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That’s true, but from what I remember, half the class was either goofing off, sleeping, or straight up not there. Education as a whole isn’t valued in the US anymore. Students/parents blame teachers when their kid doesn’t magically absorb the information without doing any of the work or studying. Trade schools are becoming more popular because of the costs of college, but deep down, they think it’s an easy way to make good money. Those trades require hard work as well. Cost of college is most definitely contributed to the overall lack of education but that’s not causing the average US high schooler to have a reading level of a 5th grader in the UK.

I’m basically in the same boat as OP except opposite job direction (went from labor to desk). Over a decade of manual labor with no scheduled lunch breaks has left me with poor eating habits. I tried meal prepping but ended up doing what your friend was doing, loading up on fruits and vegetables with some protein. Wouldn’t eating stuff like buttered potatoes and drinking a couple glasses of milk everyday lead to heart problems? Or would cardio and being underweight basically cancel that out?