Diet Plan For 15 Year Old Female — Even teen girls want to stay fit and healthy, so they don’t feel bad about themselves or embarrassed when they go places. People sometimes underestimate the importance of sticking to a good diet, but it’s actually very important. This article will discuss some good dietary habits that can be easily followed by any female teen with a positive attitude towards body fitness.
What is the Best Diet Plan for a 15 Year-Old? Tips from a Dietitian
15 year-olds are learning to be more independent, making their own food choices, and even buying some of their own foods. They are also at a period of crucial growth and development and need to pay attention to their eating habits. A diet of fast food and packaged snacks won’t do much good.
Teenagers only learn a small amount of nutrition from school, it’s up to parents, coaches, mentors, family members, etc. to model appropriate eating behavior and teach teenagers habits that will benefit them for life and help them create a healthy relationship with food.
Read on for some of the best tips from a registered dietitian nutritionist for helping a 15 year-old maintain a healthy weight.
How Many Calories Should a 15-Year-Old Eat to Lose Weight?
A 15 year-old trying to lose weight should still follow the calorie recommendations below and discuss their goals with a doctor or dietitian.
Recommended Calorie Intakes for Teenagers:
Female Calorie Recommendations:
| Age | Not Active | Moderately Active | Active |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1,600 | 2,000 | 2,200 |
| 14-18 | 1,800 | 2,000 | 2,400 |
| 19 | 2,000 | 2,200 | 2,400 |
Male Calorie Recommendations:
| Age | Not Active | Moderately Active | Active |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 2,000 | 2,200 | 2,600 |
| 14 | 2,000 | 2,400 | 2,800 |
| 15 | 2,200 | 2,600 | 3,000 |
| 16-18 | 2,400 | 2,800 | 3,200 |
| 19 | 2,600 | 2,800 | 3,000 |
Activity Levels:
- Not Active – Minimum activity, just daily movements (walking, stairs, chores, etc.).
- Moderately Active – Standard daily activities plus 30-40 minutes of physical activity.
- Active – Standard daily activities plus 40+ minutes of physical activity.
A 15 year-old shouldn’t try to lose weight unless they are recommended to do so, and are closely monitored by a physician or registered dietitian nutritionist. A teenager’s weight is only concerning if their weight on a growth chart has been increasing over time in the overweight or obese categories.
Should a 15 Year-Old Lose Weight?
The typical goal for overweight teenagers is not necessarily to lose weight, but to “grow into their weight” as they hit their growth spurts. It’s common for a teen to gain weight before they hit a growth spurt and slim out. The best thing a teenager can do now is to develop healthy diet habits, not go on a diet.
What is a Healthy Weight for a 15 Year-Old?
The categories are “underweight” at less than the 5th percentile, “healthy weight” at 5th to 85th percentile, “overweight” at 85th to <95th percentile, and “obese” as greater than the 95th percentile.
Again, this online calculator is just an estimate and not meant to be a diagnosis. Talk to your medical professional if you are concerned about your child’s category.
Is it Healthy for a 15 Year-Old to Diet?
Only in some instances is weight loss appropriate for a teenager, and it needs to be monitored by a healthcare professional. Your teen’s doctor or dietitian (or both!) can help make an appropriate plan for your teenager to focus on weight loss (if appropriate), choose correct foods, add more physical activity, and learn to eat an appropriate amount.
The goal for overweight teenagers is to eat smarter, not necessarily eat less. An appropriate eating plan with a dietitian’s help will benefit your teenager more than a restrictive diet.
Certain medical conditions may make it harder for a teenager to lose weight (including depression or anxiety, polycystic ovarian syndrome, or hypothyroidism). Your doctor will offer recommendations and treatment options.
How Can I Diet at 15?
If you are 15 and want to go on a diet, the worst thing you can do is to look up unhealthy food tips on the internet and start following a restrictive diet. The best thing to do is to learn about mindful eating and supplying your body with the correct amount of healthy nutrients.
