Real Life. Real
Questions. Real Answers.
 CBN.com answers your questions about dating, friends, the Bible, and more. Click on a question below to read the answer.
 I
come from a Christian family, but my family won't accept the fact
that I sometimes date outside of my race. I find it very hard
to find common ground with my parents on this topic. Is this really
wrong?
 There’s nothing wrong with dating outside your race.
I don’t know if you’re talking about whether you’re
black and you’re dating white people, or whether you’re
Asian and dating Caucasian people. You didn’t say what race
you’re talking about. But God made all races from one. They
all came from Adam and Eve, so they’re all part of one.
The question is not the color of somebody’s skin or the
way their eyes are cast, but what’s in their heart? I think
your parents should be concerned about whether you’re dating
people who know the Lord. That’s what’s important.
If you’re dating a heathen, or they are trying to bring
you into idolatry, then it’s a different matter.
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I’m
15 and have a bad habit of cussing. I’ve recently been trying
to stop, but it’s hard, because I’m around it so much
at home and school. What do I need to do to stop, and will God
be able to forgive me if I keep on messing up?
God will
forgive you of anything, but I do think that you need to have your
mind renewed. You renew your mind by the Word of God. You need to
feed on the Word and let your speech be with grace, seasoned with
salt. Have grace coming out of your mouth. If you are listening
to the words of Scripture, your mouth will come out differently.
But I know when I was a kid, I used to use some horrible language.
The minute I found the Lord, it was like He just did something and
cleaned it up. It was just amazing. It was a totally different thing
that goes away by the power of the Holy Spirit. So, pray that the
Lord will deliver you from it, but feed your mind day and night
on the Word of God and in prayer. You’ll find that filthy
language will leave you.
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My
boyfriend got me pregnant. He left, because he didn’t want
to deal with it. Now I’m left with what to do with this
child, yet he can just choose to walk away like nothing happened.
If the sin was committed by both of us, why does God give the
boy the option of choosing to share in the responsibilities of
unplanned pregnancies? I don’t have a choice. Is that fair?
 There are a couple of issues that your letter raises. First
of all, what do you do with the child? Well, my clear advice is
have the child. If you are capable of raising the child, by all
means, do so. If not, find a Christian home that you can allow
to adopt this wonderful baby who’d been looking and praying
for a child to love. And if you want to get on with your life,
do something else. By all means, give the child up, but don’t
have an abortion. That’s number one.
Number two, it’s just the way our bodies are made. Women
are equipped to bear children and to nurture them, and men are
supposed to be providers. But, nevertheless, they don’t
have the responsibility women do. And it’s just the biological
fact of the way we were made. But you said you and your boyfriend
both sinned, “how come he gets away with it?” The
truth is, he’s not going to get away with sin. You don’t
ever get away with sin. You say, “Well, he’s off scot-free.”
No, he’s not. He’ll be bearing some consequence sometime
along the way. Or if he doesn’t repent, he’s going
to wind up a lifetime in Hell. Not a lifetime, but an eternity
in Hell. And so there’s always an ultimate punishment. It
may not happen in this life, but it will happen. And in his case,
the chances are it’ll happen earlier. If he’s this
irresponsible in relation to a child that he’s fathered,
then he will also be irresponsible in a job, in business and other
things, and he will go through a succession of problems that’ll
be worse than what you’ve got to deal with.
On the other hand, this can be a blessing to you. This little
baby can turn your life around. It can be a wonderful, wonderful
blessing, and you’ll thank God 20 years down the road that
He gave you this marvelous child. Consider the child a blessing
from God. But you are learning to repent, and you’re saying,
”God, I sinned. I did something wrong, and I ask your forgiveness.”
So, in a sense, before God, you stand righteous, because the Lord
has forgiven you. And take what seems to be a problem and turn
it into a blessing, and watch what happens.
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 I
am 16 years old and I recently caught my 14-year-old brother looking
at internet pornography. I was going to tell Mom and Dad about
it when they got home, but my brother knows something abut me
that I don’t want our parents to know, and he said if I
told on him, he’d tell on me. Since telling my parents is
out – how can I help my bother? -- Nicole
Nicole, truth is liberating. I don’t know what it is
that you are hiding, but sometimes it is better to come clean
and get that off of your conscience. But for your 14-year-old
brother, this is a serious issue. Pornography will mar his mind
in ways you can’t believe. He will be having flashback images
for the rest of his life. And who knows what else may come out
of it or how it could ruin his marriage later in life.
