Have you been told you have teen obesity? Being overweight is a condition that affects many teens these days especially in the USA. If you watch TV at all you can’t help but see commercials that talk about how we need to exercise. They claim that exercise will help us to stay healthy and helps us to avoid horrible conditions like Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease. If we could spend just a tiny fifteen minutes a day exercising we can increase our lives and help to decrease our risk for cancer.
Sadly, even though we know that a good workout a day, or even every other day will be healthier for us we still won’t do it. Only about half of Americans exercise to slim down, and less than one-third don’t exercise at all. Those are some sad and scary facts. With these facts it’s no wonder there are so many overweight teens.
Probably the number one excuse and rightfully so is, “I just don’t have the time to exercise.” Probably TV is the biggest blame. We don’t want to give up those favorite TV shows long enough to get up and be active. But that is just an excuse and not the real truth. Even though we can justify that we don’t have the time there is a greater underlying reason that we don’t exercise like we should. It’s not just teens that make this excuse, its adults too.
Sometimes it comes down to having enough self-confidence to do something. No one likes to fail, so we sometimes will avoid trying new and different things for fear of failure. Many will view exercise in this way. Just remember when starting out, you aren’t the only one that is trying this, you are not alone in this. Doing physical activity and eating a healthy diet takes a lot of courage and by doing this you are showing the world that you do care about yourself.
Just be kind to yourself and realize that no one is perfect. Start off slow and don’t let anyone intimidate you into thinking you can’t do this. When exercising, like with everything else, practice makes perfect. Give yourself permission to not be the best at this and practice and keep on. Before you know it you will see improvements in yourself which will give you the courage to keep on trying.
Many times we don’t like doing things alone. I am sure that there are others who are facing weight issues and may be feeling just as you are. Why not invite them to workout with you? Come up with an accountability buddy. Both exercise and diet will do better if you have someone to walk the path with you. Make it fun to set goals, to exercise for a straight thirty minutes every other day. To eat healthy meals and stay away from junk food. Encourage the other to have the willpower to stick to it and overcome the fears of failing at diet and exercise and you will beat teen obesity.
Theresa de Jesus is a health and wellness coach. She is passionate in helping kids challenged by overweight or obesity to create a healthy, active and fun lifestyle. Get your FREE weight loss booster newsletter at http://weightlossbooster.teenhealthfitnesscoach.com and learn how you can lose weight the healthy way without feeling deprived.