Restricting food isn’t the goal for a teenager trying to get to a healthier weight. The best thing a 15 year-old can do to get to a healthy weight is to create a balanced eating plan focused on nutritious, energizing foods that will keep you full throughout the day.
Don’t believe all the fad diets and health claims you read on the internet (except this one- it’s written by a dietitian, a nutrition expert), restrictive diets will be more harmful than helpful in the long run. Here are the best things a 15 year-old can do in order to get to a healthy weight:
- Learn to listen to your hunger and fullness cues and eat when you need it. It takes practice! Think about it before, during, and after eating. Learn to stop eating when you are comfortably full, don’t just try to finish your plate.
- Slow down when you are eating to enjoy your food.
- Limit screen time, especially during meals and snacks. The recommendation is 2 hours of screen time per day. Put a tracker on your phone to see how you are doing.
- Always eat fruits and vegetables with meals.
- Limit highly-processed and sugary foods. These foods still have a place in your diet, but in moderation.
- Eat a variety of foods. Don’t restrict any food from your diet. All foods fit in moderation and balance.
- Start to help in any way you can with meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation/cooking at home for your family. These are great skills to develop at this age that will benefit you long term as you learn to choose good foods.
- Find ways to add physical activity that you enjoy into your day.
- Get enough sleep. Teenagers typically need about 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Develop a good bedtime routine and turn off your phone!
- Drink plenty of water. Ditch the sugary beverages and even the diet soda.
- Control stress. Find ways to relieve stress besides turning to food, such as talking to a friend, going for a walk, journaling, drawing, reading, listening to music, going outside, napping, etc.
- Learn to love yourself. Everyone is different and there isn’t one perfect size, height, hair color, eye color, skin tone, shoe size, etc. Different is good! Everyone is beautiful in their own way and you can learn to be happy with who you are. Smile and make yourself believe it! Create a motivational mantra if you need it when you feel down. Something like “There is just one me, I am enough.” or “I love myself, I am beautiful”.
A Good Workout & Diet Plan for a 15-Year-Old Girl
Workouts for 15-year-old females could include jogging.
If your doctor has told you that you’d benefit from weight loss, then lose weight in a way that sets you up for a lifetime of healthy habits and feelings of well-being. At age 15, you may have reached 90 percent of your adult height, but your body is still developing, and that means you need nutrients to support your bones, brain, hormones and muscles.
Gradual dietary changes and adequate exercise can help you achieve a healthier weight. But don’t purposefully limit your intake of whole, unprocessed foods such as vegetables, fruit, lean proteins and whole grains. Instead, cut back on junk foods, which are calorie-dense foods and contain little nutrition says TeensHealth From Nemours.
Moderating Calories on Your Diet
As a 15-year-old girl, you need an average of 1,800 to 2,400 calories daily, depending on your height and activity level according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-2020. Instead of following a fad diet that bans whole food groups and promises quick weight loss, eliminate the foods that aren’t doing your body any favors. This will help you reduce calories, approximately 250 and 500 per day — depending on your size and your calorie burn rate — to lose 1/2 to 1 pound per week. Speak with your doctor or dietitian to determine a calorie intake that’s right for you.
Soda, candy, sweets, chips, snack mixes, cereal bars, sugary breakfast cereals and white bread are items that contain a fair number of calories but offer few quality vitamins and minerals. Choose foods that have a higher nutritional value and fewer calories. Snack on fresh fruit, low-fat cheese and yogurt, 100-percent whole-wheat crackers, hummus and cut-up vegetables.
Diets for 15-Year-Olds
You’ll need five to six servings of whole grains daily. An serving is one slice of whole-wheat bread or 1/2 cup of brown rice. Each day you should also aim for 2 and 1/2 cups of vegetables; 1 1/2 cups of fruit; 3 cups of dairy; and 5 ounces of protein such as chicken, fish, lean beef or tofu. Add in a little healthy fat, such as that found in peanut butter, olive oil, nuts, avocados and salmon, each day too.
