It’s completely normal and OK to gain several pounds when you’re going through puberty and becoming a woman. But as they become overly obsessed with their weight, many girls in their teens all over the world are at greatest risk of developing eating disorders. Yikes!

Here’s the Skinny …
“I started my eating disorder at age 13, the moment I noticed a little pocket of fat at my bikini line,” says Elizabeth, now an adult survivor of anorexia. “I was wearing a turquoise swimsuit with a ruffle -- a swimsuit that I loved and felt so feminine in -- but with that negative thought that "fat is bad".

No wonder a whopping 81 percent of 10-year-old girls say they’re “afraid of being fat.” A “body-perfect” illusion, promoted by the media and fashion industry, has girls tricked into thinking they should be unrealistically stick-thin.

“It was when I noticed that little pocket of fat that I decided to eat less,” says Elizabeth. “Very quickly, my entire self-worth became wrapped up in my body size. I became obsessed with thin models in magazines.”

Harsh but True
Elizabeth, quite literally, was starving herself. “I felt so in control while restricting my food intake and losing weight,” she says, “but then out of control when my body became so hungry that I would eat everything I could after several days of restricting.” Elizabeth was in the throes of anorexia nervosa, a disease defined by self-starvation and extreme weight loss.

Another dangerous disorder is bulimia nervosa, in which sufferers binge on large quantities of food in a short period and then purge by ridding calories through unhealthy means such as vomiting or taking laxatives (ew).

While there are other serious eating disorders, such as binge-eating disorder (this differs from bulimia in that there is no purging), anorexia and bulimia are the most dangerous and, well, life-threatening. “It is time to talk about eating disorders because people die,” states Lynn Grefe, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, which receives calls from all over the world.

Elizabeth, who finally sought help for her disease at age 20, became so thin that her teeth chipped, skin broke out and hair became brittle and started falling out. The brutal fact is, of all mental illnesses, eating disorders are the No. 1 killer. 

So … you've decided to be more active. The first week of your plan goes great: You get out your running shoes (and actually use them for running), and you’re feeling stronger, energized and more alert. You're off to a great start!

Then comes the second week: You're getting bored, and by the end of the week, you've slipped back to your old ways. Sound familiar?

Here’s how to actually make it to the third week and beyond:

Set Realistic Goals
Saying to yourself you want to have the body of a supermodel is a recipe for disaster. Only 2 percent of all women have a tall and slender model’s build. The other 98 percent of us are petite or curvy or round -- and equally beautiful! Instead of trying to achieve the impossible, set milestones: “I want to be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping.”

Work out Early
Studies show that people who exercise first thing in the morning are more likely to stick to their routine. Why? Well, no sudden movie invitations or yearbook meetings pop up at 7:30 a.m. Wake up half an hour early to squeeze in some yoga stretches before school.

Have a Workout Partner
Exercising with a friend is a great way to keep you on track. You and a BFF could meet up at the skating rink every Thursday evening or walk home from school together rather than taking the bus. Be each other’s personal cheerleader!

Spice up Your Routine
Following the same run day after day … after …day … can get boring. So shake things up with other forms of activity, like biking through your neighborhood or even dancing to your favorite songs around the bedroom.

Move It Indoors
As it gets chillier outside, it’s easy to just curl up on the couch. One way to combat the cold-weather workout blues is to exercise at home. Consider investing in a set of exercise DVDs or playing Wii fitness games to perfect your virtual ski jump or hula-hooping form.

Be an Active TV Viewer
While you watch your favorite sitcoms, march in place, do lunges, perform tricep dips off the couch or lift light hand weights. During commercials, do push-ups or sit-ups. In the course of a full one-hour show, you probably have about 20 minutes worth of commercial interruption to get the job done.

Thirteen-year-old Kristen was worried about looking like a fool at field hockey tryouts. Plus, she figured that even if she made the cut, it would take up too much time. Have concerns like hers kept you from going out for a sport? It’s true that joining a team makes you busier, but it also adds to the quality of your life and teaches you valuable lessons. Here are some of the sneaky benefits of being a team player!

Make New Friends
Deep personal bonds develop by sharing exciting victories and dealing with losses with your teammates. You'll really get to know some great girls in your grade and in upper classes who can help you -- on and off the field.

Get Your Fit on!
By practicing a sport, you'll stay fit. You'll strengthen your cardiovascular system and improve your muscle tone. Translation? You can wear that cool minidress and look great. But even better: You'll feel great too.

Learn Life Skills
Our competitive society consists of winners, losers, lucky shots and bad calls. Sports help you prepare for that. Playing on a team teaches you to work in a group and deal with the ups and downs of life.

Stay Super-smart!
Girls who play sports get better grades in school and are more likely to graduate than girls who do not participate in sports. Sure, college may seem like light-years away, but it’s never too soon to start up some activities that will punch up your applications. Selection committees look for well-rounded, active, involved candidates.

