How to Live Healthy When Its Most Important

Staying Healthy Through Your Teenage and College Years

• First off, college definitely doesn’t help.  The drinking, the freedom, the classes… they all contradict staying healthy through the heart of your growth period.  Let me outline it for you…
  

Freedom (to eat whatever you want)

- Forget Mom’s home-cooked meals.  You got Fast-Food joints on every corner, not to mention local restaurants, and did I mention Taco Bell? … that place is not Fast-Food.  It’s Divine (cheap, filling, and conveniently located everywhere).

-“Freshman 15” is not even a valid college-myth… well at least in my case… it was more like Freshman 24.  I weighed 150 lbs coming in as a freshman and now I weigh an artery-clotting 174 lbs.  

Drinking

 -Beer (need I say more)

Classes

-Am I the only one who eats in-between study breaks?  In fact, I feel like I’m a hamster on a treadmill with a big piece of crunch-wrap supreme dangling in front of my nocturnal eyes. 

 -Crack/Cocaine is addictive and so is Food.  And at 3 o’clock in the morning when you’re “studying” for that exam the next morning, all you need is a fix to keep you going… along with a 5-hour energy shot of course.

So now that I’ve outlined “How Everything Possible Can Go Wrong and Work Against Your Slim Waist-Line or At Least Averagely Chubby Waist-Line,” I think I’ll address the title.

Okay, so maybe everything didn’t go according to plan.  There’s still hope yet…

Damage Control 

-        Buy or Borrow a book.  Do not buy a book about Diets.  Diets may help you lose weight, but they will not help you live a healthy lifestyle.  If you want to lose weight and then gain it all back in a matter of months, a Diet would be great for you.  Instead, pick up a book concerning Healthy Eating, Exercise, or Healthy Living in general.  This will help you make better decisions on a daily basis. Even if you think reading causes you to lose valuable brain cells, carrying around a reminder that you’re fat will only help you to stay on task.

-        Cut down on fast-food and try cooking for yourself and others.  Getting other people involved in your transformation will only give you the support to continue on your path.  This could be as simple as eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast and cooking pasta for dinner. 

-        Stop drinking soda, artificial fruit juices, and anything else that has “high fructose corn syrup” on the Ingredients Label.  You will see results immediately if you replace water with beverages high in sugar.

 Now that we’ve assessed damage control, its finally time to think long-term…

Exercise

-    Cardio: Running, Swimming, Rollerblading, Skateboarding, Walking Vigorously, Playing Sports, and anything else that requires you to get your heart pumping for at least 20-30 minutes will keep your calorie count in check.

-        Weightlifting: People who use the excuse “my metabolism is slow” to justify their love handles and baggage of lard, most likely eat more than they should and don’t exercise on a consistent basis.  Having a slow metabolic rate is very rare and most times is a serious medical condition that has to do with an enlarged Thyroid.  In fact, if you’re fat or “big-boned” as others like to call it, that might mean you have a faster metabolism because your body has to work more than the average individual to carry out daily activities.  Weightlifting helps generate more muscle mass, which in turn burns more fat. 

-        Fat doesn’t turn into muscle.  When you lift weights, you generate more muscle fibers, which help you increase your metabolism.  So while you’re gaining muscle mass, you’re also burning fat tissue even when your body is at rest. It gives the illusion that your fat is turning into muscle.  Indirectly yes, but it’s a bit more complicated.

      *Therefore, a consistent workout that includes a combination of both weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise is the optimal way to start shedding those calories.  Remember consistency is key.  20 minutes of weightlifting and 20 minutes of cardio will go a long way if you keep at it.

Note:

*This is only for the strong-willed.  If you're a sissy, you won't be able to keep up.  This will be a long journey and you may not see drastic improvements right away.  Being consistent and keeping a strong regimen will help.

*You will learn that living healthy is just a system of checks and balances between consistent exercise, healthy eating, and a sharp state of mind.