At meals, avoid fried foods, creamy dressings, creamy sauces and white pasta. Choose grilled or broiled meats, fresh salads topped with olive oil and vinegar, steamed or roasted vegetables and whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, whole-wheat pasta or 100-percent whole-wheat bread. These changes will instantly trim calories while helping you get optimal nutrition.
Sample meals for a 15-year-old trying to manage her weight include the following: for breakfast — oatmeal with berries and skim milk; for lunch — a turkey sandwich with tomato, lettuce and mustard, carrot sticks and low-fat yogurt; and for dinner — corn tortillas filled with lean steak, salsa, avocado and brown rice. A serving of dairy, such as milk or yogurt, is particularly important for teenagers at meals and snacks, as it supplies bone-building calcium and vitamin D.
Workouts for 15-Year-Olds
When you lose weight without exercise, your body breaks down muscle mass for energy, which results in burning fewer calories. Prevent a drop in muscle with strength training and exercise. A workout for a 15-year-old female should include at least one hour of exercise daily according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This might involve walking briskly, taking a dance fitness class, riding your bike or playing sports. Experiment with different types of exercise to find the types you enjoy most. Being active burns calories naturally so that you won’t have to cut back on healthy food to lose weight.
It’s also important to strengthen your body so that your muscles help boost your metabolism. You don’t have to hit the gym, but doing push-ups, gymnastics and yoga also count as exercise. If you do go to the gym, consult with a trainer or coach to make sure you do the strength-training exercises correctly. One or two sets of a weight exercise that trains every major muscle group — the hips, shoulders, chest, back, arms, legs and abdomen — two or three times per week as part of your one-hour daily routine is beneficial to weight loss.
Set Realistic Goals
Eating when you’re stressed or bored doesn’t promote a healthy weight. A 2014 study that was published in the journal BMC Public Health, found that girls are more prone to stress eating and, as a result, are more likely to have overweight or obesity. Instead, call a friend, go for a walk or listen to music. Also, learn to notice when you feel full, and then stop eating. Overeating can be a habit that deters weight loss. Slow down, because it takes up to 20 minutes for you to notice that you feel satisfied.
Remind yourself that every person has an individual build and that very few people look like supermodels and stick-thin actresses. Don’t be overly hard on yourself if you do eat something that’s “off” your plan. Just get back on track the next day. You can’t expect to ban your favorite foods forever, but learn to indulge in them occasionally and responsibly.
Diet Plan For Teen Girls
There is no one-size-fits-all diet for teenage girls. Your girl’s diet must be prepared considering her age, weight, physical activity, and health conditions. Ideally, a teenage girl’s diet must include:
- Natural protein foods — red meat, pulses, cereals, green vegetables, and fish
- Calcium-rich foods — soya beans, tofu, nuts, milk products
- Iron-rich foods — beans, poultry, seafood, dark green leafy vegetables, peas, iron-fortified foods
- Vitamin D rich foods — breakfast cereals, oily fishes, and margarine
- Vitamin C rich foods — lemon, grapefruit, potatoes, tomatoes, and oranges
- Folate-rich foods — green vegetables, brown rice, fortified bread and breakfast cereals
Putting them all together, we have compiled a couple of diet plans that could work for your teenager.
1. Healthy diet plan for students
Teenagers have a busy schedule, and healthy meals might not often be a part of their to-do list. This diet plan includes simple, healthy foods that you can get them to eat despite their packed routines. This simple plan caters to the needs of vegans and vegetarians as well.
