when did you get over the bodybuilding "lifestyle"?

[johnnynoname]

this thread was inspired by this thread
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=607684.0


when I read the above thread, I was taken back to a time where my life was training, dieting, looking in the mirror, tanning and nothing else

The weird thing I was doing all of these things yet I didn't compete
I just had nothing else in my life so I through myself body first into creating this life

...but I got older and I, organically, started to not care so much about my "abs"

I didn't care about meal prep
I started eating anything I wanted....btw- when I say "eating anything I wanted" I didn't mean "everyday was like a buffet"....if I felt like eating a whole pizza- great.....however, some nights I just wanted cereal....shit- there are some morning where I just eat a bagel and yogurt.....

I go back to the theme of getting older and how certain things don't organically matter as much as they used to

I don't have to force myself to think "you can't keep up".....you just honestly don't care about certain things anymore

You also realize that the Weider magazines may have fucked you up a bit because it sold you a lie

It sold you a image of what you are supposed to be and if you weren't "francois Benfatto" then you were nothingness

when did you get over the fact that you didn't have to go to a tanning bed before you hit the mall because if you weren't tan then girls wouldn't like you

however- lets not get crazy---I'm not gonna say be a slob lke Jason Blaha and start saying "yeah- I don't mind having a dad bod because FUCK THE MEDIA MAN!!!"....jason blaha was never anything and is a liar who NEVER had a great body....he should never talk about male body dysmorphia...if anything he should take up anorexia


uuummm.....I ranted and went off on tangents and I'll admit that I didn't proof read anything that posted but you get my drift

i forsee alot of edits to the above because of grammatical stuff

discuss


btw- the above shouldn't make sense to anyone under the age of 25....to you youngsters out there now is the time to buy into the myth and do your "8 meals a day, 8 hours of sleep" gimmick......you're young and now is the time to work for the machine

[_bruce_]

35 was my cut off point and started embracing the tiny tit lifestyle.
Looking somewhat decent, relative to your genetic talent, is always important though.

[johnnynoname]

Looking somewhat decent, relative to your genetic talent, is always important though.

and then there is this too and I don't know if I verbalized it in my initial post


granted--it's important to have a decent fullfilling life but It by no means mean becoming a slob

in a related question to "looking good" after getting over the "Weider fallacy"--how long does it take for 35 year old you to set a healthy body image without remember absolutely shredded you from when you were 23?

it's like--you still look amazing......alittle "softer" but the only reason you think that is because, well, only you think that when in reality you look better than a majority of the people

[Grape Ape]

in a related question to "looking good" after getting over the "Weider fallacy"--how long does it take for 35 year old you to set a healthy body image without remember absolutely shredded you from when you were 23?

Wrong forum - remember, most here who "lived the lifestyle" never really got in shape to begin with.

[da_vinci]

Never. I love it. I love eating clean, I love keeping a certain "system" of how I fuel my body, thus it rewards me with feeling great. I still take SOME of the food I eat on a longer trip, merely due to the fact that on the road food is usualy horrible and I'm used to quality food products way too much to stuff myself with some fast food or some shit.. Used to take a lot more, but after years of trial and error I've noticed that nothign "bad" happens if eat less for a few days, or I skip a meal or two... thus a lot more relaxed approach, but certainly still a strict way of living and it's among the greatest things that happened to me, and it's been over 15 years of doing this.

[SF1900]

What do you consider the bodybuilding lifestyle?

I train and eat pretty clean these days. I don't consider that a "bodybuilding" lifestyle. I consider it staying healthy.

However, I have left behind the whole eating 6-8 times a day, the 30 minute anabolic window, and obsessing over missing a work out. This changed happened about 4-5 years ago.

[Disco187]

im 35 now and i have been training (well for real ) since 19 ish 20.  I was year round hardcore/ the diet the training, used to ge pissed as hell when it snowed because my sports car could not make it to the gym.  Now that im older though i tend to take the winter months off, not saying to be a total slob.  I just stray from the diet a bit and the workouts got from 4/5 days a wk to 3/4 and the weights i use are much lighter.  but i still turn it on every spring and summer, and i will continue as long as my body allows me to.

 I still enjoy follwing bodybuilding to, im just not jumping all over every mag and competition that occurs, its more like the arnold and the olypmia now a days.  I still would like to attend a mr O one of these years

[johnnynoname]

However, I have left behind the whole eating 6-8 times a day, the 30 minute anabolic window, and obsessing over missing a work out. This changed happened about 4-5 years ago.

YES---i'm talking about this......lets not get things muddled......lifting and being relatively healthy food wise is always important

however, I've become pro "eat anything I feel like" as of late.....notice I said "feel like".........fact is I don't "Feel" like eating a whole pizza by myself every night...I like to eat but I don't "Feel" the need to stuff my fucking face....if I "feel" eggs, I'll have eggs...If I "feel" burritos then I'll have burritios


it's "feeling"....


