Don’t compare yourself to other girls at your school. If you are concerned about your weight, ask your doctor for proper health advice. Don’t go on those fad diets, like “Hollywood Cookie Diet” or anything like that. If it sounds fake, it probably is. Plus, you’re a teenager; you’re growing, and not getting the nutrients you need won’t make you healthier if you follow some silly extreme diet!
Find ways to make the activities you’re already doing a little healthier. For example, you can try doing sit-ups while you are watching TV. If you’re listening to your iPod, you can take your dog for a walk and still listen to your music. Doctors and health physicians recommend that you get an hour of exercise every day. You can make it fun, too! Invite a friend over and watch some of your mom’s old Tae Bo videos while exercising along with it! You don’t have to be perfect at it, as long as your heart rate is up that’s great! The best way to burn calories, however, is by running, mainly. Do you have a treadmill in your home, or a fitness center in your town? If you have a treadmill in your home, just enter your accurate weight and age and it’s easy to burn calories! Just keep at a steady running pace, and you can make it more fun by watching TV or listening to the radio. Something to keep you exercising every day is to make goals. For example, give yourself a reward after exercising each day after two weeks. Don’t make it something that will ruin it, like eating a hot fudge sundae. Instead, go to the mall and buying a new shirt or pair of jeans to celebrate your healthier body!
Having breakfast neither causes you to gain weight nor helps you to lose it. Although it is not directly linked to having breakfast, however, to other factors which influence weight, people who have breakfast are more likely to have a healthy weight. Some good breakfast meal ideas are sunny side up eggs, a banana and a glass of milk, cereal, whole wheat toast, yogurt, or Special K waffles with low-fat syrup, or a cereal bar. Yum! They also will keep you going for the rest of the morning until lunch. Speaking of lunch, be wary of the cafeteria foods. The cookies and brownies and doughnuts and french fries they may have are delicious but don’t tempt yourself. A good idea for a meal is bottled water or apple juice or milk with a chef’s salad. If you are still hungry, most schools have the ala carte option so you can have baked chips or a 100 calorie pack to go with it. For dinner, you can have whatever your parents are cooking. This is always being repeated to kids, but eat lots of fruits and vegetables. You can basically eat as much as you want of those because they’re so good for you. Go to the grocery store with your parents one day and pick out a variety. Find your favorite ones! But most importantly, think about what you eat!
Always do your homework. Yes, it can be boring, but just work your hardest on it and get it over with. If you don’t do any of it, you’ll probably fail your next test on that chapter because you won’t understand anything. And when you fail a test, that moves your grade down, which will show up on your report card and which will tick off your parents. See how this domino effect goes? And it would all be because you didn’t do your homework. If you don’t understand it, ask your parents, or a teacher. Even during class! You may feel dumb, but chances are there will be someone in your class who had the same question, and your teacher will appreciate you asking. As a last resort, you could ask a friend. But make it a good, reliable friend who won’t go off-track with the assignment and start talking about something else. The best thing about getting better grades is that you will be proud of yourself, plus your parents will be proud too, which leads to them trusting you more and giving you a longer leash. But on the other hand, what if you fail a test? The first thing you may want to do is rip it into a million pieces and throw it in the garbage. Don’t. Your parents will find out anyway, so you might as well keep it. The next thing you should do is go over what you did wrong. Did you make a small mistake? Or you possibly didn’t get it? Make a list of questions on things you want to go over with your teacher, and he/she will respect you for wanting to responsibly take care of it. You could maybe even ask your teacher if you could redo the test, or do something for extra credit. Another thing you might think when you get a bad grade is, “I’m so stupid the only career I’ll ever get is picking up litter!. " Always remember, one bad grade on a test won’t affect your entire grade. Just study more on your next test and all is well!
Also say no to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes! They aren’t cool. If someone offers it to you, just say, “Sorry [insert name here], but I don’t want to mess up my body. " If they think that’s lame, they’re the ones who are! You are the cool one because you know how to stand up for yourself and be smart! Also, drugs and cigarettes can lead to baggy skin, big under-eye circles, and yellow-brown teeth. And alcohol can make you act like someone you really aren’t, not to mention all the bad things for your body. And remember you don’t have to have sex if you don’t want to. If someone wants you to do that even though you’re not ready yet, it’s wrong, and if they truly care for you, they won’t try to persuade you or if they do and you say no, they’ll respect that and won’t ask again. And if they say “If you really love me, you’ll do this”, a red flag should go up! This is wrong, and do NOT say yes! Don’t do it until you’re ready! Don’t ever feel pressured to do things like that. You don’t have to do drugs, drink, or sleep around to be cool or respected. Being cool and earning respect from others comes from being yourself. Of course, there is nothing wrong with sex, as long as it is safe and consensual. The bottom line is that you must treat your body and self with kindness! Strengthen your common sense by focusing on what you feel is right and observing other people’s behaviors.
If you struggle with your self-image or confidence, stand in front of a mirror and say, “I love you!” It may sound silly, but it may also be exactly what you need to hear.
