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Back to Body Basics
Throughout puberty, your body will change shape,
getting taller and curvier. In order for you to grow your
best, it’s important that you take extra care by eating right,
keeping clean, and getting sleep. This section reminds
you about body basics to keep you looking and feeling
your best.
Treat Your Body Right
Respect yourself! Your body is the only one you’ll
ever have.
Growing a Healthy You
Being healthy depends upon what you put into—and
keep out of—your body. One of the ways you can help
your body grow best is by eating a balanced diet of
nutritious foods. Now’s the time to make sure to get a
variety of vitamins and minerals in your food. And two of
the most important body builders are calcium and protein.
Calcium is a mineral that helps make your bones strong. Calcium also strengthens your teeth, powers your nerves, and keeps your blood and heart healthy. You can find calcium in foods such as these:
dairy products: milk, cheese, and yogurt
dark green leafy vegetables
beans: white, black, kidney, and garbanzo
orange-colored fruits: cantaloupes, tangerines, and
oranges
fish, particularly salmon
calcium-fortified foods such as orange juice and cereals
(look for “calcium-fortified” on the label)
Protein is needed to keep up and build the muscles you use every day. Lean meats and fish have lots of protein without a lot of unhealthy fats. But if you’re not much of a meat eater or if you’re a vegetarian, here are some great alternatives:
beans (combine beans with rice for even more protein)
dairy products: milk, cheese, and yogurt
soy: soybeans/edamame and tofu
nuts and nut butters
eggs
Even though ice cream is
a dairy product, it has so
much sugar that it really
isn’t a healthy source of
calcium or protein—it
counts as a treat instead.
Listen to Your Body
What’s important is not only what you eat but also how
often and how much you eat. Many people eat three
large meals a day—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—but it’s
actually better to eat five smaller meals. If you eat a snack
in the morning, a snack in the afternoon, and reasonable
portions at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then you are
already doing it!
Don’t forget to pace yourself. Listen to your body, eating
when 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