Day 6: A question of body image

day 6

  • Weight: 123.0 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 116.0
  • Protein: 118 g (2 g over target)

Ginny has always given it to me straight.

“Your blog is about body image and girly shit,” she said.

Indeed.

This is new territory for me. While I’ve relied on my friend’s good taste for help with clothes, hair and fashion in general, I’ve never discussed those topics at length on this or any other site.

Vanity is a factor in Project Bulk. I want to look more muscular and remove some of the gut.

After checking my body fat percentage, I realized that better health is also a factor. Having a score of 23.5 percent puts me closer to Poor than Average for men in my age range. Consider that Good is 18.1 to 19.6 percent, and Excellent is 13.6 to 16.3 percent.

So adding muscle and trimming some fat would put me a few steps closer to an ideal percentage.

The “Can I do it?” challenge is a big factor. I certainly have a curiosity to see if any of this will work, if I can pull it off. Just because a book says so doesn’t mean I buy it.

Men may not always discuss body image among peers or in public, but that doesn’t mean some of us don’t think about it. And it definitely doesn’t mean we don’t want to improve it.

Maybe better abs will get this girly label off me …