EDIT: also- part of "getting over the lifestyle" has something to do with finding something other than "lifting, brah" for exercise

how many of you have "cut the cord" being a gym rat for exercise and have become a BJJ freak or even more of a *gulp* "cross fit person"


EDIT: and also, i'm talking about getting over judging yourself based on your body image....when did you get over "how attractive you are" based on your Bodyfat percentage?  BTW- PLEASE don't not see that as a tacit endorsement of "Fat Acceptance".......

[_aj_]

I train and eat well too, but try not to obsess. I say "try" because even though I am always successful in letting reality overcome my BB OCD, I still hear the voices that talk about shit like the anabolic window, getting all my macros in and training deficiencies.

It's an illness which never really leaves. 

[_bruce_]

and then there is this too and I don't know if I verbalized it in my initial post


granted--it's important to have a decent fullfilling life but It by no means mean becoming a slob

in a related question to "looking good" after getting over the "Weider fallacy"--how long does it take for 35 year old you to set a healthy body image without remember absolutely shredded you from when you were 23?

it's like--you still look amazing......alittle "softer" but the only reason you think that is because, well, only you think that when in reality you look better than a majority of the people

If you are a critical 35 year old and used to look outlandishly good - you won't recover. It's just a small painful road as the years go by where degradation of your phsical appearance eats away some easy opportunities of joy.[1]
On the other hand if you can stay fit and pursue different venues off succes it may not be a big problem. You most likely will never look like an old fart thanks to your genes.



[1] Mensa Level Optimism  

[da_vinci]

I train and eat well too, but try not to obsess. I say "try" because even though I am always successful in letting reality overcome my BB OCD, I still hear the voices that talk about shit like the anabolic window, getting all my macros in and training deficiencies.

It's an illness which never really leaves.  

Exactly.. now when I think, I really can't remember a single person that has been really into it and managed to "escape the lifestyle", and I know quite some guys who have been lifting for like 30 years, when I meet them - they are still in shape, still eagerly talk about their current eating/lifting habbits/etc.. But honestly, I really love this illness and I'm fascinated by someone like R.Robinson, S.Nubret, O'Hearn, that's what means to really be "ill" in that sense, you "quit" when you die, simple as that, fighting that fight till the last breath.

[devilsmile]

it still haunts me in my head but i haven't done it in a year.

last summer i obsessed my self with bodyweight excercise because i stopped lifting due to the illest noise my knees were making i just said fuck this if i can't even do 20 rep sets on deadlifts and squats without my knees sounding like wall nuts cracking, seriously. it wasn't until i started to have "time off" from training when i saw how soft my body rly was, no deep muscles at all, all surface and i started losing gains very fast after any type of time off and i didn't lose nearly as much gains when i lifted.

i still whanna start lifting but to be honest, i have gained another mental illness and that's being embarrassed to go in the gym. kinda the same feeling that you need to be tann before you go outside in the sun. i hate my self. it comes and goes, but i mostly hate my self and i'm very bitter to those who enjoy life

[johnnynoname]

it still haunts me in my head but i haven't done it in a year.

last summer i obsessed my self with bodyweight excercise because i stopped lifting due to the illest noise my knees were making i just said fuck this if i can't even do 20 rep sets on deadlifts and squats without my knees sounding like wall nuts cracking, seriously. it wasn't until i started to have "time off" from training when i saw how soft my body rly was, no deep muscles at all, all surface and i started losing gains very fast after any type of time off and i didn't lose nearly as much gains when i lifted.

i still whanna start lifting but to be honest, i have gained another mental illness and that's being embarrassed to go in the gym. kinda the same feeling that you need to be tann before you go outside in the sun. i hate my self. it comes and goes, but i mostly hate my self and i'm very bitter to those who enjoy life

may I ask---when you see some dumpy, pale nerd with a attractive woman how does that make you feel?

also, are you at the point (or, ever were at the point) where you said to yourself "yeah- I can't date right now because I didn't lift today or I'm feeling flat"?

[_bruce_]

may I ask---when you see some dumpy, pale nerd with a attractive woman how does that make you feel?

 

[devilsmile]

may I ask---when you see some dumpy, pale nerd with a attractive woman how does that make you feel?

it makes me feel i should have learned to speak at least five languages and get some sort of degree that allows me to make bank

it also makes me feel like she's most probably his friendzone girlfriend, or his sister.

it also makes me feel i should have gotten help from a bunch of shrinks when i was 13 to help me with better character development, instead of dwelling every day in the shadows

[da_vinci]

it makes me feel i should have learned to speak at least five languages and get some sort of degree that allows me to make bank

it also makes me feel like she's most probably his friendzone girlfriend, or his sister.

it also makes me feel i should have gotten help from a bunch of shrinks when i was 13 to help me with better character development, instead of dwelling every day in the shadows

Your parents probably weren't very supportive, were they?

