Ask Fitz! Your Fitness Questions Answered -- Baby Fat and Teen Fitness

by Fitz K. (Subscribe to Fitz K.'s posts)
Oct 10th 2007 6:00AM

Categories: Womens Health, Healthy Kids, Ask Fitz!, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hey Fitz. I know I'm a little young, I'm 13 years old. I'm not a weight obsessed person, but I just hate the weight that I'm gaining. I was always the thinnest person in my grade and I didn't have to work to stay trim. I'm 5 foot 6. I love to play basketball, but that's only one season and I don't really practice outside of it. I push myself to run, but it's just not really my thing. How can I get back in shape and lose the extra fat on my tummy? Can you help me out? I would love to be fit again! Thanks, Jessica

A. Hi Jessica. Just received your question yesterday along with about 40 others. Apparently my last column appeared on the AIM Today Welcome Screen and it generated about 95,000 hits. Nice to be able to teach so many people in one day! I chose your question, but if anyone would like to link back, you'll see dozens of other questions from teen readers in your same situation. It left me feeling both concerned and inspired. Concerned because so many teens like yourself are stressed, and unhappy with themselves physically. Inspired, because so many of you are seeking out sound advice on how to properly become more fit.

I was 35 pounds heavier in high school than I have been for the past 14 years. I grew up playing sports and began teaching aerobics at age 15, but I still had issues with my weight. In fact, I ended up dealing with Bulimia (which never lost me a pound by the way -- a foolish answer for anyone!) for several years as a result of my insecurities. It stunk! It was so bad that today I spend oodles of time volunteering with kids your age and younger trying to teach the importance of caring for their health. I never want another child to face: eating disorders, poor self-image, depression and more. We are NOT our bodies! Our bodies are vital to getting us around in this world for the next 80 years, but it does not and should not define who we are!

Fitness is crucial to a long healthy life Jessica, and I want you to focus on that. Focus on being strong, capable, flexible, energetic and vibrant. If you visit any doctors office and read the little pamphlets available, you'll see that almost every ailment out there can be prevented, controlled or cured by a healthy diet and regular exercise. That's what counts! G.E.R.D., Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease, Osteoporosis, premature death, etc... can be avoided by simply taking care of yourself! Let's start there, with the BIG picture. Look yourself in the mirror each day and convince yourself to pursue a fit lifestyle in order to live well and live long. If you do that, and make good on your pledge...belly fat will never be an issue again.

Having said that! For you to become FIT, I recommend you find some sort of vigorous exercise you enjoy. Maybe even several different exercises. Swim, dance, cycle, box, play soccer. Whatever! Just find something to do, four-six times per week that gets your heart pumping and the sweat pouring. You're even old enough now to join a gym. Talk to your parents about that. Simple exercises like push-ups, lunges, squats, dips, and crunches will help you to become strong and firm all over. Including those abs of yours.

On the nutrition side, you'll probably have to ditch most 'teen style' ways of eating. Avoid fried foods, donuts, soda, and buttery popcorn. Those things are not beneficial at all! Fill the majority of your plates with fruits and veggies, add some lean protein, lean dairy and then a teeny bit of starchy carbs if you prefer. Avoid caloric beverages like soda, juice and Gatorade. Water, un-sweet tea, or Crystal Light beverages make tasty non-caloric drinks. Water is certainly the best choice of all!

To Jessica, Stephanie, Taylor, Delila, Michael and the other teens who wrote yesterday...change your mind. Decide to change the way you've been eating and moving. Do it for the health of it, and all of your body issues will dissipate. When personal training clients show up at my door asking to lose weight, I tell them the same thing. I've never once in 18 years put someone on a diet. Diet's offer temporary solutions that only lead to temporary results. Instead, I teach them to eat healthy and smart. I give them the courage and methods to say "no thanks" most of the time when someone offers them an unhealthy dish. I also encourage and teach them how to exercise vigorously most days of the week. Something everyone should do to their best ability. I teach them how to do this for the rest of their life! When they do what I ask them to do.....the weight falls off and they land in place where they feel happy in their skin.

If you DECIDE to pursue a healthy lifestyle and have the strength to maintain it, you will be strong. You will be lean. You will be a fit child who lives a long, healthy, active, vibrant life as an adult. Isn't that what it's all about? My best to all of you. Keep me posted on your progress! You CAN DO THIS! Fitz

Q. When does "baby fat" go away, and how do you know when you actually have to go on a diet? Genni

A. Hello Genni. Thanks for writing. Take a looksy at my answer to the above question and you'll see that it's NEVER a good time to go on a diet. It's always a great day to start adopting healthier habits though. And to answer your question about when the 'baby fat' goes away.....I'm not a pediatrician, but I would guess that excuse would go sour around age five. Be good to yourself and you won't need any silly diets.

