Healthy Weight for 13-Year-Olds: Nutrition & Exercise Advice

Question
HI. I'm thirteen, weigh 162 pounds and am 5.3". What is the healthy wieght for my age? And how would I go about reaching this wieght (i.e. nutrition and exercise)? I would like to be slimmer in about 8 months if this is possible.
Thanks
Kelly

Answer
Dear kelly, A healthy weight for your height would depend on your bone structure and muscle mass. A starting weight to strive for would be 125 pounds. To lose weight you will have to make your body burn stored fat for energy. The way to do that would be to walk everyday for at least 30-45 minutes and eat foods that are not easily stored as fat. Foods to eat would be eggs, lean meats, tuna fish, chicken, vegetables, salads, whole fruits, lot's of water, and low fat dairy. Foods that are easily stored as fat are foods like mac and cheese, pizza, ramen noodles, pasta, fruit juice, potato, rice, crackers cookies, and white bread. Try to eat around 1500 calories per day. Read labels and add the calories contained in each food you eat. You should lose 2 pounds per week if you follow that program. Hope that helps, Laura Kraemer,Slimkids.com