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this is what ive been trying to say-but she says it so much better! thanks jenmcc! : D
hope you dont mind me copy + pasting this


#77 jenmcc Dec 07 2007 17:47 I have no idea what started this whole thread, since the original poster just deleted it, however, i want to comment about whether teens are done growing.

They may have reached their full adult height, this is true. However:

1) Up until about the mid-20s, the body is in peak bone-building mode. It will never be easier to build strong bones. NEVER. Once you reach your mid-20s, it's all downhill. You want to reach that age, and have the densest bones possible.

Bone-building is not just about diet, of course. Exercise and sunlight play a crucial role. But, restrictive diets can cause major problems. This is why anorexics in their 20s have the bones of 80 year olds. It needn't even be that restrictive: there are concerns we are creating a growing epidemic of osteoporosis, kids today have more porous bones ... many think that in addition to lack of exercise and sunshine, too many diet sodas and not enough dairy intake may be playing a role too.

2) Up until mid-20s, the body is also in peak muscle-building mode. Read what I wrote above about bones, and it's the same  idea. Except that you have to add this thought: you cannot build muscle while in calorie deficit!

Now, if you are an obese teen, yes, you do need to diet, because your weight causes all sort of other complications.  But this should be done under  medical supervision to ensure that muscle mass is retained.

3) From about age 12 until about age 21, your brain is growing at an ASTOUNDING rate! This is the latest research. We used to think the brain stopped growing in toddlerhood. It doesn't. It apparently undergoes a second, even more major, even more dramatic growth spurt from age 12 to age 21. Yep, long after you've reached your full adult height.

Starve your brain during this period of time and you are - literally! - preventing yourself from reaching your full intellectual adult potential. Your brain uses something like 70% of all the calories you consume every day. It doesn't like to use body fat either. It lives off circulating glucose, glucose from what you eat. If it doesn't have that, it'll break down your muscles next, instead of your body fat.

You also need healthy dietary fats - it has something to do with mylenation... I'm not an expert here. But this is critical to have when your brain is growing and making all these new connections.

The three reasons above are precisely why the recommendations for teens are always HIGHER than for adults. And if you do some surfing, you'll see that the experts all agree teens need more cals than adults - but little agreement on how *much* more. It is quite likely that the recommendations will be revised UPWARD again. And note, since these three things are going on up into the mid-20s, I would say that those in their early 20s may also want to reconsider dieting.

So, what do you do with this info, if you are a teen or early 20s?? It's absolutely key to get good and adequate nutrition. If you are obese, yes, you probably are better off on a carefully supervised diet and dropping the weight. It's a trade-off, medically speaking.

If you are only overweight, however, you are probably much better off NOT dieting. Eat a healthy, clean diet with a lot of variety, stay away from sodas and junk food, and get a balanced range of carbs, protein, fats. Don't eliminate or cut any of these too drastically - you need them ALL.

Then strive to Grow into your weight!! YES. Not talking here about growing TALLER. I'm talking about growing:

1) Denser bones

2) More muscle

3) A bigger, smarter brain

All of that takes calories. Any weight loss should be gradual and gentle.

And highly important: GET MOVING. This will encourage stronger bones, more muscle, greater connections in your brain. It'll make your body perform like it's intended to perform.

Ultimately, a healthy weight will follow. And you will reach your peak in your mid-20s with maximum lean mass, meaning you will have a much easier time managing your weight going forward.

i dont buy growing into your weight....

I was a chubby girl from 10-14 (5'3"-5'4", 118-125) even though I participated in sports year round and ate healthy foods, then started growing an inch a year until I was 17, and suddenly was very slender (5'8", 135).  I didn't know what a calorie was and couldn't care less.  Trust me -- there's some crazy stuff happening to your body in those teen years, and it needs all the energy it can get. 

plh, I get frustrated sometimes, too -- mostly because I know my advice to these teens to not worry about calories goes unheeded. 

i just dont see how you grow into your weight its not like an infant weighs a 120 pounds and just grows into it....

at least us teens are trying to be healthy and not succumb to a sedentary, junk-food lifestyle.

I know. It annoys me. I started at 17, and now I;m only 19 but what annoys me is when we tell them "you need to eat more" and they dontbelieve us and they'd rather eat fake sugar free jello instead of real food. If the kid had a real problem they should see a doctor. If they want to be healthy, then cut back ont he daily junk. I used to eat chocolate every day. Now I have learnt about health and focus on that instead.

