Read the full article here
"Do I look fat?” If you are the kind of guy who asks this question, please read on.
Did you know that there are guys out there who would be excited about being diagnosed with HIV? To them, this news means that prescriptions for steroids and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) are coming their way, along with an attractive muscular physique. Others even half-joke with their friends about getting a tapeworm to lose weight.
Sounds kinda nutty, doesn’t it? But it’s true.
It just goes to show you that you are one step from finding yourself diagnosed with a psychiatric condition from the Big Book of Crazy, if you’re constantly asking others if you’re fat.
Last time I checked – gay men are gay because they have sex with other men, not because they have a certain body type. These days, it seems to me that many gay men will stop at nothing to be muscular or have six-pack abs, as if this is some kind of prerequisite to being an accepted gay man in our community.
This disturbing belief is not confined to Southern California, where “healthy” lifestyles and fat-phobia dominate.
A 2009 study from the University of Iowa showed that photos of male bodies in The Advocate and Out magazines became thinner and more muscular from 1967 to 2008. Gay men in this study compared themselves to images found in media. If their body did not match those found in the images, the men reported dissatisfaction with their bodies and decreased self-esteem.
Gay men returning from circuit parties and pride festivities will likely feel tremendous pressure to achieve or maintain the muscle-bound, fat-free body type that we are constantly surrounded by.
Showing posts with label men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label men. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Muscling the mirror by Quentin Williams
Male students suffering from muscle dysmorphia, a body-obsessive disorder, struggle to see past a distorted self image.
For some men, body image is a major concern that can turn into an unhealthy obsessive disorder called bigorexia, also commonly known as muscle dysmorphia. This disorder affects many college men as they make the transition from adolescence into adulthood.
“Muscle dysmorphia is very similar to anorexia, where someone who is stick thin will look in the mirror and see the person they were when they weighed 200 pounds,” said Tricia DePoe, fitness coordinator of the IBC Student Recreation Center, adding that someone who struggles with muscle dysmorphia disorder could be very muscular and symmetric.
“Others will look up to him,” she said, “but this guy looks in the mirror and he keeps seeing the kid that was 150 pounds and without the muscle on him.”
Ralph Longo hadn’t heard of the disorder but seems to exhibit some of the characteristics of it.
“As someone that works out a lot and that goes to the gym a lot, my body is something that I’m always looking to improve,” said Longo. “I really just want to get bigger, more muscular, more defined.”
Longo spends a good portion of his day counting calories, mixing shakes and working out to achieve his goals. At 5 feet, 10 inches and 180 pounds, Longo ingests more than 2,500 calories and about 200 grams of protein a day to put on more mass.
“I usually take two protein shakes a day,” Longo said. “I take one shake right after my workout and one after I eat. Each shake has about 48 grams of protein in it.”
The nature of bodybuilding requires very strict dietary and fitness routines, which often promote a culture where this disorder is praised. Men with bigorexia are characterized by a complete preoccupation with muscle development, to the point that they will miss important social and professional commitments in order to exercise. They can also experience a lack of satisfaction with food, due to overeating and experience a noticeable change in mood when gym or meal schedules are thrown off.
Sophomore Robert Bishop is also familiar with the disorder.
“One friend of mine has been going to the gym for a while now, and pretty much all of his life is dedicated to the bodybuilding,” Bishop said. “He doesn’t even compete. He just wants to look good.”
Bishop, a political science major, is also on a mission to improve his physique, but his approach is a little more balanced, he said.
“Bodybuilding, for me, is just a hobby. The most important things in my life are school, family, religion, and then working out is just a hobby,” he said. “I try to make sure that those values come first.”
After spending two years working at the IBC, DePoe has developed theories about bigorexia.
“You’ll find that some men strive to be like the guys in the fitness magazines or the athletes that you see on TV. What they don’t see when they look at these images is that that athlete or those fitness models get paid to work out,” DePoe said.
The disorder is rooted in the images held in the men’s minds. DePoe said that as weight fluctuates, we don’t necessarily see the change.
“With anorexia, when you lose 20 pound, you look at yourself like you were when you were 20 pounds heavier, whereas everyone else is like, ‘Oh, you look great,’” she said. “And it also [works] the other way around. Someone who strives to put on muscle mass will look at [him or herself] in the mirror [and] still see the skinny kid from high school.”
Bishop was that guy, he said.
“When I was a freshman in high school, I was really skinny, and I wanted to go out for safety on the football team, so I knew that I had to gain weight,” he said. “Now that I don’t play football anymore, my goal is pretty much to focus on bodybuilding.”
