Quote:
Originally Posted by J Diddy
You are bliss.
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Nay...I am but a man.
Seriously, though, I said the same shit for years and watched my weight creep up on me. I was never "fat"...but I was fat. I stepped on a scale one day and went "holy shit...I'm 25 pounds heavier than I was when I graduated college a decade ago." A little over a year later, I'm almost 25 pounds lighter and have good muscle tone.
I was out boating and drinking with friends this weekend. The guys were all in our trunks, and it was weird. I was surrounded by fat guys who didn't realize how fat they were. I know this because I was one of them just a year ago. When you look in the mirror the right way, you can convince yourself that you still look okay...but you don't. When all of your friends have beer guts, you can convince yourself that it's just an inevitable part of life...but it's not.
Ten years from now, there's a strong possibility that I will be 25 pounds heavier again. At the very least, hopefully I've set the clock back a decade. I'd like to think that I won't gain it all back. If I do, though, I'm not going to blame genetics or metabolism or the fact that I'm a busy man with a family and a job and no time to stay fit. If I gain it all back, it's because I chose to eat too much and work out too little.
I could sit on my ass watching sports, drinking beer, and eating deep-fried gravy all day every day and love every minute of it. Because I don't want to be fat and unattractive, I stop eating when I'm full instead of when my plate is empty. I run when I'd rather be watching television. I do pushups even though I ****ing HATE doing pushups.
Vanity is what keeps me from letting myself go. It's really no more complicated than that. When my laziness exceeds my vanity, I'll find excuses to eat when I should be working out...and when I weigh 200 pounds instead of 161 pounds, I'll either be disgusted enough to swing the balance back in favor of vanity, or I won't.
It's all a lot more simple than we make it out to be. (Actually, those who are in shape make it simple...those who aren't try to pretend its complicated). Calories in have to be less than calories out. Work out...or don't. Four beers and a skinless chicken breast while watching the game at the bar or ten beers and a mountain of wings. I still choose the latter over the former way too often, but just being disciplined six times out of ten instead of one time or even zero times out of ten makes a tremendous difference.