One Simple Change In Your Diet

How has obesity affected your life?

When I was in 8^th grade, I was required to get a physical before I could participate in a sport (whether I actually played or not). Let me repeat. This was 8^th grade. I was 13. I played basketball. Well, I rode the bench but that’s beside the point. My physical results said that I was overweight and really close to being obese. How are you supposed to react to news like that in one of your most tender stages of life? I was so upset. I wasn’t any good at sports and now these nurses were calling me fat. My mom tried to make me feel better saying that those tests were for kids and I was the size of an adult, but it didn’t work. I convinced her to let me try diets with her and we got gym memberships and I started doing everything I could so that the next time I had a physical, I would be at a healthy weight. Looking back at pictures that I found from eighth grade, I was THIN compared to how I look now. Unfortunately, this moment from eighth grade is the origin of my unhealthy self-image. Now, at 20 years old, my weight is considered healthy. Although those moments of insecurity still creep into my mind, I always go back to my goal of getting stronger instead of more beautiful.

Arkansas, my home state, has one of the highest obesity rates in the United States. I found that it is actually the second highest, after Mississippi, with almost a 40% rate. These rates can be caused by a number of things like lifestyles, average income, or genetics.

Yes, all of those are valid reasons, but let me ask you a question. Which of the following is more expensive?

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Fast food has been a part of the American diet for several decades. A lot of the time, Americans are just in need of convenient meals. According to a Harvard Study, “The healthiest diets cost about $1.50 more per day than the least healthy diets.” They computed that to be about $550 dollars extra per year for a single person. Imagine the cost of having to provide healthy meals for more than yourself.

(You can read more about that study here)

Since the unhealthy option is usually the cheaper one, people will probably buy that unhealthy meal. What do you get from eating a lot of cheap fast food? Lots of unhealthy calories. The number of calories that you need in a day depends on your body type and the goal you are trying to achieve. Although the prevalence of obesity is significant in the United States and lots of people are trying to lose weight, that isn’t always the case. For example, my boyfriend has been supporting me in this journey of getting physically stronger and has been going to the gym with me and he’s trying to get stronger as well. The preferred number of calories that he needs for muscle gain is close to twice as much as the amount he was eating! It is an insane jump, but I’ve been trying to help him, especially with food prepping. Getting a lot of calories from healthy food is definitely the biggest challenge he encounters when he tries to decide what to eat. Sure, you can eat a ton of calories by eating junk food, but that is not going to get you the results you want. If you are trying to lose weight, you definitely don’t want those bad calories. I calculated my calories needed each day using several different websites to get a range instead of one single number. After I got that range, I looked at macronutrients and I plan my meals to get the amounts I need. Sticking to this plan makes me feel a lot better about the foods I eat, gives me more energy, and overall works wonders in making me feel good about myself.

As a college kid, I have a schedule that is jam-packed from Sunday to Saturday. Dieting is no fun and I kind of stink at it, but I have found something that works for me and leaves me feeling good about what I’m eating.  I recently started a Keto-entwined diet, so a lot of these recipes are Keto approved, and I try to keep them meal prep friendly for busy people. I only post the good recipes I find so if there aren’t a lot, it’s because I’m still searching and trying them. See if you can find one you think you would like! You can get to the page through my home page or by clicking here.