Hello all, I'm a female in high school trying to improve my diet.

At the moment I consume a grain based diet(primarily refined grains). I have dairy and sugary processed deserts daily. I consume way too much salt and the only vegetables I consume are in the nightshade or legume family. I also don't get any exercise outside of school.

My goal is to slowly convert to a paleolithic diet with one open meal per day. The open meal meal will be the dinner my parents cook or bring home every day since I don't feel comfortable rejecting their dinners.

The forums here have been informative and very helpful.

I look forward to living a healthier life

welcome!!!  feel free to ask anything. 

Thanks everyone!

Hello to you and welcome.

Can I ask how you came to embrace a Paleo diet?  My wife teaches high school and the kids I know are either junk-food-vegetarians or live at the nearest MacDonald's.

Thanks.

I happen to be in my high schools nutrition class and I have to say it hasn't helped me much. At my school we are given several vague ‘rules of thumb’. For example we have been told to consume 1300 mg of calcium daily. As soon as I found a diet plan that fit some ‘rules of thumb’ I quickly found rules that it broke (it felt like I was trying to get the colors to line up on a rubics cube for the first time). I think many students go through this and more or less give up and settle for a potentially destructive diet. Warnings about diabetes and such didn't influence me as much as they should have.

What finally did help help was learning the science behind nutrition online. For example now I know that necessary vitamin/mineral intake depends on the rate of absorption, the rate of its use, the rate of loss, the ability of the body to produce it itself (or lack of ability), the bodies ability and manner of storage and so on. Also that other vitamins, minerals, hormones, lifestyles and such influence all of these rates. I studied up on all sorts of chemical reactions and biological functions. It was only when I had a deeper understanding of nutrition that I decided to actually make changes.

I hope something in that shpeel helps.

Thanks everyone!
I hope something in that shpeel helps.

Yes, it does.  I'm just impressed that you've taken this step at your age.  It took me the better part of 50 years to understand nutrition...my first read on the subject was Diet for a Small Planet.   That wasn't a real positive start but I've done better recently.   (-:

Welcome! I've been known to over indulge in junk food too. I've been trying out the Paleo this week and haven't had a single craving. The key is eating plenty of fat. Lots of good advice on this forum so you should be fine. Perhaps even share some of your research with your family and see if they would be interested in incorporating the Paleolithic concepts.

Welcome to the forum! I'm surprised how many younger people are taking an interest in eating Paleo! You would definitely see the benefits of Paleo if you went cold turkey, but do what's best for your current situation Best of luck with your nutritional journey!