Hey everybody, I came on this website a few months ago, and tried exercising, but I couldn't feel motivated, and know what the hardest part is? School. I wake up at 6 am, go to school, wright all day, come home, and the last thing on my mind is hopping on the treadmill. So now I am back, with the hopes of losing some serious poundage over the summer. Last summer, I remember I lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks, with not too much dieting. But those were the final weeks of summer, but this time I am starting the day I get out of school. The starting point of this is that, sometimes, its not just the blubber on my body, its the health factor, I am getting little chest cramps, and I don't like it.

Ok, my plan is to excerise at least three times a week. The main excercise will be treadmill, swimming at my friends, and doing situps and pushups. I just got a smoothie maker, and the smoothies I make are delicious, so thats gonna factor into my diet. The diet will consist of healthy foods, with smoothies as a drink, so I can lower down the amount of bad stuff I take in. I will try and do that at least one meal a day.

So anybody have any ideas for a teenager's diet/excercise?

Well... the exercises you have planned totally rock. I envy your getting to swim! The important thing is to start fairly slow and increase your intensity as your fitness increases. And with the chest cramps - Dude see a doc just in case! I mean, you're young so you're probably fine. But still, it's good to be sure.

Foodwise. The best advice I or anyone on here can give you is CUT OUT WHITE SUGAR. That and anything involving High Fructose Corn Syrup. That stuff is of the devil. And white flour is a no-go too. Whole grains are the only way to go. If you can train yourself to those dietary choices - plus eating plenty of fruits, veggies, and lean protein - you will be TOTALLY set for a healthy life. After all, you don't want to get your weight off now just to regain it in college and do the whole yo-yo dieting thing. (I know whereof I speak!!)

How much are you aiming to lose anyway?

If you haven't been playing sports or exercising in a long time, it's best to talk to your doctor especially if you're getting chest cramps. But you've got the right attitude, which is to get out there and get active!

Don't get caught up in short-term goals; your aim should be to find a healthy lifestyle that works for you, and that you can live with long-term. Everything adds up, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking a few blocks instead of driving or taking the bus. Treadmill and swimming, though, are excellent choices for cardio. Make sure you warm up and cool down, so you don't injure yourself by straining your muscles.

Good luck, and keep us posted with your progress!

thanks for the motivation, good Idea aiming for the full on healthy lifestyle. And I will defineatly get plenty of fruit from the smoothies. But doesnt fruit have sugars in it? I plan on losing at least 30-35ish pounds, thats like 10 pounds a month. That shouldn't be hard considering in the summer me and my friends are always out of the house.

The sugar in fruit is no big deal. It's the processed stuff ya gotta watch out for. So when you and your friends are out and about - make sure you have some healthy stuff shoved in the car. Dry roasted nuts, an apple, carrot sticks... Pack your own sandwiches on whole wheat bread. You'll save money and stay away from the garbage that is SOOO tempting when you're out and hungry! Honestly - if you stay away from junk this summer - especially soda and such - you'll probably see the weight drop right off just with having fun!

Yes, fruit has fructose. Cane sugar is sucrose. Actually, sucrose is a disaccharide, with one half being: the monosaccharide fructose. The other monosaccharide?

Glucose. You know. Blood sugar.

So if you eat a lot of fructose, you're sort of bypassing that middleman of having to break the sucrose into glucose and fructose. It's almost like it's been...processed. But by nature! So it's natural.

Thanks for the info, if it dropped off without added working out that would be great! Right now I made the decision to have baby carrots instead of something bad.

I am reading the back of a vitamin water, and it has crystalline fructose, thats the only sugar. Is that good?

Well personally - I'd say no. But I'm super super strict. The only added sugar in my diet is from a little square of 85% dark chocolate I have after lunch every day!

Basically - if God made it it's a good thing. Real fruit is good. Fake fruit stuff with added whatever- not so much. And eating the actual fruit is better than drinking juice. When you eat fruit, you get vitamins, fiber...plus the pleasure of eating. Sugary drinks hit your bloodstream faster, which can do not so good things to your blood sugar, and don't do diddly squat to fill you up. If you're worried about vitamins, take a good multi and eat well. If you need hydration, save your $$ and drink water, water, and more water!

Seriously dude, once you get yourself detoxed from all the added sweeteners in stuff, you'll be shocked how good an ordinary apple can taste. I NEVER liked fruit before. Now an apple is like candy to me.

Basically, from a chemical point of view, anything that ends in "ose" is a type of sugar. Some are more processed than others, and sometimes what the manufacturer does is split the sugars into two types so they come second and third instead of first on the ingredient list. You should try to avoid added sugars if you can; they're considered empty calories because they don't give your body any nutrients (vitamins, minerals, protein, etc.) except the energy.

Beware fruit cocktails as opposed to unsweetened fruit juices, too. The cocktails usually only have a small percentage of actual fruit in them.

Hope this helps, and good choice with the carrots!

I know what you mean, I love apples, but just eating 2 a day can add up if your meals are sort of big cuz my apples are big FUJI so they're like.. 100 each?

but it satisfies me more than a granola bar for the calories, I don't have anymore apples in my house and I'm going nuts! it's bad cuz I reach for sugary stuff instead :S which makes me want more sugary stuff!

ok thanks, eating an apple right now. But I am like addicted to soda, and if I stop all together except on occasions, I will go nuts. So I will replace that with vitamin water, then when I get used to that, drink more water.