Weight loss help teen

LeviAckerman6771

i’m 16 and i’m overweight, i’m abt 5”10-5”11 and weigh 248.4 of today. i go to the gym and i have built muscle but i need tips on nutrition and working out still since i still live with my mom i eat whatever she brings home or when i eat her food and it’s hard to track calories because i don’t exactly know how much food it is and this app doesn’t have some things. If there are any tips people have i will gladly hear

AnnPT77

Bad news: If a person is under 18, they're not supposed to be here, since the site is for adults. Your post and ID may be deleted.

Part of the reason for this is that your nutrition and calorie needs as a teenager are different from those of fully-grown, fully-mature adults.

Please consult with your pediatrician, a school nurse, a trusted health teacher or coach, or someone like that who can help you. Get detailed guidance from sources with knowledge about needs of someone your age. That isn't here, and it isn't on most of the internet. (On average, unless you're a very, very cautious consumer, most of the stuff on the internet is misleading and even dangerous clickbait, designed more to sell things than to actually help us regular people.)

You do not need to calorie count to lose weight. Maybe even you shouldn't, since it has risks in the sense of being a slippery slope toward a dysfunctional relationship with food. Younger people, including even those over 18, can be at higher risk.

Instead, think about what you eat now, and eat a little less in calorie terms. Don't cut down crazy far on eating, just think more veggies, less butter/oil/fried stuff, baked goods a little less often, candy or soda a little less often, etc. Find a way to stay full and energetic, while finding an eating routine where the scale sloooowly creeps downward over many weeks. Don't go faster than averaging a pound a week, and slow that down to half a pound when you get close to goal. Slower than that is fine, too. Doing that will help preserve good health while reaching your weight goals, and make getting there easier.

At the same time, do your best to eat mostly nutrient-dense foods: Meat, fish, veggies, fruits, whole grains, simple dairy foods. I'm not saying to eat only those, and I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't eat what your mother gives you. Just slant your diet toward things you know have good nutrition.

It's great that you've built muscle: Keep that up. Work your way gradually toward the standard recommended-for-health minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise per week, or 75 minutes of more vigorous cardiovascular exercise, or a proportionate combination both, ideally spread over at least 5 days of the week; and do at least 2 days of something strength-challenging.

Don't overdo. You should gradually increase total exercise, keeping it manageably challenging. Overdoing is counter-productive for either weight loss or fitness improvement. Overdoing causes fatigue that makes us drag through the day, burning fewer calories than we would if energetic, effectively wiping out some of the exercise calories. Recovery between workouts - full recovery - is where the magic of fitness improvement happens, the body rebuilding itself better than before. Shortchanging recovery reduces fitness progress.

Your exercises don't need to be fancy things: Anything that gets your heart rate up is cardiovascular exercise. Biking, walking, jogging, swimming, games (ball sports, ping pong, frisbee, anything), active VR or video games, dancing (dozens of types), YouTube video workouts from well-credentialed trainers, etc. It doesn't need to be the same thing every time. Mixing it up is good. Anything that challenges current strength is strength exercise. Weight lifting is great, if achievable; bodyweight exercises work, too, and can be done with little or no equipment.

There's a thread here with strength training programs. Despite the title, it does include bodyweight programs:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

This is also useful:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10920257/how-to-set-up-a-weightlifting-routine

You can find a path to a healthy, thriving future. A nutrition-centric way of eating, and a challenging but not exhausting exercise plan, are the route. Extremes aren't good for anyone, especially a teen who is still somewhere in the physical maturation process, as you are at 16.

Please be cautious and conservative, thinking in terms of your long term health and thriving . . . hard though I know that is at 16, since a year seems like a long time. But you have decades ahead of you. You can start setting yourself up now for those, and your future self will than you for doing it in that mature and sensible way.

Best wishes!