This Is 16. This Is Growing Up
16 is growing up. 16 is finally being able to drive but still being mad at myself for not taking the driver’s test when I was 15 and a half because I was lazy. If I did take it, I would have been able to get my license and possibly had my first car by now. 16 is looking for a used 1966-1969 or a 2007-2013 Ford Mustang GT for sale in California for under $15,000. 16 is hanging out with my friends when I’m free. It’s sitting with them during lunch and hanging out with them after I’m done with homework and working out. It’s going to the beach with them. It’s also going to the gym with some of them.
16 is trying to get good grades so I can get into a good university. It is doing all my homework, studying for all my tests, and trying hard. 16 is trying to balance wrestling, school, gym, and time with friends and family. It is going to practice, then finishing my homework afterward, and trying to find time to work out at the gym. 16 is following a workout routine that combines bodybuilding and strength training. It is starting with light weight and high reps for mass,then switching to medium weight and medium reps,then moving on to heavy weight and low reps for strength. It’s also hating cardio because I have terrible endurance and get tired quickly, but liking to lift weights instead. It is also following that same workout routine with my friend Vova.
16 is eating a healthy, balanced diet and following a consistent workout routine because I want to get stronger for wrestling, but I also want to be buff. It is eating no more than 50 grams of net carbs and net sugar per day (It’s basically leftover carbs and sugar after subtracting the amount of dietary fiber because it lowers blood sugar, which reduces the fattening effects from carbs and sugar). It is eating a diet of meat, vegetables, a ton of fruit, and a small amount of sugar, carbs, and fats. It’s avoiding to eat foods that are high in sugar, carbs and fat. It’s eating high protein meals and drinking whey isolate after working out.
16 is also always reading the nutrition label before I eat anything. It is seeing how many grams of sugar and carbs there are, and subtracting the amount of dietary fiber to count my net carbs and net sugar. 16 is going to wrestling practice, all stressed out because I have a ton of homework, and have a lot of other stuff going on, but it’s also leaving it, relieved of all stress, and a feeling that I can handle anything. 16 is trying to improve at wrestling because I sucked last year, by working out and going to off-season when I have time. It is doing homework at school, so I have time to go to practice.
16 is missing PE last year, because a lot of my friends were in my class when I did have PE and it was fun. It’s missing how we played dodgeball in the wrestling room, and swimming. It is missing how we’d go in the weight room sometimes, and how we’d also play capture the flag. I also miss how we used to have days where coach gave us balls and Frisbees and we just did what we want. 16 is following the same routine almost everyday. It is waking up a 6:30 AM, and leaving at 7:00 because my house is a 20-30 minute drive from here. It is then either going to pre-season practice or going home after school ends. It is then doing homework, going to the gym, and then coming back home to sleep.
16 is an odd age. It is feeling both like a kid and a grown up, or something in the middle. It’s realizing that college isn’t too far away and I have to be more serious. It’s realizing that I need to act more mature. 16 is growing up.
