Alright, pandas! It’s a new year! And I know that of those of you who made New Year’s resolutions, at least half of you resolved to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier or all of the above! (According to statistics from previous years.)
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with those resolutions! Most of us could stand to alter our lifestyles just a tiny bit to be more active or adopt healthier habits. The problem, however, is that becoming healthier can seem extremely difficult in the beginning. It can be hard to opt for oatmeal in the morning when a frosted donut is calling your name, and prying yourself out of a nice, warm bed to go for a run before work while it’s snowing outside could probably be considered torture.
It is always worth it to start living a healthier lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. So to provide a bit of moral support for you, pandas, below, we’ve gathered some of the most hilarious and painfully relatable memes highlighting just how real the struggle of getting fit is. Keep reading to also find a conversation we were lucky enough to have with Katie Foster, the woman behind Runs for Cookies, to hear a bit of her healthy lifestyle journey.
Be sure to upvote the pics that seem to have been made about you, and let us know in the comments what tips have been the most helpful in motivating you to get healthier. Then, if you’re interested in postponing your daily workout even longer, you can find another list from Bored Panda featuring diet and weight loss memes right here! First things first, pandas, I just want to address that you’re all beautiful and wonderful just the way you are. At the start of a new year, we’re all bombarded with ads for gyms, fit-fluencers on Instagram raving about how their programs will change your life, and people promoting diet culture left and right. “You’ll never be healthy if you keep eating carbs” or “I swear, these sugar-free, gluten free, raw, paleo brownies taste JUST as good as the ones your mother bakes!” The extreme diet culture rhetoric that seems impossible to avoid this time of year is simply harmful, so if it’s healthier for you to throw away your scale completely and continue eating the diet that you know works for you, please, by all means, keep doing you. So what if you ate more pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes than you normally would during the past month? I bet they tasted wonderful, and almost everyone else on the planet also indulged during the holiday season! Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for enjoying a great meal with your loved ones during the most wonderful time of the year. Image credits: weight.lossnitro Image credits: bikinichapter But if you’ve been inspired by the dawn of a new year and you think your body could benefit from a few more vegetables and several trips to the gym each week, we support you too! Just remember that adopting a healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint. Having a slice or two of pizza is perfectly healthy every now and then, and you don’t need to throw away all the junk food in your apartment overnight. Start with small, manageable changes, and don’t beat yourself up when you fall out of your fitness routine for a few days or eat a bit more cake than you would have liked to. The most important thing is your mental health, and it’s certainly not beneficial for your mental health to be starving yourself or obsessing over the foods that you’re “not allowed” to eat. Enjoy that birthday cake! (Just try not to eat the whole thing in one sitting. It’ll still taste good tomorrow.) Image credits: weight.lossnitro Image credits: Nech1492 Image credits: deco_chef To gain some more motivation to develop healthier habits, we reached out to an expert on the topic, Michigan-based mom Katie Foster, who has bravely documented her journey with health and fitness on her blog, Runs for Cookies. First, we wanted to hear a bit about how Katie got where she is today, after losing 125 pounds. “The best way to put it would be a roller coaster,” she told Bored Panda. “I have times where things go very smoothly and everything goes great; then there are times where I feel like I just fell off the track and my whole plan just falls apart. Staying disciplined is SO hard--something I have to think about every single day--and it's exhausting! In the end, though, it's been entirely worth it.” Image credits: lauras_healthy_eating Image credits: joeyissojoeyisfat Image credits: funnyweightloss We were also curious how Katie’s life has improved since she committed to adopting a healthier lifestyle. “I can do so much more than I did when I was obese,” she shared. “I am active now. Rather than meeting a friend for lunch, I'll meet them for a walk; when someone asks me to go for a hike or something like that, I know that I can actually do it (before, I would have made excuses because I knew I didn't have the ability to do it). I've learned that my body feels terrible when I make poor food choices, and it feels good when I eat healthy. Becoming vegan a year ago changed my life because it eliminated chronic fibromyalgia pain.” Image credits: funnyweightloss Image credits: Sniperm0nke Image credits: drivenlife.coaching Katie also shared some of her best tips with us for how to adopt a healthier lifestyle without becoming miserable. “I always tell people not to make any changes that they're not willing to make forever,” she told Bored Panda. “Yes, we can work out for an hour six days a week--but is that something we're willing to do forever? (I'm not!) Yes, we can eliminate carbs from our diet, but is that something we're willing to do forever? (Heck no! Me, anyway.) I decided I was willing to run three miles, three days a week--that was my commitment to exercise.” Image credits: essentialreleaf Image credits: funnyweightloss Image credits: cinniminy “I also believe that we should make our new lifestyles work for us, rather than trying to manipulate our lives to fit into a particular lifestyle,” Katie noted. “We can make our own plans based on our goals and what we're willing to do. I counted calories, but there was no way that I was willing to eat just 1200 calories a day, which was the recommendation from some popular calorie counting apps. I made my own rules, and I think that was key to being able to stick with this for the last 13 years. (However, like I