What is the Health Mantra for the Adolescent to be cool?

The Youth – what we associate with fitness and eagerness and enthusiasm and stamina and productivity. This group lives on thresholds-the threshold of adulthood, of maturity, of responsibility and significantly on the threshold of growth and health. 

The current collegian and the youth aspire to fit in, to be upmarket, to be stylish, glamorous, smart, attractive - all of which is bundled into an ubiquitous term- being Cool. 

The college years - years that should be the epitome of health, vigour, vitality and fitness have in most cases dumbed down into unfit, uncaring and unhealthy years - definitely “Uncool” 

What happens in the adolescent years? 

Height increments are the greatest during adolescence. Which means that bones have to elongate and strengthen and muscles have to build around it. Organs grow, the heart- which means more stamina, the intestines- which translates into better health, the lungs – implying greater capacity for sports, the brain- which means greater intellectual power, the reproductive organs- which means - well you know what that means. All this magical growth is built into our genes. We have to let it unfold. For it to come into existence with its full power and potential we have to let the beauty and strength coded in our genes blossom. 

Every collegian in a few years can become a beautiful, fit, life warrior who can climb myriad mountains and ride every challenging wave. 

“Really!”, You exclaim in your mind and ask, hesitant, unsure, cynical, waiting for that next lecture on health, “How can that come about? What is the formula?” Well, there is a mantra, there is a wand and there is a ritual for that to happen. 

The mantra is, “My body is a holy temple which I have to honour, nurture, revere, cherish and preserve to allow it to reach its full potential”.  This mantra is to be meditated upon and repeated till it becomes our mindset; it has to be the mantra of every collegian to take care of the body, the home we live in. 

The magic wand is called physical activity. We have to sit less and move more - isn't that anyway the mark of the youth - the young move, the young play, the young dance, the young are breathtaking, the young run and the young are productive. It is the old that is tired - the old sit, the old are breathless, the old gossip over alcoholic or carbonated beverages, the old waddle. We have to decide on which side of the fence we want to be - the barren patch of the tired old or the fresh garden of the young champions. 

Is there a ritual to follow to get there? Of course, there is. Well, it is a daily ritual, which has three parts. 

First let us take a look at the shining stars for a collegian… The role models. 

Let us glance at a few stylish people - young media and social celebrities -many of who are youth icons-a point that sets them apart is that they are stylishly committed to their health. 

Let us look at sports celebrities - the epitome of being cool. They are young, fit, have a do or die attitude, are ambitious and competitive and they fanatically invest into their health and diet to the extent that some refuse to endorse unhealthy products. 

Let us look at young successful entrepreneurial millionaires - they are steadily serious about their fitness goals. Google them if you wish and read their fitness goals - that dear collegians is what is to emulate and copy. 

Why is it that most collegians focus on the appearance and social life of their celebrity role models? 

Why is the focus only on what they have become and not on how they have reached there? 

So, our treasured collegians, let us change the gear towards fitness. 

Let us track our health and invest in it. 

Let us make a U turn towards wellness. 

The second ritual is eating well - with the aim of nourishing our body temple. Let us put nutrients into our system. Let us eat for health, not only for taste, let us not be fooled by advertisements which drive us to make incorrect choices. Let us fuel our brains by eating a good breakfast, eating whole grain dishes mostly made in our homes with love. 

Let us feed our genes into unlocking our fitness potential thereby keeping our jeans uncomplaining about being stretched too much - by eating on time, not missing meals and not being dependent on food from packets or restaurants but eating wisely. 

The third ritual is to spread this message of health and create it into a movement of health to all our collegian friends. We need to take the right information from qualified nutritionists, put it into practice, share it, live it and change the health scenario of current and future India towards sustainable wellbeing and optimum fitness. 

Dear Collegians let us take this responsibility, let us own it and begin the drive towards a healthier society. 

Let us redefine being COOL as being inclusive of being healthy, physically active and fit. Let us reform being STYLISH AND GLAMOROUS extending into smart snacking and eating for nourishment. 

Remember- FIT is the new COOL. NOURISHING is the new STYLE. 

We at Nutrition with Vibha aim to create modules of learning for health and productivity with practical hands-on courses for the youth – easy doable practices to better life, to inculcate a health mindset with easy and doable recipes. 

Write to us with your responses, queries and suggestions. We aim to serve health!