5 Diet Tips For Teens by Shannon Tani

Dieting can be a little bit more difficult when you're a teen. Late nights. Peer pressure. Parental cluelessness. The fear of looking uncool. It's a lot harder to diet as a teen than as an adult.
Luckily, there are still many things that teens can do to eat a healthier diet.

5 Diet Tips for Teens

Eat breakfast. After a long night of studying, there's barely enough time just to get out of bed, brush your hair and teeth and get to school on time. But breakfast is probably the most important meal of the day. Eating a good breakfast prevents you from overeating later in the day. If you don't have time to sit down and eat at home, at least grab something like a banana that you can eat on-the-go.

Bring your own lunch. Who knows what goes into those lunches that they give out at school. Even things that look healthy are sometimes unhealthy and these days there's a plethora of unhealthy foods available in the school lunch line. By bringing your own lunch, you have more control over the foods that you are eating. You can be sure that everything going into your body is healthy.

No soda. Sorry. I know that this is a hard one, but if you want to lose weight the soda has to go. It's almost always a bad idea to drink your calories and soda's calories only come from sugar. If you must have your soda, switch to diet. (Actually, many people report effortlessly losing weight after cutting soda from your diet. Try it! You might be surprised!)

Make good restaurant choices. I know that hanging out at restaurants with friends is one of the many ways that teens like to hang out. But you need to steer clear of the fried foods and sugary desserts. Instead, order a salad (dressing on the side), some fresh fruit, or some other low calorie dish. If you have a restaurant that you often go to, check out their menu online and plan your choices ahead of time. If you're just dying to feed the sweet tooth, order something to share with a friend. Don't eat all those calories by yourself.

Help with grocery shopping or cooking. Your parents may be too busy to cook a super-healthy meal, but that doesn't meal that you can't! By offering to help with grocery shopping or cooking, you'll have a bit more control over what goes on the dinner table. The more healthy foods you can eat, the better.

Hopefully with these tips , you'll be well on your way to a healthier you!