| MEAL | OMNIVORE | VEGETARIAN | VEGAN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upon waking up | 1-2 glasses of lukewarm water | 1-2 glasses of lukewarm water | 1-2 glasses of lukewarm water |
| Breakfast | 1 medium-size fruit,omelet with paratha or multigrain bread | 1 medium-size fruit,cottage cheese paratha with 1 medium bowl of vegetables or multigrain bread sandwich | 1 medium-size fruit,vegetable vermicellior vegetable quinoa |
| Midday snack | A handful of nuts oryogurt with granola | A handful of nuts,buttermilk or fruit juice or coconut water | A handful of nuts, ora bowl of steamed sprouts |
| Lunch | Raw salad,grilled or steamed tuna or chicken with paratha or rice | Raw salad, vegetable pulao, and yogurt | Raw salad, a bowl of lentils and vegetables with rice or parantha (bread) |
| Evening snack | Any fruit or handful of seeds (like pumpkin or sunflower) orchicken tikkis (barbequed pieces) or boiled egg | Any fruit or a handful of seeds (like pumpkin or sunflower) orhumus with baked nachos | Any fruit or a handful of seeds (like pumpkin or sunflower) or steamed sweet corn or sweet potato |
| Dinner | Chicken soup with sautéed vegetables orgrilled fish or chicken with cooked millets or brown rice or omelet | Vegetable soup with sautéed vegetables,quinoa pulao or multigrain roti (bread) with vegetables | Vegetable soup with sautéed vegetables,dosa (rice pancakes) or mixed lentils |
Source: Nupur Agarwal, dietician
The above plan can give a teenage girl the required amount of calories, between 1800 and 2200. This is only a sample meal plan, and you may replace the dishes with other foods to make a complete meal plan for teens.
This stage of rapid growth and development can go awry if your eating habits go wrong. Eat heartily but sensibly like some of the sample meal plans given above.
2. The athlete diet plan
Athletes or sportspersons would need more calories than an average teenager with a not-so-active lifestyle. This meal plan sample aims at delivering the necessary calories that they need when training for sports.
| MEAL | OMNIVORE | VEGETARIAN | VEGAN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Fruit smoothie with Whole wheat Egg McMuffin; or3 egg whites with 1 cup oatmeal and 1/2 a banana | Waffles topped with blueberries, strawberries and topped with Maple syrup; orGranola and fruit with a glass of orange juice | Breakfast quinoa bowl; orSweet potatoes and yams, boiled and topped with maple syrup |
| Midday Snack | Banana or 16 oz. Vitamin shake | Bunch of grapes orcrackers with cheese | Banana or1 cup chia slurry |
| Lunch | Grilled chicken breast with 1/2 cup spinach, 1 medium baked potato, and 16 oz. Water; orDeli meat sandwich with peppers and hummus and 1 apple | 1 whole-wheat English muffin with 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1 tsp honey, and 1 cup peas; orWhole wheat grilled cheese sandwich with sliced tomatoes and 1 cup cucumber and tomato salad, and 1 apple | Black bean wraps with lettuce, tomato, and olives; or1 serving Spiced tempeh with vegetables and quinoa |
| Evening Snack | Cottage cheese and peaches | 1/2 cup raisins and 1 banana | Almonds and grapes |
| Dinner | Broccoli cheddar soup and saltines; orMeatloaf with veggies | Quesadilla, peppers, and hummus; orLarge mixed vegetable salad with dressing | Mashed potato white pizza (vegan cheese); orTofu scramble with spinach and vegan mozzarella |
Choose meal portions such that your active teenage girl gets between 2,200 and 2,400 calories every day, to continue training and maintain a healthy weight.
Note that these are only sample plans to give you an idea of the diet your teenage girl must be following. You can change the variety of foods and their quantities based on nutritionist recommendations, and any food allergies that the child may have.
Remember,
Good eating habits=healthy children=healthy adults
Teenage is a phase of rapid physical and physiological changes. Following fad diets that encourage restrictive eating for rapid weight loss can adversely affect teenagers’ health and well-being. Teenagers need sufficient calories with nutrients such as protein, calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin D. Thus, they should eat a well-balanced diet with various healthy foods from different food groups. To ensure your teen is eating well, encourage them to eat three main meals and two snacks. Train them to make healthy choices when eating out. Furthermore, maintain variety in the meals you serve at home to avoid boredom. Since teenagers are more likely to follow healthy eating habits when they see you doing the same, try to lead by example.
Tips On A Healthy Diet Plan For Teenage Girls
Growing girls need more than just some food and water for sustenance. They need a complete diet that gives them the nutrition they need to grow into healthy and strong young women. Here are a few things you should keep in mind when formulating a diet plan for your girl.
