Sometimes I'm sensitive about my weight, but it's rare. Usually I think it's hilarious how worried people are about a number they read on a scale. They should be way more worried about their general health. For example, I have two heart problems so I exercise now so my doctors don't yell at me. However, like everybody else, I fall off the bandwagon of yogurt every morning and grilled chicken for dinner (it gets pretty old).
So, now I have something to say that my ex-boyfriend would find all too satisfying: I gained 20 pounds in the first 30 days of summer. In case you didn't know, that's two thirds of a pound every single day for a month. I guess that coveted "summer body" really wasn't in the cards for me this year.
At first, I was concerned about the rapid weight gain but I reasoned it out that I'd lost 10 pounds during the school year. So in total, I have really only gained 10 pounds in 365 days. Which isn't that bad for freshman year, right? Math majors are pretty talented at playing with numbers so they don't sound nearly as bad. Everything is okay until I really focus on what I did in that first month of summer to gain 20 pounds. I think we should start things out with this stream of pictures:
Just in case you didn't realize it, that last picture is from the next night. I'm drinking a large vanilla milkshake from Chick-fil-A. I'd like to say that I regret the food decisions that I made. That I'd never do it again and that I feel absolutely disgusted with myself. But I'm going to be completely honest.
I don't regret a single milkshake, waffle, corndog, steak, fry, slice of pizza, donut, chicken nugget, soda or McGriddle I've eaten. Food is an amazing part of life and people who don't accept that are in complete denial. I'll yield in the fact that most of the food I was eating that first month was completely clogging my arteries and infuriating my doctors, but I'll always reflect on the month that I ate every single time I was hungry and I ate whatever I was craving.
There wasn't any hesitation in ordering the thing with 1,000 calories on the menu that every dieter craved. If I wanted to add extra cheese or goetta, I would. If there was a double cheese burger with loaded bacon fries, I'd eat it. Fried chicken and waffles were a must-have at Taste of Belgium. Everything else on the menu was irrelevant.
I acknowledge that 20 pounds is a little bit insane, so now I'm working out every day and eating much healthier (excluding my Kroger, White Castle and IHOP night).
However, if I acknowledge that I need to be healthier now, I insist that you recognize and admire the effort that it took to gain almost a pound a day. It's not for everybody but if you ever choose to let loose for a month, make sure you document every second of it.
