Boying Up Read online

  Soy: Since there is some evidence that soy isn’t good when eaten in large amounts, soy products should be eaten in moderation. However, tofu (made of mildly processed soy beans) is a great protein source. Processed soy is available in ground form for use in tacos and burritos, and there are many ways soy beans make for great protein sources such as veggie burgers and even nondairy cheese slices.

  Nuts: You might like peanut butter (I sure do!), but have you ever tried almond butter? It’s just as tasty and has more “good” fats (the monounsaturated kind) and less of the “bad” fats (the saturated kind). Learning to love snacking on raw almonds, walnuts and cashews is a terrific way to get protein and also healthy fats. A handful of almonds and an apple is one of my favorite snacks.

  Other choices: Grains like oats and quinoa, which is actually a seed, have a ton of protein.

  CARBOHYDRATES

  Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our bodies. “Carbs,” as they are often called, are important because they are built of sugar. I know we just talked about how a lot of sugar isn’t good for us, but the right kinds of sugar—such as those found in healthy carb-heavy foods—are very important for giving our bodies and brains energy. Whether you are going to run a mile in gym class or cram for an algebra test, your body needs carbs to get your muscles moving efficiently and your brain thinking clearly. Have you ever heard anyone say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? That’s because overnight, when you aren’t eating or drinking anything, the level of sugars in your body drops, and in the morning, eating carbohydrates helps jump-start the brain and the body. Carbohydrates generally come from starchy foods like rice, oats, bread and pasta. They can also be found in certain fruits and vegetables such as bananas, broccoli, carrots, apples and potatoes.

  Sometimes we hear people saying that they want to “cut back on carbs” and that carbohydrates are bad for us. It actually turns out that carbohydrates themselves are good for us, but the way we eat them tends to be with a lot of sauce and often a lot of added artificial sugar and fat. So for example, pasta can be a great healthy meal that provides a lot of long-term energy (runners tend to eat pasta before they race in a big marathon!), but if you throw a ton of cheese and butter on the pasta, it can actually make your energy decrease. And if you don’t move your body enough, carbs don’t get burned off, which can contribute to weight gain. Foods made with whole grains, like whole-wheat bread and whole-wheat pasta, are broken down by the body slower, so you feel fuller for longer, meaning whole grains provide a better source of energy for your body.

  Gluten is a protein found in any food made with wheat, barley or rye, which are in a lot of the most common carbohydrate products like bread and pasta. Some people—more girls than boys, interestingly—are allergic to gluten, and they don’t feel well when they eat it. People with celiac disease aren’t able to digest gluten at all, and it can be dangerous for them to eat even a little bit of something containing gluten. If you notice that you get gassy, bloated or constipated after eating bread or pasta, talk to your doctor about it. There are lots of gluten-free bread and pasta choices around that taste pretty close to the real thing, so don’t worry if you need to limit your gluten intake.

  DAIRY OR NONDAIRY CALCIUM

  A small portion of the government’s recommendation of what we should eat is dedicated to dairy or to a nondairy source of calcium. Dairy is high in calcium and protein, but it can also be high in fat and sugar and salt, so you want to be careful which dairy you choose to eat. For example, eating yogurt for breakfast is very different from eating a giant ice cream sundae every day as your source of dairy. A lot of people get an upset stomach when they eat dairy because most of the population actually can’t fully break down the milk protein from cow’s milk. Up to 95 percent of certain groups of people such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish people of Eastern European descent and Native Americans can’t process dairy well at all. If you’ve ever noticed that you get a bad feeling in your stomach after eating pizza or ice cream, speak to your parent, doctor or even the school nurse about it. There are plenty of ways to get enough calcium if you don’t eat dairy. It’s in beans, tofu and a lot of vegetables too, especially leafy greens.

  FATS AND OILS

  We hear a lot about food products that are low fat or no fat—and based on all of the ads for weight loss programs and plastic surgery, it seems like there is something wrong with eating any fat. It turns out that we actually need a certain amount of the right kinds of fat in order for the body and brain to have energy to function well. Fat helps cells do the important work of dividing and growing. Fat protects the organs of our bodies and helps keep us warm when it’s cold, and fat helps our bodies absorb nutrients from what we eat. Fats are needed to produce the right amounts of hormones as well. There are a lot of healthy sources of fat such as olive oil or the oils that are found in walnuts and almonds and cashews. Avocado is a great food to get healthy fat from, and it can be dressed up as guacamole or in three orders of avocado roll sushi, which my younger son has routinely been known to consume in about 15 minutes at any Japanese restaurant! Foods that contain a lot of oil or anything that’s fried in oil, such as chicken fingers and onion rings, have a high concentration of unhealthy oils, and you want to try not to eat those every day (even though they are super delicious!).

  Easy Guacamole

  Do you know your way around the kitchen? I hope so! If not, here’s a great way to start. Get 3 avocados and a knife, spoon and fork. Carefully cut the avocados all the way around and open them up. Take out the pit carefully. Scoop out the green flesh with a spoon, put it in a bowl and use the back of the fork to mash it up really well. Then, add any or all of the things below, mix it up and eat with chips, carrot or celery sticks, or on a piece of toast.

