Expert: Melissa Anderson - 5/29/2008

Question
Hey there, my name is Kayleigh, I'm a 16 year old female.
I'm 5'4 and I weigh 172.8 pounds. Obviously, I'm pretty overweight, my doctor also told me I had fairly high cholesterol. I eat a lot of junk, which I obviously shouldn't, and I briskly walk home from school everyday, about 3 quarters of a mile. I'm not sure what kinds of foods to put on the shopping list, and I was wondering if you could give me an idea of how I should be eating and exercising to get to around 115-120 pounds and maintain that weight.

Answer
Kayleigh,
You say that you eat a "lot of junk", and you're only walking 3/4 mile daily, so it's easy to see how you got to your current weight.

Here's what a good diet for you might look like:

Breakfast:
Piece of fruit and either yogurt or cottage cheese

Lunch:
Sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread
Cut vegetables-carrots, celery, tomato, whatever
Milk carton

Dinner:
Anything, so long as it includes vegetables and you stop eating as soon as you feel full!

Snacks:
One snack of whatever "junk" you want, as long as it's 200 calories or less. Other snacks should be only fruit, vegetables, or milk.

When you eat out, use a Web site like dietfacts.com to get an idea of what the lower calorie choices are in each restaurant. If you eat a lot of fast foods, make an index card reminding you what the best choice is from each place. Fast food nutrition info is usually on each company's Web site.

And then, you'll need more exercise. For now, you could start taking a longer walk home from school. Once school's out, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to get outside and walk/run/bike/swim. In the fall, the easiest way to exercise is to join a sports team, like cross country. You'll be forced to get plenty of exercise, and if you've been staying active all summer, it'll be easier than you think.

If you want more suggestions, if you aren't sure if a food is healthy or not, then please feel free to send me another question!

Melissa