A Bit of Jared

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jared Fogle of Subway fame for my teen feature. Here's one question from this interview- you can see the rest when my feature is published!!

What options do you feel teens have to lose weight?

Jared says...

To lose weights, there are a few options. The first thing I always say, especially teenagers who are still growing, you talk to a doctor. A family physician or whoever you go to when you are interested in losing weight, especially when you are growing because your body is still growing. That is first and foremost, very important. I also think it is important to try to consult with a nutritionist or a dietitian. To really give you a better education as far as what kind of food you should be going for. I think every teenager should consult with a [doctor and dietitian] especially when they are losing weight.

I think whether its teenagers or adults of kids, I don’t think it’s rocket science. I think its still pretty basic as far as what your different options are. The two biggest things that come to my mind are changing your diet- teenagers tend to eat pretty bad.

There are two schools- you have your athletes in high school and what not, who tend to be quite healthy and watch what they’re eating and get plenty of exercise. Then you have some of the other kids who are not in the same boat.

Reexamining your diet as far as what you’re eating and what you shouldn’t be eating and are you getting enough exercise because those are the two critical components of losing weight.

With teenagers, I think it can be tough. They don’t have a lot of money, they’re busy, they’re trying to balance schoolwork and homework, trying to handle a part time job on top of that and then extra curricular activities, you’re trying to send out applications to colleges. There are all kinds of things teenagers have going on in their lives. I think it’s a matter of prioritizing it and saying “Hey you know what, I need to find time to commit to exercise and need to reevaluate what I am eating.”