By Kelly Schoessling
Staff Writer

Friends on diets

After getting up at 5:45 am, waking my older brother up repeatedly until 6:45am, and three long rigorous 50 minutes classes, there’s only one thing that motivates me to keep getting through my school day, lunch.
Ah lunch, the only class that I beg the clock’s to slow down instead of speed up. Lunch is the ultimate reward for getting my bum out of my bed in the morning and coming to school. There is one thing that ruins my entire lunch period for the whole day though, dieting.
It’s extremely awkward when my friends are talking about ‘only eating celery for a week’ or ‘working out day and night at the gym,’. You know what makes it even more awkward for me? When I’m in the middle of stuffing a cookie down my throat!
I get it, my friends are being healthy, but can’t they talk about being healthy from a farther proximity away from me, or maybe when I’m not in the middle of chewing my junk food. 
After getting through my day, dealing with homework, tests, quizzes, and projects, the last thing I want to hear about is how much cardio you’re doing after school.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel awkward because you’re being healthy, I feel awkward because you insist on me being 100% aware of the fact that you’re eating right.
One in every two teenage girls is currently on a diet in the United States. One in every four teenage boys are also on some kind of diet. I’m sure plenty of the people I talk to everyday have been on a diet at some point or another, but that’s their personal business.
When those proud, dieting friends finally finish talking about their new health plan, the table is then quiet. You know why it’s quiet? Everyone at the table who’s eating something over 100 calories feels self conscience.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary, the average teens girl needs at least 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day. The average cookie is 67.8 calories. So no, eating a cookie will not kill you.
I know, everybody makes mistakes, sometimes people don’t think before they speak, but don’t be a repeat offender. I’m okay with feeling extremely awkward at lunch for one day. When those same people start talking to me about how many pounds they’re losing everyday, or how good they feel about themselves for getting in shape, then there’s a problem.
Not only does talking about dieting hurt us people who do eat over 100 calories a day. Talking about dieting in front of me while I’m eating sugar food, only makes me and all the other girls around you  think one thing. This person’s a jerk.
So on behalf of me and every other person who sits with you at lunch, keep your dieting to yourself. If not, then I can promise I’ll be sitting on the other side of the table with the rest of my cookie-eating friends, because that’s one less awkward moment for me to worry about.