You are talking about a serious problem. He needs to stop this
habit, even if it means your parents taking away his computer
privileges. The pornography out there is absolutely vile, and
I don’t think people realize really the impact that it has
on your mind and on your soul. The best thing to do is to tell
your parents, and whatever it is that you are hiding from them,
it probably isn’t as bad as you think it is. Tell them the
truth and ask for their forgiveness.
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I’m
16 years old and I’m a committed Christian, but I always
feel a great sense of loneliness. I know God is always there for
me, but loneliness is always there regardless of how much I pray.
Is this a way God is testing me or is it just a problem of my
own that I need to correct? -- Kyle
Kyle, it is a problem that comes with being a teenager. The
big thing when you are in your teens is asking the questions,
“Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?”
In a sense, you are lonely because you are coming into a new identity,
but you haven’t really formed that new identity yet. That’s
normal. This gives you a chance to spend time with the Lord and
press yourself into Him. But in all truthfulness, this is a phase
that a lot of teenagers go through as they develop into adults.
The time will come when you will probably get married to a Christian
wife, and you will begin to build a family. But in the meantime,
that is not unnatural. It really isn’t. So enjoy this time
of growing closer to the Lord and seeking His will for your life.
Also, seek out people who have similar interests as you, whether
it is a hobby or a sport, a lot of lifelong friendships are often
formed between people who discover they have some of the same
interests. Ask the Lord to put people in your life that you can
get to know and begin to build friendships with them.
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I'm
14 years old, and when I was 12 my dad divorced my mom. He is
now living with another woman. I told him that I never want to
talk to him again unless he stops being an adulterer. My friends
have mixed feelings about this. Does the Bible say I'm doing the
right thing? -- Erik
The Bible
says "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matthew
7:1). God did not set you up as the judge of your father. The Bible
says to be an obedient son and that you are honor your mother and
father. That's the commandment. Should you do everything you can
to pray for him? Yes. Should you try to bring about some reconciliation?
Yes. The fact that your father is living with a woman and is not
getting married to her, there is no question that it is adultery.
But I think that commandment to honor your mother and father should
be observed. He is always going to be your father, and you need
to honor him in that regard, regardless of what he has done.
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My
friend is a marijuana user. He frequently says that marijuana
makes him feel closer to God. What should I make of this and how
can I convince him that he’s wrong? – Dominic
First
of all, I would show him Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
There are a number of references in there -- chapter 8 for example,
and there are others -- which talk about the body being the temple
of the Holy Spirit. Marijuana defiles the temple. Ask your friend,
“Would you have a party where you smoke pot in the middle
of church?” “Would you get drunk in church?” You
may feel some high, but do you think that would be appropriate in
a church or a temple? The Bible says his body is a temple and he
is destroying the temple of the Lord.
Paul says if anybody destroys God’s temple, then God will
destroy him. The Bible is pretty clear. The fact that he is in
some kind of hallucinatory haze doesn’t in any way diminish
that fact that he is destroying God’s temple. First Corinthians
has a number of references about what you can do with the freedoms
we have in the Lord. I think that may help him.
The other thing is that you can tell him how marijuana is going
to ruin his mind. It’s a shame that people who get into
this, they get more and more befuddled. Their mind gets more dazed,
and soon they can’t really handle reality. Before long they
stop working, they stop doing anything, and they just sit around
smoking pot.
Of course another thing you can do for him, and you may already
be doing it, is to pray. Pray that his eyes will be opened to
the damage that he is causing to himself.
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I’ve
been witnessing to this guy who kind of likes me. I shared the
Gospel with him, and now he says he wants to believe in God, because
I believe in God. Is that okay? Does it matter if his desire to
be a Christian is based on his infatuation with me rather than
God?
Well,
on the last question, yes, it does matter. If his belief in God
is based on some kind of an infatuation with you, you’ve got
a problem, and that isn’t a relationship that you should encourage.
The apostle Paul said he desired that their faith would be based
on the power of God, not the wisdom of men. Now, we get to preach
the Gospel. We get to reason with people as to why we believe in
Jesus Christ. But it’s that conversion moment where they really
know that He is Lord, that He is risen from the dead, that is always
a one-on-one between someone and Jesus Christ. We just sort of introduce.
And when his faith gets based on that, then you’ve got something
that you can really stand on.
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I'm
a new believer who just saw the movie The Passion of the Christ. I'm having a hard time understanding "The Trinity."
