My experience losing weight as a teen.

Hey all. I may be different than the typical person who loses weight because I'm 13. I would like to describe how I lost weight safely as a teen.

First, some backstory. I have always been fat as a kid due to loving food and academics, not so much exercise. However, I decided to finally change my life for a few reasons.

Number 1, athletics. I grew to love the game of basketball since I started playing seriously at 9. I am a very good shooter and dribbler, but I was always missing that athleticism required to be good at defense and layups.

Number 2, girls. At the beginning of the school year, I developed a crush on one of my classmates. They were perfect in my eyes. Cute face, gorgeous blue eyes, athletic, smart, caring, kind, funny, basically throw any adjective you want in there and chances are that's her. However, I wasnt the most attractive person being obese and all. Say all you want about how one shouldn't change for love, but I figured this would help me out in the long run anyways.

Number 3, my health. I was ballooning up in weight, to say the least. I was around 5' 3" and 155 lbs, which is morbidly obese. However, since I have always been muscled throughout my life, nobody really saw me as anything more than overweight. But at the beginning of the summer of 2019, I started to get knee pain, which was preventing me from doing the thing I love most, basketball. Along with an abysmal mile run time in school, headaches, and other problems I decided to make a change in my life to live to my fullest potential. Here is how I did it.

The first thing I did was to consult my doctor. My doctor firstly explained the concept of Calories In, Calories Out to me. He then determined that my TDEE (dont know if that's the right term, but how many calories you expend on a daily basis) was around 1800. He said that the safest way to lose weight without stunting growth was through a very slight calorie deficit. He taught me how to log my calories, and told me to eat 1650 calories a day, AKA a 150 calorie deficit. However, he instructed that I must eat my daily goal for proteins and fats daily, along with nutrients, minerals, and water.

Additionally, he recommended intermittent fasting. While not necessary, it really helped me to control my calories and not overeat.

Throughout July 2019 to February 2020, I lost around 7 pounds (148 lbs) and grew to 5' 5". I was feeling much better, much more athletic, and less fat. I was super excited for my trip to Costa Rica, and my shirt size decreased from Adult Large to Adult Medium! However, while I was on the beach at Costa Rica, I felt very body conscious and couldn't enjoy my trip to the fullest. I made a promise that the next time I went on vacation, I'd be fit and ready to enjoy.

I decided to use the lockdown time to finally achieve this goal I have had of losing weight. The only real change I made was exercising daily. I figured that if I burned around 500 to 1000 calories a day in exercise, I can lose weight while still providing my body with the nutrients it needs.

I set up a workout plan consisting of running daily, doing basketball drills for a few hours, and some light weightlifting, supplemented by bodyweight exercises and vertical jump workouts for basketball. While I didnt track calories burned, I made sure to put in the worm everyday.

Ever since mid-March, which is when the lockdown and my training started, I am probably in the best shape I've ever been. I have lost 19 pounds (weighed in at 129 yesterday!) and grown up to 5' 7". This means that not only am I not morbidly obese, or even overweight, I am at healthy weight!

Here are some of the effects of my weight loss.

Firstly, I saw great improvement in my basketball and athletic skills. I can do acrobatic layups, run for a long time without getting tired or having my heart beat to the point where I feel like throwing up, I have an increased vertical jump of about 11" so I can grab the net of my basketball hoop and nearly smack the backboard, and I just ran 4.5 miles today!

I also saw some great improvements in my social life, particularly girls. Remember how I said I had a crush? Well, a few days ago we started dating! While she admitted she didnt like me back solely because of my looks, but rather my personality, I would have never had the confidence to talk to a girl like her before I lost weight, let alone ask her out! This is probably the one I'm most happy about since I've never had a girlfriend before.

Lastly, my health has drastically improved. I no longer get knee pain easily, my cardio endurance and muscle endurance is through the roof, and rather than being the short, weak, fat boy, I have visible muscles and veins and can see definition in my abs! While this may have been an effect of better nutrition and hydration, I no longer have headaches either!

While it was definitely not easy to lose weight, and my journey took a long time and was difficult, it is possible and you wont regret it, I promise. Losing weight got me a girlfriend, got rid of my knee pain and headaches, and I might be able to play travel basketball next year, along other things.

Some key points I have:

1. Dont give up. I could have given up and I still would have been fat, along with being ashamed of my body and being unable to enjoy what I love to the fullest.

2. As a teen, make sure you consult a doctor or nutritionist. Please do this. You dont want to cause permanent damage to your body for short term progress. Losing weight in a sustainable, medically recommended way will make it easier to keep off, along with giving your body what it needs.

3. It's worth it. Every single minute of being said that you are unable to eat your favorite junk foods, or discomfort when working out, use your goals as motivation. Reaching your goals is the most satisfying thing ever, trust me. It makes it all worth it. Just imagine yourself as who you want to be, and understand that all your choices contribute to that.

4. Dont become unmotivated due to small setbacks. I'd be lying if I said I stuck to my diet every single day. However, the days that I fell apart, I made sure to get back on track the next day. Short term failure doesnt constitute long term failure. You can still do it.

5. Listen to your body. I don't mean to eat all of the junk cause your body is craving it. I mean that if you are very tired and sore, take a rest day. Overworking your body is not good and can cause injury and set you back far. Also, dont starve yourself. Eating low caloric density foods such as vegetables and proteins will help to keep you full, but if you are still hungry, then eat. You dont want to deprive your body of the nutrients it needs while you are growing. You can always lose weight, but you cant always grow. Plus, maintenance is progress.

What's next? I figured that I am still a little chubby and I think I can sustainably lose a little more weight to improve my athletics. I plain on eating at my maintenance calories and eating a lot of protein, as well as bulking up through weightlifting and exercising a lot to lose weight. I also developed a love for running along the way, and I hope to complete my first 10K after lockdown! I also plan on going on my first date after lockdown with the girl I thought I could never date, but who ended up liking me back anyways. Just remember that if you set your mind on doing something, nothing can stop you.

Thanks for reading this post of mine, sorry if I sounded like I was bragging, I just wanted to provide some inspiration to others. If anyone has any questions about anything, you can comment them and I will answer. Also I apologize for any errors I may have made as I wrote this post on my phone. I hope everyone has a great day, and I hope everyone can achieve their goals!

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