First and foremost, I am not trying to proclaim that diets are the anti-Christ; there are people (adults, mostly, whose bodies have finished developing) that do need to ‘diet.’ There are overweight people who do need to lose weight (re: overweight). Chances are, if you are a teenage girl (or boy, self-loathing doesn’t discriminate), you would benefit from changing your eating habits over picking up a new dieting trend.
If one of your first thoughts after reading that paragraph was ‘I’m too fat to do anything other than diet to lose weight’ — stop. STOP. Push that thought somewhere else until you’ve finished listening to what I have to say.
Average Height and Weight for Teenage Girls
12-13 Years Old — 60-63 Inches — 95-105 Pounds
14-15 Years Old — 63-64 Inches — 105-115 Pounds
16-17 Years Old — 64 Inches — 115-120 Pounds
18-20 Years Old — 64 Inches — 125-130 Pounds
(Source)
If you fall into any of those categories (I’m a seventeen-year-old boy who fits in the first category, if that makes you laugh), great. If you don’t, ask yourself these questions:
1. Am I taller than average height? Do I weigh what I should for my height? (A good way to see if you are at a healthy weight for your height would be to calculate your BMI.)
2. Does my diet (diet - noun - the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group) consist of foods that are healthy and benefit my body? If not, what can I do to change what I eat (to possibly help change what I weight)? (I am going to recommend Whole Living magazine; we have a subscription at our house, and I love their recipes. I’ll also recommend Vegetarian Times, even if you aren’t vegetarian.)
3. Am I exercising on a daily on a daily basis? (“Daily exercise is a critical component to good health. People who exercise regularly have been shown to have more energy, a stable, healthy weight, better balance and coordination, a more fulfilling sex life, and an all around better quality of life.” Source.)
4. Does peer pressure (and pressure from society) affect the way I feel I should be?
I can’t stop you from dieting. I can only hope that your diets consist of healthy, approved of methods (such as changing what you eat and how much you eat, plus exercising daily) rather than extremes (such as eating disorders, which, by the way, can kill you). I’m merely trying to point out that you are worth more than what you weigh. If you are at an average weight for your height, why change that? Work on being healthy — none of us can be airbrushed, supermodels (unless you own Photoshop).
Another tip: Rather than have negative thinking bring you down, flip it around! Cut those negative thoughts short and replace them with something positive. You could even record this in a notebook or diary. The more you think positive, the more positive your thinking becomes!
(A little side note: Most men (I’m no expert, but I did hear this advice from a very wise, Social Studies teacher) who are looking for serious relationships (long-term, and something other than sex; most teenagers don’t experience this because most teenage boys aren’t looking for anything other than a fling) aren’t looking to date a supermodel (unless they’re shallow). Wow, that was a loaded sentence. In fact, a little meat on your bones prevent your partner from thinking they’re dating a skeleton! How unattractive is that?)
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