Jesus spoke to the Father, but how can that be if they are really
the same person? Can you help me understand? - Amanda
The Trinity is a mystery, but it's there. Remember His baptism.
Jesus was there. The Holy Spirit in the form of dove came down
and rested on Him. And His Father was speaking to Him from heaven.
So there are three distinct people. The Father is not the Son,
the Son is not the Spirit, and apparently the Spirit comes from
the relationship with Father and Son.
But all I know is that they are all there together. They work
as one and yet at the same time they are three distinct personalities.
It's a mystery. In the book Mere Christianity by C.S.
Lewis, he has such a great definition of the Spirit, of course
acknowledging that he too didn't have the ability to fully comprehend
it all, but it's really quite good. That's one that you can take
a look at.
Also, for more information about the Trinity read answers from
theologian Dr. J. Rodman Williams.
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I'm
a teenager and I know what God says about sex before marriage.
My question is -- what about kissing? Doesn't kissing lead to
impure thoughts? What do you believe God has to say about kissing
before marriage? -- Emily
I've seen both sides taken within the Christian church. A
wonderful church that I attended and was a member of in Manila
believed very strongly that your first kiss should happen at the
altar. Now, that wouldn't be me. I don't think I could do that.
And I was pretty open with them that that wasn't me. And that
wasn't the way I approached marriage.
The Bible says, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So, Emily,
you need to get honest with yourself. And if you can do that (kissing)
in faith and believe that it will not go farther, then by all
means do. But if you in your own heart, have reservations about
it and say I can't do that in faith, I'm going to start having
impure thoughts, then my body is going to start kicking in and
desire something more than just a kiss, then I think you need
to say ok I'm going to build a wall here and I'm going to make
it known that kissing is not acceptable for me.
That was the basis of the church I went to in Manila saying look
we don't want to encourage that kind of activity unless we know
that there is going to be a lifelong bond. Part of kissing is
also sharing, sharing of your innermost being. And you may not
want to do that unless you are sure that this person is going
to be with you for a lifetime.
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What’s
the best way to handle the situation when you’ve been a
victim of gossip? I’ve talked to the people responsible
for this untrue gossip and they deny their involvement. What should
I do now, when the gossip isn’t going away? – Rachel
The Bible says when a man’s ways please the Lord, He
makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. We are supposed
to be dead to self. And sometimes gossip is beneficial because
it lets us die to self. The thing that upsets me a great deal
is that Christians are engaged in picking up a slanderous report
against another. Now I want to say this very clearly. Slander
is every bit as bad as adultery. Slander is every bit as bad as
murder. There is no difference. You might not go to prison for
slander, but you are killing somebody's reputation. And it’s
just as bad a sin. The devil is the accuser of the brethren. Now
what do you do? You let the Lord take care of it, and you let
the Lord bless you, and you get on with your life. And by your
good conduct, you will make ashamed those who bring a bad report
against you. That's what the Bible says, and that's what to do
with it. You try to fight it, you try to swat that every mosquito
and I promise you the swamp will bring forth a thousand of them.
You kill five and have 500 more coming. So let it go and live
your life unto the Lord. If your life pleases the Lord, that’s
all that matters.
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I’m
starting high school this fall. My brother and sister are already
in high school and have been pressured into drinking and other
bad stuff. How can I make sure I’m not pressured into things
I really don’t want to do? - Laura
 When I was in high school my parents taught me two things
-- two very important things. One, that everything that you did
has consequences. They can be positive or negative. But there
are always consequences and that kept my sisters and I from doing
things that we knew we didn't need to be doing because we knew
something was going to happen.
And the second thing was significance. Our parents always said,
"Listen, your significance is not in what someone else thinks
of you and how people perceive you, it is who you are in the Lord."
And when you know those two things, you’re not going to
pick up a drink. So just remember that.
And the other thing is, make a vow to yourself. I am not going
to drink. I am making a vow between me and the Lord that this
day I’m not going to have a drink. The next day I’m
not going to have a drink. I’m not going to smoke a cigarette.
I’m not going to do it. I have made a vow. And if somebody
comes along and says take a drink, say, "No, I’m sorry
I made a vow." If they ask, "Who did you make the vow
to?" Just tell them, "That’s my business."
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I’m
17 years old and have a big problem with anger. I’ve been
this way for as long as I can remember. I became a Christian,
but that didn’t seem to help either. I try to calm myself
down while I’m angry, but I can’t get hold of it.
