Overweight Bullsh!t

When it comes to getting skinny, you either really mean it or you don’t. You’re either going to commit and do all the sh*t you don’t feel like doing, or you’re not. You’re either going to end up attractive and skinny with more energy, or fat and tired with more disease. It’s your choice and your choice only.

That’s it. There is no third option. Skinny or fat.

Not many of us can get through a day without making some kind of BS excuse for something. “I didn’t study because I thought the test was on Friday.” “I didn’t get to the gym because my neighbor needed a lift to the grocery store.” And the German chocolate cake you bought at the store, which is right down the road from your gym…. How do you explain that?

Yes, your Spanx is creating a nice illusion. That’s not the same as truly getting healthy.​

BS Excuse #1: I have a slow metabolism.

I have a slow metabolism.

There’s nothing like some good ol’ science to blow up a BS excuse, so let me throw a little at you right now. Many studies have been done on metabolic rates, and these studies have found that the metabolic rates of obese people are NOT significantly lower than those of “normal” people. Certainly not enough to make a meaningful difference in weight.

Do you know what else these studies found? Even pure fat AT REST burns calories, and metabolic rates, more often than not, go up as body fat increases not down.

SO LET’S PUT THIS METABOLISM EXCUSE TO BED. IT’S A LOAD OF BULL AND YOU KNOW IT.

You do not have a slow metabolism. It is a myth. What you DO have is a propensity to eat a bag of Doritos with a 2-liter bottle of Coke while watching “Dancing with the Stars.” You’re fat because you’re eating WAY too many calories. Period.

BS Excuse #2: I’m getting older and it’s harder to keep weight off.

I’m getting older and it’s harder to keep weight off.

Did you see the movie Gravity? If you did, you would have seen that Sandra Bullock spent most of her screen time in tiny panties and a tank top. The woman is 51 years old. Seen Julia Louis-Dreyfus lately? The woman looks sensational and fit as a fiddle. She’s 54. These women have either started menopause or are perhaps even in full-blown mode.

So many women, and I’ve known plenty of them, blame their age or menopause for being overweight. They think hormonal changes are causing their once skinny ass to spread and their arms to grow flabby wings. Most doctors enable this kind of thinking in their patients so as not to tick off the moody lady in their office.

Weight gain is caused by simple math, not by hormones. Not by age. If you take in more calories than you use in a single day, you will gain weight. That is a fact. If your age has slowed you down in other ways, perhaps you’re not burning as many calories through your regular activities as you once did. Fine. Your body no longer needs the extra intake of calories, so you have to cut back to stay skinny. You have to. That is the big secret formula for those enviable skinny women in their 40s and 50s. They don’t eat more than their bodies need.

Take in fewer calories than you burn in a day and you will lose weight. Should a menopausal woman find herself stranded in her car for a week because of a snowstorm with nothing to eat besides 3 Ricola cough drops, believe me, she will lose weight despite her hormonal shift. And you will too. The solution is very simple.

BS Excuse #3: Exercise is too hard.

Exercise is too hard.

It’s only hard because you’ve used your muscles for little else in the past 7 years than opening pints of Ben & Jerry’s and handing over your debit card to the lady at the Dunkin Donuts drive-through.

Life is full of many things that are hard. Getting dialysis three times a week because the diabetes finally killed your kidneys—that’s really hard. Sitting through your daughter’s wedding with a ripped seam up your skirt because it tore when you bent over—that’s going to be hard too. Humiliating, actually.

Fat, exhausted, and tackling one chronic illness after the next, let me tell you, that’s going to suck more than anything. Because you have no one to blame but yourself. Some people go blind but they can shake their fists at God and say, “Why me?”

But if you find yourself in 5 to 10 years unable to walk up and down stairs, play with your kids, or deal with your mounting health problems, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

And from personal experience, I can tell you, self-loathing is about as crappy as it gets.

Spending 45 minutes walking on a treadmill while watching TV on your iPad is so much easier than hating yourself for being fat and lazy. It’s just not asking much of yourself. Eating less and moving more. It’s not writing a novel. It’s not overcoming the loss of a loved one. It’s just eating less and moving more.

Being skinny is one of the easiest things you can achieve. If you really want to.

BS Excuse #4: Eating healthy is Expensive

Eating healthy is Expensive

Bullshit! Eating healthy also means eating WAY less. Go to the grocery store this evening and buy yourself makings for a kale salad and a lean protein. That’s dinner. You don’t need dessert. Splurge on a piece of fruit if you crave something sweet.

Calorie for calorie, you may have an argument that healthy food is more expensive. You can buy a 5000-calorie meal at McDonalds for under $10 and fatten yourself up. If you plan on fasting for the next two days, you might be okay. You’re probably only burning 1500-1800 calories a day, so you will never be skinny with a fast food eating habit.

Buying 5,000 calories worth of fresh food will cost you more than it does at McDonald’s, but it will feed you for almost three days. That’s right. Three days. If you’re eating what you’re burning, you don’t need much. That means being skinny is technically easier than being fat. You don’t need to do much in the eating department. The less, the better. Munch on some arugula and get on with your life.

BS Excuse #5 – “People should accept me as I am.”

People should accept me as I am.

Why?

This one really gets me. Having been considerably overweight at one point, I’m going to say what I really think about this one.

Why should we accept that you don’t give a crap about yourself and you’re harming yourself?

Why do you think loved ones beg each other to stop drinking and taking drugs, or to stop smoking? Why do you think it’s okay to eat junk, not exercise, and become fat? Why should anyone, let alone yourself, condone that behavior?

Why do we stop girls from cutting themselves? Should we just accept them as they are?

This is the worst excuse of them all because you want to put the blame anywhere other than where it really belongs. On you.

Skinny is attractive because it is healthy. This is not a social or media construct. The only societies in which fat is attractive are those where it is an indication of wealth. The rest of the world is attracted to healthy, fit bodies. It’s human nature to be drawn to vitality.

Here’s a reality check…. Being fat means you are harming yourself—period. Why should anyone find that beautiful? You know what’s beautiful? Self-love, self-care, self-respect. THAT’S beautiful. You being 50 pounds overweight and unable to catch your breath walking up 2 flights is tragic.

There’s a Better Way

Bad choices catch up to you; they always do. They probably already have or you wouldn’t still be reading. Your health may be holding up, but your confidence and self-worth are clearly in the gutter. Being skinny is one of the easiest things you can do, with one of the greatest rewards attached. Make a different choice.

The greatest and kindest thing you can do for yourself today, right now, is to recognize the fact that you constantly make excuses for your weight and poor health. Stop lying to yourself and take responsibility. This will lighten a huge emotional load. When you find yourself reaching for junk food, simply admit, “I’m choosing this cookie over myself.” Go ahead and eat it if you want, but own the choice. Make a habit of ownership and your habits will get easier to change.

Once you start mentally and emotionally treating yourself with honesty, you’ll naturally want to treat your body better too.

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