Today, Bishop can be found at the IBC almost everyday.
The IBC is holding a body composition challenge to give clients a little extra motivation to stay balanced. In addition to equipment, the IBC offers a wide variety of services to assist students towards their fitness goals – including yoga, Pilates and circuit express sessions, nutrition and diet counseling and more.
DePoe recommends beginners take one or two of the group fitness sessions to learn the basics.
“We don’t have personal training,” she said, “but we have group fitness leaders who are there to make sure you have proper form, that you are doing [the exercise] right, to answer any questions.”
Quentin Williams and Monica Sellecchia can be reached at quentin@temple.edu and monica@temple.edu.
For some men, body image is a major concern that can turn into an unhealthy obsessive disorder called bigorexia, also commonly known as muscle dysmorphia. This disorder affects many college men as they make the transition from adolescence into adulthood.
“Muscle dysmorphia is very similar to anorexia, where someone who is stick thin will look in the mirror and see the person they were when they weighed 200 pounds,” said Tricia DePoe, fitness coordinator of the IBC Student Recreation Center, adding that someone who struggles with muscle dysmorphia disorder could be very muscular and symmetric.
“Others will look up to him,” she said, “but this guy looks in the mirror and he keeps seeing the kid that was 150 pounds and without the muscle on him.”
Ralph Longo hadn’t heard of the disorder but seems to exhibit some of the characteristics of it.
“As someone that works out a lot and that goes to the gym a lot, my body is something that I’m always looking to improve,” said Longo. “I really just want to get bigger, more muscular, more defined.”
Longo spends a good portion of his day counting calories, mixing shakes and working out to achieve his goals. At 5 feet, 10 inches and 180 pounds, Longo ingests more than 2,500 calories and about 200 grams of protein a day to put on more mass.
“I usually take two protein shakes a day,” Longo said. “I take one shake right after my workout and one after I eat. Each shake has about 48 grams of protein in it.”
The nature of bodybuilding requires very strict dietary and fitness routines, which often promote a culture where this disorder is praised. Men with bigorexia are characterized by a complete preoccupation with muscle development, to the point that they will miss important social and professional commitments in order to exercise. They can also experience a lack of satisfaction with food, due to overeating and experience a noticeable change in mood when gym or meal schedules are thrown off.
Sophomore Robert Bishop is also familiar with the disorder.
“One friend of mine has been going to the gym for a while now, and pretty much all of his life is dedicated to the bodybuilding,” Bishop said. “He doesn’t even compete. He just wants to look good.”
Bishop, a political science major, is also on a mission to improve his physique, but his approach is a little more balanced, he said.
“Bodybuilding, for me, is just a hobby. The most important things in my life are school, family, religion, and then working out is just a hobby,” he said. “I try to make sure that those values come first.”
After spending two years working at the IBC, DePoe has developed theories about bigorexia.
“You’ll find that some men strive to be like the guys in the fitness magazines or the athletes that you see on TV. What they don’t see when they look at these images is that that athlete or those fitness models get paid to work out,” DePoe said.
The disorder is rooted in the images held in the men’s minds. DePoe said that as weight fluctuates, we don’t necessarily see the change.
“With anorexia, when you lose 20 pound, you look at yourself like you were when you were 20 pounds heavier, whereas everyone else is like, ‘Oh, you look great,’” she said. “And it also [works] the other way around. Someone who strives to put on muscle mass will look at [him or herself] in the mirror [and] still see the skinny kid from high school.”
Bishop was that guy, he said.
“When I was a freshman in high school, I was really skinny, and I wanted to go out for safety on the football team, so I knew that I had to gain weight,” he said. “Now that I don’t play football anymore, my goal is pretty much to focus on bodybuilding.”
Today, Bishop can be found at the IBC almost everyday.
The IBC is holding a body composition challenge to give clients a little extra motivation to stay balanced. In addition to equipment, the IBC offers a wide variety of services to assist students towards their fitness goals – including yoga, Pilates and circuit express sessions, nutrition and diet counseling and more.
DePoe recommends beginners take one or two of the group fitness sessions to learn the basics.
“We don’t have personal training,” she said, “but we have group fitness leaders who are there to make sure you have proper form, that you are doing [the exercise] right, to answer any questions.”
Quentin Williams and Monica Sellecchia can be reached at quentin@temple.edu and monica@temple.edu.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Ask the Expert - Week 5
Dr. Kathryn Zerbe, professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University and a longtime expert on eating disorders, recently took readers’ questions on anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and other problems. Here, she responds to one reader’s question about growing up in a household where eating disorders were common.
