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Getting into shape

Crash diets, which are a fad among teenagers, are not safe

SLIM BRIGADE One can loose weight with a healthy diet

If you are a teenage girl, you see them everywhere: the media hinting that you need a makeover. It's in your morning papers, in the advertisements that come in between your favourite programmes, magazines you flip through, movies you watch and at times the billboard on the street.

Life as a teen isn't easy with ads pressurising you to get the right look by wearing the right clothes, nail polish and hairdo. As images and words are centred on beauty queens, slender models and slim glitterati, one gets the impression it is important to be thin.

With the sedentary life the youth of today live in, and the amount of junk food they eat, it is no wonder that most end up overweight.

Under the impression that they should look thin, many go for unrealistic diets. But it is not just the overweight teens who try to shed weight, the slim ones go on diets too. In fact crash diets are now a fad among the teenage girls.

Diets galore

Diets like Atkins or one that advocates cabbage soup, diuretic and juice diets may be effective but can cause adverse effects in the long run. A teenage girl needs 2,060 calories each day so the best diet is a low calorie balanced diet with none of the food groups shunned.

And how do you know that the diet you are on is dangerous? Well, drastic body weight loss, wrinkles or sagging of skin, lethargy, dizzy spells and lack of concentration are a few signs.

So what should you do to loose weight safely? First and foremost, you should start your day with breakfast. If you are in a rush grab a glass of banana milk shake and an egg. For lunch, think twice before munching on that bag of chips or bonda. A 200 gm packet of chips has 1,200 calories while two bondas have 470 calories. Dinner can be chappatis and vegetable curry. Never skip a meal.

Cut down on coconut, salt, oil and high sodium food like pickles, salted popcorn and sauces. Sugar can be replaced with sucralose if needed. Eat a wide variety of food daily, especially fruits and veggies. Select food that is high in fibre.

No to junk food

Gulp down water instead of juice and fizzy drinks. Stop eating when you are full. Junk food is a big no-no as they are high in calories. For instance a vegetable burger has 320 calories, a regular fries, 230 calories, chicken tikka masala has 600 calories and a small pizza, 325 calories.

Unlike most teens' belief, milk is good for those dieting. The calcium in the milk helps to reduce the amount of fat cells and the size of fat cells.

A 20 to 30 minute exercise is a must; aerobics being the most effective. So if you want the Miss Universe figure, you now know what to do, safely.

As told to Liza George by Mini Mary Prakash, consultant dietician, PRS Hospital.

LIZA GEORGE

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