So, I'm here to talk to you about a lie that has found it's way into the zeitgeist. You will see this lie in advertisements and on news shows: Getting fit is easy. The fact is that it isn't. We want to believe that there's a magic pill or diet that will act as a cure all because we want easy and instant results, but there isn't one, and telling people that something like that is out there because you want to sell product is damaging to those people. To lose weight you need to improve your diet and get some exercise. Even then you may or may not get thin with these changes since genetics has way more to do with it then anyone will tell you. Exercise should be about getting healthier, and not about getting thin. In fact, being thin or fat doesn't guarantee a level of health.
There is a popular trend among health experts: telling people that they "just need" 30 minutes to an hour of exercise a day. Telling people that "All you need is just an hour of exercise a day" makes it sound easy; they will surely try to do that, which is good. However, if they are people who haven't exercised in a long time then even 30 minutes of work out will make them feel like they are dying. I know this from experience. It isn't easy at first. It hurts, you get sweaty and tired, and your self esteem gets damaged from not being able to work out like people who have done it for longer then you have. You haven't built up a tolerance to the pain that comes from working out. Experts will try to trick people into working out and while I respect the want to get people healthy, it is a genuine problem in the world, not being realistic about it makes people give up fairly early in the process. After the weeks and months it takes to turn it into a habit it gets better, but until that point you will want to murder healthy people in their skinny fucking faces. Stick with it, and eventually you might get a little better, at the very least a little bit healthier. It is the classic solution, a little work now for less work later.
As for healthy diets, it is essentially class warfare at this point. People like Jamie Oliver can make claims about how eating healthy is something everyone can do always ignore one factor: income. The lower your income the less healthy foods you can afford. That links to a study that shows that it is more expensive per person to feed people healthily than to just eat junk food. Both of my parents worked two jobs when I was growing up. They didn't have as much money to spend on food or time to prepare it in. Since they worked at jobs in the food service industry they brought home meals from work because it was cheaper and faster than going to a store and buying ingredients to cook a healthy meal. Time and money are at a premium in low income families, so you will tend to eat out more since $1 for a hamburger is faster and cheaper than doing it yourself. To make things worse food made at restaurants (of both the fast food and sit down varieties) is much less healthy for you. So, without larger social changes, encouraging people in low income areas to eat healthier isn't so much a solution as victim blaming
One last point I would like to make is that there is a stigma against overweight people in the west. If you are fat you are considered stupid, lazy, disgusting, and all around less than human. People who are overweight tend to be hired less, make less money, and ultimately have less self esteem. They are also at a disincentive to get better. If you are working out and overweight the judgement and perceived judgement from people around you is liable to make you give up, even if it goes unspoken. This means that overweight people will be less likely to go and work out. There is a way to make this better for overweight people: find support. No, not like a girdle, I mean like emotional support. Not necessarily like Weight Watchers, but a person or group that you can get emotional support from (and return as well, don't be a dick) to help you get over the majority of that stigma. You will always feel bad about yourself if you have low self esteem, but the support of another person will make the task more bearable.
Basically with support, realistic expectations, and hard work you can make yourself a little healthier. Actually I think those three things are basically necessary for anything you want to accomplish. Just remember: "Sucking at something is the first step at being sort of good at something"
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