Question: In recent years, an increasing number of men have been diagnosed with eating disorders, and not just compulsive overeating, but also disorders like anorexia and bulimia that have traditionally been associated with women. (Full disclosure: I am one such man.)
Does this represent men wanting to take on feminine roles, or feeling that they cannot relate at all to traditional, ultra-macho conceptions of masculinity, and want to take on a more “feminine” persona? Does it differ for homosexual and heterosexual men? To what do you attribute the recent rise in these disorders among men?
Anonymous
Dr.. Zerbe responds:
Two large studies have reported that some 10 to 11 percent of patients with an eating disorder are men, though more recent studies report that as many as 30 percent of patients with anorexia or bulimia are male, and as many as 40 percent of binge eaters are men.
Fortunately our society is moving away, albeit slowly, from stereotyping men and women. Hence, like you, more men are admitting to having anorexia, bulimia, binge eating problems and even just a preoccupation with being a particular weight.
Clinicians are learning more about the millions of men who suffer from body image conflicts, compulsive exercise, weight obsession and other accompanying psychiatric problems like obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression that can accompany a bona fide eating disorder. Men also tend to use steroids more than women to develop a desired masculine build, a condition sometimes called “reverse anorexia.”
Participating in sports like wrestling, gymnastics or running can also place certain men at risk of developing an eating disorder. Those in certain occupations, such as flight attendants, members of the armed forces or actors, may also be at increased risk compared to men in the general population.
Although a large study from 2007 found that gay men do appear to have more eating disorders than straight men, these men do not necessarily want to be feminine. Nor do they seem to have trouble with their masculine role, as they define it. They do, however, desire to be attractive to potential partners and believe that being a particular weight and shape is appealing.
There is some research that suggests that gay men with an eating disorder may be more likely to have been the victim of sexual or physical abuse as a child. You and other men should be aware that the same physical consequences that occur in women with eating disorder take their toll on men, too, including osteoporosis and osteopenia (thinning bones).
Take a look at one of these books about eating disorders in men to learn more: “Making Weight: Healing Men’s Conflicts With Food, Weight, Shape and Appearance,” by Arnold Andersen, Leigh Cohn and Tom Holbrook; or “The Invisible Man: A Self-Help Guide for Men With Eating Disorders, Compulsive Exercise and Bigorexia,” by John F. Morga
Question: In recent years, an increasing number of men have been diagnosed with eating disorders, and not just compulsive overeating, but also disorders like anorexia and bulimia that have traditionally been associated with women. (Full disclosure: I am one such man.)
Does this represent men wanting to take on feminine roles, or feeling that they cannot relate at all to traditional, ultra-macho conceptions of masculinity, and want to take on a more “feminine” persona? Does it differ for homosexual and heterosexual men? To what do you attribute the recent rise in these disorders among men?
Anonymous
Dr.. Zerbe responds:
Two large studies have reported that some 10 to 11 percent of patients with an eating disorder are men, though more recent studies report that as many as 30 percent of patients with anorexia or bulimia are male, and as many as 40 percent of binge eaters are men.
Fortunately our society is moving away, albeit slowly, from stereotyping men and women. Hence, like you, more men are admitting to having anorexia, bulimia, binge eating problems and even just a preoccupation with being a particular weight.
Clinicians are learning more about the millions of men who suffer from body image conflicts, compulsive exercise, weight obsession and other accompanying psychiatric problems like obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression that can accompany a bona fide eating disorder. Men also tend to use steroids more than women to develop a desired masculine build, a condition sometimes called “reverse anorexia.”
Participating in sports like wrestling, gymnastics or running can also place certain men at risk of developing an eating disorder. Those in certain occupations, such as flight attendants, members of the armed forces or actors, may also be at increased risk compared to men in the general population.
Although a large study from 2007 found that gay men do appear to have more eating disorders than straight men, these men do not necessarily want to be feminine. Nor do they seem to have trouble with their masculine role, as they define it. They do, however, desire to be attractive to potential partners and believe that being a particular weight and shape is appealing.
There is some research that suggests that gay men with an eating disorder may be more likely to have been the victim of sexual or physical abuse as a child. You and other men should be aware that the same physical consequences that occur in women with eating disorder take their toll on men, too, including osteoporosis and osteopenia (thinning bones).
Take a look at one of these books about eating disorders in men to learn more: “Making Weight: Healing Men’s Conflicts With Food, Weight, Shape and Appearance,” by Arnold Andersen, Leigh Cohn and Tom Holbrook; or “The Invisible Man: A Self-Help Guide for Men With Eating Disorders, Compulsive Exercise and Bigorexia,” by John F. Morga
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