Dear 16-year-old self…

One week from today, I will be flying to Dallas to attend the Blissdom conference.

I'm Going, Y'all!
This will be my first ever blogging conference, so I’m a little nervous.  But, I am very thankful that the conference is put on by my friend Alli who I traveled with to Ethiopia last year.  Plus, I will be there with my fellow California Raisins bloggers, and they are a wonderful bunch.  I’m having a hard time already trying to decide what sessions to go to, as the schedule is jam packed with incredible speakers.

But, before all of that, just a couple hours after I land in Dallas, I will be putting on a session of my own.  No, not at the conference, at a local high school.  I will speaking to an auditorium full of coaches, teachers, athletes and parents.

What would you tell your 16-year-old self about nutrition?  InspiredRD.com

My talk is titled “Eat Right, Play Right: Proper Nutrition for the Teenage Athlete.”

But what I wanted to call it was, “Do You Know What Kind of Crap Your Kids Are Eating?”

See last year, I worked with the girl’s basketball team from this school.  Their coach contacted me because her players didn’t have enough stamina to make it through a simple workout.  She knew they weren’t drinking enough water and was suspecting an overall poor diet.  I had them fill out a food log for a week and send it to me.  I expected to see a bunch of fast food and junk, but even I was shocked that many of them considered Cheetos and Dr. Pepper a balanced breakfast.

What would you tell your 16-year-old self about nutrition?  InspiredRD.com

My first thought was, “How can they eat this crap?”

My second thought was, “Oh yeah, I ate that crap too when I was sixteen.”  I remember going for a six mile run with the cross country team and coming home to scarf down a bowl of mint chocolate ice cream the size of my head.  At one point in my teenage life I had a 2-pack-a-day Nutty Bar habit.  And don’t get me started on the fresh gooey Otis Spunkmeyer cookie bags they sold in the cafeteria.  4 giant cookies for $1?  Perfect afternoon snack.

Thankfully I had parents who made sure I ate healthy food at home.  My dad was insistent on sending us to school on a full stomach.  He was up a the crack of dawn (or earlier) to cook a healthy breakfast for my grumpy self (I am not a morning person).  And after basketball or soccer practice, we always came home to a healthy dinner.

Some of the kids who sent me their food logs don’t seem to have this home support.  That’s where the fast food creeps in.  And I worry because right now they are already feeling the side effects of their poor diet.  Nausea and fatigue during practice, muscle cramps during games, trouble focusing in school.

The good news is, the girls who I spoke with last year have made changes to their diet and have already seen results.  With an increased water intake and healthier food choices, their athletic performance has improved.  One of them even signed to play basketball at Harvard!

I hope to offer some practical tips, healthy alternatives, and maybe a little inspiration.  I would also like to include a few quotes from you.  So tell me, what would you say to your 16-year-old self?

If I could go back in time, I would tell my 16-year-old self to put down the Nutty Bars, drink more water, and spend some time in the kitchen with my parents.  Oh, and don’t be afraid to look in the mirror every once in a while.

What would you tell your 16-year-old self about nutrition?  InspiredRD.com

What would you say to your teenage self?

  • Cookin Canuck March 13, 2013 at 9:23 am

    I, too, had parents who emphasized healthy food, so I didn’t have a lot of junk food in my diet when I was 16 – at least at home. But I would definitely tell my 16-year old self to drink more water and to STEP AWAY from the cafeteria onion rings.

    • inspiredrd March 13, 2013 at 4:27 pm

      Haha love it!

    • Francesca March 14, 2013 at 7:58 am

      I was vegan at 16, so I didn’t eat the typical junk food! I did eat a lot of processed veggie meats, though. I would tell my 16-year-old self to put down the gluten-y tofurkey sandwiches and use whole forms of protein instead!

      Little did I know that I would later require dropping gluten completely…

  • Kelley March 13, 2013 at 2:56 pm

    LOVE the old soccer photo! And yes, I would tell my 16-year old self the SAME things!!

    • inspiredrd March 13, 2013 at 4:26 pm

      You look so cute in this picture! Could my eyebrows BE any bigger? 🙂

  • Emily March 13, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    Don’t worry what the other kids are eating. Eat what YOU love and what makes YOU feel good!

  • Erica D. March 13, 2013 at 9:28 pm

    Don’t feel pressured to be thin! Don’t give into eating disorders just because alll the most popular girls are thin, or the cool girls are bulimic (I know, what was I thinking?!?!). Eat more fruits and veggies and feed your body the fuel it needs to GROW, not to impress the cute quarterback. 😉

  • Beth March 14, 2013 at 10:54 am

    Dear 16 year old self:

    Hey, girl. Life has sooo much ahead of you- really, it’s a grand and glorious adventure. Your body is a tool to get you there and will be the one thing that will make those adventures a glorious triumph or a hard, uphill struggle. The way you feed it, nourish it, and care for it- this will determine if you are a strong person to tackle all that lies before you. It can either be the vessel that enables you, or the vessel that impedes you: the way your care for yourself determines the outcome. Learn about what it means to feed your body with good things. Say ‘no’ to the things that harm it. As a nurse now, I know what it is like to stare at sick people every day- people whose lives are stunted by strokes, heart attacks, liver disease- all things that could have been prevented by the things they chose to say ‘yes’ to and the things they chose to say ‘no’ to. Choose well. And nourishing your body, your temple, also means nourishing your spirit. Watch what you take in with your eyes: your eyes are the windows into your soul. Choose to take in that which is good, lovely, noble, pure, excellent, and fair. As your heart goes, so goes all of you. Guard and protect your heart. You will have to determine what goes into all of your body. Be all that you were born and made to be- choose well. You are a creative force to be reckoned with, and the Lord has good and wonderful things ahead of you. You can only be a teenager once, in your twenties once, in your thirties once, and so on; so choose well today- look back not with regret but with gratitude. You are worth investing in and taking care of. You are a treasure!

  • Bottles, Letters, Feeds and a Mullet March 15, 2013 at 8:07 am

    […] I have loved reading all of your “Dear 16-year-old self” letters on Facebook, Twitter, and the comment section.  It seems my high school […]

  • Off to Blissdom! March 20, 2013 at 12:23 am

    […] only one thing stands between me and Blissdom: Teaching high school athletes that “eating the rainbow” doesn’t involve […]