Keenan: Male body image — we are what we eat – Calgary Herald

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An entire special issue of the journal Body Image was just devoted to the role of social media in shaping how we present ourselves to the world. The editors note that “younger adolescents, women, and individuals who value appearance as measures of attractiveness and self-worth might be most likely to experience negative outcomes of social media.”

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I was expecting to see a lot of discussion about female body issues in this journal, with scant coverage of the male side. This is a pet peeve since I know body image is a growing concern for many guys.

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I was pleasantly surprised. One article explored male/female differences when it comes to “intuitive eating,” which the authors describe as having four components. One is “a willingness to eat when hungry rather than relying on cognitive rules to dictate when, what, and how much to eat.” The second component, according to lead author Kristen Murray of the Australian National University, is “eating in response to physical rather than emotional hunger.” Murray goes on to explain that intuitive eaters “trust their internal signals to guide eating” and also that they make “food choices that largely nourish and support the health and functioning of the body.”

Murray and her colleagues studied an equal number of men and women and found that men scored significantly higher on most of the measures of intuitive eating. The authors suggest that this is largely due to “greater intensity and frequency of pressures around appearance in women” and suggest campaigns to promote intuitive eating, especially by women.

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It’s important to recognize that eating issues can definitely affect boys and men and are almost certainly being heightened by online information and social media promoting certain body images and eating practices. According to the website eatingdisorderhope.com, 25 per cent of those diagnosed with eating disorders are males. They are typically struggling with anorexia nervosa, which is a problem for both genders, though perhaps with different motivations. The website explains that “Women that restrict their intake to alter their bodies are often attempting to achieve thinness. Men, however, are often attempting to become leaner yet toned. This is likely due to societal pressures regarding what a male body ‘should’ look like versus a female body.”

Another website, nationaleatingorders.org confirms that 25 per cent of males figure for anorexia nervosa. It also cites figures for binge eating disorder, where males make up 36 per cent of reported cases, and bulimia nervosa, which involves purging, at 25 per cent males. This site goes on to state that “eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses.”

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That website lists some sub-clinical eating disorders like binge eating and taking laxatives. It includes fasting among these. I think a bit more subtlety is in order there. Fasting can certainly be a symptom of an eating disorder, but it is increasingly recognized as a legitimate eating strategy for many people.

American chiropractor Dr. Mindy Pelz has written extensively on this subject. However, guys are not likely to pick up her books since they have titles like Fast Like a Girl and The Menopause Reset. That’s a shame because there are some fascinating ideas in them.

Pelz claims that something as simple as restricting the timing of your eating can have huge benefits. She recommends going for 13 to 15 hours without food, claiming this will help regulate blood sugar levels, and even cause the body to kill off cells that are not performing in the way the body requires. In one of her videos “My 5-1-1 Diet Variation” she suggests five days a week of intermittent fasting of the 13- to 15-hour variety, one super day of almost complete fasting (22 to 24 hours), followed by a day of feasting. She claims this eating pattern derives from our hunter-gathering ancestors. She says they feasted when they had a fresh kill and lived on nuts and berries the rest of the time.

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One thing I have learned about diets is that they are very personal. Whether you are a man or a woman, you have to find your own eating “sweet spot,” though I can tell you it probably doesn’t contain a lot of candy bars or sugared cereals. 

I’ll share my own experience, which is that I have my weight just where I want it through a combination of laying off most carbohydrates and restricting eating to an eight-hour window. Of course, there’s still room for special occasions and for birthday cake, and I’m not able to pose shirtless on Instagram or anything like that. Still, as my Dad used to say, “I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in.”

Dr. Tom Keenan is an award-winning journalist, public speaker, professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary, and author of the best-selling book, Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy.

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