Dad Bod, or Plain Bullshit

I already wrote at Just Like NY about how New Yorkers take care of their good looks: they work out regularly and are careful about their eating habits. Everyone here tries to be fit – they don’t have much choice since everyone else is. So when I suddenly hear that “dad bod” is the latest thing, my bullshit detector goes off. What’s “dad bod”? It’s a body of a daddy – a body with a belly.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s just another excuse coming from men too lazy to do something about themselves. The truth is, your body largely testifies to your current state of well-being. If your clothes don’t fit you any longer and you barely recognize your face in the mirror, it means something wrong is happening in your life – one of its levels must be out of control. If you work out, you’ve got verve, you start looking better and better, which immediately adds to the energy you radiate with. This energy, combined with a smile that starts to appear on your face, is attracting people to you. Everyone starts complimenting you all of a sudden: “How did you do it?”.

It so happens I don’t believe people who are overweight and say they feel good inside their bodies. Once, I gained 16 pounds and suddenly my clothes had to be two-three sizes bigger, while my face started to resemble a full moon. I can remember that feeling so vividly – I even remember how it affected my life at the time – I will do all I can not to end up like that again. You become a nervous wreck and it affects your relationships, particularly with the opposite sex. Trying to convince yourself that “you feel great with it” is a lie, which you are selling to yourself, in order to excuse your own laziness.

Is staying fit easy? Hell, no! It requires lots of sacrifices and good time management. It also requires you to take a picture of yourself in nothing but underwear, just to remind yourself why you do what you do (nothing will motivate you to work out as well as a half-naked picture will – you better smile as you take it, since the rest of what you will see upon it will be rather grim). To make a long story short: it’s damn difficult. Sure, there are people who are attracted to fleshiness. That’s fine, there are many who like it (even if I don’t count myself among them). Just don’t tell me you wouldn’t like to wear a smaller size, cause I will call you out on your bullshit. Do you say you are efficient and cheerful despite being overweight? Great! Just imagine what you could achieve if you really took care of yourself. Another question is this: as your weight goes up, your general health goes down, which affects negatively not only yourself but also your family.

If you don’t believe me, just try to start living healthily for 3 months (healthy food, veggies, fruit, etc.), start working out at least 3 times a week and limit your alcohol intake. Suddenly your skin tone will improve, you will start buying smaller clothes and EVERYONE will start complimenting you. Most of all, you will hear nice things from people who kept saying you were looking great even at your XXL capacity. In my experience, your overweight friends usually make it difficult for you to start a diet. Most surprisingly, you will start hearing: “You know, you were on the heavier side recently” – no one had the courage to tell you this earlier. Just try it. I will publicly recant every word if you tell me that after 3 months like that you feel worse than before you started to change.

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