“I’m an incredibly cruel and shallow asshole that demands that everyone conforms to my beauty standards and my love for a woman will only ever be skin deep and transactional. Why can’t I keep a gf?”

Gad damn, even the dudes on that site that have girlfriends are miserable and hate their perfect waifu the moment they change slightly physically (or don’t change enough if the dude suddenly decided he likes a different aesthetic). They’ll complain that women only date muscular men, then complain when women don’t date muscular men. They’ll complain about “ugly” women but at the same time complain that they themselves aren’t attractive enough to get girls. They’re incredibly shallow while complaining that every woman they date is shallow. The lengths they go to avoid self-reflection must be wild.

The misunderstanding of The Substance in particular made me laugh. The film is critiquing the exact shallow obsessions these dorks chase, and instead of taking a step back and asking themselves “Are we the baddies?” They just whine about how it’s not a film about how hard it is for men to go through rejection. As if their isn’t already a million things like that in media, and as if it’s only men that go though embarrassing dating troubles.

Anyway here’s a link to the site if you hate yourself: https://inshapetoday.com/

  • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    12 days ago

    I saw a YouTube video of a guy who “worked out like David Goggins for 100 days.” It starts out so funny and the guy has this sense of humor. But the meta commentary of the video delves into this psychological horror of a guy who needs to be tough because nobody understands him. All his friends & family and his partner are pleading for him to rest so he gets sick if hearing it. It was sad for me because it started as a reaction to his medical diagnosis, the exercise became this vector for expressing deep-seated and horrible identity issues. I had a window into the life of this guy who seemed happy, successful, and pleasant enough. I’m slow on the pick up because I don’t catch the tonal shift as necessary - “oh he gets +1 toughness each day haha”.

    I agree with his friends and family despite doing avid exercise for the majority of my life. He ends up losing a ridiculous amount of weight in a crazy short time. Though he eclipses my capacity, you could savor the shock on my face if he sustains it. I would be thrilled for him if he finds a happy medium, but he mentions during his endgame how talking to someone while biking was the first time he enjoyed exercise. I don’t do this to torture myself just like I don’t do BJJ to torture others (unless they’re my friend). Instead of “how can I squeeze every last bit from this 100 days?” I think the better question to ask is “how do I do this for a decade?” because there’s no question that you could sustain a Hurculean-Olympian style burst of perfection for a couple days. He was really impressive, but still subject to the same gravity.

    I feel like the Vinland Saga, Berserk, Vagabond trio would do him some good. I reflect on how a white belt was shocked that they completed some takedown on me as I practiced my new judo (neutered so I don’t launch a newbie). I like the art and being outsmarted by a skilled artist is a thing of beauty. It was this moment of realizing that I don’t carry many thoughts of defending my toughness on me. Some people have that bloodlust in them, but plenty (and I won’t sniff my own farts with a ratio) of people find their peace in exercise instead. Khamzat Chimaev, a tenacious and… outspoken wrestler in the UFC, famously chilled out after long COVID fucked him up and he became a father. He gets a bunch of Vinland Saga/hopecore edits on tiktok.

    I just felt so bad because this guy should have been happy. Getting cramped legs from running so you start swimming should be slice of life work. It felt like the beginning of Princess Mononoke where the fucked up boar is rampaging. Like I think the guy could live a more fulfilling and happy life if his interest was Nintendo instead of David Goggins because at least he wouldn’t alienate the people who liked him before his fitness bit idea.

    Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWU5O7cK7aI

    • a_little_red_rat [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
      3·
      12 days ago

      I know the exact video you reference and yeah, that was clearly not a healthy way of doing exercise. I felt bad for his friends, and while I personally work out a lot (probably also plenty of unhealthy body image, but at the same time I am finally starting to like what I see in the mirror, and I do feel very good thanks to that), I could not imagine doing what he did without burning out to a complete husk

    • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      2·
      11 days ago

      It just seems like young people are almost always motivated by weird body image issues. It’s a very different mentality and mindspace when your motivation is “I want to live long enough to see my grandchildren” or “I don’t want to spend my 70s in a wheelchair or bedridden” instead of “I want to look hot.”

      The dude obsesses over his weight even though he’s doing plenty of unhealthy things like not sleeping enough. And he’s presumably not focusing on stretching even though one of the first things you notice about old people is how their range of motion is so limited compared with young people.