Eating a lot

Hello I am a 15 year old girl and I weigh 190+ and I don't eat vegetables I sometimes skip breakfast and I eat every 2 hours  or maybe every 30 minutes at school we run 2 miles every other day for 20 minutes and I can only do 6 laps I don't know what to do I need to lose weight please help

[Vera Ingrid Tarman, MD]

It sounds like you are having troubles with your diet - eating every two hours, with no breakfast and probably junk foods, since you are not eating vegetables. This will most certainly lead to weight gain.

You may be a food addict, but at this point, it will be hard to tell. I think changing the way you eat your food and correcting your diet will help tremendously. I would advise you to eat your breakfast - this is the most important meal of the day. Then stick to three meals a day, rather than every two hours. Eating proteins like chicken or fish and vegetables will keep you full until the next meal time.

It is important to NOT eat junk foods, as these are 'empty calories' that will contribute to weight gain, and will actually make you hungrier and crave more food. You have not said if you are drinking pop - but if you are, please stop. Soda pop is singe most important contributer to weight gain in children and teens under 16.

It is not easy to develop good eating habits - but it is hard to stop bad ones. Good for you for asking for help before it becomes too late. The good news is if you follow my suggestions, you will likely loose your excess weight quickly and achieve a stable healthy weight fairly soon - you will probably be running as many laps as you want in months to come.

[Hibari]

Thank you for the advice