What should a teen do when he wants to eat healthy?

[Ampresus]

Hello everyone. By the title you can make up that I am a teen who is interested in eating healthier. I am 14 years old, 1.87 m (6.1 ft) and I workout 3 times a week in the gym. I do exercises like typical cardio, muscle exercises and stretching exercises. Stumbling upon the video from Leo called ''How To Shop For Healthy Food'' I wondered what I could do to change my diet. 

I should start off by saying that my family is like the typical family. According to Leo, we all learnt to eat BS. I want to change that from early on so I won't have the problems many adults face these days with their health. Leo also said that it's these ''devils'' who have infiltrated our systems (education, medication etc.) and manipulated it so that they can benefit from our suffering. That's why I don't want to go to a dietitian. I mean what are the odds they aren't manipulated by those ''devils''? Maybe asking random people on the internet isn't that smart either, but I have to try it.

My mom always said, since I lost many weight, that I don't need to see a dietitian because I am already eating healthy. In the last year I lost a lot of fat and am basically not fat anymore  . According to my fitness teacher I am officially healthy (we tested it). Watching Leo's video makes me question that statement. I eat a lot of bread, dairy products and that kind of stuff. What can I do to change my diet? Should I just command my parents to buy me all the stuff Leo talks about?

To give you a little insight, here is my diet:
Waking up at 06:30, first thing I do is filling up a bowl with milk and cornflakes. I usually fill it up one more time, so in total 2 cornflakes meals. Unlike the cornflakes I don't fill up my milk. 

In the afternoon I usually eat meat. Things like shawarma or sometimes macaroni. 

Evening is around the same as afternoon. If I get hungry, instead of eating cookies as I used to, I eat fruit. Apples most of the time.

I usually drink water. I can't remember the last time I drank something like cola. I have to admit, I drink coffee, ice coffee and tea too.


So what would you guys recommend to me to change? Should I go in depth about this while I am still young? Don't worry, I avoid things like big macs, ice cream, candy and chocolate. Those aren't a problem for me.

[Michael569]

Hey man, wish I was so conscious in 14! All i ate was Nesquik with milk and nutella bread. Your diet is already pretty damn good. Just a few tips for you to help you prosper going forward: 

• Weight lifting - Because you still have at least 6 years of growing, preferably you should do lighter weights (no heavy squads and deadlifts) and focus more on bodyweight, callisthenics, sprints, handstands, stretches etc. Do not drain your body's energy doing strenuous exercise. Exercise is extremely important for you to help you formulate proper bone density, however, don't overdo it because it may slow your physical growth
• careful with coffee or any stimulants - you should have plenty of natural energy without these. Caffeine messes up with your adrenals, your dopamine and serotonine receptors as well as melatonin pathway. You want to stay away from these things until you are like 18-20 at least. Your organs are still evolving especially the glands let them evolve naturally without getting hooked on stimulants. Also caffeine puts you in "fight or flight", creates a lot of physical stress and depletes adrenal hormones. Best stay away from it completely. Teas are fine. Think more herbal teas and less black/early grey.
• Eat tons of veggies and don't limit your intake of fruit - I wish I was told this back then when all my nutrients came from junk. Certain vitamins are incredibly important for proper growth, metabolism and energy production. Have a bowl of rainbow salad every day, the more colour the better and if possible go at least 50% organic. Eat a lot of dark green leafy (spinach, rocket, kale, lettuce)
• Don't go into some heavy dieting or restrictive eating patterns - your body requires a lot of building materials for growth so I would not limit your portions. Make sure to focus on good quality protein, carbohydrates and fats. That means eating a lot of: wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit. You could probably benefit from not eating too much sugar and bread because as there is no nutrition in there

Btw there are some great nutritionists out there. If you don't want to see a dietitian but would like some advice consider speaking to Naturopath or a certified Nutritionist to help you thrive and grow best. 

All the best mate! You are doing great. 

Edited October 22, 2018 by Michael569

[Charlotte]

39 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

Hey man, wish I was so conscious in 14! All i ate was Nesquik with milk and nutella bread

So do I! 

Yeah at 14 it was Golden nuggets and milk ?

 

[ajasatya]

@Ampresus quit the milk+cornflakes... horrible combination.

[Shin]

31 minutes ago, ajasatya said:

@Ampresus quit the milk+cornflakes... horrible combination.

Zero nutrition and a sure way to destroy the digestive system ?

