Healthy food for a teenager?

Opt for whole foods, fruits and veggies, lean protein, some dairy, and whole wheat grains. For liquid, drink water.

With dairy, try to avoid highly sweetened or faux healthy (basically everything that says "diet" or "light") yoghurts. A good bet is to choose unsweetened Greek yoghurt, and add your own fruit and sweetener to it. Cottage cheese is also healthy, and excellent with pineapple.

Don't listen to anyone who says fruit or vegetables are bad for you. Simply not true. Of course, everything in moderation. The goal should be a well balanced, natural food based approach.

Here are some sample ideas for a lunch box:
> sliced apple with peanut butter
> whole wheat turkey sandwhich
> cottage cheese & pineapple
> " ants on a log" (ccelery slathered with peanut butter and topped with raisins)
> carrots and hummus
> grapes and pretzels
> Greek yoghurt with granola
> peanut butter and banana sandwhich
> rice bowl with curry (I have a recipe upon request)
> boiled eggs
> tuna salad with whole grain crackers

For drinks, water is obviously the healthiest choice. But if you wanted to mix it up a little, you could try the following:
> infused water, just drop a slice of citrus fruit in or - my favourite - cucumber
> seltzer, soda's unsweetened cousin (Polar brand pomegranate seltzer is to die for)
> black, cold brew coffee
> iced tea

And a finishing point about sweeteners. Generally, you want to avoid foods laden with added sugar OR artificial sweeteners. It is better to pick unsweetened food and drink, then mix it with something naturally sweet like fruit, or sparingly add in a healthier sweetener such as stevia (definitely worth checking out if you haven't heard of it) or cane sugar, honey, agave nectar...

Best wishes to you.

 

I'd like to touch on the yogurt since you asked. Up in New York, Wegmans is god, so im going to base it off what is in my region, and hope you can get something similar.
There are 2 kinds of yogurt single serve cups (6oz maybe?) one has 80 calories and around 15 grams sugar and the other has around 30 grams of sugar and 170 calories. Opt for the 80 calorie one.
Light cheese sticks a few times a week are good,
tuna/chicken salad with light mayo instead of regular fat mayo
try whole wheat bread. if you don't like it, at least get whole grain white bread
fruit IS good for you as it has vitamins and fiber in it. try apples with a dash of cinnamon sugar on slices.
for drinks, a capri sun wont hurt you, it has around 50 calories in it. if you are trying to watch your calories though, alternate that with a bottled water. Aquafina has flavored water that's calorie free.
when packing your lunch, take at least one fruit or vegetable, a drink, main course (left overs from the night before, sandwich, tuna and crackers) and a snack. baked chips are a decent alternative to regular chips. for a veg that you could take, try raw green beans, carrots or peppers and low cal dip, sautéed green beans in butter and garlic, or spinach salad.

 

Go for minimally-processed stuff if possible. Fruit is good, it usually has lots of micronutrients. Yogurt can be good or bad: it's good for digestion and can have a lot of calcium, vitamin D, and protein but some types have a ton of added sugar. Opt for greek yogurt.

Foods with added protein (protein cereal, protein-fortified milk, etc.) are actually pretty bad, they have to add sugar to keep it tasting good and most people get enough protein anyway. If you really are concerned about protein, pork chops and chicken are good sources. Steak can be a good source of iron and protein, but eating too much red meat can be bad for your heart. Dairy is also pretty high in protein.

Any kind of vegetable (corn isn't that good, but it won't hurt you), fruit, greek yogurt, lean meat, nuts, beans, whole grain bread, raisins, eggs (watch the cholesterol though), and fish are pretty good.

 

Food contains calories. Calories are what dictate weight gain and loss.

Calories can either be carbohydrates proteins or fats. Simpler carbohydrates are bad (white bread, cakes, sugars). Fruits and veggies are carbs and they are good.


Try to eat healthier fats (unsaturated). Red meat will have higher saturated fats. Poly or mono unsaturated fats are both good. Check the label.


High quality protein is also good.

 

Along the lines of what the others said, one key thing here is sugar. Most yogurt has added sugar or is sweetened with chemicals you should avoid. Fruit in excess is also too much sugar, even if the healthier sort, so try to find vegetables you like. While cottage cheese and unsweetened yogurt are generally good for you, they also have enough sugar (naturally occurring milk sugars) to make a difference if you need to control your sugar levels.

Nuts are an awesome source of good fats and other nutrients, but be very careful to not to eat too many calories that way. Check serving sizes before indulging.

Vegetables, chicken, and fish are the main foods that you can eat freely without thinking too hard about it, assuming you don't add extras that are bad for you.

I think the latest research says the cholesterol in eggs is not the problem we used to think it was.

Grains can be tricky -- many people have some degree of problems with wheat. When I pack a lunch, I include a container with leftover brown rice or other other grains, mixed with some vegetables or whatever I have left over from dinner.

Even though it will cost you calories, if you have to choose between extra fat and extra sugar, eat the fat. The sugar can harm your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight. Most people get much more sugar than they need. Healthy fats do add calories, but it's something your body can use well. So, if you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, go light on the jelly, and get one of the fruit-sweetened ones without added sugar. (And make sure the peanut butter isn't sweetened.)

Eating well as a teenager will pay off in the future too.

 

Beans. They have fiber, protein, iron... Basically they're the perfect food. Any fruits or veggies are good, too. Nuts, seeds, chickpeas, salads, hummus, maybe PB&Js.

Oh, and dairy and meat are actually pretty bad for you. Milk doesn't have much calcium, and meat shortens your lifespan and increases the risk of cancer. Better to eat leafy greens for calcium, and vegetables and beans for protein.

 

Agree with most of the above^^. But just remember, that it's rare that you'll keep up your metabolism for the rest of your life. Sometimes the best pleasure in life is a big ol' greasy double bacon cheeseburger (yeah...sorry vegetarians), or even ramen with bacon and eggs. So don't always hold back.

A Harvard study (I don't remember where) recommended a meal that consists of: 50% fruit/vegetables, 25%starches/carbs (potatoes, rice, bread, whatever), and 25% protein (meat, beans, tofu, etc.).

Depending on how much you can eat, the following are always good: fruit (preferably not in a high fructose corn syrup, or similar concoction), a small salad (spinach/kale are good bases, the darker the leaf, the more nutrition inside of it...although iceberg lettuce would probs be good if you're set on losing weight), greek yoghurt (none of that overly sugary yoplait stuff), and something filling (a sandwich with veggies, meat and cheese; fried rice w/ meat/tofu; leftovers from last night, etc). Oh, and toss in something sweeter too (dried fruit/fruit leather, half a chocolate bar, one of those wonderfully sugary protein/breakfast/cereal bars, etc). Combine whatever you think is good. The Japanese have (in my opinion) perfected the art of healthy lunches (have you seen their bento boxes!!!!?). Oh, and drink water.

As for the dairy/meat being bad for you....everything is bad in excess. I'm a self-proclaimed carnivore, so I'm biased, but meat is soooooo good.

Oh, and look into stir fried garlic spinach in olive oil w/ salt and lemon. It doesn't taste good cold, nor if cooked for too long so it sucks at being a lunch thing...but it tastes absolutely divine.