Do you have any ideas that might help me? – Jessica
Jessica,
there are several things. The first is that the Bible says,
"I am crucified with Christ and nevertheless I live."
What is crucified is the old man, the flesh. The flesh wars against
the spirit. The flesh is the old man, the nature, that wants to
fight back. And is resentment and mean and hateful. That has to
die. And the Bible says reckon yourselves dead. So when you start
off, each day, you say today, the old me is dead. And the new
me is alive in Jesus Christ and I ask the Lord's Spirit to come
into my spirit and give me life. And you do it every day.
The apostle Paul said I die daily. That’s how it works
-- every day. That anger, that justification, that self righteousness,
and all of that nonsense that goes along. You want to think about
it as an old rotted corpse. And that corpse is grabbing hold of
you and holding on. You want to push that old corpse into the
grave, symbolically, get a shovel and pour the dirt and tap it
down. And say in Jesus name it is gone and I am a new creature
in Christ.
It may be that you’ve never been baptized. I just believe
as a believer if you accepted Jesus, there is something about
baptism that talks about the old man being buried in baptism and
raised in newness of life. And that might be a ritual that you
need to go through to set you free from this.
Beyond that, count to 10 before you blow up, and number two
ask Jesus whatever is done, say, "Jesus, if you didn't mind
what was done to you, then I don't mind what is done to me. I
let you go to the door and take the heat for me." And He
will do it.
And Jessica, we want to encourage you. Because a lot of times
as Christians we think we have to be perfect right off the bat,
and we are not. It’s a process. The more you start to learn
who the Lord is and He resides in your heart, the more like Him
you become.
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My
question is about language. If a person does not take the Lord’s
name in vain, is it still a sin to swear? Who decides what words
should be swear words anyway? They’re just words after all,
how can words be sin? - Nicholas
Jesus said by your words you will be justified and
by your words you will be condemned. The tongue, according to
James, is the most unruly member and if you can tame your tongue
then you can tame the rest of you. Some so called curse words
are actually Anglo-Saxxon terms for bodily functions. They’re
just crude, their not so-called curse words. But Jesus said as
far as swearing, He said, let your yea be yea and your nay be
nay. Anything beyond that is sin and if you take God’s name
in vain… I tell you there is something more about taking
God’s name in vain. Your life, if you say “I am a
Christian,” and then you do not follow through. If you lie
and you cheat and you steal and you deceive people, then you have
blasphemed the name of the Lord.
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I am a Christian, and I just found out that my girlfriend is Wiccan. We should probably break up, but I’m just afraid I’ll ruin the chance of leading her to Christ. I love her, but should I still end the relationship? What should I do?
The Bible says, “What fellowship has Christ with Belial?” And Belial is another name for the devil. Those who are involved in witchcraft, demons, evil spirits—Wiccans, they think they’re good. They’re white witches, and it’s okay, but it’s not. Get out before it gets you. You say, “Well, I’m strong.” Well, you may be, but I would break it off. I think it’s a big mistake. And you say, “Well, I’m going to lead her to the Lord.” Well, maybe. But as long as you’ve got a romantic relationship, and there is a bond between you, you’re joining yourself to somebody who has in turn joined to the devil. And I don’t think that’s too good an idea.
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I’m 14 and was wondering, is it wrong to be with unchristian friends at lunch? They always swear and gossip. I try telling them to stop, but they don’t. What should I do?
The Bible says have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Rather, reprove them. There comes a time when your witness is getting overwhelmed by their conduct. Rather than you nagging them all the time, it’s better to find Christian friends and begin to pray for them. A lot of times they do that just to get your goat. They’re teasing you. So I would just say stay away from them. It’s really having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. That’s biblical.
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I
am 13 and feel so bad about my body. I know I shouldn't, and I
know God made me perfect, but I can't help feel this way. My dad
left us, and my mom is struggling so much just to keep the apartment
we have. My dad came to me. Now he expects me to feel so tight
with him, even though he was never there for me. I'm involved
in my church, but I still feel lonely because everyone I know
is never there. I know God is always here, but again I can't help
but feel this way. Help!
My heart goes out to teenagers who are going through a very
difficult period in their life. They are entering into puberty.
Their bodies are changing. In the case of young women, they are
developing what are called secondary sex characteristics which
are essentially preparing them for motherhood. This means they
are beginning menstruation, they are beginning to develop breasts,
and experiencing other major changes in their bodies.