  2 tablespoons chopped-up cilantro, raw onion or tomato

  1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

  1 crushed clove of garlic

  ½ teaspoon salt

  Note: if you have any guacamole left over, put a piece of plastic wrap over it and smush the wrap down on the guac so little air gets into the bowl; that’s what turns that pretty green guac brown!

  Food Choices

  There is so much talk regarding what kind of foods we should and shouldn’t be eating. People tell us all sorts of things:

  Eat more fruits and veggies.

  Don’t drink soda.

  Eat whole grains.

  Don’t eat too much gluten.

  Eat less red meat, but make sure you get enough protein.

  Don’t eat too many sweets, but don’t deprive yourself.

  Don’t eat fast food . . . But what if that’s what’s easiest to get? And fast food tastes really good, and it’s inexpensive, so what could be better, right? The thing to know about fast food is that it’s full of sugar and salt; it also tends to have a lot of fat. It’s the sugar, salt and fat that say to your brain, “YUMMY! EAT ME! EAT ME!”

  The problem is that fast food and other foods that are high in carbs and salt and sugar make our bodies take in a lot more calories than we necessarily should in one meal. Over time, this can cause a ton of health problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which we can avoid if we simply don’t eat a lot of these kinds of foods. I know you’re thinking about the kids you know who eat a lot of fast food and still look healthy, right? Well, remember that for some bodies, health problems won’t happen right away, but it absolutely will catch up with you, and it can really mess up your plans for the things you can do and enjoy. Remember: the goal here is healthy insides AND outsides!

  In order to make healthier choices, some people adopt a particular way of eating that can help them make better food decisions. For example, in certain parts of the world, people believe that eating animals is unhealthy for their bodies and their spiritual selves, so they don’t eat meat at all. In Japan and
China, people historically live long and healthy lives, and they eat a lot of fish but very little dairy and not a lot of red meat. In most every country in the world, the main source of protein is not meat, and the U.S. has the highest rates of weight problems, cancer, diabetes and heart problems. Countries that start eating like we do here in America, by importing our processed foods and opening fast food chains, eventually start having the same kinds of health problems we have here, so there is a definite connection there.

  Because of this, some people have started adopting some variation of a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians tend to eat dairy and eggs, but no meat or fish. Sometimes people will cut out meat but still eat fish, and those people are called pescatarians. People who follow a vegan diet (I’m one of them) don’t eat any animal products at all. That means no meat, no fish, no dairy and no eggs. Being vegan or vegetarian is not impossible to do, but it does take a little bit of research so that you maintain your overall health. You can’t just eat French fries all day and call yourself a vegan or vegetarian—you have to make sure you eat enough of a variety of healthy food to keep your body operating at its best.

  Being vegetarian or vegan isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine. Remember this no matter how you eat: every meal is an opportunity to make good choices, and no one eats “perfectly” all of the time, so don’t make it about perfection. See if you can expand your tastes and your mind enough to explore the possibility of making a commitment to your body to do the best you can for it, one meal at a time. Some people and even some schools in this country have been participating in Meatless Mondays, which is a fun way to try out eating less meat as a start.

  Usually, it’s our moms and dads who decide what we eat, at least when we’re younger. If your parents are anything like my parents, they do not want to hear you criticizing what they’re feeding you. It’s okay to tell your folks that you’ve been learning a bit about food and nutrition and maybe there are ways you can all make some healthy changes, as long as it fits into the budget. Chances are if you bring it up as a way to make everyone’s eating better, it won’t be seen as a criticism. Offer to help carry groceries, shop with your mom or dad and, even better yet, offer to help cook or clean up to show you are part of the team.

  One of the best ways you can make the load lighter and have a say in how you eat is also a skill that every boy and man needs to master. This will add to your Boying Up experience and contribute to making you an incredibly valuable member of the male gender: learn to navigate in the kitchen. I probably don’t have to say this, but cooking and helping out in the kitchen is not just for girls. When your grandparents and maybe even some of your parents were young, that’s how it was viewed, and it created generations of men dependent on women in ways that were not always healthy for the men (or, in a lot of cases, the women in the relationship). Every person will at some point need to care for themselves without a mom or dad or husband or wife doing it for them! Watch your parents or others you know in the kitchen. Watch how they wash produce, prepare meals, use a knife and other kitchen utensils and clean up. Learn to set the table, and ask questions about food prep. Some of the most famous chefs in the world are men, and even if there is no fame or fortune in your future regarding cooking, at the least you’ll be self-sufficient, helpful in whatever home you live in when you leave your folks’ home, and you’ll be a reminder to future generations that it should be the norm to be a man who knows how to cook!

