School is a priority. Getting the ideal grades, choosing the appropriate extra -curricular activities colleges look for, and searching for the right university are things that keep many teenagers’ minds occupied. However, what many students tend to forget is their health and fitness. For eight hours a day (not including homework), students are constantly challenging themselves mentally. When do the poor intellectually hammered high schoolers get a chance to take a break from that? Teenagers today need not just focus on their studies but also on their health and fitness.

Trying to eat well usually falls on to the wayside for many students because of being so busy. So when students are crunched for time and want to find a quick, easy, ready, snack to munch on while doing homework, the most attractive choice is probably a bag of chips, cookies, or candy. Even some foods that claim to be low in calories can have more than 30 additives, chemicals, and flavoring substances. The question is, what is the right food to eat? Mike Geary, a certified nutrition specialist and personal trainer, has a simple rule: eat only foods that are one ingredient! He says the desirable simple foods one can munch on can be eggs, fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, and meat. One can mix simple ingredients to their liking and enjoy them greatly.  One exceptional snack is mixing frozen berries (of one’s choice) with plain, full fat yogurt and a banana.  This smoothie is filled with nutritious vitamins, and is sure to give one an energy boost.

The Children, Youth, and Women’s Health Service says that with teenagers, eating healthy helps control body weight; gives one more energy; supports the development of one’s adolescent body; and can maintain one’s brain to function in class while learning that important math formula, biological cycle, or literary concept.

Like eating well, exercise can be omitted completely with the assembly line of homework, projects, and exams that inevitably obstruct one’s way and schedule. It is important for teenagers to stand up from their study desk and exercise.  Of course, another important question is what is the right workout that will give results, make one feel better, and healthier overall? Whether or not cardio or weight training is better is a subject for debate that will be addressed here. PersonalPowerTraining.Net maintains that although cardio is a definite benefit to the health, and most importantly the heart, it also seriously believes that one should also take into consideration of weight training. Weight training not only improves the condition of one’s heart, it strengthens the whole body.  For example, just alternating barbell squats and lifts works the entirety of one’s muscles! KidsHeatlth.Org for teens states other benefits of exercise that could be of great interest to teenagers today.  Working out provides one with more energy, a better mood, helps with maintaining weight, boosts metabolism, makes one look more toned, and helps with growth development.

Education is a vital part of a student’s life; however, wellness of the body is also crucial. By just tweaking one’s eating habits, teenagers can improve their mood, weight, and even learning capacity. Exercising is just as equal in significance. Focusing on studying is of course foremost on one’s schedule. Despite that, a teenager’s health and fitness also requires attention. There should be a healthy moderation of each. Too much focus on just one of these things can send the sensitive components of one’s life out of balance, therefore subtracting the ability to enjoy one’s life to the fullest.