[Ampresus]

4 hours ago, Michael569 said:

Hey man, wish I was so conscious in 14! All i ate was Nesquik with milk and nutella bread. Your diet is already pretty damn good. Just a few tips for you to help you prosper going forward: 

• Weight lifting - Because you still have at least 6 years of growing, preferably you should do lighter weights (no heavy squads and deadlifts) and focus more on bodyweight, callisthenics, sprints, handstands, stretches etc. Do not drain your body's energy doing strenuous exercise. Exercise is extremely important for you to help you formulate proper bone density, however, don't overdo it because it may slow your physical growth
• careful with coffee or any stimulants - you should have plenty of natural energy without these. Caffeine messes up with your adrenals, your dopamine and serotonine receptors as well as melatonin pathway. You want to stay away from these things until you are like 18-20 at least. Your organs are still evolving especially the glands let them evolve naturally without getting hooked on stimulants. Also caffeine puts you in "fight or flight", creates a lot of physical stress and depletes adrenal hormones. Best stay away from it completely. Teas are fine. Think more herbal teas and less black/early grey.
• Eat tons of veggies and don't limit your intake of fruit - I wish I was told this back then when all my nutrients came from junk. Certain vitamins are incredibly important for proper growth, metabolism and energy production. Have a bowl of rainbow salad every day, the more colour the better and if possible go at least 50% organic. Eat a lot of dark green leafy (spinach, rocket, kale, lettuce)
• Don't go into some heavy dieting or restrictive eating patterns - your body requires a lot of building materials for growth so I would not limit your portions. Make sure to focus on good quality protein, carbohydrates and fats. That means eating a lot of: wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit. You could probably benefit from not eating too much sugar and bread because as there is no nutrition in there

Btw there are some great nutritionists out there. If you don't want to see a dietitian but would like some advice consider speaking to Naturopath or a certified Nutritionist to help you thrive and grow best. 

All the best mate! You are doing great. 

Thanks for the compliment. 

• I already discussed this with my instructor. When I asked for strenuos exercises she explained to me why right now I can't do that. She talked about how it could effect my body and ruin my growth. I might need to focus more on bodyweight and handstands. Stretches and sprints are things that I already do. 
• Does ice coffee also fall in this category of stimulants? I will buy herbal tea this week, thank you for the recommendation. 
• Fair enough. I already asked my mom for salad today. Anything you would recommend putting in the salad? Right now it's either chicken or tuna, casual tomatoes, eggs, cucumber and lettuce. 
• Acknowledged. I think I will buy whole grain bread this week. 

Maybe later I will speak to a certified nutritionist. Right now I am already busy with school, reading self-help books and changing my diet. Thank you so much for the information. 

[Michael569]

8 minutes ago, Ampresus said:

Does ice coffee also fall in this category of stimulants? I will buy herbal tea this week, thank you for the recommendation. 

anything that contains caffeine basically   but then, if your body craves it give it a go occasionaly, just don't make it a routine as it is highly addictive and not very beneficial long term. 

9 minutes ago, Ampresus said:

Fair enough. I already asked my mom for salad today. Anything you would recommend putting in the salad? Right now it's either chicken or tuna, casual tomatoes, eggs, cucumber and lettuce. 

On the bottom: of the plate, make a "bed of greens" Dark greens for sure, ideally cycle between few. https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/10-best-leafy-greens

On the top: Add as many colour as possible: tomato, pepper, onion, broccoli, carrot, cucumber, beet, asparagus, garden peas, avocado, red cabbage, olives ....and anything else you can think of. Get something else every time to make a nice variation throughout the weeks.  Different colour means different antioxidants which interact with each other in the body and recycle each other so having a bit of few is very helpful. 

On the top: some protein richer food that you mentioned or tofu, beans, lentils, sprouts.  

[Nichts]

As a general rule of thumb, try to eat real food. Eat more natural and less processed food.

Also you really don't need that much meat. One or two times a week should be enough. There are many plant based sources you could get your protein from which are way healthier (like nuts or pumpkin/sunflower seeds).

Have you seen Leo's video about his vegetable soup? I've found it very convenient to just replace one meal every one or two days with this soup.

You also might consider taking various vitamin supplements (vitamin D3 and k2 are very important) since the food we eat these days doesn't contain many of the vitamins that our bodies need.

[Ampresus]

3 minutes ago, Nichts said:

As a general rule of thumb, try to eat real food. Eat more natural and less processed food.

Also you really don't need that much meat. One or two times a week should be enough. There are many plant based sources you could get your protein from which are way healthier (like nuts or pumpkin/sunflower seeds).

Have you seen Leo's video about his vegetable soup? I've found it very convenient to just replace one meal every one or two days with this soup.

You also might consider taking various vitamin supplements (vitamin D3 and k2 are very important) since the food we eat these days doesn't contain many of the vitamins that our bodies need.

I got halfway through Leo's video, I will watch the rest of it in a second. Trying to make this soup might be a difficult task. I'll just need to come up with this randomly on my mom. 

[sgn]

16 hours ago, Michael569 said:

Weight lifting - Because you still have at least 6 years of growing, preferably you should do lighter weights (no heavy squads and deadlifts) and focus more on bodyweight, callisthenics, sprints, handstands, stretches etc. Do not drain your body's energy doing strenuous exercise. Exercise is extremely important for you to help you formulate proper bone density, however, don't overdo it because it may slow your physical growth

I really think it's fine doing heavy compound movements as long as good technique is used.
It's seems like a myth that it could stunt growth.

[Michael569]

6 hours ago, sgn said:

I really think it's fine doing heavy compound movements as long as good technique is used.
It's seems like a myth that it could stunt growth.

Possibly... there are not any studies as they would be unethical so just because someone says "no studies" doesn't mean it is not the case.