Often, I find modern culture and society to be a tad too puzzling. You see, in America we’re facing, let’s not beat around the bush here, a very big (no pun intended) obesity epidemic within the general population. And yet, for some reason, and I’m speaking from personal experience here, people who love to workout and enjoy eating healthy on a regular basis are the ones who tend to be socially shamed instead.
My guess is that a lot of people are probably reading this thinking that I’m making this acknowledgement up and that obviously the ones who eat poorly and fail to workout are the people whom society frowns upon. I mean sure, I’m not saying that isn’t somewhat the case; however, comparatively, people who are health-conscious and love to workout on a regular, day-to-day basis are ridiculed even more often.
This issue is often overlooked, however, because it tends to fly under the radar—people fail to realize how health fanatics struggle to defend their passion for overall fitness. I think the underlying issue here is that, ultimately, modern America is so immune to the constant bombardment of promotions/advertisements for junk food, laziness, and overall unhealthiness, that we as a country have become brainwashed into believing that all of these detrimental traits are normal and maybe even good.
Since we have been mislead for so long into thinking that unhealthy behaviors and inclinations are okay, they have seemingly become the expected norm. Consequently, Americans who love to avoid processed foods, to workout, to eat clean, etc., are reprimanded. The general American population looks at health enthusiasts and, from what I’ve seen and encountered, asks something along the lines of, “Why are they so hard on themselves? They should live a little! A couple cookies and a day without working out won’t kill them!” And those people are absolutely correct—a couple of cookies and missing a workout or two is most definitely not going to hurt those who are actively health conscious.
But, you see, that’s missing the point. Health nuts, like myself, don’t participate in the habits and routines that we do in order to punish ourselves! Quite the contrary, actually. More often than not it’s because we love our bodies and appreciate the opportunity to take care of it, knowing full well just how amazing and capable our bodies are and can be when healthfully taken care of.
For whatever reason, and my best guess is that unless you personally are passionately into health you’re probably not able to understand this viewpoint, people who are excited to participate in an all-around healthy lifestyle have their sanity questioned regularly. And to a certain degree, this makes sense—again, as stated formerly, society has pounded ideas pertaining to health/fitness burdensome to our time and money. Thus, our minds have been rewired into supposing that while it may not be great to consume fast food or skip a workout, it’s better than fully embracing a lifestyle that engages in constantly striving for healthiness.
Ultimately, I do not think that people who choose to be constantly aware of what types of food they’re putting into their body or how many days a week they break a sweat should be shamed merely for enthusiastic about such, just as people who choose the polar opposite of such shouldn’t be degraded either for the choices they make! Whatever health-related lifestyle you choose to partake in, do so without questioning or judging those of others—because, believe it or not, some of us genuinely enjoy eating a salad and going for a run just as much as others enjoy biting into a burger and kicking back to watch TV.
Personally, I think it gets exhausting trying to justify my reasons for eating a salad or skipping dessert or trying squeeze in a workout, and I can can’t imagine I’m the only one in this position; whether or not other people realize it, I/we eat healthy not out of fear or restriction, but because we truthfully and simply want to. So, whatever way of living you choose to embrace, do so unapologetically and without bashing on others’ personal health choices—just do what makes you happiest.
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