Unless you’ve been living under a rock with no WiFi, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about the so-called “dad bod” craze.
So what is a dad bod? And is it really something we should be celebrating?
First things first, a dad bod is a male body type that could otherwise be described as softly round. Maybe the guy with a dad bod played football in high school, but he probably had a few too many pizzas and drinks in college. Like many of our dads, the belly gradually increased over time due to inactivity and a not-so-great diet. The dad bod symbolically rejects mainstream societal standards for male physiques. Like six packs. Unless they’re beer.
On one hand, it’s important for all people to celebrate their bodies. With the amount of body shaming and our culture’s unrealistic standards for both men and women, it’s great to celebrate our bodies and their many shapes and sizes. In fact, according to a new study about weight stigma from a researcher at UC Santa Barbara, the media’s characterization of overweight people as lazy, weak-minded and self-indulgent may actually be contributing to the problem rather than helping to solve it. Regardless of our body mass index, it’s important (though difficult) to look at our bodies with love and gratitude - and anything that is a means to that end is worth considering.
But, on the other hand, the dad body is built on inactivity and poor nutrition. While it’s important to celebrate our body, let’s not celebrate depriving ourselves of movement and nourishment. And with those extra pounds come increased risk for heart disease, diabetes and a whole bunch of things that none of us want. And if you are a dad, it’s also important to be healthy and productive for your family. This excludes having a heart attack at age 66 - which, consequently, is the average age for male heart attack victims.
I think there’s a middle ground between being a sculpted Greek god and sporting a dad bod. That middle ground is called being healthy - and it’s based on a combination of smarter food choices and increased activity. It means eating your veggies, skipping some of the beers and hitting the gym. And healthy is something that all of us can celebrate.
P.S. To turn your dad bod into a healthy bod, I recommend my bootcamp program. You can download it right now - and get started today!
About Davey Wavey
wow Davey, I’m really dissappointed in you. I really thought you were better than the stereotyping fat-shaming gym obsessed gay. You lump all non-chiseled men into an unhealthy category and condem them to heart disease..
Imagine for just a short moment, the extreme amount of time you spend in the gym. Now try to fit obligations like work, family, children (yes, gays have kids too) into your workout week. You will find Davey, that your time to maintain that perfect gym toned body is greatly diminished. Many of us with dad-bods eat healthfully, excercise and take care of ourselves… We also prioritize our children and obligations above the need for a perfect pornstar body.
Rob, take a breath, for someone so incredibly busy, you have a great deal of time to bellyache. While you are at it, learn to spell e-x-e-rcise. My fifty-six fifth graders know better.
Hell, I’m fifty-two years old, weigh 148 pounds, and had a heart attack two years ago. Family history is a bitch sometimes. Davey and others encourage me to be my best. Nothing he or others in this industry are working to diminish us. What I hear from Davey and others encourages me/us.
I don’t need someone every day at 5:45AM to suggest, “grab two Krispy Kremes and I won’t you in the Emergency Room.” I have family and friends to lick my daily wounds. My click on Davey’s Facebook page is to have someone to inspire me for my physical well-being.
As a teacher, I hope I convey the same. My job is to teach, to inspire, to be better than yesterday. I had young men stay after school tonight to watch live tennis from Rome from my classroom because our favorite (Nadal and Wawrinka) athletes inspire us. One of them I have prodded, pruned, and praised for eight months, and while I have pushed him to his limits he knows I love him dearly, and he boasts to his grandparents that “Mr Wms loves me best.” Two of these boys left after the first set to play themselves in a metro park. When I finished my classroom work, I drove dramatically out of my way amidst my thirty mile drive home, to give them a match update. Life is what you make of it, not what you lash/complain/vent about it.
Life is good, period. Be happy, be quiet, or get help.
I’m actually NOT spending not lot of time bellyaching.
Nor am I complaining about being busy. My point is that
This whole “dad bod” meme presumes one thing: all the pics and articles show guys in their 20s and 30s with dad bods. Kinda cute. Where are the 40 and 50 year olds, the real ‘dads,’ with their dad bods? Oh, yea, that’s right. They’re now not so cute.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Great job Davey!
“It’s important for all people to celebrate their bodies.” No need to say anything more. The rest of your commentary is just a distraction from this.
I agree with you Davey! 🙂 Well said.
Davey,
I eat incredibly healthy, and exercise daily. I’ve done this for years. Guess what, I still have a dad’s bod. I am nowhere near obese. Guess what, I don’t drink beer at all. Would I have a far better self-image if I had a body like yours? Of course! Finding other healthy attractive soul-ful guys who actually won’t mind my dad’s bod is like finding a needle in a massive haystack. Trying to live counter-culturally is difficult at best. Please make a distinction between a dad’s bod and obese. All bodies should be celebrated. The obsession with perfectly carved bodies like yours is tragic. Instead of being our soul-ful selves, we judge ourselves and others based on their body and physical attractiveness. Some people are physically beautiful, while others are not no matter how hard they work at it. Sad but true in our culture. You have such a big influence, why not work to take some of the massive pressure off having the perfect body. And instead, celebrate each person’s unique spirit in the world. Gay culture is incredibly shallow, which is pretty shitty sadly.
I liked you Davey.
read this: http://kateharding.net/faq/but-dont-you-realize-fat-is-unhealthy/ Check the links, look at the actual research.
I didn’t think you were just another shill for the weight loss industry. I now has a big sad. 🙁
Oh look… Someone who financially benefits from making people feel ashamed of their bodies telling us that we should be ashamed of our bodies. Big shock. Completely altruistic intentions, I’m sure. LOL
Hey Davey. I completely agree with you. I’m 18 and have what people would consider a “dad bod.” I’ve gotten it from spending practically my entire life on the couch with a bag of chips. And while I do think we should celebrate everyone for who they are - dad bods and all - I agree that there is that happy medium. I’ve faced some medical problems and have been trying to get healthier. (At 16, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and being healthy can definitely improve my quality of life later-on.) So despite being in school from 8 to 4 everyday, plus homework and a part time job, I’ve found time to improve myself.
So those of you criticizing Davey for expressing his opinion: stop. He’s right; you don’t need perfectly chiseled abs or to live in the weight room, but you don’t need to be promoting an unhealthy lifestyle either. That’s what Davey is trying to say. He’s not trying to put down anyone; he’s saying that our culture today practically worships the dad bod. So why be purposely overweight simply because it’s trendy when you could just be in that middle-ground?
And really, you don’t have to do much to shrink that belly. I’ve just started eating better and have lost over 20 lbs in the matter of a couple months. So don’t feel like you have to go to the gym for 5 hrs everyday to see results. Start small and simple. Eat a salad for lunch instead of a Big Mac; drink a bottle of water instead of that bottle of Coke; go for a walk (with your family if you want to). Just don’t let anyone tell you what you should look like (and that includes being overweight).
Ok… End of rant…
This ‘dad bod’ thing is just another way of out of shape people rationalizing it. It’s just as bad as all these fat women talking about ‘fat acceptance’ and doing nothing about it.
I can guarantee the people who are saying they are happy being overweight and out of shape are not.. they are just rationalizing their own limitations. And I say this as I was overweight myself and no amount of rationalizing and pretending to accept it changed that I wasn’t happy with how I looked.