Ways for a Teen Male to Lose Weight

Teens usually want fast weight loss results and will gravitate toward crash or starvation diets, which provide poor nutrition and cause tiredness and a slower metabolism. Supportive nutrition is mandatory to fuel growth and proper muscular development, and to provide needed energy for school and play. The best approach for a growing teen boy is to slightly adjust your caloric intake and increase your activity level--in other words, cut out junk and get off the couch or computer.

Making Smarter Food Choices

• A pound is equal to 3,500 calories, so to lose one pound of weight per week, you'd need to eliminate 500 calories per day from your diet. As a male, you have an advantage over females because men have more muscle and a naturally higher metabolic rate, which means you'll lose weight faster. Dropping a few pounds won't be difficult if you cut out high-calorie snacks and foods, and replace them with lower-calorie choices.

  For example, a Burger King Double Whopper with cheese is over 1,000 calories (without the fries or onion rings and shakes you might also order). However a Subway foot-long club sandwich is just 640 calories--a savings of almost 400 calories. A bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos (the size normally sold in vending machines), is 250 calories of nothing nutritious. However a large apple or 2 cups of watermelon is just 100 calories and provides plenty of potassium, fiber to help fill you up and vitamin C.

  Cut out the empty sugary calories of soda pop and save hundreds of calories per day. Each 12 oz. can of soda is about 150 calories, with 40 or more grams of sugar and no nutritional value. A refreshing option is water infused with fresh fruit, or a mixture of mineral water and fruit juice.

  The USDA Food Guide Pyramid suggests that teen boys eating 2,000 calories per day have five or more servings of vegetables, five servings of fruit, eight servings of carbohydrates (breads and cereals), seven servings of protein (meat, fish, beans and eggs), and no more than five servings of fat. Visit www.mypyramid.gov for easy-to-understand information on food nutrition.

  Healthy weight loss is slow and steady over a period of time. A loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week will make sure the weight you are losing is actually fat. Crash diets usually result in immediate weight loss, followed a few weeks later by weight gain.

Get Up and Move

• Exercise doesn't have to be painful, take hours out of your day or cost a fortune in equipment. One of the easiest and most effective ways to start exercising is to walk. The President's Council on Physical Fitness suggests Americans walk 10,000 steps per day. Buy a pedometer to track your steps and put it on every morning.

  Walk to school or work instead of taking the bus, or at least get off a few stops sooner than you normally would. Take the stairs whenever you can instead of the elevator or escalator. Take the family dog for a 30-minute walk or jog when you get home from school every afternoon or before you leave in the morning. Swimming, playing basketball or football, roller skating, and mountain biking are other ways to have fun with friends and exercise at the same time.

  Performing resistance training with your own body weight or free weights at home or at the gym helps you burn fat and build muscle. Beginners should start with body weight exercises like push-ups, chin-ups, squats, lunges, crunches and triceps dips to acclimate your body to exercise before moving on to added weight. Weight workouts should revolve around a full-body routine that exercises each major muscle group two to three times per week, in addition to cardiovascular exercise like walking, jogging, rope jumping or stair climbing.

Expert Insight or Warnings

• If your doctor feels that you are seriously overweight, speak with your parents about scheduling an appointment with a registered dietian. She can provide you with a calorie-controlled eating plan that focuses on healthy foods, as well as provide advice on increasing exercise.