Some teenagers think they are fat when they really

aren't. They may get this idea from hearing adults talk

so much about dieting and weight. Television, magazine

articles, and even comic strips have features on dieting.

No wonder people are thinking about their weight.

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Ill Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities Z

Visit our Web site at: www .aces.edu

Some teenagers still have "baby fat:' Their bodies are going through many changes, and they haven't yet grown tall enough for their weight. If you are one of these people, you may as well make smart choices while your height is catching up with your weight. Eating right and exercising will help you grow up, not out.

For you girls-don't think you have to look like a fashion model. Most people don't have the body type for it, so why play a frustrating, no-win game?

The same goes for you guys. Accept the fact that "Mr. Universe" muscles probably aren't in your genetic makeup. Accept your genetic fate and work with what you have. You can look good and feel good about yourself if you don't have an unrealistic idea about what you should look like.

APPLE OR

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.~PEAR? At the next family gathering, take stock of your

relatives. Are you shaped pretty much like everyone else? This is important because, for the most part, heredity will determine where your fat will settle.

Body fat falls into two categories. ''Apples" carry the extra pounds in the upper body and around the abdomen. Most apples are men but some are women.

"Pears," usually women, have excess weight be­low the waist, in chunky thighs and hips.

Once a pear, always a pear. You can't change your basic shape, so make it the best you can. Instead of being a fat pear, be a medium or slim pear. You can control the size, not the shape.

The abdominal fat of apple types is associated with more health risks than the hip and thigh fat of pear types. The chances of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes are higher for people who are apple-shaped.

You may not appear to be either shape now, but one is in your genetic makeup. By making smarter food choices, you can trick mother nature-at least for a while .

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One cup of peanuts has 840 calories. Dry roast­ing saves you only 14 calories. (Big deal!)

Clothes do make a difference when you weigh­in. A heavy necklace could weigh %. pound; a sweater, 1/2 pound.

Exercise does not increase your appetite.

POTATOES

FATTENING The first thing some people do when they want

to shed a couple of pounds is cut out the bread, pass up the potatoes, and cross spaghetti dinners off the menu entirely. They live on steak and salad, cottage cheese and fruit, tuna salad and tomatoes, chicken and green beans, or a particular high-protein food or combination of foods.

Believe it or not, foods high in carbohydrates are less fattening than many other foods, including diet foods. This is because they contain less fat. Fat has more than twice as many calories as carbohydrates or proteins. In other words, fat is far more fattening than the same amount of starch or protein.

Starchy Foods Popcorn, air popped Pretzels Low-fat crackers Cereal Pastas Most breads Baked potatoes Peas and beans

Fatty Foods Butter and margarine Salad dressings Bacon Nuts

50-50 Foods (fat with protein or starches) Popcorn, popped in oil Meats (hamburgers, chicken fingers, etc.) Pizza Biscuits Croissants French fries

No, you shouldn't skip the meat and eat only pota­toes, beans, and bread. But you should try to be sure that your diet includes enough starchy foods.

Athletes were perhaps the first to understand the value of high-carbohydrate foods. Starchy foods boost performance! Pre-game meals no longer consist of steak but rather "Pass the pasta, please:'

YOU DON'T EATA 101 BUT

STiii. FEEL BIG?

You eat like a mouse and still weigh too much? Sometimes it's not the food you eat. How about your activity level? Are the following statements true or false about you? Be honest.

I would rather take an elevator than the stairs.

I try to find the closest place to park the car. , I would rather watch TV for 30 minutes than do some type of exercise with a friend.

True False

I buy a food or a beverage ( every time I go shopping. /. ~

If all your answers are ''true;' you might be on your //, . · way to becoming a couch potato! Give exercise a try. • ' CHOOSE Exercise is a key factor in increasing self-esteem and

feelings of self-control. _ ~~f TRIMMING ,/ 6 T A I R s .. i RCISES .. }-4 E L EV AT 0 R /l

Just as foods have different amounts of calories, different types of activities burn calories at different speeds. In general, the faster-paced the exercise, the more calories are used. For example, jogging burns more calories than walking; brisk walking burns more calories than leisurely walking; standing uses more calories than sitting. -........ ,-

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CALORIES USED DURING

VARIOUS ACJM11ES

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Activity

Extra Light Activity Reclining Dressing Sleeping Standing Talking Driving JYping Doing school work Watching 1V Playing computer games Reading

