now then, back to the diet issue.  First of all, you need to quit drinking any diet drink because it is full of very unhealthy and potentially DANGEROUS chemicals (artificial sweeteners).  Fruit juice is fine, except you must look at the ingredient list and make certain that there is nothing in your juice except 100 percent juice - that means NO PRESERVATIVES.  The best choice for juice is to get frozen juice and reconstitute it.  But again, no additives at all, not even "added calcium".  Just 100 percent juice only.

If you do not want to buy frozen juice then you can purchase bottled juice at the health food store that is 100 percent natural and usually organic. (Organic is always best).  Aside from drinking good beverages without any additives, you need to keep your diet free of processed foods.  Processed foods not only are full of empty calories, as you mentioned, but they actually damage the body because they are full of chemicals and unnatural ingredients.

Ideally, you should be eating only whole, fresh, natural, unprocessed vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds and vegetable oil - preferably raw and preferably organic.  The perfect diet is no less than 75 percent raw.  The reason for this is that we must consume living foods in order to maintain our energy level so that we are able to function properly.  By eating cooked foods your are consuming DEAD foods.  Although cooked food does contain some vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, it does not have enzymes which are vital for our body to fully utilize these nutrients, and it does not contain the fundamental cellular energy that is contained in each atom's electron.  These electrons are what allows us to move, think, breathe, etc.  When it comes right down to it, all of our life is based upon electrons on a cellular level.  Without that vital energy we die.  So you can see that eating dead food does not provide what we need to sustain life.

Finally, if possible you should reduce your meat intake to only 3 ounces of meat twice a week; or preferably eliminate meat completely.  Eating a fully vegetarian diet is very beneficial and will protect you from many diseases caused my consuming meat; mostly high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and possibly cancer.  Likewise, I strongly urge you to remove all dairy products from your diet *especially* milk.  Milk has been linked to many autoimmune disorders such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis as well as cancer.  Not only that, but milk is the most common allergen and causes an increase in mucus in the body which can interfere with digestion and the body's ability to assimilate vitamins and nutrients.

Even though eating a good diet is important, much of the produce that you get today is deficient in necessary trace elements.  Therefore, I strongly recommend that you buy a good supplement from your health food store to ensure that you are getting everything you need - especially since you are still growing.  Consulting with a knowledgeable clerk at the health food store should be helpful to you in choosing what you need.

If you avoid processed, pre-packaged foods and eat a good variety of fresh, whole, natural items; coupled with regular exercise you will most certainly attain optimum weight.  Not only will you maintain a good, healthy weight but you will ensure a healthy, vibrant future free of disease.

For more interesting information on these topics, please look over my blog at http://everydayhealthandwellness.blogspot.com

Best of luck. Feel free to contact me any time.

Tasha

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