As a growing boy, I don't think any

As a growing boy, I don't think anyone would have called me health-conscious. I was typical of my peer group – the odd fizzy drink, trips to meet friends at the local fast food restaurant. However, I was lucky to have a mother who made sure I ate well. She enjoyed cooking and all our meals were varied and delicious!
At the age of eighteen, I moved to a university far from home and suddenly had to look after myself. I really missed my mum’s home-cooked meals. She had sent me away armed with recipes, but I never wanted to cook when I got back to the flat, after a hard day of lectures. For this reason, it wasn't long before my friends and I discovered our local hamburger bar, just two roads from our home. It was so easy to get our dinner there and, compared to our few attempts in the kitchen, the food tasted great. Visiting on the way back from classes became a regular habit.
After a couple of months, I started to notice some changes in myself; I was getting acne and my clothes were getting tight and uncomfortable. I was also very lethargic and friends complained that I would get irritable, often for no good reason. At first, I didn't pay too much attention to it all. I wasn't surprised that the stress of university was taking its toll. However, over the weeks that followed, I was getting colds and headaches on a regular basis. My health seemed to be deteriorating, but everyone else appeared to be coping. I started to question if I was cut out for university.
I decided to listen to friends' suggestions to visit a doctor. I went along and, after a five-minute discussion of my unhealthy eating habits, she referred me to a nutritionist. I have to admit I was a little sceptical, I could accept that my acne and weight gain might result from the foods I ate, but the moods, headaches, colds – surely diet couldn't cause these too?
Nonetheless, I made the appointment and soon found I had underestimated the importance of diet. I was told that the food I ate was high in fat but low in goodness. The lack of fruit, vegetables, and other food groups in my diet wasn’t balancing this out and my body was struggling to keep up with the demands I was putting on it. She explained that if I continued to eat so unhealthily, I would be at risk of obesity and diabetes. Apparently, obesity was now an epidemic in America, and England was following suit. Fast food seemed to be a serious health hazard.
Some simple blood tests revealed that I had an iron deficiency, so to combat this and my generally rundown system, the nutritionist made me a personalised plan of nutritious meals to prepare and listed the vitamins I needed to supplement my diet with. She was very stern when giving me the advice. She told me not to expect it to be easy, since it is now believed that the body becomes addicted to a junk food diet. I'd never heard this claim before and was completely taken aback. There was a lot to do to get back on track.
After four weeks, I could really see a difference. The headaches and colds had completely disappeared and the acne and weight gain were well on the way to being rectified. A few relieved friends were also pleased to have their happy flat mate back! It took time to learn about food and prepare decent meals. But it soon became a habit, just like my unhealthy lifestyle had. My energy levels were really high and maintaining my grades was no longer a massive struggle. I'm not saying that everyone should abstain from fast food completely, but we should all be health conscious. Once you experience the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, you won't want to see another hamburger again!