I’ve got a dad bod, but it’s starting to get blotchy and attract flies. I tried getting the garbage men to take it off my hands to no avail.
Chest freezer is like $200. The whole “if you love them, let them go” is soooo 1900s.
Rest of the thread doesn’t change the fact that 3-days a week gym bunnies are not the “middle” of anything. They’re at one end of the spectrum. Not the most extreme, but way over there. Being overweight is, in fact, the actual “middle”. “Very Obese” is the other extreme. Pudgy is between those two.
Wow, suddenly I feel so much better about myself! Thanks!
Google the term “thicc” and be amazed.
One thing that hasn’t been touched on is that a lot of ripped people are unpleasant to be around, especially as romantic partners. There are the narcissistic, self-obsessed bodybuilders, dudebros, gym rats, and others who are downright toxic, and on the lower end of the scale there are people who declare that bodies that don’t fit their ideal are ‘unhealthy’ despite scientific evidence to the contrary and harass a partner over it. A good number of people who are looking for a long term relationship want someone who isn’t going to drop them or start insulting them if, as often happens, they put on a few inches of belly after they have kids. It’s not the case that everyone who’s ripped is toxic, but that the population of ripped dudes as a whole is toxic enough that some people find it worthwhile to just write off the whole pool.
Or “Rubenesque” for a historical example.
Good historical example, but ya gotta meet the kids where they are, y’know? 
I Googled and I was amazed. Here’s one site’s list* of “sexy” thicc women:
10. Christina Hendricks
9. Amy Schumer
8. Sara Ramirez
7. Raven Symone
6. Kat Dennings
5. Amber Rose
4. Ashley Graham
3. Kate Upton
2. Nicki Minaj
- Kim Kardashian West
I have no idea who Raven Symone is and I wouldn’t put Amy Schumer on any list close to like this.
Almost all the rest are what I classify as pefectly normal sized women. Ashley Graham is maybe the only one that one might label a bit differently.
Christina Hendricks and Kate Upton get a weird label like “thicc”? How?
- No link due to site not being SFW or safe for lunch.
“Thicc” is its own thing and has a very different connotation than “mom bod”. So this sidetrack baffles me.
When I think of “mom bod”, I think of a figure that has been affected by pregnancy and breastfeeding. A belly that is jiggly, wrinkly, and bulges out. Breasts that droop in a matronly way. Hips that have expanded but not necessarily with the ass to match.
“Thicc” means carrying fat in all the “right” places. Bulging stomachs and breasts that hang low don’t come in that package.
Non sequitur
Especially for fathers of younger children. When there are two working parents, it is unbelievable how much work needs to be done.
I am on a social media here in Taiwan, And there are both men and women who go to the gym three or four times a week. But none of them have children!
People without children simply can’t understand how much less free time you have.
And how much less spare energy.
Yeah.
3 boys; 3,9, and 14.
This morning my wife took 14 to his orchestra car wash. 3,9, and I got dressed and went to the park. Then we went to get the car washed by 14 and his friends, then to the grocery store, and came home to eat lunch. Right now 3 is watching a show for a few minutes before nap time. At nap time, I promised 9 that I would play XBox with him for a while. After that, I will probably need a nap myself, which I may or may not do until 3 wakes up.
Then I will have 9 play with 3 while I make spaghetti sauce for dinner. Not exactly sure when my wife will be home, but after the car wash 14 has drama crew rehearsal and is going home with a friend to play D&D until 8:00.
I won’t bore anyone with all of the other things I have going on on a daily basis.
Now I don’t currently have a dad bod, but I’m being pretty careful eating since I know I’m not running or anything right now. And I get an ok workout during my home improvement projects.
My wife does go to the gym a lot, which is fine with me…actually great with me, because it’s something she needs much more than I do. Apparently, a sore, strong wife is a happy wife in my case. She gets up at 4:30 2 days during the week to go lift, and also goes Saturday morning. On Thursday nights when she has the energy she does Jiu Jitsu. Today, she’s at a weightlifting competition.
There is absolutely no way that I could have a similar workout schedule without taking away from her time at the gym, or from other things that are more important than getting ripped.
I’m a bit late to this, but here goes anyway…
I have assumed a ‘dadbod’ to be a 35-50 year-old with around 20-25% body fat…so, no 6-pack, but not so fat as to have man-boobs either.
While not a heterosexual woman, I surmise that this is considered attractive not so much because of how it looks as what it implicitly indicates:
Said man…
… Isn’t unhealthy - he isn’t morbidly obese nor emaciated
… Isn’t obsessed about diet and/or exercise, which means that…
… his partner doesn’t have to feel overly self-conscious about baby-weight etc.
… he is likely to have time/energy to devote to parenting
… he isn’t likely to be overly-precious about the various indignities that parenthood involves (eating the kids’ cold leftover chicken nuggets for dinner, wiping asses at 4am, etc…)
Compare this to a guy who is totally ripped. The implied story here is that you have a guy who…
… Counts every calorie and laboriously tracks ‘macros’ in an app each time food or drink is consumed
… Spends at least 2 hours in the gym every day
… Rarely eats or drinks anything which could be considered pleasurable
… Is in all sorts of ways, probably quite a complicated person to share a life with.
Sure, the ripped guy might be fun for a one-night-stand in your 20s, but to raise a family with? Most partners would go for #1 as the sensible option. (and, in any case, its not like there’ll be much sex going on with two young kids around anyway…)
To turn things around, would I like my wife to have an Olympic-level toned, sculpted, athletic body? Knowing all the work that would go into maintaining it, absolutely not (I’m pretty sure she would say the same thing about me) - the cost outweighs the benefit.
At the other end of the scale there are the obese and underweight fellas - it’s probably not a stretch to assume that dadbods are preferred over them as being significantly under or overweight is plain unhealthy - a dadbod is ‘sturdier’.
Mr Gisele Bündchen. A professional athlete?. Seriously?
Exactly. This is the equivalent of muscular men who don’t have ripped abs, not guys with skinny arms and huge guts.
I have children and I consider that to be a work out in itself. If you are doing all this “work that needs to be done,” that implies adequate exercise to me. if you are out of shape, then I think it’s the other part(s) of the equation that is lacking such as insufficient sleep (yeah babies affect this, but you can still choose to lead a healthy lifestyle and take care of yourself so you can be around when your kids are older), over reliance on substances and self medication, binge/stress eating, and so on. have kids, eat well, sleep, don’t drink a case of beer every day, and you don’t need to spend hours in the gym or follow special nutrition plans to be in better than average health and shape. Stuff like having kids is mostly an excuse people use, and IMHO no better than all these people who complain about not having money for steroids, personal trainers and private chefs. You don’t need any of that but you might need some self discipline, self care, and boundaries.
This is an interesting discussion that gets around (or ignores) basic practical truths. I’m a male in my 40s, not fit or fat, and I could hang a shingle and screen the applicants. It just is what it is.