Dear DOLLY DR,
"I've always been self-conscious of my weight but lately it's been getting to me a lot. I try to suck my stomach in all the time and I stay up all night crying about how I'm never going to get a BF and how everyone else is skinnier than me. Mum tells me to go on the Xbox Kinect and do a workout every day, I do, but I still get tempted by the fatty foods around the house. She also says it's puppy fat but I know it isn't."
Sally
This might seem like strange advice but I suggest you forget about your weight COMPLETELY. Throw out the scales and stop sucking your stomach in. Instead, turn your attention to how you can make healthy food and regular exercise things to look forward to for their own sake.
Focus on your positive features and stop comparing yourself to everyone else or worrying about boyfriends. One reason that diets or buying a gym membership don’t work in the long term is that often our basic lifestyle is the problem.
We get motivated to make short-term changes but we find, just as you have, that all those little temptations get in the way. Start walking to the shops instead of getting in the car. Get off the bus (or train or whatever) a stop early and walk the rest of the way to school.
When you do your workout, do it for fun, not for exercise. Change the way you think about physical activity by finding things you enjoy. Stop watching TV and limit your computer time just to homework.
As for food, ask your mum to stop buying chocolate and junk food for one month, and fill the pantry up with fresh and dried fruit, lots of salad ingredients and vegetables and snacks, such as almonds or other nuts. Every time you’re hungry, grab an apple, orange or mandarin. Have fruit for dessert after dinner instead of chocolate or ice-cream. Don’t have those second helpings for dinner, stick to a moderate serving of food at each meal. After a month, you won’t even miss the chocolate.
These changes won’t make you lose weight immediately, but they’ll set you up for long-term weight control, health and fitness. If your weight is actually in the normal range for your age, or if you are very overweight with medical complications, or if you have any chronic medical conditions or food allergies, talk to your doctor first.