Punches & Kicks,

Fitz

Fitzness.com

Note: The content presented in this Q. & A section is for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as medical advice or substitute for professional medical care.

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Comments (65)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Jessica 10-15-2007 @ 9:13AM

Hey Fitz, i'm 16 years old, and i worry about my weight. I've been eating so much and gain weight in places i dont want 'baby fat'. How can i help my eating habits and gain weight healthy. I may be slim and 'fit' but not in a good eating habit way. my diet is usually fast foods. can you help me?

libbey 10-16-2007 @ 10:08PM

Hey! Im seventeen years old girl and I have a problem with my weight. I use to be around 210 pounds then I lost about fifty pounds but my BMI still says I am over weight. I am an athlete so I thought if i changed my diet I would lose some of the baggage but nothing helps. I do crunches, drink plenty of water, and watch how many calories and carbs I eat in a day but i still have a gut. Any suggestions?

Alex 10-15-2007 @ 10:31AM

Hey Fitz, I'm 16 years old and I weigh about 160lbs and I'm about 5'7". I play basketball and dance a lot but I dont see weight coming off. I rarely drink sodas and eat junk food and I want to be able to lose 20-30lbs, but I can be lazy when I don't have something to do. Do you think that losing 20-30lbs is a healthy weight loss goal? I want to do this to be a heathier person and to be in better shape for basketball and dance. I've been gaining lots of weight in my thighs/legs, stomach, my arms, my back and my face. Is there anything I'm doing wrong? Can you help me?

Alexis 10-15-2007 @ 10:38AM

I appreciate and applaud your stance on dieting, that it's never a good time to be on a diet. I wholeheartedly agree that we are more than our bodies and that we should be exercising for the health benefits.
However, your passing comment about bulimia--how you never lost a pound and that it's a "foolish choice" for anyone--concerns me greatly. Eating disorders are deadly illnesses; they are anything but a choice. While the surface level of an eating disorder appears to be weight, an eating disorder is never only about weight. Your passing off bulimia as a "foolish choice" is a shaming comment for those who are already in the middle of an eating disorder; it implies that the individual was in control beforehand and foolishly chose that illness. Please reconsider that remark. If someone does have an eating disorder or disordered behaviors, you should encourage them to seek professional help.

stephanie 10-15-2007 @ 10:51AM

hey fitz, i am gaing weight like crazy!! its like everything that i eat goes straight on me, to my thighs really. Im in college and i find it really hard to eat right, but when i do i start to look good and then i spend one day where i wont eat as good and all the weight comes back please help me to stick to eating better!!

fitzness 10-15-2007 @ 10:51AM

To Alexis, Comment #4.
You're mostly right, and without spending 90 pages preaching about ALL of the horrible reprecussions of eating disorders.....I summed it up as a foolish choice. It was that way for me. I was 15, heard about it, and DECIDED one day day to give it a try. What a fool I was. I've been teaching the burdens of eating disorders since I joined a university campus group called S.A.V.E. Students Attitudes and Values about Eating. It's a scary, frustrating, horrible thing to be involved in. I really wish folks could value their bodies capabilities while still pursuing improved health and fitness.
I whole-heartedly advise anyone suffering from any type of eating disorder to seek professional help. You don't have to feel embarrassed. We all end up in over our heads once in a while. Unfortunately eating disorders can prove fatal. Ask for help! I can't figure out why I never asked my own mother for help. Certainly could have saved me years of misery.
Fitz

alexadure 10-15-2007 @ 1:35PM

hey fitz...i do cross-country track so i run about 2 or 3 miles a day. About once a week or two, i run 5 miles. On top of this, i walk to school every morning which is about a mile. After all of this i am not dead when i get home, i still have energy and i understand that it means i have good metabolism. I rarely drink soda, instead i drink water and gatorade. I eat some junk food, but i usually have pasta-like foods for dinner. I eat fruit a lot. I love fruit salad and watermelon. For lunch i eat yogurt for four of the five days in a school week for lunch. I most commonly also have an apple for a snack. I guess it sounds like i have a good healthy lifestyle, but i am still gaining weight and it changes everyday-literally. One day i will be 113 lbs. No joke, in 2 days i would be 118. Then the next day i would be 115 lbs. One day i hit 121 and the next day i was 115. When people ask me how much i weigh, i say i have no idea. It gets annoying and i need to figure this out.

mira 10-15-2007 @ 1:35PM

heyy fitz i don't have a question but i would like to comment on a part of your answer to jessica, you said that with a healthy diet you can avoid things like cancer, well i am 13 and have lukemia and i always had a good diet but that didn't help me avoid cancer.

