I don’t think you’ll ever stop hearing this, but girls have a problem with food. This includes me, because I’m a girl. We are so pressured by society to look a certain way, to have that thigh gap, that flat stomach, that size zero body; nobody understands that it’s really hard. Obviously we don’t just want to have a “perfect” body for society’s sake, part of us wants the satisfaction of achieving a good body to set ourselves apart from the rest. We want to be able to walk down the street in a crop top and short shorts and have girls look at us and whisper to each other, “I want that.”

We’ve heard again and again, to just eat right and work out daily, avoid chocolate and bread, blah blah blah. We know, trust me, we know. The thing is, it is very hard to follow through. When we’re hungry, do you think the first thing we think of is some plain Greek yogurt with berries? Or, some celery stalks and water? No. We think of pizza. We think of chocolate, and potato chips, and cookies. It’s really hard to ignore those urges, especially when we get our monthly visit, because then we become ravenous beasts, frantically searching our homes for chocolate and tampons.

It’s even worse when we have sleepovers. When we’re all cuddled up on the couch watching Mean Girls or The Notebook, do you think we are going to want to eat apples with peanut butter or some almonds? Again, no. We want cookie dough and nutella, double-stuffed oreos (because they’re so much better than the regular ones) and whipped cream. The ceremonial eating of junk food is a must during sleepovers. We can’t have a sleepover and not eat junk food, because God forbid we do something else and not eat.

Then there’s the simple temptation. It’s just overwhelming. At a restaurant, you can come in with the complete mindset of getting a salad and water (and not attacking the breadbasket) but you find yourself devouring an entire pepperoni pizza. I completely understand you. We, as the female population, completely understand you, because that could be one of us. I mean, yeah, being thin and pretty and everything is great, but pizza.

It’s really frustrating to see diet plans and read about weight loss tips and have them say, “It’s easy! You just have to sacrifice all the fun and joy from your life!” If only it were that easy, then everyone would be a size zero and sport a thigh gap the size of the grand canyon.