Weight loss for teens

I did it for my health. To be honest, it floored me that the teens mentioned health reasons for losing weight just as frequently as appearance-related reasons, because over and over I’ve read that teens are not motivated by health. (It’s hard to give up burgers and fries because of that heart attack you might have when you ‘re 50 or 60.) Nineteen year old Taylor S, who once weighed 250 pounds, says, “My main concern was to become healthier, rather than losing weight. I didn’t want to die in my forties because of my eating habits. Among the things I stopped drinking and eating were soft drinks, sweets, and any other type of junk food item. I was simply focused on taking care of my body. To my surprise, I began losing weight quickly. and this gave me motivation to continue. Gradually, in a period of one and a half to two years, I got down to my current weight of 150.” (He’s 5′9″) Angel W, who weighed 240 pounds, says that one of her main motivations for losing weight was high blood pressure. Her 65 pound weight loss brought her blood pressure down to a normal, healthy tips number – without medication. Vincent J, who weighed 130 pounds when he was about 5 years old, says, “When I was trying to sleep, it became harder and harder for me to breathe. I was so tired that I’d fall asleep in class. My gym teachers told me that if I didn’t lose weight, I would have a heart attack.” Today he weighs about 145 pounds and is 5′5″.

I wanted to look better. Zack A says, “I wanted to look hot!” Now, there’s honesty for you. Along the same lines, a good number of teens talked about wanting to look good in clothes – or out of them. Lee J says, “I wanted to wear cute, trendy clothes.” The turning point for my son Wes was his first college visit. “It was near the beach, and I wanted to be able to take my shirt off when I wore a swimsuit and look good for girls,” he says.

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I wanted to feel better about myself. Jenni O wanted to lose weight because she was depressed and sad, and wanted to feel good about herself. She also wanted to slim down for health and appearance reasons. Ben G says, “I was sick of being upset and depressed whenever I looked in the mirror or just felt fat.”

I wanted to improve my relationships. Many teens told me that they were motivated because they wanted to fit in better with their peers and/or to attract the opposite sex. Mary N says, “I always had lots of friends, but I could never get a boyfriend. Before I started dating my first serious boyfriend, I remember him telling me about this girl he was obsessed with. He said she was so hot. I asked him what he thought of me, and he said that I was cute. After he broke up with me, I didn’t want to be cute anymore. I wanted to be beautiful. I also knew that if I was to date again, I would first need to build up my self-esteem. At that time, I had lost both my first love and all of my self-esteem. I knew that my poor body image had a lot to do with my self-esteem.” All of this encouraged Mary to start on the path to losing 50 pounds, which she did more than 3 years ago.

I was tired of the teasing and ridicule. 13 year old Jorgey W says that before she lost more than 100 pounds, “every day, I would come home crying.” She remembers being chased around the playground, with her pursuers yelling, “Run, fatso, run,” and she was harassed both on the Internet and by phone because of her weight.

My weight held me back. About a quarter of the teens said that one of the main reasons was that their weight kept them from doing things and they wanted to change that. Paula D says, “I didn’t ever feel like doing anything, because I never wanted to go out.” Most of the comments about being held back came from kids who wanted to participate or do better in sports or other physical activities. Cole G says, “I wanted to play sports competitively, and I couldn’t with my weight the way it was.”

Don’t let the world get you down – Advice from the teens

Know that you’re above that behavior.
I felt that I was just bigger and better because I wasn’t the person that was making fun of another person and trying to make them feel bad. - Molly S

Realize the people who do that probably have some self-image problem and they’re trying to make themselves feel better. Just don’t acknowledge it. They’re like children, and if they don’t get attention, they’ll probably stop. - Ben G

Kids are teasing you about your weight because they’re insecure about themselves. Don’t let it get to you. - Kristy C

Don’t fight back
My advice to those who are overweight is “Don’t fight back if you are being teased.” It’s been my experience that the situation only becomes progressively worse if you do. Let them do what they want. When nothing happens, they will eventually leave. - John W

Just ignore them and don’t talk back to them, or it’ll be worse. The kids who made fun of me are now trying to help me lose weight and trying to support me. - Summer A

Believe that it’s what’s on the inside that matters
I reminded myself that I was beautiful on the inside and that’s what mattered to me. - Jenni O

I think the main thing an overweight teen can do to cope with teasing is to remember that as long as they love themselves, it doesn’t matter what those other kids say. - Mary N

Turn to your real friends
To cope with being teased, talk to your friends. They can always make you feel better. More often than not, your friends have been teased about something before, too, and they know how it feels. Although we all know that parents have been there and that they care about us, it’s different when a friend says something nice about you than when your parent does. - Emily B

I have great friends who have always been there through thick and thin – literally. - Sandra D

Know that weight loss is the best revenge
Keep your head up. Ignore them. Avoid them. Lose the weight and let that speak for itself. - Victor F

Looking good is a great motivator, and losing the weight and being able to show it off is the best payback. It’s great to see the people who called you names when you were younger and be so much hotter than them. High school is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. And the kids who are cruel usually end up not being able to cope with the real world and continue to be stuck in high school. It’s great to get the last laugh. - Bella S