There are many healthy ways to lose weight without feeling the need to hide it. Making small lifestyle changes can make a huge difference in the long run. Unless you are underweight, you should be able to eat a normal diet, exercise and lose weight at a healthy pace without worrying your parents. Talk to your doctor or nutritionist about how to achieve a healthy weight.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Follow a Healthy Diet
Step 1. Try to have a varied diet
Every day, eat foods belonging to the 5 food groups. Don't make substitutions for food or supplements. With a varied diet, you will get all the necessary vitamins and minerals. If they always cook the same dishes at home or in the cafeteria, start to bring more variety.
- Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, both cooked and raw.
- Juices do not contain fiber and cannot guarantee all the benefits of a fruit, vegetable or vegetable, so do not use them as a substitute for solid foods.
- Eat protein every day. If you are vegan or vegetarian, be sure to eat adequate amounts of high-protein foods, such as rice, legumes, hummus, tofu, and nuts.
- Get whole carbohydrates, a source of energy and minerals.
- Yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, and milk are foods rich in calcium.
Step 2. Home cooking
Homemade foods almost always have fewer calories than frozen or pre-cooked foods. Tell your parents that you prefer to make your own meals, even packed meals. If they often order at home, propose to cook in turns and reduce the consumption of take-away food.
If your parents think that you are not eating enough, they will worry, while they will be less afraid if they see that you are feeding properly and that you are interested in learning how to cook
Step 3. Eat regularly
Skipping meals will make you fat. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the addition of healthy snacks. When you are hungry, you risk bingeing. Keep bars, nuts, apples, and other filling snacks in your backpack to eat when you're hungry.
Make sure you don't skip breakfast! Skipping it will make you feel hungry and dull, not to mention that it may even make you fat
Step 4. Limit fizzy drinks, alcohol, and candy
Don't consume them every day, but you don't have to completely eliminate them either. Sugary drinks and snacks are treats to be reserved for special occasions. If you break the habit of always eating sugars, you will not have a great desire for it.
Alcohol is full of sugar, so avoid it if you're trying to lose weight
Step 5. Eat consciously
If you eat when you are stressed or distracted, you risk overdoing it or choosing the wrong foods. Try to be careful at the table. Chew slowly, in order to catch the signs of satiety at the right time. Start eating when you are hungry and stop when you feel full.
- Try to savor every bite.
- Eat with your family. Sharing a meal with people you love can help you eat right.
- Most restaurants serve larger quantities than they actually need to fill up.
Step 6. Be wary of diets:
they can actually make you fat. Most diets allow you to lose weight only at the beginning, in fact in a second moment you regain all the lost weight again. Along with physical activity, establishing a good relationship with your body and acquiring new habits, a healthy diet is the best way to regain your weight.
- Avoid crash diets that promise you will lose a lot of weight in no time.
- Never use laxatives, skip meals, throw up, or take diet pills to lose weight.
Step 7. Talk to a doctor or nutritionist
It is difficult to determine your ideal weight, in fact the ideal weight varies according to different needs. Try calculating your BMI (body mass index) to figure out what weight is appropriate for your height. Just remember that this factor doesn't consider variables like genes and growth. Ask your doctor for advice.
- If you are pediatric, ask your doctor if everything is in order, if you have the right weight for your age and your constitution (the pediatrician can consult documents that certify your weight changes over the years, so he can analyze better the situation).
- You could also ask him, "I would like to lose weight. How can I do it safely?".
- Your doctor may recommend a nutritionist to help you follow a targeted meal plan.
Step 8. Don't worry
When food stresses you, you automatically tend to make worse food choices. If you are worried about your weight, calorie intake, and diet, you will end up making bad nutrition decisions and may even develop an eating disorder.
- To find a good balance, try to eat healthy, but indulge in a treat every now and then.
- If you overdo it at the table, don't get mad at yourself, forget about it and try to do better in the future.
Part 2 of 3: Lose weight
Step 1. Exercise regularly to get fit and stay fit
Try to get active for an hour a day. For example, try joining a sports team, such as volleyball or swimming.
- If you're not competitive or don't like team sports, try activities like cycling, jogging, skateboarding, or walking.
- Try to be accompanied. If you have a friend who likes sports, invite him to go trekking or to join a dance class, such as ballroom dance or contradanza.
- You can also do weight lifting, but only under certain conditions and gradually. Ask your doctor and a fitness expert for advice.
Step 2. Gradually lose weight
If you lose weight in one go, your parents will notice, plus it's bad for your health. If, on the other hand, you lose a couple of kilos a month, the weight loss will be healthy and lasting, and no one will worry. You can lose 500 grams or a pound per week - a stricter regimen will be difficult to maintain and could harm your body.
- If you lose a lot of weight fast, you risk damaging your metabolism and it will be more difficult to control your weight in the future.
- Avoid compulsive sports, a phenomenon that occurs when it is impossible to control the urge to do physical activity: you feel obliged to play sports, otherwise you cannot relax. It is a wake-up call not to be overlooked, in fact it is possible that you are developing an eating disorder.
Step 3. Getting a good night's sleep will help you keep your weight in check
If you are a teenager, try to get 9-11 hours of sleep a night. Naps cannot make up for lost sleep, so try to go to bed at a reasonable time.
- If you sleep less than 9 hours a night, try adding more. You will lose weight for each additional hour (do not exceed 11 hours, otherwise you will only confuse the body).
- To get enough sleep, try to develop good habits. If possible, go to bed at the same time every night, but do relaxing activities first, such as reading, chatting with your family, or watching a comedy.
Step 4. Close the internet
Using your cell phone or computer can distract you and make you lose track of time. Try replacing time spent online with resting, reading (offline), and activities that require you to stay on the move (walking, cooking, art creations, or physical activity).
Part 3 of 3: Acquiring the Right Mindset
Step 1. Take care of yourself
Remember that the body and brain are developing. If you eat too little, you risk not only damaging your body and your brain capabilities, but also lowering your concentration and self-esteem. Being obsessed with weight loss can cause dissatisfaction and psychophysical disorders.
If you have a hard time accepting your current weight, try talking to your friends about it. You don't have to fill them with questions or beg them for reassurance - just explain that you have problems with your image
Step 2. Talk to your parents
If you start eating less or overeating, you risk frightening them. You will make them worry even if you don't honestly talk about your diet and fears. If you're trying to lose weight without your parents knowing, ask yourself why. If, after all, you are following a harmless path, why keep it secret?
- If the problem is that they control you and are bossy, talk to a trusted adult.
- If you have an eating disorder, you can discuss it with your doctor or another trusted adult.
- Diets are most effective when you have the support of your family.
Step 3. If you have an eating disorder, ask for help
If you're trying to lose weight while keeping your parents in the dark, it's possible you have an eating disorder. Ask yourself the following questions: Do you always think about food? Do you eat even when you are full? Do you avoid eating? Do you try to get rid of the calories you consume through vomiting, laxatives or physical activity?
- If this is the case, talk to your doctor as soon as possible.
- If you think your eating habits and your body are problematic, talk to a doctor.
