Quit Making Excuses.

Now that we're into the month of March, it's safe to say that nearly everyone whom made a New Year's resolution to lose weight has officially given up. They're back to drinking sugary Starbucks coffee by the gallon and straight-lining McDonald's french fries right into their blood stream.

If you're going to guzzle Gatorade, at least exercise hard like the athletes in their television commercials.

Coincidentally, it's also the time of year where people begin making excuses for being overweight and unhealthy.

• I just had a baby.
• My kid(s) made me fat.
• I work too much.
• My hormones are all messed up.
• My metabolism is slow.
• I don't have time to watch what I eat.
• I'm too poor to eat healthy.
• I don't cook my own meals.
• I have X condition that makes me unable to exercise.

I have a message for you -- quit making excuses.

If you are overweight and/or in poor health, then it is (except in rare medical cases) your own choice. I speak from experience. For years, I failed to eat right, didn't exercise and generally disregarded my own physical health. I used food as a crutch for my emotional distress. When I got stressed out, I ate. When I got sad, I ate. When I got angry, I ate. It was my own fault. It wasn't until I was willing to be honest with myself that I could begin to change.

You see, that's the one talent that many overweight people share -- they're really skillful at lying to themselves.

What upsets me even more is the current environment we've crafted within our society that makes it so easy to be overweight. If anything, we now live in a country where you absolutely must accept someone being fat. Otherwise, you're fat shaming them. I'll paraphrase this position:

"How rude of people that are encouraging proper health and exercise. You MUST love me for being fat. Fat is beautiful!"

Ugh. Eat some cauliflower and shut up, would you?

You want to know why you believe fat is beautiful? Because you're too lazy (or unwilling) to improve your physical health. Instead of making a change for the better, you've settled into your obese frame and given up. To make it appear as if that's your own choice, you now want others to accept your girth as a supposed statement of beauty.

Let me be clear -- all people can be beautiful, no matter their physical size. As a heterosexual male, I believe a woman can be 90 lbs., 160 lbs. or 250 lbs. and still be gorgeous and attractive. When I was a single man, I never selected who I dated based upon their size. It just wasn't an issue. You can be overweight and beautiful at the same time. One is not dependent upon the other, though.

If you want to be overweight, then be overweight. That is your choice and I'm okay with that. I will never tear you down or be negative to you over your size. All I ask is that you stop making excuses for your size. Own up to your choice. I'll respect you a lot more if you're just honest about it. And by all means, don't you dare expect others (especially those whom are working to improve their health) to accept your choice as anything but that -- a choice.

Full Disclosure -- I am overweight. I don't want to be a lazy, weak and all around useless fat ass, so I'm working on losing my excess weight. I might have lost more than fifty pounds already in the past year, but I've still got a ways to go. I am not going to give up or make excuses.