Junk food.
Delicious. Addicting. Hard to live without. Yes, I know, how could a teenager give up those deliciously fattening foods? It is hard. But you must understand that you can't have junk all the time. Now more than ever, kids and teens are way more overweight and obese than way long ago. That is a problem. Solution: Trade those disgustingly unhealthy treats for healthier and pretty tasty and similar alternatives. Here are my takes:
(please note that I am not a trained professional and do not know if these are good to anyone else)
(chili) Cheese fries: Cut up a potato into 1 inch or half inch cubes, bake them until they are cooked, then drizzle with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and/or shredded low fat chicken, turkey breast, or ham and baked chili beans to make chili-ish. (I'm a vegetarian, so I'll skip this step). If you want that chili flavor, add some chili POWDER. Make sure it's all natural, not that artificial icky stuff.
Hot Cheetos: Yes, I know. Many of you love this. It might be hard to give up, but Cheetos and really bad for you. All it is is artificial corn chips with artificial chili powder. Subtract the artificialness, and you have a decent snack. Get some all natural tortilla chips and sprinkle with all natural chili powder. Yum.
Soda: Get some carbonated water (the bubbly stuff) and put in natural flavoring syrup to make a healthy Italian soda. If you don't have the syrup, just add your favorite juice (natural please!) with no pulp to the bubbly water. You may even add some honey, but no cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Arizona Ice Tea: Everyone at my school loves this. And it is absolutely disgusting. It's just high fructose corn syrup with water and artificial flavouring. Gross. Make your own iced tea, here's my recipe - 1 or 2 green tea bags (all natural) add boiling water and steep until it's strong enough. Put it in a pitcher, refrigerate with some lemon, and when you want it add a little bit of natural honey (no artificial sweeteners!)
Potato chips: Slice some potato into about 1/8 of an inch thick, drizzle with olive oil, and pop it in the oven at 350 f until golden brown. Add all the toppings, dips, and whatever else you want to it.
Ice cream: Freeze your favorite flavor of yogurt (all natural please) and add some fresh fruit, natural chocolate, and/or nuts. Yum.
If you have anything else you want me to health-ify (is that even a word?) feel free to comment on it.
Tips: Always use natural ingredients, organic and local if possible, I know it can get pricey, and if you want it even healthier, use non-fat to low-fat milk, yogurt, blah blah blah.
REMEMBER: You don't always have to follow these rules. Allow yourself to break them sometimes. If your at a party, drink the soda. If your at a restaurant, add something sweet for dessert. Don't turn into a green health freak. Just don't eat junk all the time. A little bit every once in a while is fine.
Thanks for reading, anyone out there.