[Meta] My perspective on F2F

Last week I posted my weight loss progress to this subreddit. The response I got was... Less than fruitful to say the least. I want to make a few things clear to some people who don't want to take the time to understand a person's situation as well as perhaps explain myself better, and shed some light on what I think of F2F days on FPS as a whole. Let me start with 4 integral points to present my case.

1. First off I want to say that not everyone wants to completely dedicate their lives to working out and bodybuilding. Some people want to pursue passions like art or music. So when they decide to change their lifestyle and improve their health, they aren't gonna put working out and exercising before their passions. You have to have your priorities. Take for example I'm a video editor and 3D animator. Yes, I work-out and exercise in my freetime to achieve a healthier body, but that doesn't mean I put going to the gym for 3 or more hours everyday over pursuing my career goals or education. And that doesn't mean I'm going to stop working out either, it just means I know what I love to do. I would not be envious of a person who could in fact balance a rigorous work-out schedule with a dedication to art and animation, I would applaud such a feat. However, I am not one of those people. I have a demanding job I work 40 hours a week and balancing that with my education in art and animation, as well as working-out doesn't always leave time to devote more than 2 hours to the gym daily. Of course it would be ignorant of me to assume anyone else showing off their progress in F2F days isn't an artist or animator. I am not one to make assumptions about other people, I am only presenting my case right now. If my case happens to speak for others too in the same situation then, hey more power to us. We are doing what we can to become healthier people.

2. You do not have to have abs or muscular arms to be healthy. Someone does not have to have abs to be considered normal weight. Take for example, I just want to be "flat". You know, no protruding stomach or lovehandles or ass. Being "flat" doesn't necessarily guarantee abs, it just means you have a really low body fat percentage. And to me, I consider that healthy because it means you are normal weight. Yeah, you might not have abs or really big arms, but you are healthy. If I am to use a celebrity example, Pewdiepie, or Felix Kjellberg. We've seen him topless many times before in his videos. He does not have six-pack abs but he is of normal weight and healthy.

3. Any weight loss, no matter how big or how small, no matter how long it took to achieve it, is worth celebrating. I was 215 pounds at 5 foot 5 in January 2017 and have lost 30 pounds in the past 5 months. Yeah I know that's slow progress but it's worth something and I intend to keep going no matter what haters say. I even dropped down to a size 34 pants so I really don't care what people say, I'm doing great.

4. And finally, don't fault someone for skipping a few days working out. Take me for example. My Dad who I haven't seen in a year came over to visit me from his homestate this weekend. We spend a lot of father-son time together and it was great and refreshing. I gave up going to the gym those 3 days I spent with him because I wanted to devote as much time as possible to doing things with my Dad. This same situation can apply to someone having to attend a wedding, or going to their child's baseball game. Don't fault someone for skipping a day working out. Everyone has to know their priorities in life and it would be ignorant of you to accuse someone of being lazy when you don't know what their priorities are. Take for example again, I am going on a 4 day vacation this August to a video production convention in another state. During that time I will be off from gym. Does this mean I will not return to doing gym everyday when I get back from vacation? NO it does not. I will always continue to workout and lose weight no matter what. Always remember, losing weight happens in the kitchen before it does the gym.

I know FatHate is still very active on this sub, and the mods do all they can to keep them out. I just wanted to voice my thoughts on F2F as well. Maybe try my best to get through and make the haters understand another person's situation. Might seem like an utterly pointless pursuit but it's worth trying. If this doesn't work the best I can hope for is to be proven wrong in someway to further conversation on this sub. I've always been an optimistic person. I believe even people who dedicate themselves to hating a certain group of people, can still find it in themselves to not be entirely prejudiced. To stay open-minded is a key part to living a happy life. Then again this is the internet so perhaps this whole rambling I'm doing right now is utterly pointless but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Have a great day guys! I'm off to the gym since I skipped the past 3 days to be with my Dad. <3