Fed up with food-fads and the bad habits of her peers, a teenager puts common sense into practise in the kitchen. Here’s her recipe for a healthier lifestyle. By Ruth Rice Farr
Being a 13-year-old girl, my opinion is not always taken as seriously as I would like. If I want people to notice me and understand my opinions, I need to make an example of myself. This is especially true when it comes to food. The only way to get fed the way I want to be, is to make sure that everyone (i.e. my mom) understands exactly what I want.
Every morning I make myself a healthy lunch for school. Waking up 15 minutes earlier is enough to ensure I have a wholesome and substantial meal to help me get through my busy day. I arrive at school at around 7:15am and get home at 6:30pm on some days. So most of my food consumption happens at school.
One of my top school lunches I prepare is a simple wrap. I spread humus over it then add leftover chicken, lettuce, feta, tomatoes, carrots and any other vegetables in our fridge. The wrap is my main lunch, but I also like to make little snacks to eat before sport or in free periods.
One snack I find filling and yummy is the thinly-sliced potato, sweet potato, beetroot and butternut chips that my mum makes. (She says to tell you that they aren’t that thin – not like the Woollies chips she thinks you all have in your minds). The chips taste incredible dipped in balsamic vinegar. Sliced up carrots dipped in humus are also a delicious on the go snack.
On the sweeter side of things, fruit is a staple in my lunch box. I often cut mango or sweet melon into bite sized chunks. Even a simple apple is nice.
I try to be creative with my lunches and mix up what I put in them, such as leftover couscous, or even my mum’s spinach pie. I try to make as much of the food I eat from scratch. By doing this I, and my mom, are completely aware of the ingredients I am eating.
I cut sugar out of my diet completely for 28 days and found that I developed a low tolerance to sweet things, and prefer water to fizzy drinks. It really brought to my attention how desensitised we’ve become to the amount of sugar that is put into our foods. When we eat sugar we have a boost of energy, which is great, but the very low energy drop soon after is awful and makes me feel drowsy and depressed.
When I eat sustainable food, it keeps me going for hours. After eating healthy meals, I began to feel proud of the change I was making and felt a boost in my self confidence levels.
Every morning I take an extra few minutes to make myself a healthy lunch. The natural world provides us with all the nutrients we need, without having to add unhealthy highly processed ingredients to our food.
I’m not saying cut out sugars and processed foods for good. Firstly, that would be nearly impossible for most of us, and secondly we need a treat once in a while. I’m simply saying that making sure you have a mostly natural based diet will do wonders for your mental and physical wellbeing.
Eating should be a social time and making the food should be part of the experience. Being aware of what I am consuming is half the battle already won. Making my mom aware is the other half 😉
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