3,800. Google it: "average American calorie consumption." I guarantee you that the answers you find will be around 3,800 calories. THIRTY-EIGHT-HUNDRED CALORIES?! That's more than twice what I've been eating in a day. That is 2.5 days worth of calories for me!
Actually, I'm not that surprised. Just considering what I used to eat in a day before I made the decision to get healthy and lose weight, it makes sense. Considering what my friends eat when we go out, they all probably eat that much in a day, most days a week. And you know what? As I'm fighting to lose weight, get healthy, and eat everyday like a healthy person should, I find myself getting angry at my friends. They eat fried food, burgers, chips, drink beer after beer, and will tell you (while laughing) that they haven't worked out in months. I have friends who are tiny, maybe a size 2 or 4, who eat Taco Bell, KFC, McDonald's, smoke cigarettes, drink juice and pop instead of water, drink alcohol every weekend, and haven't been to a gym in recent memory. It makes me angry. I'm working my ass off (literally) and they sit there, being lazy, and can still look good in a bikini. Some of my friends seem shocked at what I'm doing. "What? You're not drinking?! WHY?!" "They have half off appetizers and $2 beers and you DON'T want to come and pig out?!" "You wake up at 8:00am even on weekends and go to the gym? Saturday and Sundays are for sleeping in and doing nothing!" I've been hearing it all for weeks now, and it's getting old. Excuse me for making sacrifices for my health.
But you know what? In a few years, their magical metabolism will tank, they will feel the effects of the bad food and lack of exercise, and I will be able to run circles around them. I actually think I could run circles around them right now, even with this cold I'm fighting. I am making moves to get healthy and be healthy for the rest of my life. Gone are the days of eating burgers and fries, while drinking full calorie beer. In 10 years, I will still look and feel great. In 20 years, my skin will still be smooth and healthy while all those who smoke cigarettes and don't drink enough water will have wrinkles. I'm not just getting healthy to look good this summer, I'm getting healthy to look good and feel great the rest of my life. My unhealthy friends can have the bad food, alcohol, and soda, while I can have more healthy years added to my life.
I've been reading the blog PriorFatGirl. She started blogging in 2008, so I've got some catching up to do! Let me tell you, that chick has a head on her shoulders. She's real and she talks about all the struggles I'm going through. She'll tells you up front that she's not perfect, she falls off the wagon every now and then, but she also gets right back on. She doesn't let a bad food day get her down, she tells you that she knows what she did wasn't good, (but it tasted good,) but she's ready to get back on track tomorrow. She quoted a book, Skinny Bitch, that really struck a cord with me:
"Recognize that anything worth having is worth fighting for. Good health, vitality, more energy, more confidence, better sex, great abs, a tight ass – you either want ‘em or you don’t. You can continue plodding along in your life feeling like your not living up to your glorious potential or you can dedicate yourself to creating the life you want. F*ck excuses about not having the time or the money. You spend forty hours a week working, or more if you are a working mom. Certainly your health and your body and you are more important than anything else in your life. You are worthless to your colleagues, friends, and family if you do not value yourself enough to take care of you. Yes, you have to put yourself before your friends, parents, boyfriend, husband and even your children."
It's true. You have to fight for good health. There is a reason getting fat happens to people who are too lazy to fight for their health. It's easy, you don't have to put in effort to get fat. Sit on your butt and eat that cheeseburger, drink that 2 liter bottle of Coke, and have some chips on the side. You have to work for it. It's not easy, but if you make the time for it, change how you live, you can be healthy.
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