Dr Eve's Sex Book: A Guide for Young People. Marlene Wasserman

greasy and unhealthy junk food. It’s nice every now and then as a treat if you are craving it, but it should not be part of your regular food intake.

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      •Drink plenty of water. Choose fruit juice and bottled water over fizzy drinks and caffeine. Try reducing coffee and tea, but herbal teas are great. Alcohol is terribly unhealthy and definitely adds weight.

      •Ensure you have good food variety, balanced food groups to choose from and always practise moderation in the amounts that you eat.

      •If you are vegetarian, make sure you are supplementing with vitamins and minerals.

      Exercise

      No compromise on this! Exercise has so many benefits that it’s hard to list them all. Let’s start with the most important one, which is that it is like preventative medicine. Embracing any kind of exercise consistently from your teens onward lowers your risks of heart failure, obesity, hypertension, and osteoporosis (brittle bones).

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      As you exercise, you release into your blood stream feel-good chemicals called endorphins. These ward off depression. Exercise also seems to help relieve premenstrual pain and cramps.

      Develop a culture of fun around exercise: hang out in the gym with your friends or meet on the sports field for a group session.

      The way you feel about yourself after an exercise session is what it’s all about: you feel alive, confident, and proud that you are investing in a healthy lifestyle. An added bonus is that you’ll end up with a great, toned body that you feel proud of dressing up and strutting out on the town. Exercise should be incorporated into your life in a consistent and deliberate way. Make it part of your weekly schedule. It is not easy to commit to exercise on a regular basis, but seen as part of a healthy lifestyle may make it easier for you. Choose an exercise that you enjoy – this will ensure that you actually do it. It’s fashionable and considered healthy to do different forms of exercise weekly. Like any activity (including sexual play!), exercise can get boring if the same routine is exclusively practised. So, for example, gym twice a week, play a group sport once a week, do a dance /martial arts class once a week. Develop a culture of fun around exercise: hang out in the gym with your friends, meet on the sports field for a group session. If you can’t afford a gym subscription, or have transport difficulties, hit the road and go jogging. Or turn up the volume and boogie at home.

      Sleep

      Perhaps you think sleep is for babies and as a teenager sleep may not be something you think about a lot. Your body, however, thinks about it a lot. It is undergoing intense growth spurts, so sleep is very important for your body. Studies have shown that teenagers who do not get enough sleep develop bad skin, lack concentration, have lower energy levels and are prone to emotional ups and downs.

      It may feel right for you to have a nap in the afternoon. Twenty minutes or so will be great – longer may make you unable to sleep properly at night. Don’t think long weekend sleeps can make up for little sleep during the week – they can’t. As with exercise and eating, develop a good sleep routine. A good idea is to switch off your cellphone before sleeping as SMSs from wide-awake friends can disturb and disrupt your sleep pattern.

      Basic confidence-giving hygiene routines

      Think of an advertisement. I bet one of the first that comes to mind is one that promotes a beauty product: Soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant and of course perfume. We think we are smelly, so we automatically buy these products.

      According to Mother Nature, we don’t really smell bad. But it’s important to smell beautiful – not to hide your own natural body odour in shame, but to enhance and alter it for fun and diversity.

      Becoming a teenager is a smelly adventure. Hormones produce different vaginal juices, sweat pours from sweat glands and you lose your innocent, sweet baby smells. After a hot day, a good workout or a sudden flush of love and lust as your beloved walks by, people could smell you before they actually see you. Good hygiene is an essential confidence booster. Women love men who show respect toward their own bodies by practising good hygiene. This is no longer a “girl thing”, it’s a respect thing and should be part of a healthy lifestyle.

      Hair

      Daily shampoo for guys and as often as necessary for girls. Hair is very sexy; it is a part of the body that people notice first. Keep it regularly trimmed, styled and glowing with health.

      Mouth

      Bad breath is often a result of teeth decay or constipation. Regular visits to the dentist and oral hygienist are necessary. Brushing and flossing twice a day give you that sweet-smelling breath and “Colgate smile”. Mouth fresheners are great to get rid of nasty food leftover tastes and smells and add sparkle to your smile.

      Skin

      Shower or bath at least once a day. Sweat builds up on the body and no amount of perfume or deodorant will ‘beautify’ the smell after a long day. It is always great to put cream on your body after bathing or showering. Choose a cream that has a colour and smell that you love. Your choice of body cream will give you a skin smelling like mango, kiwi, butter, or whatever, make your skin glow with health, and take away rough edges. This daily process of caressing cream into your body is a sensual experience – it allows you to know how every part of your body feels. It gives you that all-important confidence. Loving your body will make it easier to allow someone else to love it when you feel ready for this sharing.

      Underarms

      Guys (and girls who don’t shave) need to take extra care in washing here, as that musky sweat smell stays stuck in underarm hairs. Use soap and water first and then deodorant. Stick antiperspirant deodorants work really well and topping up with a spray deodorant offers you double protection. Keep a small toiletry bag filled with soap, shampoo and deodorant in your school bag. Girls should go lightly on smellies as too many different perfumes and deodorants worn together can be yuch.

      Genitals

      Where there is hair there is sweat. Add to this the natural vaginal daily discharges in women, some pee not shaken completely off the penis in men, and you have potentially smelly genital areas. Regular soap and water are essential for genitals. Girls should never use perfumes and creams in their genitals. Girls should never place anything other than tampons, sex toys, fingers or a penis of their choice into their vaginas. Douching (cleaning out the vagina with a solution of water and vinegar or a preparation from the chemist) is not recommended – only if prescribed by your doctor. The vagina’s special self-cleansing mechanism will be disrupted, possibly resulting in really nasty smells and itches. Keeping genital hair trimmed (yes, you too, guys!) makes it hygienically easier to manage and aesthetically fun.

      Nails

      It is your choice how long you wear your nails, and whether they are painted or unpainted, although mostly you need to consider the rules at your school and workplace. Clean and well looked after hands and nails make many a person’s heart go aflutter. Toenails need constant attention. Don’t think you can get away with looking pretty and then having long, jagged and uncared for toenails. It is a major turnoff.

      Hands and feet

      Soft, well-manicured and attractive hands and feet show that you are someone who takes care of yourself from top to toe. Imagine having someone’s cracked heels rubbing up and down your legs – not very sexy at all. Heels benefit from a weekly pumice stone scrub. Heel and foot cream is great to have in your “body drawer” at home, as is hand cream.

      Your body

      Nothing in the world provokes more discussion, discomfort and pleasure than your body.

      This is the time in your life when you are most aware of this wonderful, ever-changing, unique body of yours. You are confused, curious and