Teen Fitness Nutrition

If you're a teenager serious about fitness and nutrition, you're off to a good start. Bodybuilding keeps you on track for developing lifelong habits of self-discipline and solid work ethics-besides the main benefits of a great body and high self-confidence levels.

First and foremost, keep in mind that teenagers have different needs than adults. You undoubtedly remember the raging hormonal swings when you first hit puberty. Even though your body is settling down a little, there are still a lot of changes going on.

This ties into the question of when you should actually begin with teen fitness nutrition and lifting. Most experts agree that in your early teens you should concentrate on calisthenics and cardio workouts. Once you hit 16 or 17, it's time to begin the real stuff. Just keep in mind that people see results at a different pace and speed from one other. And even if your body responds quickly, it takes a couple months to notice real results.

Teen fitness nutrition plays a huge role in successful weight lifting. Teens have some specific needs, and you're already probably aware of some of them.

First of all, you need to figure out how many calories you should consume in a day, and you need to break them down into six meals. For a 16-year-old who weighs 150 pounds and stands five-feet-ten, and if you're very active, you need to consume 3200 calories daily. Plus you're going to add 500 to 1000 calories because you want to build muscles. You'll probably need about 240 grams of protein and 240 grams of carbohydrates daily. Take a look at our calorie calculator to see what your breakdown is.

Time to Eat

One of the biggest problems teens have is finding the time throughout the day to get in all your meals. It's easier for adults, who have more control over their schedules. With teens, they're either at school with the teachers not permitting snacks in class, or at their jobs where they can't just stop and eat when they want.

Figure out a teen fitness nutrition schedule with this daily meal plan, which you can adjust more or less according to your specific needs:

• It's easy enough to start with a solid breakfast in the morning. Make sure to include good basic foods like oat cereal, plenty of milk, and some eggs. You'll eventually learn what combinations of foods make good meals. Take a look at our nutrition lists: list of high protein foods; list of fat burning foods and fruit nutrition fact to get a better idea of good foods to include in your daily diet or visit our fitness nutrition page for a detailed narrative on proper nutrition.

• For your mid-morning snack, mix up a protein shake and keep it in your locker in a thermos. You can down it between two of your mid-morning classes.

• Lunch is more of a problem because you should avoid the junk food or the fatty servings available on the lunch line. If they don't offer lean chicken or beef, then bring your own. If they do offer lean meat patties, avoid the white bread.

  It's good to develop the habit right now in your teens of looking for whole grain breads. Try bringing tuna or chicken salad on twelve-grain bread in a lunch box. You can have that with some almonds and a piece of fruit.

• After school you'll do your workout, and after that you can have another snack, such as more fruit, yogurt, or another protein shake. If you're at work, take that with you in another thermos.

• Dinner can be five ounces of steak, turkey, or salmon with rice on the side along with a healthy salad.

• Your last meal of the day will be toward bedtime; try fat-free pudding or yogurt along with milk, fruit, or possibly more eggs.

This just gives you an idea of what to include in a teen fitness nutrition plan. It's important to consume plenty of calories, but they should not be full of sugars and fats. You can substitute pasta or potatoes for the rice, but you should only have one-half cup of any of these per day. Have them at lunch instead of dinner sometimes.

If you're eating out with the gang, ask the server if they have whole wheat buns-then you can enjoy your hamburger. Stick to your plan, and don't cave in to peer pressure if your friends constantly want you to eat what they're eating. But one day per week, you can go wild -pizza, ice cream, the works.

Teen Fitness Nutrition and Supplements

You also need to be wary of supplements. At your age you're less likely to need them, and you should watch out for ads that promise you instant results. These kinds of ads are just marketing techniques, and in the real world it doesn't work that way. With a diet plan like the one we've suggested, you shouldn't need much else.

Another reason to be wary of them is that if you don't know what you're taking you could throw off your hormonal balance. Growth hormones, DHEA, and any product that's labeled as an "all-in-one" should be avoided.

The supplements you CAN take include protein powders and multivitamins. Once you're into your program, you can add some creatine. If you're one of the skinny types you might need a weight gainer. Take a look at our comprehensive supplements review page to learn more about supplements.

Conclusions on Teen Fitness Nutrition

Just remember that you need to take a long-term approach. No one does this in a day. Remember what we said above-it takes a couple months before you'll start noticing any difference. It's likely that your friends will notice it before you do!




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