During the week, I don't eat lunch
at school. Sometimes I'll get a small snack from our school's spirit
shop, but that's it. Does it affect my health if I don't eat lunch
five out of seven days of the week?
With the distraction of friends and
homework plus some crazy-weird lunch period schedules (um, 10:30
lunch? Really?), it can be easy to skip a meal, especially if you
aren’t starving. But the occasional small snack isn’t enough to
tide your body over ‘til dinner.
Lunch should be the largest meal you
eat because it comes in the middle of your daily calorie-burning
activities. While a well-rounded breakfast and dinner are important,
too, lunch is the time that your body craves healthy foods like
fruits, veggies, good carbs and protein. The snacks you’re picking
up, be they peanut butter crackers, chips or a banana, aren’t
enough to fuel your bod all day long.
It doesn’t matter why you’re not
eating lunch, babe. It’s just important that you start. Eating
three solid meals a day is particularly essential during your teen
years, when your body is growing and changing. Not eating lunch might
seem easy and ineffectual, but it could be stunting your growth. Who
wants that when the fix is so easy?
If you’re not big on a huge meal,
pack a few snacks you can munch on throughout the day, like an apple,
a turkey sandwich, cheese and crackers and raw veggies. Cafeteria
food not appealing? Brown bag it, babe!
THINK YOU'VE GOT A BODY
BLUNDER? CLICK
HERE to submit your own problem to
be answered on Girl Talk!
BY BRITTANY TAYLOR AND ERIN GOLDSTROM ON 5/30/2011 7:00:00 AM
POSTED IN lunch, health, nutrition, advice