I made a lot of mistakes back in high school. Everyone does! That is the time when we are supposed to make mistakes and learn from our experiences to be better versions of ourselves in the future.
However, there are some lessons that I think younger girls should not have to learn the hard way. The consequences from bad health and wellness mistakes that you make in high school can last far into your adult years. More importantly, the consequences of having a poor image of yourself, comparisons, and unrealistic body-image expectations can shape the way you value yourself as you grow.
If you have been following along with my blog for awhile, then you most likely already know about my history battling multiple eating disorders. My reason for writing this particular blog post is to teach today's high school girls some of the things that I wish someone would have taught me when I was their age. Maybe if I had known then what I know now, I would have learned to love myself and how to take care of my body a long time ago.
Here are 10 things I wish I could tell my high school self.
1. DO NOT PUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SKINNY ABOVE THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HEALTHY.
Dear High School Me,
In about three years, you are finally going to get that scrawny, skinny body that you have been crying over every night. You are going to look in the mirror and think that you look great, and you are so proud of yourself.
BUT, you are chieffing down coffee all day long because you are always tired; Yet, somehow you have the energy to run 5 miles before cheer practice everyday. Then one day, you are going to wake up on the floor of your dorm room and wonder how you got there. You just passed out because you haven't eaten a solid piece of food in three days.
Flash forward to 5 years later, you still have the skinny body you always wanted, but this body is stronger. This body can take way more stress and this brain feels a lot more energized. This body also eats almost 3x more than it did 5 years ago. You will finally learn how to use food as your weapon to combat fatigue, nausea, and sickness. Your main motives for eating and exercising are no longer associated with your appearance. Instead, you eat and exercise to make your body as strong and healthy as you can be. The weight-loss was just an added bonus.
To the high school girls reading this,
There is more than one way to achieve the body you want. But the best way is to put more focus the quality of the food we put in our body, NOT the quantity. Eat and workout without the goal of weight-loss. Instead, make your goal to become the healthiest and strongest version of yourself.
2. How Our Metabolism Works
Man oh man! Do I wish we would have spent less time in health class talking about STDs and more time teaching young girls (me) how our metabolism actually works. Maybe then, I would have learned to not fear food and instead, learned how to use food as medicine to fuel my body.However, I did learn about the metabolism of a leaf. (Shout-out to Mr. Hillman)
So if any high school ladies are reading along, remember this:
Carbs and fats do not CAUSE weight gain. But consuming more energy (in calories) than your body requires will, regardless of where those calories come from (fats, protein, or carbs). Calories are not the enemy, over indulgence is.
Your brain needs carbs to produce the energy that is going to help you finish your test before time runs out.
Your body needs LOTS of protein to fuel your muscles for cheer practice later.
That cookie is not going to ruin your bikini body. Everything in moderation is fine.
Fix your relationship with food NOW and save yourself years of difficulty later.
3. You Aren't Bigger or Fatter than Your Friends; Different Girls Will Hit Puberty At Different Times, In Different Ways.
So you've hit puberty much earlier than most of your girl friends, and for sure, earlier than your guy friends. You are taller, have curves, and are no longer the lanky bean pole that you were in middle school. This is normal! A woman's body naturally stores more fat that men (due to preparation for child baring). Plus-the amount of fat you have now is not even close to enough to even register as having fat. Do not compare your body to your peers'. Every single one of your bodies are going to change drastically in the next 5 years and continue to change as you age.
There is nothing wrong with you. In fact, you should love and embrace your new body because this body is a lot stronger than your old one.
More importantly, it is the only body you get for your lifetime, so stop trying to change it and start taking care of it.
4. Don't Spend Your Birthday Money on a $300 Cleanse.
Do not get hooked on the "quick fix approach" to health and fitness. It will only teach you to be lazy and dependent on supplements. Instead, get healthy and fit the natural way.
Eat some real food for once...Maybe don't go to Mi Ranch twice a day...and for sure, don't go to Sonic to "hang out" 3 times a day, because you know you can't resist ordering cheese sticks.
You don't need supplements and a restrictive meal plan to lose weight. What you need, is some GOSH DANG SELF CONTROL.