1. Plan your child’s meals
Follow a food guide or make a diet chart to plan your kids’ meals. The idea is to make your child’s diet complete with the nutrients that she needs to grow and stay healthy. A complete diet is one that has proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Avoid no-carb or zero-carb diets as they can have adverse effects on the child’s health.
Also, make sure that your teen has all the meals as planned Breakfast, especially, must not be missed, for it is the most important meal of the day that boosts metabolism and will kick-start her bodily functions too! Include fresh fruits and proteins in her breakfast as they will keep her full for longer and give her the energy to face the morning rush. Also, replace caffeine with fresh juices, smoothies, milkshakes, or an occasional cup of tea.
2. Tell her healthy fats are good fats
Since teenage girls might be conscious of their weight, they will shy away from fats. However, not all fats are bad. Fattening foods are not good for your teen girl’s health, but she must know about the concept of healthy fats that are essential for the absorption of some nutrients and the production of important hormones (3). Fats keep our body well-hydrated and are necessary to obtain a certain portion of calories that the body needs. Encourage the consumption of healthy fats and ask your teen to steer clear of trans-fats, which lead to excess weight gain.
3. Make a smart choice for ‘in-between’ snacks
If your daughter feels hungry between meals, make her reach out for a fruit, a handful of dry nuts or seeds, roasted lotus seeds, boiled egg, etc. They are easy to eat and packed with nutrients, thus making them a smart snack option.
4. Set a time for snacks
The best time for snacks is in between breakfast and lunch. Another good time is after lunch and before dinner. While some may be okay with the idea of a late-night snack, it is good to avoid them, especially if the child wants to lose excess weight or can make a smart choice.
The child may include a glass of warm milk or 1-2 pieces of soaked dry fruits like figs and dates. You can also give her sugar-free or low-sugar energy bars. Ask her to limit candy bars and snacks that simply pack in calories and offer no goodness.
5. Give a twist to lunch
Make lunch interesting for your daughter by using the same ingredients differently.
For example, you can use the ingredients of a salad, such as veggies and boiled lentils, with a tortilla roll to make veggie or meaty wraps with a dash of cheese or tangy sauces. The bottom line is that your daughter should eat a filling lunch instead of nibbling on some salad leaves and protein bars.
6. Keep the dinner light
Dinner should have fewer carbohydrates but must not be skipped. Prepare a healthy meal but keep it light. Simple dinner options for a teenager would include vegetable or chicken soups, salads with her choice of dressings, multi-grain pasta, or multi-grain noodles. The idea is to combine nutrition with taste so that your child will eat it.
7. Prepare low-fat low-sugar desserts
Too much sugar is bad. But if your child has a sweet tooth, you could switch to low-sugar and low-fat dessert alternatives, such as low-fat flavored yogurt, fruit salads, or low-sugar sweet treats. You could also make your girl’s favorite desserts healthier by adding fruits, nuts, or crackers to it.
Eliminating sugar altogether and at once, can create a craving for sweets and lead to indulgence in sugary foods.
8. Make her drink plenty of water
Let your girl drink enough water to keep her body hydrated. Not drinking enough water may also make the child hungry more often. So, drinking enough water will keep those hunger pangs at bay and the metabolism rate up.
According to the US Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Getting enough water every day is important for your health. Healthy people meet their fluid needs by drinking when thirsty and drinking with meals. Substituting water for one 20-ounce sugar-sweetened soda will save you about 240 calories (4).”
9. Avoid junk foods
Any food that offers no nutritional value qualifies as junk food and should be avoided. Such food can lead to excess weight gain as our body doesn’t use up the junk food for anything good. It just accumulates as empty calories. Talk to your girl about healthy and unhealthy foods and explain why she should avoid junk food.
Teenage girls could become vulnerable to fad diets or come under peer pressure. But as a parent, you can help your daughter eat right and follow a healthy lifestyle. To help you with that, we have created two sample meal plans that you can use as a reference to chalk up the ideal diet for your teen girl.