forget to pace yourself. Listen to your body, eatingwhen you are hungry and stopping when you are full.
If you eat extremely fast, you won’t always feel full until
you’ve already eaten too much food. But don’t go too
slowly either, or you won’t have time to finish lunch
at school!
Meal Skipping
Skipping meals typically isn’t a good idea. If you’re sick,
your body might not feel as if it wants solid food, so
drinking water, tea, juice, or soup is fine. But in general,
your body needs food regularly.
The saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the
day” is actually true! That’s because breakfast provides
the fuel to start your day—it gives your body and your
brain the energy to get going. Even if you don’t feel
hungry, it’s a bad idea to skip breakfast. If you do skip it,
you may not have the energy to do well in your early
classes and may be so hungry by lunchtime that you
make bad food choices.
The Real Thing
Is Best
A meal with whole foods is
the best way to get good
nutrition into your body—
this means eating unpro-
cessed foods, such as fresh
fruit instead of fruit gum-
mies, or cheese, yogurt,
meat, or beans instead of
a protein bar. You might
think you can just take a
vitamin to make your diet
a healthy one, but that
doesn’t work, because your
body absorbs nutrients
much better from whole
foods than from a pill.
Foods That Can Fool You
Respecting your body is as much about keeping bad things out of it as it is
about putting good things in. Junk food doesn’t help you grow in a healthy way,
and it sometimes leaves you feeling tired or can lead to stomach aches. Some
junk foods are obvious: candy, cakes, ice cream, and fried foods (such as chips
and French fries). But the ones that can fool you are usually drinks!
Soda, vitamin-enriched water, and sports drinks are usually packed with sugars,
artificial flavorings, and fake colors. They add calories to your body without
bringing any nutrition. Unless you are an elite athlete, you don’t need a sports
drink after a game—water is better. Some of these drinks also have caffeine,
a chemical that can keep you up at night or interrupt your sleep, potentially
making you moody and slowing your growth.
Even though you might know which foods aren’t good for you, cravings still
creep up. The best rule is to keep junk foods to a minimum. This means that
if you have already eaten something junky, you should be done with treats for
the day. And when you choose a food that you know isn’t great for you, eat a
reasonable amount and don’t overdo it!
In addition to junk food, it’s also important to stay away from cigarettes, alcohol,
and drugs. Each can hurt your body in different ways and can make you think
unclearly or act foolishly. If your doctor gives you a prescription medicine, it is
meant for you and only you—don’t ever offer your medicine to someone else,
and don’t take someone else’s medicine yourself.
When in Doubt, Keep It Out!
When you walk through the grocery store or pharmacy, you will see lots of
different vitamins and supplements promising all sorts of results. The bottle
may say, “Take this and lose weight!” or “Build strong muscles!” Or the label may
have a picture of a person who looks the way you would like to look. Don’t
believe everything that is advertised! Many of these products won’t do what
they say they will. Even worse, some are dangerous to a growing, changing body
like yours. Talk to your parents and a doctor about what supplements are safe
and healthy for your body. And when in doubt, keep it out!
Your New Look
As your body matures, get ready to grow in different
directions.
Figure Facts
You may start to notice new curves where you never had
them—particularly around your thighs, hips, waist, and
breasts. Your body may look bigger than it used to, or
your pants may feel tighter in some places. All of these
changes are normal. But curves aren’t required! It’s com-
mon for your body to begin to look more like the bodies
of other women in your family. So if your mom is long,
lean, and less curvy, you might shape up the same
