Men Have Body Image Issues, Too

Girls and women are able to talk about body image concerns in louder voices and in more public spaces, and guys are often just not supposed to care, so they keep quiet. Girls and women are actually not supposed to care, too, but when we do, it seems to be more forgivable. But boys and men are also struggling with the way beauty works in our world.

Especially, I've noticed, with the way fat is demonized. But also with the other specific

requirements of physical attractiveness that so many of us learn to believe in as fiercely and automatically as we believe in God or scientific fact. In the Captain America story, we fairly cheer when the slender, delicate hero is transformed into a strapping, muscle-bound fighting machine. He can save the world now, because he's jacked. Before, there was no chance. He had to switch bodies to succeed. There are so many different elements of body image.

The fruitless quest for a "perfect" body isn't unique to women, though based on the body image conversations we tend to hear, it's easy to think so.

Rather than obsess over attaining thinness, however, men are more likely than women to consider themselves /underweight and focus on getting more muscle tone studies suggest. But there is a range of expectations for what a "masculine" body should look like -- and negative associations with the ones that fall short. One study found that men linked being fat with "weakness of will," while being lean and muscular was associated with "feelings of

confidence and power in social situations."

Would we be deemed sensitive or weak if we discussed the dissatisfaction of our appearance? Would we not be looked at as protectors and/or leaders if we honestly admitted that we have physical insecurities? Has pop culture demoralized morality and influenced masculinity to the point that men have disassociated themselves with the authenticity of vulnerability?

 I've helped countless men and women vanquish their self-doubt and regain their confidence. I've had male clients admit to their fears of being nude around women. I've had guys confess to having lackluster sex lives due to the anxiety associated with their perceived body image.

According to mental health experts, men may have a harder time accessing communication tools to express their insecurities and work through them. While there's recently been more cultural celebration of a diverse range of body types for men and women, for men to communicate openly about body concerns still carries a stigma

When it comes to relationships, women tend to look for a man to be a provider, a protector, a leader and a partner. The typical woman's man is generally tall with a muscular physique. In the paleolithic age they would've been known as the hunter gatherers -- the guys chopping firewood, building forts and killing cattle.

But what about the 26-year-old account executive that's 5-feet, 9-inches tall, slim, toned and weighs 148 pounds? How about the 6-foot, 3-inch, overweight, 41-year-old construction worker? Have you considered the 58-year-old schoolteacher with back hair and an untrimmed beard?

Since they don't fit the conventional physical attributes that media would consider "hot," are they excluded from being protectors, providers and leaders? Not at all, but I bet some think they are.

Men often combat their dilemma with body image by becoming exercise dependent, which can lead to over training and increased injury. Some will indulge in steroid use or entertain ambiguous fad diets for quicker short-term results.

Others become immersed in their sorrows, seeking refuge from public events and social gatherings. Both are behavioral pitfalls that I've seen a number of times.

It doesn't matter what body type you fall under -- skinny, thick, tall or short, at some point I'm sure you have been self-absorbed with your body image. Stop being afraid to address it! Stop living in misery! Change what you can control and embrace what you cannot change.

We need to clarify what each of these components means before jumping straight into the statistics related to these components.

    Body dissatisfaction: a general unhappiness with your body or its parts. Overvaluation of weight/shape: basing who you are as a person almost entirely on what you look like or what the number on the scales tells you..

    Body preoccupation: obsessively thinking or ruminating about what your body weighs or what it looks like.

    Body checking: repeatedly check your weight and shape, through behaviors like self-weighing, staring in the mirror, comparing yourself with others, or pinching your body parts to assess for fat and muscle.

    Body image avoidance: avoiding situations that can elicit concerns about your body, like a refusal to be weighed, wearing baggy clothes as a “disguise”, or the covering up of mirrors.

    Feeling fat: a somatic sensation that you are carrying more fat that what you actually hold in reality,  irrespective of actual body mass.

       Thin-ideal internalization: buying into the belief that being thin will make you happy, popular, or successful.

    Body dysmorphia: a body image disorder characterized by the obsessive idea that some aspect of one’s own body part is profoundly flawed and hence warrants behaviors designed to hide or fixed these perceived flaws.

    Muscle dysmorphia: a body image disorder that centrally comprises a core belief and fear around being of insufficient muscularity, and a simultaneous drive for muscularity.

Body Image Statistics For Adults

    11% of women, 25% of men, and 18% of gender diverse Canadian adolescents reported clinical risk of muscle dysmorphia . Nearly 1 in 3 health club users reported significant symptoms of body dysmorphia, of which 70% of these had an eating disorder .

    1.6% of young adults report using androgenic-anabolism steroids as a means to modify their appearance.   Adults who used anabolic steroids for body image purposes are 3-4 times more likely to experience depression and anxiety than those who don’t use steroids.

How to Cope

Talk to People You Trust

Try to find safe people and places to discuss what you’re going through, finding a trustworthy confidant to open up to who can validate what you’re going through. This might be a friend, partner, or family member. You can also consider joining a support group.

Re-frame Your Eating and Exercise Goals Around Health Rather Than Appearance

If your body image issues involve unhealthy eating behaviors, like restrictive dieting or a heavy reliance on supplements like protein powder and creatine That means eating three meals and two snacks per day, or eating roughly every three hours Eliminating or cutting back on supplements can also help.

The same goes for exercise: If you’re working out too much, it’s important to cut back so that you don’t injure yourself. Some signs that you may be overdoing it, include an inability to perform at the same level, needing longer periods of rest between workouts, sore muscles or feelings of heaviness in your limbs, loss of motivation, and overuse injuries, among other things.

Try to Work Toward Body Acceptance

 Try to be kinder to yourself and accept yourself as you are. Give yourself a break and recognize that perfection only creates difficulty “Nobody’s perfect.”

One way to do this is to try to work toward body positivity — the belief that everyone deserves to love and accept their body, regardless of cultural or societal ideals about shape, size, or appearance — by accepting your body as it is and thinking about what you like about it, If body positivity doesn’t seem like a realistic goal for you right now, consider whether body neutrality — going through life without strong positive or negative feelings about how your body looks and focusing instead on appreciating all it does for you — could be more within reach for you.

 Limit Social Media Use

 Remember that depictions of muscular bodies on social media and in movies, TV shows, books, are often unrealistic and curated. If necessary, consider limiting how much social media or related media you look at each day to help you avoid comparing your body with these depictions. When you do consume these sources of media, take care to avoid things that you know will trigger a sense of inadequacy about your body.

Seek Professional Help if You Need It

 The most difficult part of body image healing for men tends to be recognizing the problem and seeking help, As mentioned earlier, body image issues are linked to an increased risk of eating disorders. Potential signs and symptoms of eating disorders include:

Preoccupation with thoughts about weight, food, calories, or fat

Avoidance of foods you used to love

Tendencies to eat alone rather than with others to avoid judgment for how much or little you’re eating

 Excessive exercise, which can include unrealistic goals or exercising despite injuries or fatigue

Tendency to find fault with your body or perceive its appearance differently from the way others do

Increased attention toward others’ bodies

Use of laxatives, diuretics, appetite suppressants, or enemas

If your body image issues are negatively affecting your health or interfering with your ability to function, reach out to a qualified mental health professional for help. Tip: Try to look for a professional who specializes in eating disorders, indicated by the certified eating disorder specialist designation, and or body image concerns.

That said, even if you don’t feel your body image struggles are interfering too much with your life, a licensed mental health professional such as a therapist or counselor can still help you work toward more body peace. You don’t have to have an eating disorder or another mental health condition to benefit from therapy.