Feel Great About Yourself!
Girls and women who play sports have more confidence and a higher self-esteem -- as well as lower levels of depression. Their body image is more positive too, and they experience higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports.

Have Future Career Success
Sports is where boys have traditionally learned about teamwork, goal setting, the pursuit of performance excellence and other achievement-oriented behaviors -- all necessary for success in the workplace. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, it is no accident that 80 percent of female executives at big companies identify themselves as former “tomboys” who played sports!

Outside is in! It’s time to round up your BFFs and get outta the house.  Enjoy the scenery, tone your bod and flex good attitude. Visit your local outdoor retailer store or go online for books, maps and recommendations for adventures in your area.

Hiker Chic
Water bottle? Check! Granola bars? Check! Flashlight? Check! You’re almost ready to take a hike. Lace up your sneaks, grab your day pack and take in the nature. Hiking is inexpensive, and no experience is necessary. Enjoy trails of all lengths, from blazed backcountry trails to paved urban park trails. Spend an hour or spend a day. Hike a loop trail or walk out and back on the same path. What are you waiting for? Hit the trail!

Catch the Caching Craze
You’re never too old for games. Geocaching is a worldwide game of hide-and-seek! “Geo” is for geography, and “cache” is a hiding place. So, geocachers use geographic information to find a cache or hidden treasure using a GPS. A cache usually contains a logbook for finders to write a personalized entry. This is a fun outing with friends or fam. While GPS receivers can be expensive to buy, you can rent one online. You’re getting warmer.

Rock Your World
Rock climbing lingo includes words like “harness,” “belay device” and “carabiner.” It’s a bit more gear-intensive and important to get proper training so you don’t face-plant into a rock face. But the adrenaline rush is worth it. Test your skills at your local indoor rock climbing gym or do an Internet search for an adventure outfitter offering intro courses to outdoors climbing. Rock this sport with a BFF. Climb on!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Flatwater kayaking and canoeing are relaxing ways to spend a warm day. Local parks and outfitters often rent boats by the hour or day. If you’re paddling downriver, you’ll need a shuttle to get back to your starting point. Or, just paddle around on a lake or open water area. You’ll soak up some sun and buff those biceps. But don’t forget the life jacket! Now, go make some waves.

Hey, it’s not that girls don’t want to play sports. But a recent Women’s Sports Foundation study shows that many girls still aren’t getting a fair shake in the athletic arena. That’s out of bounds! Especially when it’s been shown (and this research confirms) that kids who participate in sports are healthier and happier, get better grades and have more family involvement.

The Gender Gap
Yep, there’s a gender gap in physical activity between girls and boys. In general, boys are exposed to more athletic opportunities than girls. In the United States, a staggering 68 percent of girls living in rural communities have no physical education classes at all in 11^th and 12^th grades. For urban girls in the same grades, a whopping 84 percent report no phys ed!

An Uneven Score
Not all girls are losing out. In some communities -- usually suburban -- girls and boys get equal playtime. But girls from urban areas, which are often economically challenged and have fewer school resources, are the ones largely left out of the game. One in four 9^th- to 12^th-grade urban girls has never participated in an organized school team sport.

Nothin’ About Biology
OK, so some people might think boys are just naturally more interested than girls in sports. Wrong! The study finds that girls’ and boys’ differences have more to do with opportunity and encouragement. In fact, boys tend to exaggerate their enthusiasm for sports (maybe they think it’s expected of them). Forty-two percent of third- to eighth-grade boys said “sports are a big part of who they are” even though they weren’t athletes!

Girls Got Boys Beat
While girls are less athletically involved overall, they participate in a way wider array of various activities than the boys do. The boys tend to stick to the traditional old-school stuff, but the girls do that and then some. They explore recreational activities, like double Dutch, dance, cheerleading and volleyball, that break away from the strictly conventional.

Late in the Game
Girls generally get involved in sports at a later age than the boys. On average, boys join the team at around 6 years of age, and girls jump in when they’re about 7-years-old. Girls also drop out of the game a lot earlier and in greater numbers than boys, and some researchers blame this on the late start setting girls up for failure. This usually happens during the middle school years, but perhaps this will encourage you to stay in the game: Girls who participate in a team sport are more content with their lives than girls who don’t play sports.

Make the Team
Researchers observed that the positive social, health and educational (triple threat!) benefits of being athletic were most apparent in girls and boys right around sixth- through eighth-grades. So, what’s a girl to do if her school doesn’t offer any sports opps? Well, the report’s title says it all: Get Out and Play! Round up your crew, and start a dance club, plot a bike route or kick off a soccer game in the park. Better yet, get the gals to rally your rec center or school officials about getting girls active in organized athletics. There’s no way you can’t win!