Hi, I''m 17 yr old girl, and I feel unhealthy and unfit. I am eating a lot of junk food constantly and hardly getting my heart rate up. I normally eat white rice, meat (chicken, beef), bread, milk, chips, cookies, Nutella, candy bars, very little vegetables..egg once in a while, pita bread, some oily foods..anyway Yesterday I raced my brother to the end of a really long block and tired myself out before I reached the end. I had probably been running for only maybe 20 seconds. When I look in the mirror, I see my hips are a little out of proportion and when I stand and look at myself on the side, my stomach is coming out a bit and like its fat right under my belly button but then over that flat for like 2 cm, and then goes back to fat..wtf...and now the pants that I wear are kind of taking on this shape from my stomach/waist and it looks so weird..
Also my body slightly has an hourglass shape..SLIGHTLY idk.. Here''s a pic: http://imgur.com/UT7EflM
And it may seem weird but I''m only 115.5 pounds and I know that''s probably normal for my age but I can feel how unhealthy I am, I need to workout more but I don''t know which to do, I also want to work on my glutes and back of my thighs. Those are managable but I mainly want to know what foods I should be eating, please help!
How to Eat at McDonald''s and Still Lose Weight
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It''s all about physical activity and eating the right foods.
For exercise, always focus on three things: cardio, strength training, and core. Even though cardio does help you lose weight, you have to understand that strength training and core are just as important. Not only does it tone your muscles (you don''t wanna lose the weight and your abs look all funky), but it goes hand in hand with cardio. Have you ever seen athletes run? They pump their arms to go faster and their legs are well-developed. The stronger you are, the faster and longer you can run! So make sure to do some strength training and core workouts. Since you''re a girl and I''m thinking you don''t wanna get ripped out like a guy, don''t do heavy lifting, just enough so that you can do a lot of reps in one set, so that it can tone your muscles. If you do wanna get yolked, then it would be less reps, but more weight. Run 1-2 miles at least 4-5 times a week or do cardio for 30-45 mins 4-5 times a week. Personally for me, when I run, I try to run somewhere scenic--much better than a treadmill. Plus, I heard running outside is better for you. If you can get a gym membership, I highly recommend it. That way, you can do your strength training and core workouts--which should also be done at least 4-5 times a week as well. If you can''t get a gym membership, I''m not really sure what exercises you can do at home to help you with your workouts. There''s always pushups and situps. :) Those are especially effective because it''s resistance. I''ve asked a bunch of my guy friends and they say pushups, sitsups, dips, and chinups--those are something that everyone should be able to do (I''m trying to do dips and chinups... Those are SOO hard, but over a lot of time and commitment, they''ll be done!). Oh and stretch at least 20-30 minutes a day! As for your glutes and things: lunges and squats primarily, and leg workouts. Those are a pain, but man, it works!
As for diet... sigh, the sad part is that you should really lay low on the chips, cookies, candy bars, etc (all the good things in life haha). Things like rice (brown rice is good for you, not white rice), pasta, and bread (wheat bread, not white) are carbs so you want to eat that at small portions too. The way carbs work is that it''s supposed to be used as energy. If you''re not using it, it becomes fat. So if you plan to eat all that stuff a lot, then make up for it by doing lots of exercise too. Out of all the meats, chicken breast is the best for you. But make sure it''s grilled or baked, not fried. If you''re metabolism is low, eat 3 meals a day (no snacking unless it''s fruits or veggies). Once you''re metabolism is sped up, than you can start snacking every few hours, but make sure it''s not stuff like fries or sweets or anything. You should definitely start eating fruits and veggies because they''re so good for you. I know you''ve probably been told that, but it really is true. Just find the veggies you like and work around it. For me, I LOVE carrots, spinach, green beans, broccoli, apples, oranges, and raspberries. So when I prepare my meals, I use those because I can at least enjoy eating haha. But the more veggies/fruits, the better. Also, don''t drink any more soda. Water is a MUST. Water, water, water! Drink at least 8 cups a day, because water is really important (it also helps prevent acne--yay!). Other liquids you can drink would be Gatorade (only a little) or natural fruit juice. No fast food and always eat breakfast. For me, I take multivitamins every day, if you wanna do that too. In all seriousness, I think the hardest part is the diet. My best advice is to ease yourself into a healthier diet. Start off trying to eat smaller portions. When your diet has changed, you''ll definitely see results (I went from 142 to 135 in like a month or two by just changing my diet).
Sorry if it sounds like a lot, but I''m on the same page here. I''m trying to slim down to 125 (I saw your pic though and you look fine and slim to me), but most importantly, I''m trying to be healthier. I''d rather be thick and healthy, than skinny and unhealthy. You''re only 17 and you''re about to hit your prime coming 20''s. So take advantage of it! Hope this helps! Oh, and ALL of this is so much easier when you have a friend doing it with you ;)
- The food pyramid http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Loma_Linda_University_Vegetarian_Food_Pyramid.jpg should be the same for everyone. It is deisgned to ensure you get the right amount of nutrients, both micro and macro.
If you need to increase one factor of the pyramid, then the other factors should also be increased by an equal percentage. This a common mistake with amateur body builders. They hear so much that you need protein for working out and assume that all they need is a protein shake. In actuality, they should also be eating more vegetables.
Instead of thinking of your diet as food, think of it as plates. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/files/2012/10/healthy-eating-plate-700.jpg Each and every meal should have the same percentage of food types.
Then you need to find out what you should be eating. I can''t tell you what to eat because it might not be easy for you to get it. What stores can you get to easily? What foods are the healthiest for you? What foods can you afford? What foods do you like? Then after this you make notes on the foods nutritional information. (calories, sugar, fat, protein...) Put foods together into a meal that you would enjoy chowing down to, or at least won''t make you sick.
After you have several meals planned, put several of them together to create a one day meal plan. Add all the nutritional information up and see if it hits the RDA of vitamins, minerals, protein, calories, fats and fibre. You tweak it to make sure that you do hit those RDA''s and that it leaves you feeling satisfied.
It seems all very complicated, but it only seems that most of us have not grown up healthy. This should be basic knowledge, but instead we get ourselves so hooked on junk food that we forget that it''s so easy to be healthy.