said, it's a roller coaster--there have been days, weeks, months that I lost focus. It's hard! But not as hard as being obese was.)” Image credits: rjtraining_ Image credits: nochill Image credits: thenewyouplan Katie also shares healthy recipes on her blog (that look delicious!), so I asked if she could recommend a couple of her favorites that anyone would enjoy. “A recipe that always shocks people when they learn what's in it is Cookie Dough Dip– it's probably the healthiest junk food I've ever made,” she told Bored Panda. “The ingredients sound very strange (and not very appealing) but once you taste it, you'll get addicted. (The surprise ingredient is chick peas.) It's heavenly!” “Another recipe that I love is Spicy Peanut Noodle Bowls,” Katie added. “I created this after visiting a friend in Portland and eating something very similar. I love spicy Asian-inspired dishes, and this one is a favorite! It's super easy to make at home and save on money and calories.” If your mouth is watering as much as mine is, be sure to give Katie’s blog, Runs for Cookies, a visit right here. You can hear more about her inspiring journey and find even more fabulous, wholesome recipes! Image credits: based.gym.memes Image credits: gonememing I consider myself to be pretty healthy. I've eaten a plant based diet for the past 6 years, walking is my main mode of transportation, I work out a few times a week, and I drink ungodly amounts of water. But I am by no means in peak physical condition. I sit at a desk for 8 hours each week day, and I have managed to develop sciatica in my 20s (which feels completely unfair!). So without any formal New Year’s resolutions, I too would like to develop some slightly healthier habits this year. Recently, I’ve been making an effort to stretch more often and squeeze more vegetables into my day, but to gain even more motivation to adopt healthier habits, I consulted this article on Healthline breaking down the benefits of becoming healthier. The first reason we should all be concerned about picking up healthier habits is because it can reduce our risk of disease. One 2020 study found that after only 8 weeks of following a standard American diet rich in fruits and vegetables, the participants’ risk of cardiovascular disease had decreased. Another 2020 study found that every 66-gram increase in daily fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. How’s that healthy eating sounding now? Image credits: Dami_Gamer0211 Image credits: Djblue23 Image credits: coachjosephwebb By becoming healthier, it only makes sense that your lifespan will be increased as well, right? According to the American Heart Association, individuals who reach the age of 50 without smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, keeping active regularly, eating a balanced diet, and keeping alcohol consumption to a minimum are likely to live up to 14 years longer than their peers who engage in less healthy habits. If you want to be around for your grandchildren’s weddings or to take plenty of trips in your retirement, it might be time to start focusing on your health a bit more seriously. Plus, taking care of yourself can also be taking care of the environment! According to a 2013 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Raising livestock for meat and dairy makes up 14.5% of human-created greenhouse gasses.” However, “if every American cut their weekly beef consumption by one quarter of a pound, the decrease in global warming gas emissions would be the equivalent of taking 4-6 million cards off the road.” At the same time, you can actually take your car off the road by choosing to walk or bike more often, which will be great for your body and the planet. Image credits: weight.lossinspiration Image credits: Majorpain2006 Image credits: iamvasundhara I don’t know about you pandas, but I’m craving a great workout and a smoothie! Then I’ll probably have pizza for dinner. Everything in moderation! We hope you’re enjoying these hilarious memes, and if you find them extremely relatable, remember not to be too hard on yourself. It’s never too late to start getting healthy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Keep upvoting the pics that remind you of yourself, and let us know in the comments what lifestyle changes have helped you become healthier. Then, if you’re looking for another Bored Panda article discussing the struggle of getting fit, check out this list next! Image credits: nerd_fitness Image credits: 2guyshangingoutnaked Image credits: instantlykit Image credits: theflexibledieting Image credits: reddit.com Image credits: 0_0Tatsuki0_0 Image credits: tiedyesunflowers08 Image credits: 6memecap9 Image credits: theregularfit Image credits: mamakkk Image credits: Randsome_ Image credits: SnowGuardian1 Image credits: ananizapta Image credits: shansfitlife_ Image credits: highdmemelocker Image credits: info_diet4you Image credits: le_french_onion Image credits: lesleyjseymour Image credits: bettereverydaylife Image credits: funnyweightloss Image credits: SandandS0n Image credits: lesleyjseymour Image credits: chezzaslosingit Image credits: okinawa_helper_21 Image credits: ms.samhtr Image credits: Jome007 Image credits: tom.clark.icarus Image credits: funnyweightloss Image credits: superbloggity Image credits: reversol_ Image credits: SavageCreature Image credits: acidinthebox Image credits: snaxx_aus Image credits: based.gym.memes Image credits: lesleyjseymour Image credits: theregularfit Image credits: averagedietingguy Image credits: edencathleen86 Image credits: le_french_onion Image credits: essentialreleaf Image credits: cloudologist Image credits: rezruiz Image credits: astonhealthandfitness Image credits: SalaciousCrumb17 Image credits: memeprince.za Image credits: thenewyouplan Image credits: momsanitysisters Image credits: art101vandalay Image credits: chefboyarleezy Image credits: drmelina Image credits: funnyweightloss Image credits: letsgogrub Image credits: deliciouschengdu Image credits: Mookie_Merkk Image credits: Holofan4life Image credits: _ohmymeme Image credits: DavidBadGamer420 Image credits: lazygirlfitness101_ Image credits: eviesfitjourney Image credits: epiksmiles Image credits: funnyweightloss Image credits: vaultdweller501#1
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This post first appeared on How Movie Actors Look Without Their Makeup And Costume, please read the originial post: here