Foods And Nutrients For Teenages And 50+

To insure a good nutritional status of your teens, help them to choose nutrient-dense foods and avoid the 'empty calories' like in junk foods and sweets. A teenager should try to eat at least the following portions, most of the days:

Vegetables:
1.5 cup of carrots
1 cup of chopped or sliced celery
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 avocado
1 large tomato
2 cups spinach

Diary:
8-ounce glass of milk
8-ounce glass of yogurt

Good fats:
0.5 cup of cashews
0.3 cup walnuts
1 1/2 tbsp. peanut butter

Fruits:
1 mango
1 cup of grapes
2 apples

Grains:
4 pieces of whole wheat bread
2 granola bars
1 cup whole wheat pasta

Protein:
4 oz. salmon
4 oz chicken breast

Women in their 50s should pay special attention to calcium, folate, iron, and vitamin D (200 IU daily, minimal)

Folic Acid - at least 500 micrograms, found in:

Asparagus
Brussels sprouts
Avocado
Orange juice
Orange
Strawberries
Whole-wheat bread

Calcium - at least 1000 mg a day in:
Milk
Yogurt, plain
Cheese,
Broccoli
Tofu
Orange juice, calcium-fortified

Iron - at least 9 mg a day from:
Liver
Soybeans
Peas
Chicken
Bread, whole-grain
Spinach

Weight loss for teens

There are several easy and healthy steps for teens wanting to lose weight.



1. Move more. Take more gym or dance classes, use your bike to get to school if possible, ask you parents to buy you a simple inexpensive stair climber and go climbing when you watch TV, talk by phone, or whenever you have time.



2. Stop eating any junk food, sugary foods, sweets - unless they are artificially sweetened. Choose whole grain breads instead of white one, have vegetables for side dishes instead of pastas, rice, potatoes, etc.



3. Eat more:



- leafy green veggies

- olive oil

- nuts and seeds

- fish

- fresh fruits and berries

- yogurts (no sugar added or with sweetener or fresh fruit)

- green tea instead of sodas

You can look better even before you lose weight!

It's possible to improve your body image before losing any weight. Even the way you bear your neck and head can greatly influence other people's impression of your body. Here are two simple exercises to help you look and move more graciously.



"Reaching Up" Exercise



1. Stand up straight, feet shoulder-width apart.

2. Lift your arms up over your head, keep them close to your ears.

3. Press your shoulders down.

4. Using your neck muscles, reach up with the top of your head. Stay in this posture for the count of 30.



When you repeat the reaching up exercise many times, the needed muscles become strong and familiar with the task and you entire body will start looking lighter.



Posture Exercise



Standing in front of a mirror, lift up your shoulders, rotate them back and press them down. Keep your shoulders as far back and down as you can for the count of 16. Relax your arms. Make your neck long and straight, do not tilt your head. Flatten the lower part of your back and contract your abdominal muscles to flatten your stomach. Take a minute or two to 'memorize' how your body feels while in this position. Remember this feeling every time you want to look slimmer.

Should Teens go on a Very Low Calorie Diet?

It isn't advised that teens go on a very low calorie diet unless their doctor proscribes it. Teens need a lot of energy: teenage boys need about 2,500 to 3,000; teenage girls need about 2,200 calories and usually, teens have no problem with this requirement. However, they should note where the calories come from: fatty snacks like chips and carb-rich sodas contain very little nutrients per calories they have.

Calcium and iron are two essential nutrients for teens because they help build strong bones when the bone growth is going on very fast. Iron helps to supply kids with energy. Weakness and fatigue in teens can be signs of a shortage of iron.

Teen girls, which are trying to be thin can be getting too little of good fats like omega-3. Meanwhile, omega-3 fat is good for healthy skin, hair, and the immune system. It's also been shown to reduce depression - a condition not so rare in teens.

Tip: the all-you-can-eat teens foods

Avocado
Mangoes
Grapes
Tomatos
Carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Celery
Milk
Yogurt
Nuts
Seeds

How to burn 250 Calories or more in 30 minutes

Here are some ideas how to burn calories the way teens like best.



