The Atlantic: This is the Average Man's Body

[Bateluer]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national...verage-mans-body/280194/?utm_source=FB1022_02

Would be intriguing to see data over the past century to compare to, but for now, average man need to spend a little more time in the gym.

 

[SP33Demon]

This is why I think I'll be successful as a strength coach. So many average people to help, not enough time.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Does he even lift?

 

[ControlD]

5'9" and a 39" waist? Yeah, go ahead and send that guy to the gym. I don't think it is going to help him much. Maybe start by sending him to a general nutrition class.

 

[SP33Demon]

It's scary what the average person's diet is, and it sucks when most of your friends try to push that crap on you. For example, at friend's place on Sunday to watch football and he's eating bags of chips, domino's pizza, soda, sugary energy drinks, gatorade, and beer. Or I get to work and people are all eating candy that come in bulk boxes from costco. No wonder we're all so fat, we are puppets to junk food marketing.

 

[Mursilis]

It's scary what the average person's diet is, and it sucks when most of your friends try to push that crap on you. For example, at friend's place on Sunday to watch football and he's eating bags of chips, domino's pizza, soda, sugary energy drinks, gatorade, and beer. Or I get to work and people are all eating candy that come in bulk boxes from costco. No wonder we're all so fat, we are puppets to junk food marketing.

That, and we watch too much TV. I saw a recent study which said the average person watches 27.9 hours/week (or just under 4 hours/day), which explains why we're all such fatties. When I hear people complain that they don't have time for exercise, it's usually because they're unwilling to give up their TV time.

 

[Kaido]

Does he even lift?

He lifts Twinkies :awe:

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Real men have curves brah.

 

[MustISO]

Yipes, I hope to god I never look like that.

 

[AntonioHG]

He lifts Twinkies :awe:

Lifts his hands to his mouth, you mean.

It's scary what the average person's diet is, and it sucks when most of your friends try to push that crap on you. For example, at friend's place on Sunday to watch football and he's eating bags of chips, domino's pizza, soda, sugary energy drinks, gatorade, and beer. Or I get to work and people are all eating candy that come in bulk boxes from costco. No wonder we're all so fat, we are puppets to junk food marketing.

I personally don't see anything wrong with eating junk food once in a while, but I know what you mean. I was like that when I was younger. I ended up skinny fat and hypoglycemic starving myself throughout the day and then bingeing at night. School was horrible with hypoglycemia and I constantly felt like passing out.

After finishing school and starting a crappy job at K-Mart, my best friend and I would go through nearly a liter of soda 4 days out of the week working overnight. I didn't really understand nutrition, even after visiting a few doctors and nutritionists. Pizza, hotdogs, McD's and soda (not diet, ever) over the weekend. Someone invites us out to any event, we're there for the food!

Anyway, those days are over. I still enjoy a beer and pizza now and again, but I pretty much gave up all those bad ways. I wish my friend would follow me and get himself physically healthy...

 

[deadken]

... No wonder we're all so fat, we are puppets to junk food marketing.

Or, perhaps, our bodies naturally crave things that aren't necessarily the healthiest for it (think sugars, salts, fats). I'm thinking that when these things weren't readily available (IE: thousands if not hundreds of years ago), it was good for you to want them so that you kept your diet varied. Now, all these things are easy to come by and some people do what they want instead of doing what they should. I don't blame the 'marketers', but I recognize their part in this whole mess. I think half of the problem is that we barely teach nutrition and when we do it is to a bunch of teenagers who eat mostly crap and still do fine (so they think nutrition is a bunch of BS). It's only later in life, when we get older, that some of us realize that we need to learn about nutrition and make changes.

Ohh, yeah, and we can blame a distorted self image also. A lot of people I see suffer from not looking at themselves seriously. I used to think that mostly young girls suffered from distorted self images. It has become obvious that most people do. From people who look like the image in the OP and think it is okay to people who workout hours and hours a week and still are never satisfied with themselves.

 

[Mursilis]

it is to a bunch of teenagers who eat mostly crap and still do fine (so they think nutrition is a bunch of BS). It's only later in life, when we get older, that some of us realize that we need to learn about nutrition and make changes.

My mom worked as a nutritionist in a hospital for years, and regularly gave nutrition classes to patients, mainly diabetics. Even after being educated on nutrition, most continued to eat garbage. The issue isn't lack of education - it's lack of will. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know an apple is a better snack than a twinkie.

 

[Zivic]

The issue isn't lack of education - it's lack of will. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know an apple is a better snack than a twinkie.

they just don't care. they know an apple is better, but they don't think a small twinkie could be 'that' bad... and ignore the fact that they eat 2-3 a day, every day, along with their two monster energy drinks, a 40oz mountain dew, couple boxes of mac&cheese, a gas station hot dog or two....