An infant quadruples their body weight in the first 2 years of life. I doubt you want to do that...

 

The thing is that as you go through puberty you gain more lean muscle mass as your body starts to manufacture testerone (yes girls too) and you end up with a similar weight but a different shape and build. So a teenager on here or young teenager complaining about their weight when they aren't dangerously obese can be frustrating for others.

It's like complaining your new car being built looks like crap when it's half way down the assembly line. Make it right doing it the right way and it will turn out ok but you have to give it time and can't build it all at once in a rush or you'll screw it up.

i agree with magnolia_blossom!!! she's right..some of us teen are just trying to be healthier!!!

Original Post by ninaiscool12:

i agree with magnolia_blossom!!! she's right..some of us teen are just trying to be healthier!!!

In my case those aren't the kids that frustrate me because they probably didn't start a thread titled something like this.

 

OMG I GAINED 2 POUNDS IN 1 DAY, WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD?!?!?#

 

Or something to that effect. ;-)

giggle puppy -- for many people, the body begins to store extra weight in the early teens to prepare for later growth spurts & puberty.  That's just the way the body works -- it cannot function AND grow AND develop merely from the calories you ingest -- it uses stores of fat.  If you don't believe me, why don't you just google it?  or ask your the anatomy teacher @ your local high school.

eh look at all the old mom types that post "The scale went up 2 pounds after i weighed myself for the 500th time that day, i also just got done eatting"   ...ya its not just kids...

College BA-BEE!   so i wouldnt go to a highschool nor do i care enough to get the correct information i like my blind arrogance...

lol, archer.

Magnolia -- I think the best way to not have a sedentary lifestyle filled with junk food is to get off the couch & not buy McDonalds.  I don't really see how cal count comes into it, unless you need to lose weight IN ORDER to get off your bum.

Archer already nailed my reason for disliking the teens.  Even though I just recently turned 20, but damned it, this is what I meant when I told Alex I could finally say crap about teens and not be a hypocrite

There are other reasons that the teens annoy me, and while there is the occassional adult who does the same, it's mostly teens.  Only I'm not allowed to say what it is, 'cause I'm not starting another war here.

Hmm, I started earlier this year when I was 18, and I did have an overweight BMI. Now I'm 19 going on 20...I stopped growing at like 16, so I could have still used this site then. I ate soooo bad!

Anyways, there are a lot of teenagers on here who are overweight and trying to change that, but what bothers me are the ones who post the same type of crap over and over again but when you give them advice they try and justify their behavior.

I think there should be a sticky for all those millions of people eating not enough calories and wondering why they aren't losing weight.

OMGZ I EAT NOTHING BUT SUGARFREE JELLO Y AM I STILL FAT LOL!!!1111one

OMGOMGOMG I CANT AFFORD LYKE MY DINNERZ 'CAUSE I HAS TO HAVE MY FATTY SCHOOL LUNCH PACKING IS FOR NURDZZZZZZ.

...yaaaaa....

OHNOES I NEED TO LOSE 25 POUNDS FOR PROM NEXT WEEK WUT DO I DO?

OHEMGEEEEEEEZ MY FRIENDZORZ WILL LYKE TOTALLY JUDGE ME FOR EATING HEALTHY AND NOT EATING AT CHIC-FIL-A WIF DEMZZZZZ I HAVE TO GIVE IN TO TEMPTATION OR ELSE I WILL  BE HARASSEDDDDDD WHICH IS WAY WORSE THAN BEING PICKED ON FOR BEING FAAAAAAAAAT.

Well, I am happy to have the teens on this board.  And I think they deserve to be here as much as anyone else.  I'm glad they have a place where they can come for advice, rather than feeling like they can only ask their friends.  Sometimes teenage friends give the most well-intentioned horrible advice possible.  :)

And, it's a very dangerous road to go down when one starts talking about demographics that one cannot abide.  The fact of the matter is that people are who they are, and certainly a post like this isn't going to change an entire demographic.  At best, it will affect a few individuals, both positively and negatively.

The good news is, that anyone who cannot deal with certain posts can use the 'block' feature for anyone who just gets on their last nerve.