Q: What does it really mean to be in shape and healthy?

A: My expert source this week is Sarah Krieger, MPH, RD, LD/N, a registered dietician and national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. I contacted her at the association’s headquarters, and here’s what I learned:
For a teen, being in shape and healthy means more than having a captain-of-the-football-team build or looking like the flyer of the cheerleading squad. Being a healthy teen means having high energy levels, no diseases and most, importantly, confidence!

We’ve all heard our grandparents and maybe even our parents discussing health issues us teens wouldn’t even think twice about. But diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol are not health problems that only concern adults. If you are living an unhealthy lifestyle, you could greatly increase your chances of developing these “grandparent” health problems at a much younger age.

By eating well and exercising often, you greatly diminish your risk of succumbing to a chronic illness. Plus, you’ll have much more energy and be able to perform at the same level or above that of your peers, two measures that help gauge how healthy and in shape you are. It’s never too late to eat healthily and exercise. You’ll get more than just a nice body. You’ll feel awesome about yourself and your confidence will skyrocket! Eat well and exercise often, and you’ll look and feel great inside and out!

Q: Which is more important — eating healthily or exercising regularly?

A: If you are overweight and want to improve your health, Krieger does not recommend making both lifestyle changes at once if it’s too overwhelming. Instead, focus first on whichever one can motivate you to change.

If it’s easier for you to begin by making healthier food choices, like adding salads to your diet, eating breakfast or cutting back on junk food or soda and, because you have fewer pounds on you and therefore more energy, this causes you to start losing weight, then that’s the way to go.

However, if you have been eating fast food three times a day, but you start walking and think, “Hey, this feels great.  Maybe I’ll have a salad instead of a burger,” then that’s also acceptable.  The two go hand in hand. They’re a perfect marriage.

A common blunder many teens make is to dive head first into a strict eating and exercise regime, only to become overwhelmed.

The best way to incorporate healthy eating and exercise into a lifestyle is to pick one change that you can live with and roll with it.

> Richard Glasby, 19, lives in Niskayuna, N.Y. Email health and fitness questions to rglasby@millennialyouth.com or follow him on Twitter @Ask_Rick.