Light Activity

Baseball Housework such as cooking,

cleaning, ironing Dancing (slow) Walking (normal)

Moderate Activity Basketball Football Walking stairs Weight training Bowling Raking leaves Canoe rowing Tennis Cycling (slow) Gardening (heavy) Dancing (fast) Waxing car Walking (fast) Swimming (slow) Mowing lawn (slow)

Heavy Activity Stationary cycling (fast) Soccer Canoe rowing (fast) Swimming Mountain climbing Walking upstairs Cycling (fast) Skiing Football (intense) Skating Skipping rope Mowing lawn (intense) Running Weight training (intense) Racquetball

Approximate calories used per minute

2

3

5

8

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Let's say you want to eat a super deluxe burger that has 1,000 calories. You'd have to run 10 miles to burn that many calories. At a pace of 10 minutes a mile, that means you'd be running for almost 2 hours. A milkshake costs you about 4 miles or 40 minutes of jogging. Most likely, even if you ran to and from the fast-food place, you'd still have calories to burn.

Some of your favorite foods are listed below. Check out your favorite exercises and pastimes. See how long you'd have to keep them up in order to burn off the calories. For example, to burn off the 50 calories in a chocolate chip cookie would take you 25 minutes of standing around or 10 minutes of car waxing. The faster you move, the faster the calories burn up.

It feels like work, but studying only burns about 2 calories a minute. Ten potato chips (100 calories) will take 1 minute to eat but 50 minutes to sit off.

If the fact that you can "sit off" calories sounds like good news, here's the bad news: there aren't enough minutes in the day for you to sit off all the calories if you eat lots of high-calorie foods. That's why you need to exercise. Otherwise you'll just put on more weight.

MINUTES OF ACTIVITY NEEDED TO BURN FOOD CALORIES Activity Level

Food Calories Extra Light Light Moderate Heavy

Cookie, chocolate chip, (1 mediwn) 50 25 17 10 6

Mayonnaise or salad dressing ( 1 tablespoon) 100 50 33 20 13

Peanuts (2 tablespoons) 105 53 35 21 13 Cola-type drink (12-ounce can) 100 50 33 20 13 Yogurt, low-fat (1 cup) 145 73 48 29 18 French fries (regular serving) 220 110 73 44 27 Brownie 250 125 83 50 31 Biscuit 257 128 85 51 32 Hamburger on bun 350 175 116 70 44 Quarter-pound hamburger 425 213 142 85 53 Danish roll 360 180 120 72 45 Fish sandwich, fried 400 200 133 80 50 Chicken thigh and leg, fried 400 200 133 80 50 Sausage biscuit 425 213 142 85 53 Chocolate milksh~~J12-ounce) 430 215 143 86 54

DID YOU KNOW .. ?

Many lean people are born that way, but they stay that way partly by making good choices about food. For example, they don't eat dessert three times a day.

You should eat slowly and chew slowly. Put your fork down between bites.Learn to stop eating before you feel full. It takes about 20 minutes after you be­gin eating for your brain to get the message that your stomach is full.

As many as one out of four American teenagers is too fat. Teenage girls, especially, have problems with inactivity and overeating. Because of America's ob­session with thinness, one out of three teenage girls is on a diet. For mpst, the short-lived diets produce rapid weight loss, followed by equally quick weight gain. This yo-yo pattern can be dangerous to your health and can actually leave you fatter than before you went on a diet.

To burn off calories, be more active. Walk to school, deliver newspapers, walk the dog, or learn a new sport. Join the yearbook or newspaper staff to keep busy after school-and then don't eat while you're working! Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park your car in the last parking stall at the mall or at school.

Make exercise a social event. Aerobic dancing can be fun and a good way to make new friends. Find a friend who likes the same type of exercise you do and stick with it together.

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DON'T BE FORCE-FEDI Think you can't say no? Sure you can. At the very

least, take smaller portions. And there's no rule that says you have to eat every crumb. Remember, you're in control of your own mouth!

~ ~ ALABAMA,,... ~ COOPERATIVE .A'9

Barbara A. Struempler, Extension Nutritionist, Professor, Nutrition and Food Science, Auburn University

ExtenS1on SYSTEM

HE-689

For more information, call your county Extension office. Look in your telephone directory under your county's name to find the number.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.

UPS, 12Ml5, Reprinted April 2000, HE-689

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