If you are overweight, you probably need to change your current eating and lifestyle habits. Being overweight can make you feel lonely or hopeless. You may be teased or feel shy or judged by others. You may feel it’s hard to control what you eat, especially when you’re feeling sad or hurt.

Make these your golden rules:

1. Watch how much you eat and choose smaller portions.
2. Stay away from unhealthy foods like fried foods, fast food, chips, sweets, pies or fatty meat.
3. Make vegetables the largest portion of each meal, then the protein (meat), with the carbohydrates (such as breads or grains) being the smallest portion on your plate.
4. Choose good carbohydrates like rice, oatmeal, yellow potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, cassava. Some carbohydrates are better than others. Brown bread is better than white bread as it has extra vitamins and minerals.
5. Avoid too much solid fat like margarine or visible fat on meat.
6. Avoid sugary drinks or fruit juice. Water is a much better choice.
7. Get moving. One great way to lose weight is to be more physically active.

Losing weight is about making healthy changes in your life that you can stick to — and not just a one-time diet. Remember that your health and happiness can be harmed by extreme weight-loss plans. If you’ve not yet reached your adult height, rapid weight loss may affect your growth.

YOU are more important than your weight or body size. Focus on making small lifestyle changes that you can stick with for life. This approach will leave you feeling healthier and happier.