Rivka 10-15-2007 @ 1:36PM

Hey Fitz, I'm kinda concerned about my weight. I'm not overweight; I guess I'm average for my age (5'5 and between 140 and 148 on any given day,) but I have all this fat in my thighs and butt and it just drives me NUTS. It's like the only place I have fat, too; my back's not fat and neither are my face or stomach, really. I only have gym twice a week but I always play soccer at school at least once or twice a day, all six days of the school week, but of course, I don't think that's enough. Is there some set of exercises I can do or some way I can change my lifestyle to target the fat in my thighs? Thanks!

fitzness 10-15-2007 @ 1:47PM

Mira,
You are so young, and I'm sorry you have Leukemia. Not fair at all. I wish you well and a complete recovery. It's true that not every type of cancer can be prevented, but many can. Health and fitness is proven to help in the prevention of many types of cancer. Just as not smoking and avoiding second hand smoke can prevent lung cancer. Avoiding too much sun can prevent skin cancer.

I recommend visiting www.preventcancer.org and www.cancer.gov to learn more. You'll be in all of our prayers.

Fitz

sassy22 10-15-2007 @ 3:14PM

Hey fitz. I am 12 years old and weigh about 142 and only 5 feet 1 inch am i over weight. Ihavent had my period yet, should i be worried?and am i over weight?

kori 10-15-2007 @ 5:41PM

Fitz,
Hi, my name is Kori, I'm 14 years old, I'm 5' 3" and I weigh about 160 lbs. To me I am chubby and rather self concious. I feel that it really affects my social life. I am an equestrian and I ride my horses on the weekends and 1-2 times during the school week. I do have a problem making healthy choices when it comes to food. And when I decide that I do want to exercise to loose the extra weight, I get lazy and blow off the exercise. My schedule is rather packed and my parents won't let me go to a gym, die, or run to loose the pounds. They think it's natural. But to me it's not, I feel as though Im toxicated from junk food. Also I am ussually either extreemly tired or extreemly hyper. Please help me, I am moving to a new school soon and I really want to loose this weight!!!

luv2cheersassy 10-15-2007 @ 3:27PM

hey fitz im 12 and weigh like 142 nad i havent had my period i need help so i would apperciate your help. thxs bunches. Sarah

Krystal 10-15-2007 @ 3:52PM

Hello Fitz,
I am seventeen years old and somewhat overweight. I exercise daily and have two dance practices every week for show choir. I also have a part-time job as a server which means I have to walk around a lot. I sometimes drink a soda every now and then, but mostly gatorade and water. However, I weigh 150 and am 5'4". I try to eat health but sometimes I don't have a lot of time and get a quick bite. Please tell me something I can do to help control this.

Hannah 10-15-2007 @ 4:16PM

I have an odd problem swinging in the other direction as far as weight goes. Generally I don't weigh enough, and I'm mostly muscle as is. The problem probably falls back to me not eating enough, but at the same time, I don't forc myself to not eat.

An important thing to remember is to listen to what your body says. If it's hungry, don't let work or school get in your way, eat.

My question is then, how do you gain weight when you already have muscle and eat fairly good food?

Brian D Murphy 10-15-2007 @ 4:04PM

Hey Fitz,
Will you marry me?

Meghan 10-15-2007 @ 4:07PM

Hey. My name is Meghan and I am 15 years old. I play basketball and I have really good arm and back muscles (in my opinion) but my thighs are HUGE and my tummy could be better. How could I lose that weight to where I have a good "bikini body" by the time that summer rolls around

maria. 10-15-2007 @ 4:14PM

Hey Fitz, I have a question for you. I am a little overwieght and i really need to get rid of it. I am 4'11, 125lbs and almost 13 yrs. old. I am one of the shortest kids in my grade and well the one of the heaviest. I really want to be thin and I need a quick and easy way to get rid of it. Can you help me?

rachel 10-15-2007 @ 4:22PM

hey fitz
im 14 i have love handles really bad..and i dont no what to do for it. i am very self consious about it. what do i do to get rid of them...?

Rachel

Julia 10-23-2007 @ 8:37PM

Baby fats seems like it goes away, but actually, you just get taller. I was short for a while, so it looked like I had baby fat until fifth grade =] but then I got taller, and I became more lean. I'm overweight still, but only because I have so much muscle.