View Full Version : Is it too late to start become healthy?
I kinda wanted to start this thread, because it feels like a do or die situation. Over the last posts I made, I mentioned that I’m a very unhealthy person. At home, I usually eat rice with meat. Nothing else into play, but more than occasionally, we go out to eat and buy junk food. Not only that, but I mostly sit down at a chair using the computer. I’ve dealt with a lot of stress and anxiety during my time. My current age is 15, almost going to be 16 in a few months. After around (maybe) 10 years of being that, just like the title, is it too late? Because I was diagnosed with high cholesterol after around last July. I’m rather scared to die too early to where I haven’t taken care of my body for years.
EDIT: I also have a lack of sleep as well including with a list of symptoms. Possibly maybe risk of diseases or cancer:
- Fever
- Weakness
- Random pain around my body.
- Maybe high risk of COPD, diabeties, and heart disease.
MyNameIsTerry
04-04-18, 01:55
No, it's not too late at your age. But given your cholesterol you (and really your parents) need to work on reducing this to healthy levels.
Look at it another way. Over here we are given free over 40 health checks. This includes cholesterol levels. Raised cholesterol is a red flag to make changes to live more healthily to reduce future risks but it's not a case of it being too late otherwise what's the point in waiting until someone is 40?
At your age you are a much lower risk for many things than someone my age.
Aside from the diet it needs to be about exercise. Whilst you may not realise this earlier in life you will feel much different when you get closer to my age when lack of exercise brings plenty of daily annoyances.
You are at the right time to make a change to your health. You've barely started your life and making healthy changes now will only serve to make your life better in the long run.
Of course it's not too late!!!! It's never too late, but you are still a child-- so you have toyr whole life ahead of you to get into a better groove.
Rice and meat is a decent base for making changes. Maybe start small and add some veggies. You could make a rice bowl, with the protein and pick two or more veggies of different colors, Make sure one is green, steamed broccoli is a great place to start as it tastes good and adds a nice mouth feel to the meal (in my opinion, lol). You can season all this as you see fit, but adding a couple things to your usual meal will make this an easy change. Then, read cholesterol cookbooks and vegan/vegetarian cookbooks. They will give you a good idea of how to cook with veggies and other protein substitutes so you get more variety than meat.
Exercise also doesn't need to be a big deal- just start by taking a walk each day. Or, if you can't fit it in every single day, take the stairs instead of elevator, park farther away in the lot, things like that to get you moving. Also, just stand up throughout the day. There is a health benefit to that. After you've started walking more, you can build up to other things like cycling and swimming. As an adult, I will admit, it's hard to do this every day with work and kids and all the responsibility of life. But, at 15, you've got only you to worry about most likely, so it should be easy to make the time (like 30 mins to an hour). I always found, when I was not working and could exercise daily, it went the best when I just hopped on my bike (my exercise of choice) first thing in the am.
I'll do my best to start being healthy then. I decided to start eating a cucumber for every meal. Maybe eat a handful of pistachios? lol
Get into the right mindset. Don't try too hard but don't give yourself a break. Start small by walking and cutting sodas and fast food from your life.
I grew up with a bad weight problem and an unhealthy diet. It wasn't until the army at age 19 that even started getting in shape. I am in great shape now at 47 aside from a pretty serious medical issue, but the odd thing is, if I wasn't in great shape, the medical issue would have killed me years ago. I am only alive because I took steps to get in shape, and it was not overnight.
It is never too late to get improve your health, and you do it one day at a time. Don't worry about where you will be in a year, or even a month. Try to eat better, get as much exercise as you can manage, even if you have to start small, and it will absolutely reward you.
Thanks guys. That brings motivation for me to do better. To kinda break the habit from time to time, how much should I cutdown to-go foods like 7-11? Or any other fast food restaurants?
ankietyjoe
04-04-18, 11:19
As a point of comparison I really started taking care of my health around the age of 40 (I'm 46 now). This was after 25 years of eating crap, drinking too much, smoking too much, taking drugs (including cocaine, weed, ecstasy) in my 20s/30s.
I had full bloods and ECG done a couple of years back when anxiety was at it's peak and was given the all clear.
At your age, with your history you'll be fine. Just introduce plenty of fruit and veg into your diet and start exercising. It'll transform your health.
I found it helped me to find recipes for veg that I really liked, or eat raw veggies as a snack rather than things like potato chips (which I love). I also find, when it’s a treat you really like and tend to eat too much of, reducing how much of the thing you eat makes a difference. So a small handful of chips rather than a whole bag, or two cookies I instead of four. Reducing eating out is helpful - so if it’s within your control try every other week instead or once per week, for instance. Cutting out sugary drinks like soda or juice is a big step. There are many sweetener free flavoured fizzy waters on the market that are great.