Lastly, cleanses are not permanent, girl. The first time you do one, you are going to think that you have lost 5 pounds of fat in one week. In reality, you have lost 5 pounds of bloat from increasing your water intake, activity level, and using a good probiotic.
So keep your birthday money and spend it on something a high school girl is supposed to spend it on. This is the time in your life when you are supposed to take that $300, go to the mall, and blow it all on hideous neon graphic tees and cheap plaid bras from Wet Seal.
5. Start Developing Good Fitness Habits Now!
One day, you aren't going to have cheer and track to force you to be active 5 days a week. You need another active hobby to keep you in shape after high school. Start trying out new activities like running, yoga, weight lifting, cycling, etc. The habits you create now will make it so much easier to stay healthy and strong when you move away from home and only have yourself to motivate you to work out.
6. None of the diet pills in GNC work; not even Hydroxycut
In your life, you are going to hear person after person and brand after brand tell you that if you take their product, you will 100% lose weight. Do not fall for it. There is nothing wrong with supplementation to enhance your health, but stay away from supplements that claim to be for weight-loss. If there was truly a magic pill out there, everyone would know about it.
I remember one specific time that I bought a diet pill from GNC that everyone swore was a magic fix for weight-loss. It was $180!!!!!!! Guess what it was? 450 mg of caffeine, some appetite suppressants and diuretics. Those are the main components of almost all over-the-counter weight-loss pills. They just dehydrate you, so that you lose some water weight. And hype you up on caffeine, so that you feel energized even though you aren't eating as much as you usually do.
ALL OF WHICH IS HORRIBLE FOR YOUR HEALTH. So when it comes to diet pills, supplements, or cleanses-don't waste your money and don't believe everything you hear on TV or the internet.
7. Lifting Weights and Drinking Protein Will Not Make You Look Manly.
Lifting weights will not make you bulky. Protein will not make you fat or bulky. Both will actually help you lose weight. There are very few ways to increase our natural resting metabolism. One of these ways is to build more muscle, because muscle uses more energy during the day-even when you are resting. This increases the amount of calories that your body burns naturally during the day.
-Get off the treadmill and start lifting weights.
-Put down the bag of Special K cereal and pick up some chicken.
8. Drink More Water
You always complain about feeling nauseated and tired. It doesn't matter how much sleep you get, you feel sick ALL THE TIME. You just want relief.
5 years from now, you are going to be in a doctor's office in Mississippi trying to get prescribed stronger nausea medicine and some ambien. The doctor is going to tell you to drink more water and eat more than just protein shakes and laxatives. And you're going to listen
... and for the first time in your life, you will wake up and not feel tired or nauseous. You felt sick for your entire high school years because you didn't drink enough water.
Did you know that most headaches and fatigue cases are caused by dehydration? Such an easy fix to get such a better quality of life.
9. Learn to Cook the Basics
When mom asks you to help her cook dinner, do not go to the bathroom and fake poop for 40 minutes to avoid helping.
Instead, get off your lazy butt and help. When you get to college, you are going to wish you knew how to bake some chicken, steam some veggies, and season your food with something other than Cajun seasoning.
Learn now, so that you won't be as tempted to go drive through Sonic for dinner. Plus, you might find yourself a husband if you make the right pork chop ;)
10. It Only Gets Better From Here.
Welcome to college. Everyone here has finished puberty and it is no longer weird to have boobs and NOT have a thigh gap.
In fact, the body that you hated and cried over so much in high school, is actually more in shape than the majority of bodies at this college! What else is cool? Boys actually LIKE that you aren't stick skinny.
What is even cooler? Everyone here is in the same boat as you are. They are all struggling to learn how to work out and eat healthy now that they aren't living with their parents or on a sports team. Find you some workout partners and build each other up!
10 1/2. Buy Yourself Some Good Shoes.
Not health related....our bodies might change, but our foot size doesn't. When you get $100 for your birthday, buy a good pair of shoes that will match everything and last a few years. Don't go to a cheap store and buy 4 pairs of shoes for $15 that are going to break after one season.
You're 24 years old now and have like 1 pair of good heels because high school me was too cheap to buy a sturdy pair. And when you are a grown up, you will have to choose between using that $100 for shoes or using it for something stupid, like the electric bill.
SMH why didn't you buy more shoes?!?!?!?!?