Playing basketball

Playing football

Playing racquetball

Riding a bike, vigorously

Boxing

Rope jumping

Ice skating

Rollerblade skating



Burning all these calories every day, will add to you loss of 1 pound in 2 weeks even if you don't watch what you eat. Limiting your calorie intake by 250 Calories a day will allow you to lose 1 pound eveery week!

Salad is king!

Hunger can sabotage all your weight loss efforts. If you are a fast growing teenager, you are probably hungry most of the time even without dieting. What can you do? Eat! But eat only "right" foods even if you don't get used to them. You'll learn how to like them, eventually.



Salad is king! Take a *big* salad bowl and tear some dark green leafy veggies in it. Add tomato and cucumber slices, shredded carrots, chopped quarter of an apple and a handful of almonds, squeeze in a little of lemon juice, generously pour olive oil and top your salad with protein-rich foods like chicken, or tuna fish, or hard boiled egg, or cheese cubes.



Eat all you want, even all you can. Make this salad every time you feel hungry. Ounce for ounce, salads make you feel full on fewer calories.



In a hurry? Here's a "movable" salad idea. Take some baby carrots, string cheese, celery stalks, cauliflower florets, a couple of Laughing Caw cheese servings, baby salami or other firm sausages, put all these in a bag. It's a finger food, just make sure you don't forget a couple of napkins.

10 Best Children Snack Ideas

1. Beware of meal-size snacks: they can make any dinner a problem.



2. Snack time can be a good time for vegetables. Cut up carrots, celery, sugar peas, broccoli, or whatever your kids like and arrange a platter along with their favorite dip.



3. Fruits may be better in salads. The simplest salad is made of sliced apples shaken in a bag with cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and a little sweetener.



4.Make your own apple chips to replace the kids' favorite junk food ones. Prepare apples as described above plus add a splash of olive oil, then shake'n'bake.



5. To add protein, make your own all-cheese chips. Spoon grated cheese on a baking sheet. Bake on medium until it melts, turn over and bake until light brown.



6. Let them choose. On a divided appetizer platter, place separately: string cheese pieces, nuts, fruit and vegetable cubes, home-made chips, etc.



7. Negotiate: ask beforehand what they choose out of your list.



8. Nutritious foods can be liquid, too: milk, yogurt, fresh-squeezed fruit or vegetable juices, or their mixes count as good snacks especially in summer.



9. Frozen fruits. Cut up some fruits and put them in an ice tray; pour freshly-squeezed juice upon them and freeze.



10. Offer them jelly cups filled with fresh fruits. You can make them harder with some chopped nuts inside or make them softer and use for peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

How To Calculate Teens' Healthy Weight

It can be hard to tell whether or not a teen's body weight is normal because at the age 13, for example, not only boys and girls grow at different paces, but among girls as well as among boys growth can be faster or slowlier and can stop at different age.

Teens can have differently developed muscles, and their body frame can be small or large - this also contribute to body weight differences within healthy, normal body weight.

Let's take a look at a few cases of what's called Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a formula that doctors use to estimate how much body fat a person has based on his or her weight and height. At the age of 13, boys and girls having BMI under 15 are underweight, those with BMIs between 15 and 23 are considered having healthy weight, those with BMI above 23 but below 27 have the risk of developing obesity in the nearest future, and those with BMI above 27 are overweight. To figure out your BMI, use Kid's Health calculator. there, you'll also find good advice on how to understand your BMI and what start doing if it's outside the healthy limits.

We have special weight loss and diet tips for teens. Check them out!

Dieting Dangers For Teenage Girls

For teenage girls, any restrictive diet can result in greater body weight problem than if they wouldn't diet at all.

A study published in the British Medical Journal, teenage girls who diet even 'moderately' are 5 times more likely to have eating and body weight problems than those who do not diet. Those on a too restrictive diet are 18 times more likely to develop a problem. Since Canadian researchers found out that 23% of teenage girls are currently dieting and about 27% of them have symptoms of eating and/or body weigh problem, the best advice for teenage girls is to eat healthy foods and exercise as much as they can to keep body weight under control.

