The whole "dad bod" thing

Have you heard the term dad bod? I had heard rumblings but I looked into it further when Kaitlyn Bristowe (the latest Bachelorette) remarked to my beloved People magazine that she didn’t want a mate with the “dad bod”. Even as someone who feel looks matter and fitness definitely matters my “uh oh antennae” activated.

OK so first this “dad bod” term. Dad bod is said to be coined by college student Mackenzie Pearson. At least she’s credited with it but she also says her friends had been using the descriptor so I can’t be sure. Who really cares? What’s interesting is that “dad bod” refers to a man “with a nice balance of a beer gut and working out.” Basically, a guy with a normal body. I cannot even for a minute imagine if “mom bod” was used. I think of mom jeans and a total backlash “this has nothing to do with having kids” etc.

As usual, I digress. The truth is I think dad bod has been widely accepted for a long time. Washboard abs are not on many women’s list of requirements especially if you are in a relationship with a “dad” and I mean married or just in a long-term relationship (not with your dad, someone else’s dad etc.).  If I’m speaking personally (and my husband has never been overweight, very active etc.) a) that “I spend my life lifting weights” look isn’t my thing and b) would any woman seriously want all that goes along with a guy who is more neurotic than you are? No thanks, I've got that covered.

So the dad bod concept isn’t new. The dad bod is actually a step up from what many men (over 25) look like.  If I’m dreaming I wish men would come out and say “we don’t like a woman with a super flat stomach, perfection is not what we’re after”…but that would require I go back to sleep and dreamland.

What do you think of dad bod? Ladies, single and otherwise, do you want washboard or dad bod? Do you think says something that Kaitlyn doesn’t want a guy with a dad bod? Please tell me you knew who Kaitlyn was. And guys do you like women saying that chiseled isn’t crucial or do you even care?

A not-super-fit looking yoga teacher may have solved all your problems

Friday, I ventured back to yoga for the first time in two years.

Way back when, yoga and I didn’t have a casual relationship.

I joined Pure Yoga (membership based = unlimited classes) and approached yoga the way I do all things- obsessively. I swung toward hot yoga, sweat buckets and was even known to frontload my yoga with a run. I enjoyed the yoga, the music, the dark-ish room and eventually could bind and contort into some of the more difficult poses. However, this was not a mind/body journey for me. It was a body, body journey where I tracked by progress versus the yogi aficionados in the room and looked for physical evidence of yoga strengthening me. Simply put I didn’t get it. I questioned if I was sweating more than strengthening and defected back to barre classes as soon as they were offered.

Recently (some of you have commented on my posts) I have been more aware of my need for “mind” work. I always suggest it for others and believe in it. And one can only give so much money to the prepaid fitness pot before you feel like a total idiot. So I went back to Pure to one of their basics class last week. It was me, a bunch of ladies my mother’s age and a few inflexible men. It felt perfectly unintimidating but still I still dragged my bolster and blocks to the very back of the room.

In walks the instructor. If you’ve read my posts you know I judge. I don’t judge everyone but I judge fitness professionals. I like aspirational and if that means my “mind” needs more work I’ll tell my gorgeous (yup) therapist. This instructor didn’t inspire me physically BUT when she opened her mouth and addressed the class, she had me. Not a minute in, she mentioned something called Svadhyaya. I typed a misspelled version of this word into my phone (that was supposed to be in my cubby but…). Svadhyaya means self study.

We were told we’d be given suggestions and modifications but that we had to see where our bodies were. We knew best. As someone who doles out advice and loves receiving advice I know this is the case. I love when I make a suggestion and a client says, “that’s not going to work” whether it’s because they know themselves or have a gauge on a situation they’ll be in. One client last week told me he does better when he sets goals versus when they come from me. And one of our Summer Squeeze participants clarified “I can't whip out anything BYO in today's  work environment” on a business trip with the head of her company (I had suggested she BYOsnacks).

Chances are you know your body, psyche and tendencies better than any expert. So while we still need preofessionals (and FOODTRAINERS) any wellness effort should be collaborative and personalized.

Namaste.
Where are you on the mind/body spectrum? Do you do yoga, meditate or anything else? What do you think of Svadhyaya or self study?