Scarlett: Teens ONLY: How does the weight struggle start within teenagers?
We assume that because teens are so young, the only topics on your mind should be school, music, fun stuff, etc. Yet, adults struggle with weight for many reasons and they usually begin in their childhood. What would you like adults or other teens to know about struggles with weight? Is it all hype? How does the weight struggle start?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Deep Dark Depression
Because we’re all cowards looking for everyone else’s approval. And when we’re on our death beds we’ll regret living for others, instead of ourselves.
Teens are pressured more than ever these days to live up to unhealthy and impossible standards. In fact, my aunt said that she would never what to be a teen now because of all the pressure. Teens see photots of people who are hailed in society as the “definition of beauty” and they look at themselves and see the opposite. The people who our society hails as the most attractive are skinny in the waist but have large busts and butts, perfect hair that is usually straight, long, managable, and the perfect color, and faces that are free of any bumps, moles, or blemishes. A teen girl like me sees this and convinces herself that she is not good enough, no one likes her, she is unlovable and forever alone. Many teens take their frustrations out with things like eating, not eating, or cutting. I happen to do all three, depending on how I feel. I’m a little over-weight, my face is covered with acne, and my hair is very thick, wavy, and has a mind of its own. According to society, I’m the opposite of beauty. I just want to know that I am truly beautiful the way I am and that I am truly loved the way I am.Answer by Livvy:)
I think the weight struggle starts when we finally begin to accept that being skinny is best. As a kid, for most kids any way, they could care less if you’re fat and she’s a stick. They truly judge people on who they are. But when we get older it’s a lot harder to do that. We look at everything celebrities do and think something like “oh they’re life must be great”. And slowly, we just start wanting that for our selves. I think that’s how it starts. It turns into much more when we are willing to do anything for it. When we aren’t happy with what we’ve got, but we’re sure we will be once we get that.
For the record, this doesn’t apply to every teen. Some are very happy with who they are. And it’s not just girls either, because there are guys that struggle with things like that. I also say we and they in general terms.
If i wanted them to know anything, it’d be that it’s not something we can really help after a while. It’s not something we can just get over. You can just drop your weight struggle and how you feel about yourself because it does become apart of you. So saying just move on, or saying just eat something, really isn’t as easy as adults make it out to be.
Answer by Class of 2011!Some people say it’s genetic, but I think it’s an excuse to let yourself become 100-300 pounds overweight. It’s a pathetic excuse. You don’t just magically become fat because everyone else in your family is fat.
Whenever I go to fast food and I see someone wolfing down three hamburgers, I think to myself “And you wonder why you’re fat?” or at the movie theaters when I see someone with the biggest size bin of popcorn, a giant slurpee and a couple boxes of candy, I think to myself “And you wonder why you’re fat?”
Three hamburgers are not genetics, it’s a choice. You chose to eat three hamburgers. You choose two eat seconds and thirds of massive portions of food. You choose to get a extra grande frappucino with extra carmel and whip cream instead of a skinny mocha. You choose not to exercise or push yourself when exercise. None of that is because the rest of your family is fat.
Teens think that just because they’re skinny now they can eat whatever they want, but that’s not true. It’s going to pay off later when you don’t know what a healthy portion is or know the difference between subsituting half a tub of ice cream for strawberries dipped in chocolate or making your own yogurt parfait.
My parents were very overweight, and so were my brother and I, only my brother and I didn’t show it because we have fast metabolisms. Growing up McDonald’s was somewhere we ate on a daily basis. At night, we would eat an entire bag of candy while watching tv. We would always eat steak and potatoes, and we whatever we ate we would have our plates full of mounds of food, like a mountain of spaghetti.
Several years ago my parents begin using Nutrisystem. When they began exercising, all they could manage to do was a lap around the street. Eventually, they were able to walk a lap around the block. They began learning portion control and ate smaller meals. They began walking the track and walking up and down the stairs. They lost about 50 pounds when they decided to quit Nutrisystem and learn how to eat healthy on their own.
Our portions were smaller and what we ate was much, much healthier. We tried to find healthier options for school lunches rather than the junk food we ate. We ate more sandwiches and more fruit. Apples and yogurt are now staples to our daily snacks. My parents quit drinking (which is TERRIBLE to drink when you’re trying to lose weight!) and stopped going to fast food restaurants. When we eat out, we subsitute french fries for salad and fruit. We avoid greasy and fattening food. Now my parents jog and can hike for miles.
My brother and I aren’t as strict as my parents. We still love to eat fast food and drink at Starbucks and eat ice cream and candy, but not nearly as much as we did growing up. We don’t really exericse, but it’s something we’re still trying to work on.
My advice for teens who are struggling with weight is to find a support group or a buddy who can lose weight and exercise with you. It’s so much easier to lose weight when you know you’re not alone. Self-discipline is extremely hard but once you’ve learned how to say no overeating and eating poorly it becomes much easier. You have to be able to go out to a restaurant and be able not to pick the unhealhiest meal on the menu. You have to be able not to be eating 24/7. It’s really hard, but it takes alot of dedication.
Answer by -shrugs-Outside influence, of course. It starts earlier than adolescence.
My mom has a scale. My physical education class in elementary and middle school was required to calculate every student’s BMI, and we all compared numbers. My doctor took my weight and height.
These numbers and measurements have to have some significance, right?
“You are so skinny!” Why did people tell me that in 3rd grade? I wasn’t even close to skinny, was I? I grew out of my pants. I must have been getting fatter.
For longer than I can remember, I’ve associated “fatness” with being full and eating a lot. Just like everyone else.
As I get older, I’m coming to terms with the fact that I grow. As a result, I gain weight, which is great. In the back of my mind, it still bothers me. whatever
I want others to know that weight is, at its core, just a number. Strip away all context, and how many pounds the bathroom scale says you weigh doesn’t even matter. It isn’t all hype, but we are forgetting that most people just need to eat healthily and exercise throughout our lives.
The struggle starts when you start to think that weight is bad. Bad health is bad. Extra weight is just a(n extremely stigmatized and undeniably harmful) byproduct.
Answer by Rachael43% of 1-3 graders think that they are overweight. 50% of teenage girls think that they are fat. Society portrays this inhuman idea of skinny. You don’t have to be skinny to be pretty.
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