If you re worried about being healthy, it s far more important to be active than it is to be thin. Move. Go for a run. Take a dance class. Try hula-hooping. Laser-tag! Anything that you like and gets your heart rate up is good because it strengthens your heart, improves your lung capacity, and makes your muscles stronger. And you don t have to pick a sport if you don t like sports. There are lots of things you can do that are fun and good exercise. Even just turning up your favorite music and dancing around in your bedroom for 20 minutes is great exercise! (Plus, it s really fun!)Don t worry about dieting. Trust me, dieting messes up your metabolism and can also seriously mess up your attitude towards your body and how you eat. You are beautiful just the way you are. Every person is shaped differently and it s okay if you have a tummy. Lots of women naturally have a bit of a tummy that starts showing up when they hit puberty. It s your body s way of preparing for the possibility of being pregnant. (That s why men generally have more muscle than fat compared to women.) Your chubbiness may just disappear on its own as you get taller. Don t worry about what the scales say -- throw it out if you re always tempted to peek. Your weight naturally goes up and down during the day so it s really not a good indicator of health. The best way to tell if you are healthy is by how you feel, not by what you weigh.Eat healthy but don t eat with the expectation of weight loss -- so don t count calories because it will just make you obsess over food. Being a vegetarian is a great healthy choice. Don t fall into the trap of eating lots of spaghetti and grilled cheese sandwiches. I mean, yeah, it s vegetarian but it s important to eat in a healthy way. Get a balanced amount of veggies, fruits, proteins (beans, tofu -- there are some really great fake meat products by Morningstar, Boca, and some other companies, check in the freezer section at your grocery store, and those products tend to be packed with protein), real bread (not just white Wonderbread). Since your bones are still growing (and you ll probably be getting at least a couple inches taller over the next couple of years), make sure you get calcium, which you can get from regular cow milk, soy milk, yogurt, etc. Most importantly, listen to your body. Learn to tell when you re hungry and when you re full, then listen to what your body is telling you. I know it sounds dumb but sometimes we just get so used to eating (or not eating) at a certain time, but if you re actually hungry (or full) then do what your body is asking for. Feed it when it s hungry, stop eating when it s full. And if you want to eat a cookie every now and then, eat it! Don t be afraid to have dessert -- just don t replace your other foods with desserts and I d say don t eat dessert if (a) it s not something you genuinely want and (b) you re already full.Also, if you drink pop, I d suggest replacing that with water or even juice. Pop doesn t have any nutritional value and it s made with high fructose corn syrup, which studies suggest may be linked to the development of diabetes since the body doesn t process corn syrup the way it would process sugar and it may be messing with the ability of the body to deal with insulin/make insulin. And although you probably don t smoke since you re 12, let me just add: don t smoke, ever. It s really bad for your lungs and heart and messes up the way the body works, including how you metabolize food. If you start smoking before you turn 18, you re pretty much going to be smoking for the rest of your life since most people who start young find it too hard to kick. Cigarettes are packed with addictive chemicals. And if you make it to your 20s without smoking, there s a pretty good chance you ll never start. So: don t smoke, seriously.Having fat doesn t mean you re unhealthy and it doesn t mean you re going to have heart problems. Everybody has fat cells. We need fat to survive, after all. Eating a generally healthy way and getting lots of exercise is a much better indicator of health than weight. And, since you re young and going through puberty, your weight is probably going to change over the next couple of years. Don t stress about it. Just be happy, love your body. Your weight will eventually stabilize (whether you end up smaller or bigger than you think you should be -- some people are naturally fatter while some are naturally thinner) and as long as you are doing your part in keeping healthy by getting lots of exercises and eating in a good way, you will still be healthy.
Dearie, you re 12. Give yourself some time to grow up. I was like this as well, I hit a growth spurt around 14 and completely grew out of all that belly chub. Just be patient, if you like, you can do some crunches and core work. But really. Be patient!
okay i m 17 and was the same way for the longest time ever when i was your age so i started drinking nothing but water.. no soda or anything like that only water... im now always loosing weight whenever i need to because i take good care of my body and do hurt myself by under eating or over eating.. also you can start eating smaller meals through out the day so then by the time you go to bed youll be full and not have ate as much food as you would have if you ate just the regular three meals a day... so if you drink nothing but water and eat smaller meals through out the day then you might be able to actually loose the wieght you want to loose... if you have any other questions you can email me by libbyw09@yahoo.com
