After being on a diet for about three months, limiting myself to around 1950 or so food calories per day, I find it really easy and haven’t been at all tempted to cheat. I’ve lost around 30 lbs or so and am about halfway to what I consider my realistic goal weight, my ideal weight is probably another 10 to 15 lbs down from that. I do some light exercise and take one or two 3 mile walks a day, nothing to brag about, my entire game plan has pretty much boiled down to calories in vs. calories out. I’m not watching carbs or fat and not eating any kind of special diet beyond counting calories. Also I drink water, lots of water, because that suppresses hunger and keeps the liver burning fat, or so I’m told.

So I started wondering how much the average American consumes, and was shocked - 3770 calories per day. No wonder we’re experiencing an epidemic of obesity, and all the health effects that go along with it, hardly anybody stays active enough to regularly eat that much without gaining weight.

Normally I totally hate people who type posts like this, all about the supposedly awesome goddamned bullshit healthy thing they’re doing, like it should matter to anybody else … and it shouldn’t. Really, it shouldn’t at all. I’m not here to fat shame people or motivate anybody or anything. You.are.fucking.beautiful.

But I have to say, look at that list, look at those poor bastards in Eritrea and the DRC getting by on an average of 1590 calories a day. That is actually below the UN minimum recommended for any adult anywhere and well below the amount the average even slightly active American would need to maintain weight. That’s kind of messed up.