Healthy eating as a teenager?

Georginapapps1

Right so I'm one of them people that eats a lot and doesn't get fat. I eat A LOT. I eat anything that's put in front of me and am not a fussy eater, however I am unhealthy. I eat a ridiculous amount of chocolate. And I get no exercise. Sitting the leaving next year and it's impossible to balance between studying, practicing instruments and exercising. So I gave up a long time ago. Will I be able to get over my unhealthy habits in college or do they have long term effects on me?

kerryked

I wouldn't agree that its impossible to balance studying, practicing instruments and exercising, yes it's hard but a balance could definitely be achieved. I don't think college is the place to get over your unhealthy habits, it's probably best to start now and try to make a few small changes to get healthier and go from there.

I'm no expert on diet, in fact mine is pretty poor too, but I am in college so might be able to offer you some advice on that. I'm going to assume that at the moment most of your meals are cooked by someone at home. When you go to college, assuming you move out, you become responsible for your own breakfast, lunches and dinners. Of course at the start it's great, order in pizza every night and save a few slices for breakfast in the morning. By Thursday you'll probably be broke and sick of pizza so dinner will consist of noodles and a Mooju. You'll quickly realise this isn't sustainable.

For me, I find it easiest to plan out what I'm going to eat for the week on say a Sunday or Monday. This eliminates the risk of coming to 4 or 5 o clock some day, getting hungry and having no plan so just ordering take-away.

On the chocolate side of things, I would suggest making small, manageable adjustments. If you eat a bar every day at lunch, try to replace it with something healthier. Don't try to make a whole raft of changes in one fell swoop, chances are it won't work.

For the exercise, you should download Pacer or some other step-tracking app on your phone. See how many steps you take a day on average and try to increase that over the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, best of luck in the Leaving. Don't forget to take breaks from all the study and stress. It's important for both your body and mind.

Georginapapps1

kerryked wrote: »

I wouldn't agree that its impossible to balance studying, practicing instruments and exercising, yes it's hard but a balance could definitely be achieved. I don't think college is the place to get over your unhealthy habits, it's probably best to start now and try to make a few small changes to get healthier and go from there.

I'm no expert on diet, in fact mine is pretty poor too, but I am in college so might be able to offer you some advice on that. I'm going to assume that at the moment most of your meals are cooked by someone at home. When you go to college, assuming you move out, you become responsible for your own breakfast, lunches and dinners. Of course at the start it's great, order in pizza every night and save a few slices for breakfast in the morning. By Thursday you'll probably be broke and sick of pizza so dinner will consist of noodles and a Mooju. You'll quickly realise this isn't sustainable.

For me, I find it easiest to plan out what I'm going to eat for the week on say a Sunday or Monday. This eliminates the risk of coming to 4 or 5 o clock some day, getting hungry and having no plan so just ordering take-away.

On the chocolate side of things, I would suggest making small, manageable adjustments. If you eat a bar every day at lunch, try to replace it with something healthier. Don't try to make a whole raft of changes in one fell swoop, chances are it won't work.

For the exercise, you should download Pacer or some other step-tracking app on your phone. See how many steps you take a day on average and try to increase that over the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, best of luck in the Leaving. Don't forget to take breaks from all the study and stress. It's important for both your body and mind.

Thanks so much for the advise! Yeah the reason I'm stressing now is because I want to study criminal justice and become a guard, and fitness is huge for that. I know for definite I'll have the motivation in college because I can cook well and am determined to get to where I want to be, I'm just not sure if I can deal with the extra stress if I start now!

marialouise

I think we all agree it shouldn't be extra stress to change some habits. The other poster said to make small changes and I totally agree. We're not suggesting that you go cold turkey on the chocolate and that you start training for a marathon. 
Maybe take a 10 minute walk as a study break in the evening. 
Instead of 4 chocolate bars a day, cut down to three for a week. Then when that seems like enough cut down to two, until you're comfortable just having one chocolate bar a day. Then have it every other day. 
Why do you eat so much chocolate? Are you hungry? Low on energy? Just addicted to chocolate? Having a banana would give you plenty of energy as one example. If you're hungry all the time, maybe you need a more filling lunch. Are your parents making your lunch in school? 

