Healthy eating diet for teen boy

Question
I am a 16 year old boy. I am 6'7" and about 268 pounds. I play football for my school and I am beginning to feel a little over weight. I want to lose the belly I have by eating healthy but i always have a sweet tooth. Can you suggest a good eating diet that won't cut anything I need as a 16 year old still growing boy?
Thanks in Advance

Answer

Sure. Let抯 start by taking a look at some measures of body composition assessment to try to determine where you are.

Your weight is 268 pounds. Medical evidence suggests that body weights within the range of 169-222 are reasonably equally healthy for people of your height. Outside this range, health risks may occur. Although for those who are big boned and muscular, the reasonable body weight would be on the highest end of that scale.

Body mass index or BMI is a useful measure of overweight and obesity. It is calculated from your height and weight. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that can occur with more body fat. The higher your BMI, the higher your risk for diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, and certain cancers.

Your current Body Mass Index is 30.2 kg/m2.  A BMI value exceeding 25 indicates potential health risk. A value of 30 or more indicates obesity related health risks. A desirable weight for height for adults is a BMI of 20-25. Although BMI can be used for most men, it does have some limits. For those people (like male football players) who are more muscular than average, their BMI can appear high and be an inaccurate assessment because of the dense muscle they have. So, although your BMI appears to be in the 搊besity?range, we really can抰 be sure because you may have a lot of muscle.

So, we really need to determine your body fat. Your total body weight is made up of lean body mass and fat. Lean body mass consists of bone and muscle while fat is stored all over the body and makes up some parts of vital organs. The most accurate way for you to determine body fat percentage is to have a body fat test done. You can ask at your local gym if they do that service. It can be done with calipers, although it must be done by someone with skill. The best way is done in water. It is called hydrostatic weighing. It can be more expensive however and sometimes it is difficult to find a company that does that.  

The simplest, the least expensive method, however least accurate is to do some body measurements with a sewing tape measure and enter the data in an online calculator like one of these. But for a quick assessment this may be all that you need. You will most likely get different results with these two calculators. But they will give you a rough idea.

http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bodyfat.htm

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/bfb

Here is a chart of body fat percentages for men. I抎 like to see you somewhere in the 12-22%.
Classification   Men (% body fat)
Essential Fat   2-4%
Athletes   6-13%
Fitness    14-17%
Acceptable    18-25%
Obese            25% plus

Assuming you find that your body fat is over 22%. It would be your goal to lose fat. You need to remember that combining exercise and a balanced diet are essential for success. I did several calculations and to maintain your current body weight. This is where more information would be helpful. I don抰 know how much exercise you are doing. So I am estimating that you need between 3500 and 4000 calories a day IF you are working out moderately an hour 4-5 days a week. You would need more calories if you workout more than that to maintain your current weight. To lose one pound of body fat you must either expend 3500 calories through activity or eat 3500 fewer calories per week than your body requires.  

So to roughly calculate how many calories you need daily, subtract 500 calories per day for each pound you want to lose every week. For a more balanced approach to a 1-pound per week weight loss, consider cutting calorie intake by 250 calories per day and exercising for the other 250 calories. This approach prevents a decrease in your metabolic rate and promotes increased lean muscle mass. I抦 assuming you are getting regular exercise playing football. So let抯 go the 揹ecrease 500 calories per day?route. So that means to lose one pound a week, you would need to eat about 3000-3500 calories a day.

A general healthy guide to eating would include using the guidelines of the MyPyramid. http://www.mypyramid.gov  I like it because there is so much information about it that you can easily find. Explore the website. Nutrition is fun to learn about and this is a great place to start.

Here is the daily recommended amount of food from each food group for 3200 calorie diet:
http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/results/results_3200_18.pdf

According to the pyramid, you should be eating 7 ounces of meat, fish, poultry, dry beans (basically proteins) a day. You should consume 3 servings of dairy and choose low fat products from this group such as skim milk or plain yogurt which are good sources of calcium.  Eat 4 cups vegetables per day; 2 ?cups fruit, 11 teaspoons of fat or equivalent (more details below) and finally 10 servings of bread, rice, cereals, pasta (all of which are carbohydrates). To see portion sizes go to this page http://swc.osu.edu/posts/documents/single-pyramid-plan-read-only.pdf  

A special note about fat. Fats come in various types. Unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are healthy if eaten in small amounts. But saturated fats and trans fats can increase your risk of heart disease.

No matter which type of fat you choose, one fat serving on this chart http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-diet/DA00075 equals 5 grams of fat and 45 calories. Remember to include any fats you use for cooking as part of your daily fat allowance.
Continue to exercise. Get at least 30-60 minutes of daily conditioning. Some suggestions could be, running on the treadmill, riding a bike, doing the stair climber or perhaps another activity you like. You should be working out at least 3 to 5 times during the week. It might also be helpful to lift weights as that increases metabolism while it increases your muscle size. The more times you work out the better you will feel and the more inclined you will be to lose unwanted weight. Remember to have fun and participate in the activities you enjoy.

I know what you mean about the sweets! I love them too so I have a list of my favorites. For some sweet snack ideas check out my blog on Satisfy Your Sweet Cravings at www.MyActiveNutrition.com

Weigh yourself once a week. 1-3 pounds a week would be reasonable. If you need additional help, you can talk to your football or PE coach, or have your parents contact a registered dietitian in your area.

Good luck!  

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