Diet Tips for Teen Girls

Teenage girls have a tough time balancing health and weight. At every turn teens are confronted with conflicting messages: eat this junk; eat more of it; be skinny. Teens face the same obesity epidemic as adults. The University of California San Diego reports a study in which obesity in teen girls was linked to the development of depression. A little or a lot overweight, a teen girl who wants to diet could use a few tips to help her reach healthy goals.

Eat Unprocessed

• The fewer food decisions you have to make, the easier it is to make them. So choose unprocessed and unadulterated food first. Eat fresh fruit and raw vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds. Drink water. Select lightly cooked meals over battered or fried foods. Pick oil and vinegar over creamy dressings. Food with the least amount done to it is the best food for a healthy diet.

Resist Ridiculous Images

• That Hollywood actress with more angles than curves hasn't had a square meal in years. Fashion models are too often human clothes hangers, half-starved to sell skin tight jeans and haute couture. Cameras put pounds on you -- as much as twenty. Dig deep behind the scenes of those fantasy bodies. Talk about anorexia, bulimia and other potentially fatal diseases with parents, friends and health care professionals. Don't buy into the marketing that disempowers young women and pay for it with self esteem and your health.

Eat Breakfast

• Just get up and do it. You can spare a few extra minutes to boost your metabolism so it burns more calories all day, rev up your energy so you're not dragging around by mid-morning craving a candy bar, and keep from feeling hunger pains until it's time for lunch. Eat something that tastes good and is good for you -- steel-cut oatmeal with raisins, an egg, a fruit smoothie, whole wheat toast and a peach or a banana make a healthy breakfast. Or eat a non-breakfast food such as leftovers from supper, or a bowl of miso soup. Grab a low-fat yogurt and a handful of nuts and head out the door. Just don't leave home on an empty stomach.

Move It

• Couch potatoes look like potatoes. Tennis, soccer and volleyball players look like powerful women. Hip hop dancers and ballerinas are endurance athletes. People who walk have healthier lungs and hearts and shapelier legs. Get up from the computer and run through some power yoga in your room. Sign on for a sports team or a swim class. Jump rope, use a fitness ball, haul out your bike. Never aim for skinny; always shoot for strong. The only thing you have to lose is some unhealthy weight.