My dad is a doctor and has done years of research on this stuff so here are somethings:

First of all, if you’re young/ a teen, what’s good to know is that when you get older, it’s way harder to lose and gain weight so if you’re fat now, it’s easiest to lose weight now.

Now, here are some tips.

1- lessen your calorie intake. If you’re having lots of calories every day, more than your body needs, then you’re going to start gaining weight.

2- lessen your sugar intake. Sugary drinks like lemonade are no good. And desserts are bad too. I know they’re hard to resists so it’s ok to have them every once in a while. Just make sure you’re controlling yourself and have self control. By the way, high fructose corn syrup DOES count as a sugar.

3- this may come as a shocker but ‘Diet’-labeled things like Diet Coke are BAD! And sweet things with “no sugar” are BAD! You need to understand this. If they taste yummy and sweet and they say they have no sugar, it’s because instead of sugar, they use fake sweeteners that are very harmful to your body. If you’re going to have a sweet drink, make sure it has natural sugar and not artificial sweeteners

4- this may seem stupid or weird, but lessen your carb intake. Breads, desserts, pastries, rice, pasta, pretzels, things with lots of carbs are bad. What happens is, when they enter your body, your body will break them down into sugars. So it’s basically like eating sugar. I know how tempting things like pasta are because I LOVE pasta. So it’s ok to have some, just not all the time.

5- Exercise regularly. Working out, playing outside, doing sports, whatever you have to do, do it. Many people turn to exercise when trying to lose weight. Exercise helps but it isn’t everything. Make sure you follow the other steps instead of not this one.

6- eat lots of protein and vegetables. They are SO healthy for you!! They give all kinds of benefits for your body.

7- Dont go on a diet. Instead, call it a change in your eating lifestyle. Diets are often temporary. A lifestyle is not.

8- DO NOT eat because you’re bored. It’s just bad. Don’t just go to your pantry or refrigerator for a snack 3 times a day. Back to number 1, remember about lessening your calorie intake.

9- packaged foods are generally not the best. They often have many ingredients that are fake and artificial and bad for you. For example, they have unnatural chemicals in there that help the product stay fresh longer. If you’re going to snack, try going to the refrigerator first because things that need to be refrigerated generally have less chemicals because they spoil quicker meaning they generally have less unnatural chemicals. Another thing that helps, is if you’re buying something, check the ingredients. If it has a lot of ingredients that you have a hard time pronouncing, they’re probably artificial things that are bad for your body.

10- don’t stress all of this too much. You don’t have to be 100% strict. As long as you follow these steps more than you used to, you will see results

This is what I do:

I keep a very healthy food intake all year except some days. These are- 4th of July, Christmas, easter, my birthday and my family’s birthdays, and a couple of other holidays.

Remember, you can’t let yourself eat bad things on every holiday because there are a million of them. Things like Martin Luther king day don’t count.

Last thing: muscle weighs more than fat. If you work out a lot and weigh a lot and you only have a little bit of fat on you, don’t worry because it might not be as much as you think. Muscle weighs more than fat!

I know this is a lot of information and it might seem very hard to stick to it but just take things step by step. As long as you don’t cheat, you’ll see results. Good luck!