Hey there! I am Giulia, I am fifteen years old and I come from the Netherlands. My height is between 5’2 and 5’3 (158 cm) and I weigh around 109 lbs (49.5 kg). I have a Body Mass Index of 19.8.

I read a lot of posts from people who want to lose weight, who don’t know how to start, or just need some motivation. Well, I am here to help. You probably think I am too young to help, but I am not. I am educated enough in the area of being healthy. Just read what I have to say, if you don’t think it makes sense, then just leave this post. But maybe you will think it may help. I have commented on enough people who thought I had great ideas and are ready to try them! So why wouldn’t you take 5-10 minutes of your time to read this.

Like I said. I have read a lot of posts from people who want to lose weight. I have tips on how to begin, how to stay committed, what is and isn’t healthy to do and else. I used them all myself and it worked great for me. First I want to say I think everyone is beautiful the way they are. Try to be happy with how you look, because either way, you are gorgeous.

I am not a dietician, I am not a doctor and I am not a nutritionist. I am just someone who wants to help people feel great about their body. I am just here to give tips, and if you don’t want to listen to them or stick to them then DON’T! Anyways, this all worked for me and I hope it works for you too. If you have any diseases or what ever it is probably best if you go see a doctor. I am here for all of your questions. I just hope to inspire people.

If you all give bad reactions and comments then I will delete this post. With that been said, GOOD LUCK EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO TRY SOME OF THESE TIPS OUT!!!!

The topics are in CAPS LOCK, just search for what you find important or what you need right now.

DON’T KNOW HOW TO START? HERE IS HOW:

Start by weighing yourself. In the morning, after you went to the toilet and before you have eaten something. Now you know your weight, write it down somewhere you can find it back.

Set a goal for yourself. Don’t set an unrealistic goal like lose 20 lbs in a few days that is just never going to work. You can set two weeks goals, monthly goals, six months goals or a goal for over a year. Just say, for example, you want to lose 2 lbs every two weeks and 5 lbs every month. And at the end of the year you want to have lost 60 lbs. Set a goal you think is realistic for you. If you already weigh 120 lbs and only have to lose 5 lbs, you probably won’t lose those 5 lbs as fast as someone who weighs 250 lbs. If you achieve a goal (like a 2 week goal) then treat yourself! You have deserved it!!

Download an app to keep track on how many calories you intake (I use ‘FatSecret’). You don’t have to use it forever, but try to do it for some weeks. This way you get an idea on how many calories everything has and how many calories you intake every day.

WHAT SHOULD I EAT AND DRINK?

Many think it is hard to eat and drink healthy if you are busy all day. This isn’t necessarily true. The first thing you want to cut out of your diet is sugary drinks, soda, and alcohol. JUST EVERYTHING THAT ISN’T WATER. Water contains no calories at all. You will be surprised by how many calories you intake just by the drinks you drink. As to food, cut out all junkfood, candy, chips, fried food, very high in calories foods. This is very hard and I understand that as no other. Besides that try to eat much fruit (you can make deliciouuuus smoothies) and veggies. I personally don’t think it is good to NOT eat meat, so I would say eat some meat everyday, just not too much. There is a lot of healthy food out there. I won’t go into that now. But you probably think, uhm and how am I going to be persistent with this diet? This seems impossible. But that is why I have this. The way you can hold it out is to have a cheat meal once or twice a week. Like eat a piece of cake, drink a cola or eat a pizza. Just once or twice a week. Don’t cheat a whole day (every week), because then you will ruin your diet. But just if you really want a chocolate, for example, then take one! Eat a piece of fruit with it, then you have something healthy in you too. If you have cheated on your meal or had a cheat day, don’t feel bad! Don’t immediately think you can not do this, because you can! Just eat full-on healthy the next day.

EXERCISING? WITH AND WITHOUT GYM.

I personally don’t go to the gym. Many people don’t want to go to the gym, for them I have a solution. Buy a yoga mat, search for exercising vids (for beginners) on YouTube. Or download an exercising app (I use ‘Abs & Core’, ‘Cardio’, ‘Lower Body’ and ‘Strechting’. They are all blue with a white person in the middle). If you don’t go to the gym this is a great alternative. If you seek higher intensity then you can buy weights. Cardio on his own is also important. Just try to walk more often. Or ride a bike a couple times a week, take the stairs. That kind of things. If you do go to the gym, then I don’t have a lot of tips. Just try to go a couple times a week for at least 30 minutes. And try to build it up.

IS CALORIE DEFICIT HEALTHY?

I think it is not very healthy, sure it is ‘needed’ to lose weight, but you don’t have to eat 800-1000 calories less everyday. That is just not okay. I tried losing weight with calorie deficit too, but not in an extreme way. Just by 200-400 calories less every day. That probably sound like a lot, but I ate everything I needed to eat and I wasn’t hungry at all. I don’t starve myself. I make sure I get the vitamins and nutritions I need. If you just eat what you need to eat, don't starve yourself, eat enough, then it is okay to have (for example) 200 calories less everyday. If you feel the need to eat more one day. Just do so. There is nothing wrong with that.

DO I NEED TO FOCUS ON MARCOS?

I don't really do that. The only thing I look at is the amount of fat, sugar and sometimes salt (like salted nuts of chips). And that works just fine, for me.

HOW MANY CALORIES DO YOU NEED?

If you want to lose weight you have to know what your daily calorie intake should be to maintain your weight. Because if you know what you should eat to maintain your weight, then you also can determine how many calories you are going to eat less. I shouldn’t take drastic changes in the calorie intake. I think between 200 and 300 less each day is best, but you don’t have to. How many calories you should intake every day depends on a lot of things. Just search on the internet for: ‘how many calories should I take everyday’ and you will probably get a calculator with some factors.

IF YOU DON’T KNOW IF YOU HAVE A HEALTHY WEIGHT?

If you want to know if you should lose weight or not, then I will help. I am not a doctor so don’t only listen to my opinion. If you are not sure then just go to a doctor. But this method may be used by your doctor, so you could also just use this. How to calculate if you have a good weight: you could do that by calculating your BMI (Body Mass Index), you do this by: WEIGHT (in kg) / HEIGHT^2 (in meters. All of you probably don’t know what your height is in cm and your weight in kg, but I will help explain how you can transfer that. Type in your browser: ‘your height’ in cm, and you will get your answer, if you can’t find it, just comment and I will help you. For your weight type: ‘…’ lbs in kg. If you have this data you can use the formula. For example (in my case): 49.5 / 1.58^2 = 19.8. This number on his one doesn’t really says something, so some extra information: for teens you have a healthy weight when the number fits between the 17.5 and 23.5 or so. For adults you have a healthy weight when it is between 18.5 and 25.