Even a few years ago the position of ‘epidemic’ was hold either by cancer or drugs. Not any more. Thanks to the fast and unheeded lifestyle lived by most American teenagers, teenage obesity has almost become one of America’s leading epidemics, and this is not an exaggeration.

Believe it or not, it didn’t become an epidemic in one day or year. During the last five decades Americans have become somewhat lazier and started preferring easy and comfortable lifestyle to hard work. American adults were probably the first to fall prey to obesity, followed by children and teenagers. Today American teenagers ape the unhealthy lifestyle habits of their parents, and teenage obesity is the natural outcome of it.

If you are a red-blooded American citizen you would probably voice a loud “NO” against obesity. After all, if a large percentage of a country’s population suffers from the pangs of killer obesity, what would be the future of such a country. It is no secret that people can keep their native country healthy only when they are fit and healthy themselves, and the secret to living a long and healthy life lies in losing the extra pounds.

Apart from the fact that obesity is itself a disease, it also brings forth several other killer diseases into the human body such as diabetes, hypertension, fatigue, irritability, high blood pressure, heart-related problems, stroke, etc., and even though instances of obesity-related deaths are rare, they DO occur nonetheless.

As for remedy, there is really nothing unique and new to be said here. Since it all started with following an easy and fast lifestyle, people need to revert the process by copying the healthy habits followed by their forefathers. In good old times, teenagers used to play outdoor sports such as volleyball, tennis, basketball, etc. Some of them even used to indulge in hula hooping, rope jumping, skiing, scuba diving, etc. Today’s teens prefer to sit at home and watch television or play video games. Is it then any wonder if they become overweight in due course of time?

Coming over to foods – chips, popcorn balls, candies and chocolates are as much favored by a teen as a pre-teen. In fact even adults take a fancy to these delicious foods. When teens see their parents enjoying a packet of popcorn while watching a Hollywood movie, they get even more encouraged to follow the same routine. Add to that the fact that today’s teens attend dozens of parties just like their parents and you cannot expect a party without beer or soda.

Junk foods have entrapped us so much that we have almost made them an integral part of our staple diet by eating them all the time, be it at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Once again the outcome of following such unhealthy eating habits couldn’t be anything else except obesity.

It is difficult to modify a teenager’s eating habits unless you take recourse to coercion in some form or other, which in turn would do more harm than good. The best way to tackle the situation is by monitoring your kid’s lifestyle habits right from the start.

From a very young age, they should be taught the benefits of playing tennis over watching videos games or PSPs. They should also be taught that chips and cookies are not their friends and that they should eat organic fruits and vegetables as often as possible. These simple measures would go a long way in keeping them fit and healthy throughout their whole life.

Don’t forget that you should also follow the same healthy lifestyle you expect your children to follow.

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Whether or not Angelina Jolie is your favorite movie icon, I am sure you would appreciate me telling about the simple diet regimen she used to lose weight for the purpose of flaunting that sexy figure you see in the movie Tomb Raider. When Jolie lost a lot of weight within a short amount of time, speculations were rife that she had used several unhealthy fast weight loss techniques such as bulimia and anorexia to get rid of all that fat.

However I didn’t believe this as I knew that Angelina, being an intelligent woman that she is, would never adopt such unhealthy weight loss measures. And when Angelina finally revealed the secret behind her slim and sexy figure, I had the last laugh. If you want to know about her weight loss secret, you need to read this article!

You would be surprised to learn that she didn’t use any of the so-called ‘fad diets’ which many of us are familiar with! Heck, she didn’t even pop any diet pill or supplements either! So what did she actually do? Surprise surprise! She simply followed some simple and routine weight loss measures most of us are aware of, but we are just too afraid to try them out!

1. She ate healthy but didn’t fast: Angelina knew very well that fasting is not going to help her lose weight. On the other hand, depriving herself totally from her favorite foods and living the life of an ascetic is also not something she was prepared for! Therefore she practiced moderate eating.

As long as you eat your meals in small portions, you won’t gain weight even if you happen to pop a couple of cookies once in a while. In fact, I really suggest that you eat junk foods even if just a little. If you don’t eat junk foods at all, a day would come when you, being unable to resist your cravings, would start eating fatty foods like a hungry wolf, thereby augmenting your body weight manifold!

2. She kicked out the bad habits and practiced health eating: If you thought Angelina never had any unhealthy habits, you are dead wrong! Not too long ago she was not only addicted to smoking but also coffee. In fact her breakfast consisted of nothing except cigarette and coffee.

However, when she took to dieting, she was forced to kick out these bad habits because they were posing a big hindrance in her way to weight loss success. Soon she started eating healthy breakfast consisting of natural and organic foods such as tomatoes, spinach, as well as other fresh fruits and vegetables!

She also started having beef in steamed form. Beef, especially lean beef, is high on protein and protein helps you burn fat by building strong lean muscle mass for you! She also increased her fat intake by including fishes such as salmon, tuna, etc. Unlike junk foods, the fats you get from these fishes are actually beneficial for weight loss!

Unlike what the so-called ‘weight loss gurus’ would teach you, you really need carbohydrates for the purpose of weight loss, and Angelina knew it all too well. She also knew how to differentiate between good and bad carbs! Therefore, she discarded all the sugary foods from her diet and in their replaced them with brown bread.

Oh and she also used to consume a lot of soy milk regularly!

3. She didn’t sit idle: She knew that idleness is a person’s worst enemy, more so if you wish to acquire a flat belly at short notice! So she started indulging in intense activities such as kickboxing, scuba diving, sword fighting, etc. She also took to yoga as it also helps with fast weight loss!