I'll Take Nanase-san, Who Is Small And Adorable, Away From Her Cheating And Clueless Ex And Make Her Happy. - Chapter 288: An Autumn of Reading for Hiyori-san and Me.

An Autumn of Reading for Hiyori-san and Me.

“‘For dieting, what’s necessary is moderate exercise, controlling your caloric intake, and above all, improving your daily habits,’ … or so it says. As expected, we should start with the basics.”

“I-I see…”

During lunch break, we decided to eat on the rooftop. Along with our meal, we opened up the diet feature magazine I had brought from home that morning, flipping through its pages together.

Reading the sensible advice that it’s better to focus on fundamentals rather than flashy shortcuts, I nodded in agreement. Then I noticed something.

“Hiyori-san, what about your lunch today?”

“Ah… ahahaha… I thought I’d skip lunch today… for my diet…”

Seeing her force an awkward smile, I frowned.

Flipping through the magazine again, I began reading out loud.

“‘Fasting or excessive dietary restrictions can deprive your body of necessary nutrients, posing serious risks to your health.’ ‘Drastically limiting calories causes significant stress and can lead to failure or rebound weight gain, so it is not recommended.’ …That’s what it says here.”

“Uhh…!!”

“And I heard somewhere that when you reduce your meals, your body goes into survival mode and clings to every calorie you eat, actually making you gain more weight. Something like rebound weight gain.”

“Ehh!? No way!?”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s entirely true, but I think what it’s saying is that instead of skipping meals, you should eat three balanced meals a day while managing your nutrition.”

I’d never been particularly interested in dieting myself, but I had seen my mom struggle with it over the years.

Skipping meals could cause skin problems or make you feel unwell, and even if you did lose weight, once you went back to normal eating, you could end up heavier than when you started.

In the end, what’s important in dieting isn’t doing something extreme, but rather reviewing your overall lifestyle habits.

Review what you eat, review how much you exercise, review how you live. That way, you can correct what isn’t working and lose weight in a healthy way.

It takes time, but in most things, steady effort yields the best results.

Even in basketball, more than flashy passes or shooting techniques, having a solid foundation of physical strength was most important. That training was often plain and grueling, but it mattered most.

Dieting is probably the same. With that in mind, I split my bento in half and held it out to Hiyori-san.

“Here, eat this for today.”

“Eh? N-no, I can’t… That’s your lunch, Yuusuke-kun!”

“It’s fine. If I’m still hungry, I’ll just buy something at the school store.”

“Uuuu… I’m so sorry… It’s all because I didn’t know the proper way to diet…”

Looking down guiltily, she accepted my offer and began eating the bento.

As we flipped through the magazine together, I hummed in thought and came to a conclusion.

“First, we need to make a solid plan. Let’s start the diet… from tomorrow.”

“Eeeh!? Isn’t that bad? You know that famous line, ‘Don’t say you’ll start tomorrow, just focus on doing your best today! Only those who give their all today will have a tomorrow!’ or something like that!!”

She’s not wrong… I thought, nodding as she imitated that line with an air reminiscent of someone gambling in a smoky underground den.

But at the same time, I told her what I really thought.

“You have a point, Hiyori-san, but jumping in without a plan can lead to worse results. Even now, not knowing much about dieting led you to decide to skip lunch, which isn’t good, right?”

“Uh…!”

“Doing your best today and acting recklessly aren’t the same thing. Today, let’s focus on making a proper diet plan. And starting tomorrow, we’ll work hard to put it into action… That’s the best way for you to approach this, don’t you think?”

“You’re right…”

Hiyori-san slumped her shoulders in defeat but accepted my words.

She was probably so shocked by the fact that she’d gained weight that she couldn’t think clearly.

“It’ll be okay. We’ll figure out what you should do together. That’s what I’m here for.”

“Yuusuke-kun…! Thank you…! You’re really… too good for me…!!”

“I could say the same about you, Hiyori-san…”

Setting that conversation aside, we would start our actual dieting efforts tomorrow.

Today, I decided, should be spent focusing on strengthening her resolve to succeed. With that in mind, I proposed a certain action to her.