Weight Loss Plans for Teens
Programs to Consider for Teen Weight Loss

Weight loss plans for teens are of increasing interest to teenagers these days - and their parents…



By searching for answers, you’ve taken the important first step in controlling your weight and improving your health! As your young body continues to grow, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is crucial to your overall state of health. My goal in presenting weight loss plans for teens is to help you identify some resources that promote healthy food choices and behaviors to enable you to reach your goal weight.

It is important as you grow taller to maintain your current weight through healthy food choices that:

• Control calorie intake
• Are nutritionally complete
• Are flexible enough to adapt to an adolescent’s lifestyle

Of the various weight loss plans for teens that are available, my top recommendation is the Medifast for Teens Program administered through Take Shape for Life, which offers a free personal Certified Health Advisor to ensure your success.

The Medifast for Teens Program
The Medifast for Teens Program consists of two unique plans: 1) the Weight Loss Plan, and 2) the Weight Maintenance Plan. Your Body Mass Index (BMI) determines which plan to choose. BMI is a calculation based on your current height and weight. Before beginning the Medifast for Teens Program, I strongly recommend that you see your pediatrician or physician to help determine your BMI, and to determine whether this program is right for you.

The Medifast for Teens Program is high in fiber, combining the unlimited use of whole grains, fruits and vegetables with fiber-rich Medifast Meals. This combination helps to control your hunger while limiting your calorie intake. With today’s busy lifestyles, it can be difficult to follow a strict weight loss plan. The Medifast for Teens Program provides you with flexibility, using a combination of healthy traditional foods and convenient Medifast Meals.

Actively involved parents and a motivated teen are integral to the success of this program. Sometimes it’s hard to make big changes alone, so consider enlisting a sibling or friend to get active with you and help you stick with your healthy new habits.

The Medifast for Teens Program begins with the Weight Loss Plan. Once your BMI is in the 85th-95th percentile, you can move to the Weight Maintenance Plan. When your BMI is below the 85th percentile you can use the healthy behaviors learned in the Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance Plans to support a healthy weight for a lifetime. Continue to use Medifast Meals for convenient, portion controlled meal add-ons and healthy snack choices. The Take Shape for Life / Medifast-based weight loss programs have been recommended by over 20,000 physicians throughout the U.S. for nearly 30 years!

For more information about the Take Shape for Life weight loss program that encompasses the Medifast for Teens Program, check out my Take Shape for Life program overview.

Other effective and high quality programs for overweight teens that I would recommend include Camp Shane, a summer weight loss camp, and SparkTeens, an online community for teens providing some very good information for teen weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. These are not specifically weight loss plans for teens, but they offer alternatives that you may want to consider.

Camp Shane
Located in the Catskill Mountains in New York State, Camp Shane is owned and directed by the Ettenberg family & Simon Greenwood and run exactly as a traditional camp, without unduly focusing on teenage weight loss as a problem. Camp Shane is warm, friendly and family run since 1968 for overweight children and teens of all ages. Their homelike atmosphere is devoted entirely to children and teen weight loss.

The Camp Shane summer weight loss camp features nutrition education, weight loss tips, dieting information, fitness programs, exercise, weight loss, self-esteem building, exciting activities, and emphasizes having fun and developing friendships. Camp Shane is the oldest of the summer weight loss camps.

Their meals are portion controlled, nutritious and great tasting. They teach classes in nutrition, dieting and cooking and help you incorporate eating and lifestyle behaviors that you can maintain after camp. They talk about what it's like to be an overweight teen and discuss how to continue your weight loss and fitness activities after camp is over. They provide campers with a list of Nutritionists and Registered Dieticians, certified by the American Dietetic Association, who they work with to assist you after camp.

SparkTeens
SparkTeens was created as a resource for 13- to 17-year-olds. SparkTeens offers age-appropriate information and resources about health, nutrition, fitness and weight management, similar to other weight loss plans for teens. They also offer a positive online community where teens can connect with and support one another as they reach their goals.

SparkTeens is the newest addition to the SparkPeople family of websites, which also includes SparkPeople.com and BabyFit.com. SparkPeople's mission is to help millions of people get healthy and reach their goals by providing resources and tools completely free of charge. While their other websites enforce a strict age policy (for adults 18 and over), they realize that teens today need (and want) information about health and fitness—that's where SparkTeens comes in.

SparkTeens offers many of the same tools as its parent site, SparkPeople.com. However, the tools and content found at SparkTeens have been adapted and modified so that they meet the needs and interests of teenagers. Whether you want to become more active, learn to make healthy food choices or improve your fitness level, SparkTeens' tools and support are available to help you succeed.

There are many things you can do on the SparkTeens site to reach your health, fitness and nutrition goals, including:

• Use a nutrition calculator to learn about proper nutrition for growth and development
• Follow a workout program, complete with detailed exercise demos and videos
• Explore articles and quizzes on nutrition, fitness, health and goal-setting
• Interact in a positive community of other like-minded teens
• Get encouragement and support from SparkTeens members and experts
• Learn about reaching a healthy weight by making good food choices and exercising moderately.

Free Teen Weight Loss Tips
If you are more interested in information and tips that you and your teen can incorporate into your routine on your own, check out the free resources on this teen weight loss page. These include simple every day lifestyle habits and practical teen nutrition tips that you can easily put into practice without necessarily using one of the structured weight loss plans for teens.

Conclusion
Whether you are looking for well-defined weight loss plans for teens, or other programs for teens with an emphasis on weight loss and wellness, these programs are all well-established and can provide great benefit depending on what you are looking for. I give my top recommendation to the Medifast for Teens Program through Take Shape for Life because it is a well-defined and structured program offering the free advice of a personal Certified Health Advisor. This makes it very easy to make progress toward your weight loss goals in a healthy and effective manner where you can learn and adopt healthy eating and lifestyle behaviors for the long term.

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