Hello everyone. My name is a Alyssa and i am 13 year old. i have struggled with a weight problem for as long as i can remeber. At the beginning of 7th grade (in the middle of 8th now) i wieghed 182 and am currently at 150, so i have lost a bit of weight since then. I got into boxing about a year ago, so i workout and lift weights every day and i would love a more lean look but im finding it hard to continue with my plan. I know i lost 32 lbs but it seems like its taking forever and i was hoping that i would be fit and lean by the start of 9th grade but im not so sure that im going to be. I joined this forum because i feel like i just need some reasurence that im doing okay and some remotivation. It would also help if any other people are in the same situation as me if i could hear what is working for them. Thanks

heya and welcome to the forums

I think thats the bit ive struggled with also, the waiting. Im impatient and it goes so slowley sometimes.
Try joining in a couple of challenges and starting a diary to keep yourself on track.

Hey Alyssa,

I'm really proud of you for taking this step now, at a young age. When I was thirteen (it seems like yesterday) my weight problem was still a smallish issue -- I was merely overweight, like you, and not obese like I am now. I would give anything to go back in time and convince my thirteen-year-old self to make some real progress in adopting a healthier lifestyle.

So take it from me, you're doing the right thing. I admire you! Don't give up!

Alex

Hey you welcome aboard, OH MY GOSH...13, my daughter is 12.5...I couldnt never imagine her here, good for you for taking this step...weight loss is slow and steady when it is done right...sounds like your on a good role, ie weight lifting and boxing, try adding something diff into your routine...have you ever done tae bo, it burns cals like crazzzy 30 mins is like 500 cals...anyway welcome...

Thank you all for the welcomes cinderelly, Alex, and wishes.
As for adding something different to my routine, cinderelly, unfortunatly i can only work with what we have in the house and the 4 times a week my parents drive me to boxing. I have looked at tae bo and have heard it is am AMAZING workout and i would love to add that to my routine 2 times a week or so, so i may look into that as well.

Heya's wanabe,
I have a little sistewr your age shes 14 and weighs
183 5"1 she reminds me of myself at her age.Whats good is you
notice there is a problem brewing and you desided to do something
about it. I think for someone your age if you simply cut out sugary
pop and cut out sweets do some walking don't go back for 2nds
you'll do great and in a healthier way.That;'s what I told my lil sis
I feel she doesn't need to be as strict as myself.
I eat no more than 1200 calories exersice well try twice a day/
You can do it,Tammy

Thanks Tammy, but there lies half the problem. I drink diet soda, i cant stand chocolate/ice cream/candy of any kind (id take a hamburger or a steak over a piece of chocolate any day) and i rarely eat 2nd's. I didnt eat healthy for about 12 years so im guessing thats gonna take a pretty long time to get healthy from that, but its still not coming off and im afraid to make my diet any stricter....

Okay Alyssa, I'm feeling you here. If you're up for it, why don't you post what you eat for three days. Make it typical stuff, don't restrict yourself or overeat, just eat what you absolutely normally would. Post everything you eat, and any one of the MANY nutrition whizzes on this site can tell you what they think. Maybe you're eating some things that are sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

I personally am no nutrition guru, but how much diet soda do you drink? I would recommend limiting yourself to one diet soda per day at a maximum. I love soda -- I REALLY love soda -- but I force myself to drink it only once per week or so because diet soda has some really horrible ingredients that do all kinds of bad things to your body, and I've even heard that it can interfere with weight loss. I can't cite a source on this, but I definitely remember hearing it.

Hi and welcome! When I was 13 I weighed 250lbs. So I know what you are going through. If I had done something then I might not being where I am now! Kudos to you for stepping up and doing something for yourself!! Something you might think about looking into could be Billy's Bootcamp it's made by the Taebo guy. He uses resistance bands with the taebo to help tone muscles! Good luck!

Im a single of two, most of what I do is in the house or walking, cant aford much else...LOL...TAe Bo tapes are pretty cheap...I just bought 2 of them at Winners for 3.99 a piece...it is VHS but that is cheap in comparrission to 20.00 + for a dvd...

Alrighty, ill do that, ill start tomorrow...should i just post it here? And as for the diet soda i prolly drink around half of one of the bigger bottles a day LOL.

And thanks cinderelly and mistymoon for the info on tae bo tapes, now im DEFINATLY gonne look into that!

Oh jeez! That's a lot of soda maybe you should try buying cans instead. I know cans are more expensive than bottles, but if you buy cans, you can do really easy portion control. Start out allowing yourself two cans per day, then when you're ready, drop to one. That's what I would recommend. I think your ultimate goal should be to have diet sodas only a couple times per week. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to reduce your soda consumption faster than you feel comfortable with, but I think it will help you with weight loss to cut back. I sympathize with you because i love drinking diet soda, but the research is convincing. Here are some links:

Can Diet Soda Make You Fat?
Diet Soda Drinkers Gain Weight
Diet Soda and Weight Loss

The last article recommends replacing all soda with water, but me, I'm not that fond of water. I try to drink as much water as I can, about one liter per day, but I also mix in no-sugar-added fruit juice as well as flavored waters. Try making your own lemonade -- squeeze half a lemon into a glass, then put two packets of splenda in, fill the glass up with water & stir. Just find alternatives to soda that are healthier and still taste alright to you!

Oh, by the way: you can post what you eat in this thread, or you can start a diary thread in the Diary subforum

Thanks for the links Alex, i didnt realize diet soda was actually bad for you lol.
Anyway, here goes what i ate today, any tips/advice/what im doing wrong would be very useful.

Friday -
Breakfast - around 8am - 2 pieces of toast w/ spray butter (90 calories)
Snack - 10am - a Slim Fast snack bar thing (120 calories)
Lunch - 1pm - a turkey snadwhich w/ cheese and tomato (210 calories)
Snack - 4pm - 2 cups Soy Essence cereal w/ 1 cup soy milk (320 calories)
Dinner - 6:30pm - 1 can drained tunafish w/ 1 tbs mayo and 2 pieces of toast (300 calories)
Snack - 9:30pm - Smoothie: made w/ 1 medium banana + 1 cup soy milk (205 calories)
After this snack around 10pm, my daily 200 sit ups.

I figured out all the calories for everything but i skipped on my usual workout today, i wasnt feeling very well.
Oh and i didnt drink anything except some water so no calories there.

That seems like a very healthy diet to me, Alyssa. If that's representative of your usual eating, you're definitely on the right track. But like I said, I want the experts to weigh in on this issue, I don't know much about the mechanics of nutrition (my idea of nutrition: "vegetables = good").

Hey, I'm really proud of you for not drinking soda all day! In support of you, I am going to drink only water today.