Dieting has become a common thing in not only adults, but teens as well. When I was in high school I had friends who had unhealthy eating habits on both spectrums, eating too little and eating way too much. But one day, they would come to school and announce that they were now on a diet and would proceed to only drink water and eat celery for an entire week. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but basically they would flip their eating habits so fast that their body wouldn't have time to react. They would become so tired from the lack of protein and never full due to the lack of carbs. On top of that, they were exercising to lose weight but not eating anything before their work out so they would get dizzy which can be dangerous.

I was no expert, and am still not, but I would try and give them advice. I've been on different diets such as a vegetarian diet, no carb diet, no sugar diet, and lean meats diets. I like trying different ones to see which best suit me and make me feel better. I worked out a lot in high school because I surfed competitively and was a constant watcher of what I ate to healthy degree. I feel that I have a couple tips that I wish I had known sooner.

If you are going to start a diet, you have to prep before sending your body into shock. For instance, if you have a high sugar intake, don't cut out all sugar in a day. Start to lean off of sugary substances steadily to give your body time to adjust. This is true with caffeine, carbs, fatty foods etc. If the food is cut out all together you're going to crave it a lot more than if you stopped eating it gradually.

If you are going to start working out, don't do three hours of weights on your first day. Start off with lighter weights with more reps and do some cardio (not five miles worth). If you are targeting certain areas you want to tone up, do specific exercises designated to those muscles. Remember that if your goal is to lose weight then cardio is best, but if you are trying to tone up or gain muscle then you are better off lifting weights.

When dieting, there are often draw backs. You may go to a birthday party and wonder if you are going to have to bring your Skinny Cow Ice cream treat and be the only one not eating cake. Cheat days are completely normal and won't make you fall off track if they are limited. For the most part, you don't need to calorie count. Start off slow, be mindful of the foods you are trying to avoid, and do your best. There are support groups that lose weight together and I've always food it's easier if you're working out with a friend.