To The Girl Who Was Offended,

You are hurt, you are upset; are you angry? That’s my only question. Really, truly, deeply consider this question. Are you angry? Not as an initial reaction, not just because being called fat is offensive and rude. Are you truly angry that someone who knows you on a personal level told you that you’re heavy? If you’re happy with your body, say F-it and stay how you are. If that person’s opinion is irrelevant to you, screw them and don’t change yourself for them. If you’re pissed off at that person but don’t find their opinion valid, then keep your voluptuous shape. Are you angry? If you’re angry, change.

This is not an article telling you to change your personality. Never stop being yourself. Don’t only change yourself for other people, but instead work to prove them wrong. Use that anger to motivate yourself into a healthy lifestyle. Kick it into high gear and hope that the next time you see that person who verbally accosted you, they notice that you’ve changed. They’ll think it’s because you wanted to impress them, and on some level, that’s true. But the real reason you’ve changed is because you wanted to throw their words back at them. Spit in their face, without actually spitting.

The first step to self-improvement is mental. Put yourself in a healthy state-of-mind. Decide that you want to change, truly change. Realize what you don’t like about your body, find exercises that’ll fix those areas. Pinterest is great for finding ways to better yourself (or you can just use Google). Make sure to find workout routines that you enjoy. If you hate running, you won’t run and then you’ll never see results; so don’t run for cardio. Make sure to walk, bike, do intensive yoga, anything that gets your heart rate up that you enjoy. Decide when you’ll complete your workout and look up the proper way to execute the exercises that you’ve planned.

The second step is physical. This is a long and involved process. It’ll make you change everything in your life, but that’s the only way we can improve. Start with your eating habits. Give away, throw away, remove all those unhealthy snacks and foods from your house. Start fresh. Most health-nuts say “no carbs” and “no dairy”, but I’d die without pasta and cheese. You just have to rethink how to eat. Instead of eating pasta every night, replace it with quinoa or rice every once in a while. Increase your protein intake and decrease your sugar intake. Cut out soda; it’s horrible for you! Replace it with seltzer or tonic water. Add veggies. If you’re making a lasagna recipe that calls for pasta, cheese, and sauce (aka all lasagnas), add zucchini, peppers, and mushrooms. Increase your fiber, vegetables help with this part too. If you don’t want to eat more fruit and vegetables, you can buy powdered fiber and add it to your drinks. It’s tasteless and dissolves completely in any drink. Drink more water. Ice water burns more calories because it causes your body to warm itself back up - tea is also good with antioxidants and fiber.

Next, comes the exercise. You have your routine chosen, you know how to do the moves, you thought of a schedule that you can follow, you’re mentally ready to start. So start.

Start slow. If your routine called for 15 reps, only do as many as your muscles can handle. If you can do 15, that’s great and do them! But if you collapse after 2 pushups, then stop. Take a 30-second rest, try 2 more and repeat until you’re done. And if you only get up to 5 instead of 15, that’s ok! You’re doing something. You’re on the right track. Eventually, you’ll be strong enough to do the entire routine without breaks. You’re changing yourself, you’re improving yourself. The exercise is hard and this is the part everyone hates. The process is slow and results can’t be seen instantly, but stick with it! Yes, you started to exercise because you were angry and now you’re not, but that doesn’t mean stop. Keep going, keep improving, keep making yourself a better you.

You can do this. You can change. You can prove them wrong. You got this.

Sincerely,

Someone who's on the same boat.