Slow is best with these things. So don’t get down on yourself if progress is slow. I didn’t start eating healthier until my late twenties. That you want to make a change at nearly 16 is fantastic and will serve you well if you keep adding good habit on top of good habit.
Annaboodle
04-04-18, 12:37
It's the perfect age to start getting a bit healthier I'd say, though any age is good. If you like rice, how about adding some v. small chopped up veggies to it. You can get microwave rice over here with veggies already in it which just takes 2 mins. I like the Mexican one which has beans and some veg. Nothing at all wrong with meat and rice. Just add some vege. If you find you're snacking a lot then try swapping some of the snacks for fruit or nuts or something healthier. Reduce your number of takeaways but there's no need to cut them out completely if you like them.
One of the few things I've learned over the years is not to try and change too much at once or I'm setting myself up for failure. I lack will power in general though. I put on a heap of weight after the birth of my last daughter and it's come off gradually after I started walking each day (we got a dog which has helped big time) and made gradual healthier choices in my diet. I've found that if weight comes off gradually it is a lot more sustainable. If I try and change too much at once in my diet I end up just obsessing about food, so small changes are best for me and build them up.
So it’s been a few weeks. Maybe two months since I started to become healthy. I noticed a bit of a major change to which I’m not sure if it’s normal. My armpits have been hurting a lot and became a lot more skinnier than I remembered. Yet, I still have the same belly fat. More specifically, my underarm fat is gone. Is this normal??
When losing body fat, the first places (like the belly) you gain body fat will be the last places to lose it.
Positive thoughts
Hm, where did you heard of that? Sounds kinda interesting. I never really get to know the process of losing fat..
It's common knowledge. Where do you think the term "get rid of that hard to lose belly fat" you hear on all the weight loss commercials comes from ;)
Positive thoughts
Heh, guess that’s on me. All I did was drink more water, eat cucumbers, and drink yogurt. I didn’t even do any extra exercise. You sure it’s normal? The next thing I’m very concerned about is my weight. This part of my worries, because I’ve noticed my weight went insanely down! I don’t have a weight scaler at home, so it felt like a death situation. The day I went to the doctors, I weight about 146 pounds. The doctors looked worried that time. Now the day I went to the hospital, (which is the day after the doctors,) I don’t remember correctly, but the weight estimation is different! It’s around 62.3 kg. Which I looked up in google, it’s 130 pounds! This locked the key to stopping my hypochondria forever. I felt a lot more scared than ever. And the thing is, I can’t go back to the doctors/hospital, because my parents and family doctor are extremely annoyed by my annoyance!
Confused. Haven’t you been on a diet? Diet=weight loss.
Truly healthy means a healthy mind and body. Ask your parents to make an appointment for you to see a psych.
I was on a “diet.” But I didn’t do much but eat a cucumber, yogurt, and drink water more often. I still eat junk food, and I still have a lot of health anxiety surrounding my teeth and lungs.
MyNameIsTerry
19-04-18, 03:14
You didn't drop 16 pounds over night, one of the readings was incorrect for some reason.
It takes time to lose fat & muscle, it's water that sheds very quickly causing changes in short periods of time.
As for the 146 and doctor's looking worried, that's hard to understand without your height & age. There are many adults that weight.
I mean, I know my height is 5’7”. And I’m almost 16. I remembered the past weight measures used to be 156 and 150 pounds during March. That was a span from maybe a month or weeks? The thing was is I wasn’t sure I was on a “diet” that time. I had a bloated stomach including blood in stool that time. I hope that’s just anxiety..
I just check my weight at school and it’s now 143 pounds. Kinda good, but I’m still scared of how I lost weight.
MyNameIsTerry
21-04-18, 02:02
The day I went to the doctors, I weight about 146 pounds. The doctors looked worried that time. Now the day I went to the hospital, (which is the day after the doctors,) I don’t remember correctly, but the weight estimation is different! It’s around 62.3 kg. Which I looked up in google, it’s 130 pounds!
62.5kg is 137lbs! That's a fair amount of weight you removed in your Google search. 7lbs is a lot to discount in rounding down.
---------- Post added at 02:02 ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 ----------
At your height & age if you consider your BMI:
156lbs = 70.8kg. Overweight.
150lbs = 68kg. Healthy weight.
146lbs = 66kg. Healthy weight.
143lbs = 64.9kg. Healthy weight.
137lbs = 62kg. Healthy weight.
So, even if you have lost some weight you have put yourself into a healthy BMI range which is good news.
But there was an error with the scales in that overnight one. A few pounds variation isn't an issue, even if over a day or two, because this is going to be water. Measuring weight throughout the day will show variations due to water loss/intake and the food you eat. And then there is the issue of clothes adding a little bit of weight or lighter clothes dropping the odd lb (I was measured with my hiking boots on not long ago and it added 3lbs compared to the measurement I took later at home).
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.