Good foods are colorful vegetables - dark green, bright orange, red, and yellow - along with whole grains, lean meats, poultry, and fish, and 'good' fats like in olive oil, nuts, and seeds. Most teenage girls shoul not limit their calorie intake but rather increase their calorie expenditure.

School-age girls can choose more gym hours, play sports games or just dance, walk, jog, or run instead of spending hours in front of TV.

Are you really overweight?

A great part of teenagers' body weight problem can be not being really overweight but poor body image, including how they feel about their bodies themselves.



Figure out whether you are overweight or not. The only real indicator of your body composition is body fat %. You don't need to buy anything but measuring tape. Make the following measurements:



Waist

Hip

Neck

Height



Download your own body fat calculator at this URL: bestofweightloss.com/plan/calculaters.xls



Enter your measurements into the spreadsheet and see your results.



Body fat % for 14-19 years old girls is between 20 and 24%, depending on body frame (wide or narrow)



Body fat % for 14-19 years old boys is between 15% and 20%.



This calculator will also help you to figure out your fitness level. Improving your fitness is good for both overweight and "normal" kids.

Healthy Lunch Box for School

When you pack you lunch box to take it to the school, here are a few simple ideas of having a healthy lunch:

1. Cut up carrots, celery, sugar peas, broccoli and pack them into your lunch box along with your favorite dip in a small tight-lid plastic box.

2. Try this simplest salad made of sliced apples shaken in a bag with cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and a little sweetener.

3. It's easy to make your own all-cheese chips to replace the not-so-good for you ready chips. Spoon grated cheese on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven on medium until it melts, turn over and bake until light brown.

4. Take healthy drinks with you - milk, yogurt, fresh-squeezed fruit or vegetable juice - instead of sodas.

Beware of starvation diet!

You might be surprised but very low calorie dieting among teens leads to gaining weight. Research of chronically dieting girls clearly proved it. The inevitable combination of hunger, cravings and that special "diet stress" can cause you binge eating.



Besides, you'll lose muscles and will look sluggish and weak. As you become older than 11, your body starts requiring a minimum of 1800 Calories; at age of 18, boys need up to 2700 Cal. a day or else they feel extreme tiredness, their bones become weak, skin and hair problems begin, and hormonal problems such as skipping periods can occur. Teens also perform poor in gyms and classrooms when on starvation diets.



So what does exist instead of starvation diets for overweight teens? For most of them, just eating healthy and exercising enough. Eating healthy means that before you get your hands on junk food, you MUST eat at least a minimal amount of foods your body desperately needs, namely:



Vegetables

Fruits

Lean meats and fish

Seeds and nuts

Oils



Example. A 15-years old girl, 5'5", weighing 120 pounds, moderately active, to maintain her current weight needs *all* of the following:



- 2,095 calories a day;



- 70 grams of fats, better "good" fats like olive oil;



- 79 grams of protein. Some nutritionists think that proteins from beans, grains, and tofu are best because they're low in fat;



- 288 grams of "good" carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits and vegetables;



- At least 24 grams of fiber. Fiber-rich foods such as beans, whole grains, nuts, fruit, and vegetables is a good way to keep heavier foods out of your diet. Fiber also help to absorb less of calories coming in with foods.

Healthy weight body composition for teens

Teens (and their parents) are often worried that they are overweight. Meanwhile, there's a simple way to figure out whether it's true or not. A 14 years old girl weighing (65 kg) and being 5'7" (171 cm) has Body Mass Index of 22.4, which places her among 80% of her peers having healthy body weight.



A boy of same age, height, and weight will find himself in 84 percentile, also healthy.



Another thing is, that with the same Body Mass Index, some boys or girls can have different body composition - one can have more fat while another be more muscular. In any case, the solution is not losing weight but working on a better body composition.



To do this, if you have a healthy body weight, is easy and fun: take more gym classes, play more games, spend less time in front of TV or, if you do, don't be sitting back but try to do toning exercises or work with elastic band, or dumbbells.



Also, your health and appearance (skin including) will improve if you cut down on sugary stuff like sodas, candy, cookies and eat more of fresh fruits and veggies.