It’s never too early to start eating healthy
Have you ever thought of the consequences there is to not eating healthy? Eating healthy is very important because it helps us maintain a healthy weight, stay energized, get the nutrients you need, and reduce the risk of developing chronic health diseases, such as hypertension, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
Healthy eating doesn’t happen often in a teens life. In today’s society most teens don’t think of the foods they consume. They don’t think about what they eat, choosing fast food and junk food.
When it comes to eating healthy, I (most of the time) think of the foods I’m consuming. As a 16 year old, I started thinking more of the foods I consumed because I was more informed about the consequences of not eating healthy that can happen later on in life and how it would help me improve more both as a student and as an athlete.
I know teenagers need certains vitamins and nutrients because of how our body is working and growing. As a student, you need certain foods in your body to be able to pay attention to your education. I personally eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in order to stay awake and have energy at school.
As an athlete, I try to stay in shape because I’m required to have a lot of energy, otherwise it can hurt my ability, be harmful for my health, and I won’t have enough strength. I try eating as much fruits, vegetables, pasta, drink more water, and reduce the amount of fast foods I eat on a regular basis.
My eating habits have changed in the past two years. Before my junior year in high school I wouldn’t pay attention to the foods I would consume and I would always feel tired, without energy, and sleepy most of the time, especially because I wouldn’t eat breakfast and I would just consume junk food.
After recognizing how it was affecting me schoolwise and healthwise, I started paying more attention to the foods I was consuming. Before my meals would be no breakfast, hot cheetos in the morning and afternoon, fast foods, and no water. Now my daily meals are more fruits in the morning, not too much sugar, not too many carbohydrates, more water, and more vegetables. I tried reducing the amount of carbohydrates and sugar I ate before and all the fast food I would eat.
And as an athlete, I noticed that it was helping me when I would run. I noticed that I wouldn’t get as tired and also, my muscles felt better after running, I wouldn’t feel as much pain in my body, and my time would improve.
Not only do athletes benefit from eating healthy, but so does everyone. Many may think that eating healthy might not be for everyone or for them, Healthy eating can benefit you to have a healthier lifestyle, it’s not only based on performance and sports, you’ll still have a healthier lifestyle for the rest of your life, meaning that you don’t have to be an athlete to be healthy, you can still have a healthier lifestyle if you still eat healthy and won’t be at higher risk for any diseases.
Healthy eating might seem hard for most of us, but it’s not. We might not think of the importance of calcium and iron, and the extra nutrients we need to support bone growth, hormonal changes, organ and tissue development, including the brain.
Starting to eat healthy at a young age can help you stay healthy throughout your life. For more information on eating healthy, visit:
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