I developed many poor eating habits around 5th year and my weight started to increase. I tried changing these but I didn't really know what I was doing. Like you I was aiming high in the leaving cert and also had music lessons, so concentration was really important for me, and I would just eat all around me all the time. I did plenty of sports in school and when I went to college I stopped everything. Drinking a few nights a week, going for takeaways with friends etc, I piled on weight over three years and it was horrible. In fourth year I started to take control. I look back on those years now and wish I knew better, but I didn't. Several years later and I've learned a lot about nutrition and eat really well now. 2 years ago I probably ate 2 bars of chocolate a day, toast with nutella for breakfast, a treat every bloody evening. Now I eat chocolate when I want, but it's still only about 2-3 times a week. I have discovered loads of other ways to enjoy food, increase energy, fuel my study and not be hungry. 
I'm in my second course now and I wish I knew all this in my first course. I see students in first year slowly piling on the Freshman15 and I am content that I know how to best fuel my brain for studying. I also fit in exercise 3 times a week just to give myself a break from the books. 
College itself won't make your habits better or worse but it's a change in lifestyle for which you have to be prepared. You'll be making your own meals and doing your own shopping, or having to make choices in the canteen, and you'll need to make clever decisions on how much drink and junk to consume, because you'll be confronted with it every day. Educate yourself a bit on nutrition over the coming year, and when you get to college you'll be able to make better choices than I did. Here's one article that could help you: https://authoritynutrition.com/healthy-eating-for-beginners/
In any case, the fact that you've questioned your own habits is huge progress already. I was eating rubbish and I thought it was fine, and I didn't realise I was gaining weight until my mum pointed it out to me. Since your instinct is already telling you to be careful, I think you'll be fine. Good luck :)

Zillah

Georginapapps1 wrote: »

I know for definite I'll have the motivation in college

This sounds exactly like someone promising they will quit smoking in a month.

Taking the time to eat well and exercise will drastically reduce stress, not increase it. Excess chocolate/sugar is awful for your mood and energy levels. Take the time to eat well, sleep well, and do some exercise and you'll feel better in life.

No, it's not impossible to change your lifestyle later - it's never too late, people in their sixties have turned it around - but the longer you allow yourself to wallow in bad habits the more damage is done and the more difficult it is to break them later.

Every time you promise yourself you'll fix these issues later instead of now you are sacrificing a little bit of future health and happiness to buy yourself a very short term sense of relief. It's the same reason you started this thread: you know leaving it until later is a bad idea and you want us to reassure you. No. Start today. Stop scoffing chocolate, it's doing you harm. Exercise will reduce stress not increase it.

Georginapapps1

Thanks so much for all the wonderful advise, it means so much. I suppose I was really seeing it as a huge leap rather than a gradual process. I will definitely start to improve my lifestyle now that I can see the benefits it can have on your mind and energy. Thanks again!

Mister Vain

Start taking cold showers too.

Alf Veedersane

Mister Vain wrote: »

Start taking cold showers too.

Why, out of interest?

cnocbui

There seems to be a bit of a revolution going on in research into exercise, pointing towards a conclusion that short periods of intense exercise - High Intensity Training - is more effective than the old hours of hard slog approach that probably turned many people off.

You might want to look into it because a few minutes a week is apparently very beneficial:

Mister Vain

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Why, out of interest?

They can speed up recovery as well as burn fat. They also improve your circulation.

Alf Veedersane

The fat burning ability of a cold shower would be the equivalent of having two less cornflakes. Probably easier ways to elicit the same responses.

Besides, the OP isn't anywhere needing it for recovery if they're only at a point where they're considering exercising at some point.

Mister Vain

There are many other benefits of cold showers though.

Alf Veedersane

Mister Vain wrote: »

There are many other benefits of cold showers though.

They're not game changers for the OP. Far more fundamental changes to be made there.

marialouise

Georginapapps1 wrote: »

Thanks so much for all the wonderful advise, it means so much. I suppose I was really seeing it as a huge leap rather than a gradual process. I will definitely start to improve my lifestyle now that I can see the benefits it can have on your mind and energy. Thanks again! :)

Good for you! I spent about 5 years spiralling downwards, 4 years being like "uhhhh it shouldn't be like this", 1 year of actively making changes and 1 year of just enjoying the changes! 
Everyone goes through phases with everything like you'll prefer certain foods for weeks/months at a time and then not eat them again for a bit, this is normal. (Unfortunately I went through a "curly fries + McFlurry" phase and a "I think I'll make some French Toast again" kind of phase, now it's more like "how many steps on my phone" phase and "how many times a day can is it acceptable to eat Greek yoghurt?").... this is indeed a gradual process and if you can slowly make small changes, they will develop into habits :D

Zillah

Mister Vain wrote: »

Start taking cold showers too.

I think I'd rather have someone wake me up every day with a stiff smack to the face than ever willingly have a cold shower.

Gavinz

Georginapapps1 wrote: »

Right so I'm one of them people that eats a lot and doesn't get fat. I eat A LOT. I eat anything that's put in front of me

Enjoy that while it lasts.

Georginapapps1

I dunno I think a quick cold shower the ODD time is pretty refreshing to be honest... it is suppose to be beneficial

LiamaDelta

Mister Vain wrote:

There are many other benefits of cold showers though.

Lower energy bills mainly 😂