They really don't see anything wrong with how they eat. They continually lie to themselves... about portion size, frequency, and what exactly they are eating.

you want to lose weight, first thing you need to do is keep a log of everything you eat. this act alone will help a lot. it will make you think about every food choice you make and if you actually write it down it will hold you accountable. once it's eaten and wrapper thrown away who, other than you knows you ate it?

 

[PricklyPete]

Sad reality

 

[Kaido]

My mom worked as a nutritionist in a hospital for years, and regularly gave nutrition classes to patients, mainly diabetics. Even after being educated on nutrition, most continued to eat garbage. The issue isn't lack of education - it's lack of will. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know an apple is a better snack than a twinkie.

Yup, lack of desire is the biggest killer of lifestyle changes. It's amazing that people would rather die than change what they eat. Same with smoking...you have to WANT to change if you want it to stick. It's amazing because we have more access to better food, nutritional information, and knowledge of health effects (like from smoking or eating Twinkies) than ever before on the history of earth, and yet we still act like idiots. I mean, if you go down to Whole Foods, you can buy any kind of fruit or vegetable you desire from all corners of the earth, for a fairly reasonable price, and yet most people would rather eat junk food. Not that junk food is bad (in moderation), but it's sad to people choose poor health & death over a dietary change.

 

[Kaido]

they just don't care. they know an apple is better, but they don't think a small twinkie could be 'that' bad... and ignore the fact that they eat 2-3 a day, every day, along with their two monster energy drinks, a 40oz mountain dew, couple boxes of mac&cheese, a gas station hot dog or two....

They really don't see anything wrong with how they eat. They continually lie to themselves... about portion size, frequency, and what exactly they are eating.

you want to lose weight, first thing you need to do is keep a log of everything you eat. this act alone will help a lot. it will make you think about every food choice you make and if you actually write it down it will hold you accountable. once it's eaten and wrapper thrown away who, other than you knows you ate it?

imo tracking is absolutely critical to making real changes because people have blindspots in their memories...they have no idea what they're really eating all day long. Same with money, I have friends who are broke all the time & don't realize they're spending a grand a month in fast food...$7 lattes, $5 footlongs, it all adds up, both dollar-wise & calorie-wise. Keeping a log is like training wheels...you only need it until you get the hang of it & it becomes habit, but until then, you NEED it to be honest with yourself. It's probably the most effective fat-loss tool I've ever seen when used consistently.

 

[pauldun170]

Real men have curves brah.

lol

 

[Kaido]

Real men have curves brah.

http://i.imgur.com/9hnSeyH.jpg

 

[Mursilis]

http://i.imgur.com/9hnSeyH.jpg

That pic needs a NSFL (Not Safe For Lunch) tag!!

 

[Fulle]

I don't think Americans know what a healthy person is supposed to look like...

 

[smackababy]

Ohh, yeah, and we can blame a distorted self image also. A lot of people I see suffer from not looking at themselves seriously. I used to think that mostly young girls suffered from distorted self images. It has become obvious that most people do. From people who look like the image in the OP and think it is okay to people who workout hours and hours a week and still are never satisfied with themselves.

From what I've seen everyone has a body image problem. Those who think they are average, when they are actually fat; and those that think they aren't good enough, and gym / diet to achieve what they want (even if it is imagined).


I think it is rather silly that a person is criticized for being overzealous to the point of obsession about body image, but if the same condition is applied to things like clothes or hairstyles, it is acceptable. The idea that "Oh, you're skinny enough," being an acceptable response is dumb. Would you tell someone "Stop styling your hair, you're groomed enough"?

 

[Carson Dyle]

The man depicted in that image does NOT have a BMI of 29 and a 39 inch waste. I fully believe that those numbers represent the average American male in 2014, but that image doesn't come close to showing how fat that really is.

 

[AntonioHG]

New crash test dummies get heavier to reflect real 'muricans.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/fatter-crash-test-dummies-prevent-road-deaths/story?id=26545335

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

The man depicted in that image does NOT have a BMI of 29 and a 39 inch waste. I fully believe that those numbers represent the average American male in 2014, but that image doesn't come close to showing how fat that really is.

The side view is much more damning. I would say it's about right. Also, bear in mind that some people carry their weight a lot better than others.

At my heaviest, I had a BMI of 35.8 and was wearing size 36 pants and looked a lot better than that guy because my weight was distributed somewhat better (I still had a gut but not as prevalent) and I had a slight bit more muscle.

 

[sandorski]

5'9"?

Short people got no reason to live.