Teenage Tips

BODY ☼

This is probably one of the biggest issues both boys and girls face with. That is not loving their bodies. This is probably one of the hardest and most judgemental things that we could hate about ourselves. A lot of things come into this. People get embarrassed because they think they're "too fat" or "too skinny". Honestly, id rather be fat and fit rather than skinny and weak. There are ways as to accept your body and embrace your curves. Here are some ways that you can start to feel comfortable and improve your body.

WAYS TO IMPROVE HOW YOU SEE YOUR BODY:

1. Clothes- honestly the clothes you wear play a huge part in how you view your body. It's important to wear something that is comfortable. Comfortable in ways that you won't be pulling on it or pulling down your top because your stomach is showing. Try and find clothes that embrace and show off your best body features, whether it's your arms, curves, bum, stomach, ankles, etc. also you need to make sure your clothes fit you. The worst thing in my opinion is wearing clothes that keep falling off. Things that are too tight are also uncomfortable, but I find that better than something that keeps falling off. Make sure when you plan your outfits that you make sure you feel comfortable and you could spend all day without even touching your clothes, or even think about them. Also at school, it's a suggestion to maybe show a little less skin and come more comfortable. Things like flowy dresses are amazing because they are cute and you can dress them down with a sweater on top and make them look super casual. If you are embarrassed about how fat your body looks in your clothes, find clothes that make you feel good. Find a pair of jeans that make your legs look amazing, or a top that makes your stomach look small.

2. Healthy Eating- a lot of people who want to either loose or gain weight, make the mistake of either eating too much fatty foods or cutting out a lot of food all together. It's important to know that to gain a healthy weight, you need to eat healthier. This goes for both people who want to loose weight and gain weight. Eating healthy does not mean cut out all carbs and junk food and just eat fruit and vegetables all day. That is most definitely not what healthy eating is all about. Don't confuse the words diet with healthy eating. Healthy eating is contributing every part of the food group to your diet. That is dairy, grains/cereals, nuts, vegetables, fruit, meat/poultry and the sometimes foods. There are some days where maybe you need more of one food group such as dancers may eat more carbs when they have dancing that day. On a day where you are probably going to be sitting around a lot, maybe studying or at school if you don't have sport subjects, you may eat more of the fruits and vegetables, maybe like a salad that day. Regardless of what you're doing that day, you really should be eating from every food group. Also if you know if you're having say pasta for dinner, you know that you can have less carbs that day, but that doesn't mean you cut out carbs altogether. Sometimes foods are so important to have everyday as if you cut them out altogether, you will start to crave it and binge eat, especially if it's in your pantry. Mini little chocolate bars or lamingtons for example, are perfect little snacks to have at school so you have some foods that are more pleasing to the taste buds. Museli bars are also amazing because they're a great snack that is low in fat. Another thing is to have big meals for breakfast lunch and dinner. Having small meals will make you hungry in between and will make you binge eat.

3. Getting fit- getting fit does not by any means relate to going to the gym and working out intensely everyday to get abs. Not by any means. Getting fit should be a fun thing, not an intense thing, especially if you're not used to it at all. Of course if you enjoy going to the gym and working out intensely like me, then do that. But there are other ways to get fit that can seem more fun. Simple things like skipping, shopping, yoga, Pilates, waking, running, riding you bike, hiking, playing sport, dancing, swimming and going to things like the waterpark or theme parks. Anything like that is an amazing workout, that is also really fun in the process. You won't even think you're working out, but you are. Getting fit is simply just going outside and staying active. But remember that it is also ok to relax sometimes and have a home day.