As in this case, this young girl verbalizes it as "I feel
sooooo bad about my body." What is happening to you is not,
something you should feel badly about, but praise God about. It's
going to prepare you one day to be a wife and a mother.
However, coupled with the normal confusion that comes upon a
teenager as to his or her identity, you are faced with a problem
because your father walked out on you. Interestingly enough, it
is fathers who seem to play the most important role in the social
development of daughters. Without the father being there, there
is no way that a young lady can totally adapt to the situation
around her. She feels lonely and as if no one is ever there for
her. God is there for you. Jesus Christ is there for you. He will
be the Father of the fatherless, and He will be the Husband of
the widow. God will come and make Himself real in your life, and
you will know somebody who loves you and cares about you. You
have received Jesus as your Savior, and I want you to know that
He is your protector. Talk to Him ...talk to Him every day: Tell
Him the deep longings of your heart. He knows everything you think
anyhow, so why not let Him know your problems. Share with Him
what's going on inside you, and let Him reach out to you in comfort
and love.
Beyond that, get together with Christian people in your church,
your school, and other associations available to you, and let
them talk to you, help you, and encourage you. Find someone you
can trust and confide in. Perhaps it's another woman, an older
girl, or someone who knows the Lord to whom you can go and just
talk. There are people who will love you and bless you and encourage
you.
My prayer is that you will know the answer to the cry of your
heart.
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I’m almost 20 years old, and I’ve been in college for a year. I pursued a college education in order to please my parents. My true calling doesn’t have anything to do with college. Would I be disobeying my parents if I quit college to get a head start on my career? Should this kind of thing be my choice or theirs?
According to our laws now, when you pass 18, you’re emancipated, so you’re kind of on your own. But I think your parents do have some wisdom. They’ve lived longer than you have, and they’ve seen the heartaches. I tell you something, the salary levels for somebody with a college degree are probably double what somebody with a high school degree makes. So your lifetime earning potential is vastly greater. I don’t know what your calling is. I mean, if you’re a Lebron James, your calling is to get millions of dollars putting a little ball in the hoop. And he left high school and into the pros. So I don’t know if you’re called to be a pro basketball player or what it is. For a well-rounded person, if you just take a liberal arts education, it gives you access to all kinds of wonderful things. The literature of our culture, the art, the history and philosophy, etcetera. It’s nice to have a background in that, regardless of what your calling is. It helps you to live your life better. With a college degree, believe me that your earning capacity is vastly greater, and your parents know that. But it’s your call. You’re old enough. You can make your own decision.
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I’m 19 and have never participated in lewd behavior until last weekend. My friend’s brother had a party, and I got drunk and started undressing in front of some of them. When I woke up the next morning, I was mortified. Will apologizing for my behavior help me gain back some respect, or have I ruined my reputation forever?
You got drunk. You’d never done lewd behavior. But you’re drunk, and you start taking your clothes off at a mixed party? I don’t know how far you went with all this lewdness, but no, I don’t think you’ve ruined your reputation forever. I do think if you’re a Christian and you want to live that way, getting drunk isn’t exactly Christian conduct and what went beyond it. But you lose inhibitions. That’s what alcohol will do. It takes away your inhibitions, and you’re wide open to other things.
Also, one of the things you learn from this is, sometimes it’s hard to know when you’ve stepped over the line with alcohol. You might really want to take a look at what you’re doing there as well as what happens when you have too much.
These riotous parties, though, if you go with a crowd like this, this is what they expect. And they’re going to push you and goad you as far as they can. Especially if they’re not Christians and you are. Then, boy, you’re asking for it. Ask the Lord’s forgiveness, and get on with your life.
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I am thinking about getting a tattoo. What does the Bible say about this?
From an old grandfather, if one of my granddaughters comes through with a tattoo, she’s got a lot of trouble. No, seriously, the Bible does talk about scarring and marring of the body and cutting the body. These are pagan customs, and the Bible condemns it. All these scars, you look in pagan cultures, they cut themselves. They leave great scars in their bodies. And usually it was a scarring to indicate their allegiance to some pagan deity. So that’s what tattoos are all about. Plus the fact, they’re ugly.
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My high school has all these different programs that support homosexuals. I recently found out that one of my close friends was a homosexual, so I attended some events with him just to show him he’s still my friend. Is this going too far? How do I show him he’s still my friend without making him think I approve of his lifestyle?
