Women are bombarded by images of fit, thin, and beautiful babes all day long. This isn’t going to be a feminist rant about the unrealistic expectations women face in today’s society. That has been discussed ad nauseum and is not the point I am trying to make. There are millions of “get thin quick” promises and diet regimes and exercise plans that can be accessed for free, for $5, or for hundreds of dollars. It takes a long time to weed through the formulas on how to get thin. I have spent the last 5 years reading fitness blogs, magazines, scientific research papers, celebrity ghost-written diet books, following Instagram fembots, asking Google, and asking friends and family and strangers how they would go about getting into shape. There are so many different opinions and it has taken me 5 years of fad diets and quick fixes to finally get serious and start practicing cleaner eating habits and daily exercise.
This is the obvious part: there is no easy way to be thin and pretty and strong. It takes 3 things:
1) Full commitment: Nobody has ever gotten into great shape by being half committed to the process. If you want serious results, you need to be seriously committed. Dieting Monday to Thursday and then binge drinking and eating whatever you want all weekend will not work. You need to change your lifestyle. 99% of the fittest women you follow on Instagram do not drink, do not party, and do not snack on cocktail weenies at social gatherings. It is a sacrifice and it all comes down to how badly they want to be healthy and lean and happy.
2) Reasonable expectations: If you gain 20 pounds in 2 years, it is not reasonable to expect to lose 20 pounds in a month. It takes time. Sorry. You need to commit to a lengthy journey and process if you want to safely lose and maintain your weight loss. A pound a week is probably optimistic if you only have 10-20 pounds to lose. If you are much heavier, then it is probably safe and easier to lose a few pounds a week with steady diet and exercise. Although I have never let myself get heavier than that, so I guess I shouldn’t speak on how easy it is to lose weight when you are morbidly obese. Another thing, is most the women who posts these ultra ripped photos showing off their abs and ridiculous cut muscles do not look like that every day. They train to look like that. It is not normal so expecting those results requires an insane amount of knowledge and work.
3) Misery: Because forcing yourself to exercise sucks. It takes a while before you actually look forward to exercising. I look forward to parts of my routines.. sometimes.. but I have never woken up and thought “Holy crap I can’t wait to put my running shoes on and hit elliptical and do interval training!” and I probably never will feel like that. Instead, I play a game with myself every morning seeing how long I can relax and drink coffee before I make myself get my ass in gear and go work out. Note: Misery is followed by Joy when the workout is over! Restricting your diet to healthy foods, reducing your sugar intake, and paying attention to the food you put in your mouth can also be depressing and takes a bit of getting used to. My Fitness Pal is an easy app to use and it helps to be more aware of how crappy your eating habits are.
Now, I am sure there are going to be some girls who read this and protest and insist “they love working out” and “they don’t diet, they just like eating raw vegetables and juicing and don’t crave sugar”. That’s fine and great for them. But I’m going to guess that these girls are lying.. either to me or to themselves. The truth is, being fit is hard work. If it isn’t hard work, then you are doing it wrong.
Now, I have read a lot of feminist articles and blogs about how women should love their bodies the way they are and be proud to be “curvy” or “round”. This sort of irks me for a few reasons. First of all, I have nothing against larger women because I am a tall, curvy, booby and booty kind of girl myself. I do have to say that I get annoyed when I see blogs written by obese women praising themselves for being who they really are and how everyone should love themselves no matter what size they are. I call bullshit. Being overweight causes so many health problems that are avoidable by diet and exercise. As a result, our healthcare system gets flooded by these (avoidable) problems. My girlfriends father is a physician and he tells her all the time how many patients he sees whose problems are all caused from poor eating habits and lack of exercise. This is not a lifestyle that should be celebrated. I’m sorry. If you are overweight and happy with your body and your life, great! Excellent! I am happy for you! But it is insulting to be scoffed at for wanting a better lifestyle and a healthier physique. I work out and eat clean for myself because I LOVE my body. It is hard to believe that a morbidly obese person LOVES their body. If that were true, then they would do all they could to treat it like a temple. Stop being advocates of LAZY lifestyles while the rest of us work for ours!
Secondly, women get criticized for healthy eating habits because “it’s awkward at restaurants” or they are “too picky”. In one blog… should I? Ya I’m going to. In THIS blog, the author pretty much mocks women who eat small portions and healthy foods. I get it.. people on diets can’t eat and drink like people who aren’t on diets. But that is part of their lifestyle and their choice to be healthier. You don’t have to eat a greasy cheeseburger or chicken alfredo to have a good time. You don’t need to drink 2 bottles of wine to be social. I understand that it sucks not being able to eat fatty sugary foods and drink booze all the time, but you shouldn’t be ashamed to be working on your health.
She’s a definite type. You know her. Or seven of her. She’s the woman who brings fruit and yogurt to the office pizza party. The one who orders her sandwich on lettuce because she’s “watching her carbs.” She’s the one you notice ordering, because she orders in such a way you can’t help but notice, and her set of restrictions makes her seem like not a very fun person. It’s not fair, but it’s true.
No wonder women struggle with their weight. In our society, it’s “attractive” to eat pizza and drink beer, but it’s also “attractive” to be thin and fit and beautiful. Well I’m sorry, world. This is just not possible. So to the haters and the lazy women who complain about their “extra 15 pounds” or how “they love their large and in charge bodies”, I say, stop making excuses for yourself to be unfit. Go ahead and love your fat but don’t bully other women who are trying to eat healthy by saying they are “unfun” or “don’t love themselves”.
Getting into shape and living a healthy lifestyle is hard enough as it is without a world full of haters making it even harder! So if you are like me and you are making an effort to be thinner and stronger and make better eating decisions, congrats! You know what it takes. You also know that you have to do it for YOU, not so other people will think you are a better person. Do it for your happiness! Ignore the lazy ignorant people in the world! They will never feel the satisfaction of being truly happy in their own bodies 🙂