You see it and hear it constantly: “Stay away from carbs! Sugar is bad for you. Avoid fatty meat. Get at least an hour of cardio every day!” Diet culture is everywhere and it scares me. Not just for myself, but for anyone around my age. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, I don’t think any teenager should diet or excessively exercise.

I’ll start with the exceptions. For one, if a medical professional gives you a diet to follow, it goes without saying that you should follow their advice for your own health and safety. Secondly, I can understand dieting –to an extent– if it is for a sport like wrestling, where weight can have a significant impact on performance.

When it comes to the general population of teenagers, on the other hand, dieting is not necessary and can be harmful. First of all, many people diet for terrible reasons. Trying to get down to a 24″ waist is not a reason to starve yourself. Body image is a complicated issue, but I think there is a great way to distinguish positive weight loss or gain from negative weight loss or gain. If you are eating or exercising because it makes you feel happy and healthy, many times, that is very positive. If you are eating or exercising to fit a body standard, you probably don’t have a healthy mindset. Your health always matters more than your appearance.

In addition to the negative reasons people may start a diet, dieting forces you to be incredibly unnecessarily critical of yourself. Many diets focus on what you can’t do. Oftentimes food is regulated by what you can’t eat, when you can eat and how much you can eat. In diets like these, eating becomes a chore. Food is painted in a negative light, as something you should only have so much of. Frankly, this seems obsessive for someone who is in high school or college. Personally, I would much rather focus on my classes, extracurriculars, family and friends over counting my calories. Dieting puts rules and restrictions in place for eating, and if you break the rules, you can look down on yourself. Dieting requires you to constantly check yourself and hold yourself back from what is forbidden. I’m not saying that you should give in to every temptation, but I am saying that it is natural to crave food. Eating regularly is completely normal and necessary. You need food to survive and you need a lot of it to maintain an active lifestyle. Skipping meals is not good for you, especially if you exercise regularly.

Perhaps the worst result of diet culture is extreme diets. I remember physically shaking with fear when someone I knew told me they were trying out the Keto diet. “WHY?,” I screamed in my head. For one thing, they did not need to lose weight to be a healthy or attractive person. The mentality they had where they felt like they needed to do something extreme about their weight was terrifying. Extreme diets like Keto, all-liquid diets and starvation diets are NOT healthy. These diets are meant to induce massive weight loss all at once and are not sustainable. I can’t imagine why anyone my age would want or need a diet like that.

So what can you do instead of dieting? Generally healthy eating is a much safer and more body-positive alternative to dieting. I am a big fan of things like MyPlate and the food pyramid. The thing about these programs is that they encourage eating and give guidelines on how to create a filling meal that is also good for you. The difference is crucial. Instead of telling you what you can’t have, or cutting down your meals to a few bites, programs like these maintain a positive relationship with food while helping people to get the nutrients they need for a strong and healthy body.

I have a friend whose attitude towards food is probably the healthiest I’ve ever seen. She loves food, and she’s in great shape. The reason for this is that she’s not picky and for the most part, eats large, nutritious meals. That being said, I’ve never seen her turn down dessert either. In the end, she is both happy and healthy.

Overall, teenagers: please don’t diet or excessively exercise. You are young and your metabolism is the best it will ever be. You really don’t need to worry about what will happen if you eat cake at your friend’s birthday. If you focus on healthy eating, don’t forget that you can enjoy eating too. If you work out, do it because it makes you feel strong and healthy. Never manipulate your body using food or exercise solely to hit a number on the scale.