  Mindfulness

  One of the most important things to consider whenever we eat anything is an amazing idea called mindfulness. This is exactly what it sounds like: being mindful and taking notice of what we’re doing, no matter what it is. This idea has its roots in Eastern philosophy from thousands of years ago, and it’s the basis of a lot of meditation and yoga practices, but it can apply to eating, too.

  In many cultures and religious traditions, people pray before or after they eat, and although this may not work for some families, the idea is a smart one because it evokes a sense of mindfulness. Eating is something that many people in this world take for granted. Sadly, not everyone has access to the amount and kinds of foods we have access to. The next time you eat, take even a second to acknowledge that you are grateful that you have food. If you want, be specific and acknowledge that whatever you are about to eat is something you hope will nourish your body and your life. It might feel silly at first to practice mindfulness in eating, but it’s actually an important thing to try to master.

  Why is mindfulness important when we eat? How many times do you just start shoveling food into your mouth at mealtime? I know I’m guilty of that, and mindfulness encourages me to slow down. When we eat quickly, we tend to eat more than we should, and we often end up with an upset stomach from not giving our bodies time to catch up with digestion. Being mindful also helps us remember that eating is something we are part of, not just something that happens to us. Introducing moments of calm into whatever your mealtime looks like can help you see food as part of what keeps you going, and not something to take for granted.

  Sending Messages to Your Brain

  Did you know that it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to get the message that you’ve eaten enough to be full? When you eat, food hits your stomach, and your stomach sends signals to part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is in charge of a bunch of things, like knowing when you’re full. If you keep eating during the time it takes for the message to get to your hypothalamus, you end up continuing to eat before your brain can signal for you to stop. The way to prevent this is to slow down!

  Exercise

  Get some exercise! I know you probably hear this every day at school and maybe even at home, right?

  Take a walk!

  Find a sport!

  Go run around!

  Stop looking at your computer/the TV—get out of the house and move your body!

  Okay, maybe that’s just what my parents would shout at me, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. There are government programs designed to make us move our bodies and advertisements popping up everywhere reminding us to move more.

  I’m not going to lie: they’re all correct. Exercise and moving our bodies is something we need to do every day. For most of human history, people didn’t have cars or taxis or buses or trains. Think about it: if they wanted to get somewhere, they walked (well, or maybe rode a horse). And even when people started building villages and then towns and cities, not everyone drove. People still walked a lot. Nowadays, many of us live in places where you can’t really walk much of anywhere. Sure, you can walk around the block or in your immediate neighborhood, but where I live, if I want to go to the market or get to a school or go meet my friends, I have to get in the car.

  There are places around the world where walking a lot and getting exercise daily is the norm. And do you know what those places have in common? The people who live there are generally healthier. Turns out, moving your body releases endorphins from your brain, which decreases your overall stress level and makes you feel calmer. People who live in places where they move a lot tend to be in great shape; they are healthier on the inside: they get sick less, they report feeling better in general, and they enjoy a life with fewer medical problems.

  A lot of boys are encouraged—even more so than girls in our culture—to be active in sports and athletics. An obvious side effect of being involved in any sport is that you’ll end up getting in shape, whether that’s your reason for doing it or not. Whether it’s running track, swimming laps or playing a team sport such as lacrosse, baseball or basketball, your body gets a great workout from being an athlete. Your body functions as a much more efficient fat-burning machine when you have a lot of muscle and less fat. Participating in a sport also puts you in touch with your body in healthy ways. You learn to make healthy choices about what foods best feed your body in order to be strong and fast, and you learn to have an appreciation for the amazing things your body can
do. With team sports, you get to socialize, which can make the whole experience more fun. A culture of encouraging participation in sports and athletics also decreases the probability for putting things that are bad for your body into it, as drugs and alcohol significantly cut into your performance as an athlete and hurt your chances of keeping your body optimally healthy and fit.

  What if you aren’t interested in sports? Well, that’s fine; not all guys are. But even still, moving your body is very important, and a lot of guys take up skateboarding or biking as a way of moving their body and getting from place to place. Walking is a great example of a healthy way to get exercise that is free to do; all you need to walk is you and some shoes that feel good on your feet. Put on some headphones and walk, even for 15 minutes a day. Walk around the block if you want to—if it’s safe to do in your neighborhood. I sometimes go walking on city streets, but keep in mind, city-street walking means you get stopped by traffic lights, and sometimes people have dogs that want to sniff you, and sometimes people walk too slowly in front of you and it can mess up your groove. But sometimes it’s fun to see new things as I walk, as long as big, slobbery dogs don’t bug me too much!

  I also like to find places that are made for walking without cars and dogs and lots of people around. There are probably places in your city or town you’ve never explored, so get online and find out! Searching local parks or local trails is a great start. It’s going to take a little bit of effort, but it’s an investment in your body and your health. Do it!

  Unless you prefer being alone or zoning out to music or a podcast, walking with a friend can help you cover a lot more ground than if you walk alone. With a buddy, you can talk along the way and find ways to motivate each other. When my boys walk together, they always come up with races to do, find pinecones and tree berries to throw at each other and generally pass the time better together than they would alone.