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Figure 3: Examples of Carbohydrates
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For most of us, when we think of the word diet, we think of those ridiculous "30 days, 30 pounds" ads, or counting calories meticulously for a week or two—all in hopes of losing weight over a short period of time. Unfortunately, this isn't what a diet is. Diet describes collectively everything you eat, not a sudden change in diet. This is exactly what eating well is—regularly and consistently making good choices about what and how you eat.
Eating well is at least 90% mental, if not more than that. It requires a desire to become fit and healthy both outwardly and inwardly. It is especially hard for many teenagers to believe that they should eat well to ensure their health over the long run, but it is just as important as other lifestyle decisions like not smoking. As for those of us who know we have to start eating better but just can't get motivated, think of this. Your body is the house you're living in for the rest of your life. If you're not going to take care of it, who will? Don't try to take drastic measures like eating food that you'll gag on or making yourself go hungry. You have to make eating well something you like, or it will never work. Before you sit down with that bag of potato chips, think of how you'll hate yourself when you see your flabby tummy in the mirror instead of the six-pack that you really want.
There are some things you can do to make eating better an easier task. One is to take control of the food that comes into your house. Most of us who have parents that eat well also eat a healthy diet; those with parents who eat crap eat the same. Tell your mom before she goes to the food store to buy the low fat
Twinkies instead of the regular ones; tell her to buy a watermelon instead of
Doritos. If you don't have junk food lying around your house, you'll just wait another 20 minutes for dinner instead of eating half the bag of potato chips and then barely touching your dinner. Eat three small meals a day and have small, healthy snacks in between so you don't get hungry and raid the cookie jar. Also, try to eat at home when you can, because that's where you can control what you eat. Your choices aren't always so good when you go to Burger King for dinner. Always think about your goals before you decide to eat something.
There is no generic formula for how much of what everyone should eat. We all need different amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fats based on our lifestyles and our goals. You don't need to count calories to eat the right amounts of each, but you can get a general idea of what type of calories you're getting from a food by reading the label. See figure 1 to calculate how much of what you should eat. See figures 2 and 3 for good sources of each type of calories, and figure 4 for foods to avoid.
Within each category, there are some foods that are better than others are. Generally, you shouldn't eat more than 60 or 65 grams of fat per day. This means staying away from foods, snacks, and desserts that are fatty. Instead of eating an Entenmanns donut for a snack, eat a
Nutrigrain bar. For meats, eat chicken, turkey, and veal instead of red meat whenever possible. You should eat red meat about once a week, twice at the most. Carbohydrates are very important as an energy source, and we eat a lot of them every day. Don't eat too many sugars: instead of eating
Lucky Charms for breakfast, eat a bagel or a piece of toast with butter. Being aware of what you drink is very important too: teenagers generally drink too much soda, and you'd be amazed at how many empty calories you can cut by drinking milk or
Crystal Light instead. Eating smarter is all about making smarter choices.
One thing to be careful of is to make sure that you eat enough. You'll make yourself lethargic, weak, and even sick if you don't get enough calories each day. If you're trying to gain lean muscle mass, it's especially important to make sure you're eating plenty of proteins. Most importantly, ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST. Way too many teenagers skip breakfast because they don't wake up early enough in the morning before school. Eating breakfast gives you physical and mental energy; without it, you'll be slow, stupid, and have a growling stomach. Also, cutting calories by skipping breakfast works against you, because breakfast jump-starts your metabolism and helps your body burn calories all day long.
Eating better is a state of mind. It is regularly making smart decisions and being disciplined enough to make those smart decisions. It's not just important for now, but also for your health for the rest of your life. Be able to put your head on your pillow at night and be satisfied about the eating decisions you made that day. Remember that if you don't do something about it yourself, nobody else will.
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