If you go to those homosexual events, then you are approving of his lifestyle and thinking it’s okay. The Bible says, “Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” We as Christians always want to be nice to people, “Well, I don’t offend him. It might hurt my witness,” and all this stuff. Well, I’m sorry. The Bible says, “Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” If you go to these places, the next thing you know, you will be enticed into their lifestyle instead of him being enticed to yours. I would strongly advise against it. If you have to go get another friend or other friends, do so. It’s a pity. I would certainly pray for him, but I just don’t think I’d go into that game.
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My friend has two homosexual fathers as parents. They adopted him when he was a toddler, and now he’s 13 years old. I’ve been taking him to church lately, and he is really started to rethink everything they taught him. Is it wrong for him to confront them about their lifestyle? If they forbid him to go to church, what should he do?
It’s wrong for homosexuals to adopt. I think that they will lead children into the lifestyle they have. If you really care for somebody and you’re close to somebody, the biggest thing you can do to help them is to talk to them about the Lord and to share the Bible, not confrontational, but share the Bible. Whether or not these two hardened homosexuals would come out of that lifestyle remains to be seen. But at least the young man needs to get established in the things of God. And if you’re successful at that, God bless you.
Well, I don’t think he should. There’s that saying, you hear it all the time. I’m probably not quoting it exact, but, 'Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if you must.' I think even as a 13-year-old, through being diligent in the Word of God, attending church with you, speaking lovingly to the two people who’ve been put in a position of authority in parenting over him, that he can be have more influence by not saying something and loving Jesus and letting God control his life that confronting them.
The biggest thing, though, is that they will try to get him into that lifestyle and that is the danger. Of course, I don’t know them. I mean, maybe that wouldn’t be the case, but I suspect it will be. And so the big thing is for this young man to get himself established in the Lord rather than confronting.
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I’m an eighth-grade student from Texas. I saw the show a couple of weeks ago where Susan Combs was making kids in school be healthier. I guess it’s okay to get rid of snack machines, but she also outlawed candy during holidays. Do we have to get rid of sweets altogether, and would it be okay to celebrate the holidays once in a while?
It’s okay to celebrate once in a while. But the truth is, sugar’s poison, and it takes away your strength. If you’re working out, you don’t have as much strength, you don’t have as much endurance and so forth. It’s just something that you don’t want to do. It has no benefit at all, except it kicks your sweet tooth. It’s like drinking alcohol. You set up a craving. The more sweets you eat, the more you want to eat. On this one it’s better to go cold turkey. Fruits? No problem. Your taste will develop so you’ll really enjoy it.
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I’m 20 years old and 20 pounds overweight. I’ve heard different points of view on how long to exercise. Can I spread my exercise routine out over the whole day, doing three or four minutes at a time rather than 45 minutes at a time, or all at once? Will that still help me to lose weight?
Any exercise will help you lose weight. And the answer is, if you spread it out, that’s fine. As far as cardio, you need to get your heart rate up to a point, whatever that is. And then you have a maximum heart rate, and you want to get it up to something in the neighborhood of 80 percent of what your max is. So there’s scales that tell you for your age and so forth what the maximum heart rate should be, and you usually have to do sustained cardio to get that up there. And unless you do, the cardio benefits won’t be there. So if you just do a couple of minutes or three minutes of cardio—but you can sure do three or four minutes of weightlifting and then three or four minutes more of weightlifting; it won’t hurt you. But, really, all things being equal, given the routine we all have, it’s better to do about 30 minutes and get it over with.
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I’m 16 years old. My girlfriend is overweight. I can tell she’s frustrated about it. I want to help her. However, I’m afraid if I mention anything to her about it, I’ll make her feel horrible. Is there anything I could do that would help her be healthy without hurting her feelings?
Yes. Say, “I saw this on television. I was watching The 700 Club, and here’s this little packet. These people are doing exercise and diet that they say is just wonderful. I’ve read this. I like it, and maybe you’d like it.” End of story.
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I’m 15 years old, and I’ve been working out to get in shape. I rarely eat breakfast, because I don’t have enough time. I exercise and lift weights and don’t eat until one p.m. in the afternoon each day. Am I hurting myself by not eating anything until the afternoon?
That is absolutely the wrong thing to do. My program was set up for bodybuilders, and it just happens to work for losing weight, too. The big thing about any bodybuilder will tell you, you’ve got to have a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, and a lot of salads. You must eat breakfast. You’ve had a fast all night long, and your muscles are depleted. There’s no way that your body’s going to burn the fat. The metabolism won’t be working properly.
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