You have been so focused on school and homework that you decided to hit the snooze an extra time and sleep in instead of eating breakfast. Last night, when you were studying you reached for a can of pop and a candy bar instead of a glass of water and an apple. Making healthy decisions has gotten harder as the school days have come and gone.
A story similar to this one is the reality of the lives of teenage girls. Trying to maintain their popularity at school, work on homework and do extracurricular activities, making the right decisions about food isn’t the first thing on a girls’ mind.
Even though you are making decisions constantly about everything from what shirt to wear to what to subject to study first, making healthy decisions should be the most important. Without the proper nutrition you won’t be learning and working at your best and you prevent your body from developing healthy teeth and getting the proper bone strength (virtualmedicalcentre.com).
In order to get on the right on the right track it is important to know how many calories that the average teenage girl’s body needs per day. That special number is 2,200 calories. This may not seem like a lot of calories, but you should be distributing them throughout your day with meals that include lean proteins, low-fat diary products, whole grains, fruits and vegetables (virtualmedicalcentre.com).
“Most of the time I usually skip breakfast because I’m not usually hungry before I wake and then I’m gone doing things before I get hungry,” said Katie Wheeler, a college sophomore.
Eating breakfast may seem insignificant when you have an early lunch at school, but it kick-starts your day. Overnight your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and in the morning a small meal will wake up your metabolism. Having a meal in the morning also helps you be more alert and you can even get higher test scores. Breakfast should not be something sugary, but should be something like whole-grain cereal and berries (womenfitness.net). Breakfast is important and it is something that you should be making sure is in your daily schedule.
“It is the most important meal of the day. It is proven that if you eat breakfast you could lose weight,” said Elise Groholski, a sophomore college student studying Physical Therapy.
You may think that it’s silly, but measure out your servings of everything. That’s everything from cereal to portions of meat. Even though it doesn’t seem cool, you know that you’ll be healthy by doing it. You’re school isn’t serving the same type of food that you get at home when your mom cooks your meals. So pack a lunch. You’ll know exactly what foods you are putting into your body and how much of them. Not a fan of the brown paper bag, buy a cool lunch bag that looks like a purse.
“It’s a lot harder to watch what you eat when you’re at school,” said Katie Wheeler. “I eat lots of vegetables and fruit and I try to stay away from starches.”
By trying to only take in 2,200 calories there are some limitations to what you eat, but the worst thing that you could do is drink away all your calories. Beverages like pop and coffee drinks from Starbucks are just empty calories that could be replaced by foods and beverages that are better for you. It is okay to indulge in specialty drinks and pops from time to time, but it should never be a day-to-day occurrence. The same rule applies for fast food. A 630-calorie Big Mac isn’t going to give you all the nutrition that you need, plus it’s packed with grease. Have special food items, but be careful about when you have them.
Wheeler said, “Being fit means eating healthy and being fit by exercising and working out.”
Deciding about what food to put inside your body isn’t the only healthy decision that you’ll have to be making. You must also decide what way is best for you to exercise. Exercise may difficult to fit into a busy school schedule, but having an active lifestyle is important to being a healthy, confident teenage girl.
Exercising is about you and your body. An exercise may work well for a friend and not for you. It’s about going out and finding what works best for you. If you live close enough to school, try walking. If you want a study break, go out for a jog or ask a friend to go on a bike ride. If you find a workout video that works for you, but you’re missing something like hand weights there are alternatives that you can find in your house. Replace hand weights with full water bottles.
Being healthy isn’t always easy, but developing these habits now will be helpful to you when you head off to college and when you begin to live on your own. The healthier decisions that you make the more confident you will become and the more you will love your body. Choosing to eat breakfast and exercise will also help with making proper decisions in your academics.
You may stick out for making healthy choices, but it is better for you than eating food that gives you a momentary sugar high and then crashing a few hours later. Remember eat healthy, be yourself and love your body.