[SF1900]

may I ask---when you see some dumpy, pale nerd with a attractive woman how does that make you feel?

also, are you at the point (or, ever were at the point) where you said to yourself "yeah- I can't date right now because I didn't lift today or I'm feeling flat"?

Remember when you were 14 years old and you were ANTI everything (as most teenagers are)? Well, that is pretty much Devilsmiles, except he is in his mid-20's.   He's never quite outgrown that part of himself. EVERYTHING is BAD!!! GRRR!!! "MOM, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME AT ALL!! NO ONE DOES!!!"

[devilsmile]

Your parents probably weren't very supportive, were they?

my parents were extremely supportive, at least very loving and understanding and always there for me. but they never forced me to do shit neither and allowed me to bang my head on the wall by videogaming 24/7 and to get false sense of reality, so... when i started to be afraid of going outside to buy candy from the store because i thought "people would laugh at me", they still didn't do nothing. never forced me to do anything at all, ever. they preached a lot, but never forced.

also, are you at the point (or, ever were at the point) where you said to yourself "yeah- I can't date right now because I didn't lift today or I'm feeling flat"?

oh yes i had that... i still have that, if i don't workout at least i can't do anything else. i had the phase when i went to solarium 40 minutes at a time just to get that glow to the skin before going out, after training of course.

Remember when you were 14 years old and you were ANTI everything (as most teenagers are)? Well, that is pretty much Devilsmiles, except he is in his mid-20's.   He's never quite outgrown that part of himself. EVERYTHING is BAD!!! GRRR!!! "MOM, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME AT ALL!! NO ONE DOES!!!"

well, u made it very simple but it's not that. it's much worse than that. i'm in my late twenties, i will turn 30 this year. when i started to go to the gym, and started noticing gains after 2 years of training i started to go to the solarium. it build a huge shield of confidence around my undealt insecurities from my teenage years, and now they are in the surface again with my life being what it is now and i'm like... shit.

but it's not all that bad, i'm very much wiser and more knowledgable than when i was young, i'd say i operate in adult level but my emotions are fucked and i lack motivation

[SF1900]

my parents were extremely supportive, at least very loving and understanding and always there for me. but they never forced me to do shit neither and allowed me to bang my head on the wall by videogaming 24/7 and to get false sense of reality, so... when i started to be afraid of going outside to buy candy from the store because i thought "people would laugh at me", they still didn't do nothing. never forced me to do anything at all, ever. they preached a lot, but never forced.

oh yes i had that... i still have that, if i don't workout at least i can't do anything else. i had the phase when i went to solarium 40 minutes at a time just to get that glow to the skin before going out, after training of course.

well, u made it very simple but it's not that. it's much worse than that. i'm in my late twenties, i will turn 30 this year. when i started to go to the gym, and started noticing gains after 2 years of training i started to go to the solarium. it build a huge shield of confidence around my undealt insecurities from my teenage years, and now they are in the surface again with my life being what it is now and i'm like... shit.

but it's not all that bad, i'm very much wiser and more knowledgable than when i was young, i'd say i operate in adult level but my emotions are fucked and i lack motivation

I live in America. I don't know what a solarium is.

[_bruce_]

my parents were extremely supportive, at least very loving and understanding and always there for me. but they never forced me to do shit neither and allowed me to bang my head on the wall by videogaming 24/7 and to get false sense of reality, so... when i started to be afraid of going outside to buy candy from the store because i thought "people would laugh at me", they still didn't do nothing. never forced me to do anything at all, ever. they preached a lot, but never forced.

oh yes i had that... i still have that, if i don't workout at least i can't do anything else. i had the phase when i went to solarium 40 minutes at a time just to get that glow to the skin before going out, after training of course.

well, u made it very simple but it's not that. it's much worse than that. i'm in my late twenties, i will turn 30 this year. when i started to go to the gym, and started noticing gains after 2 years of training i started to go to the solarium. it build a huge shield of confidence around my undealt insecurities from my teenage years, and now they are in the surface again with my life being what it is now and i'm like... shit.

but it's not all that bad, i'm very much wiser and more knowledgable than when i was young, i'd say i operate in adult level but my emotions are fucked

Same here - this year I will start studying again. Most likely I'll be twice as old as the average student but better than nothing and in our modern world a person without serious skills is as good as useless.

[bigmc]

im still training in cut off denim shorts and lumberjack shits and carrying round fifteen gallons of water when i train

so i dont get dehydrated

i eat seventeen meals a day so i stay anabolic

i do exercise routines with names like tyranosauras pecs

i spend 10k a month on supplements because the advert had a guy in a lab coat on it

outside of that i dont really follow the lifestyle

[_aj_]

im still training in cut off denim shorts and lumberjack shits and carrying round fifteen gallons of water when i train

so i dont get dehydrated

i eat seventeen meals a day so i stay anabolic

i do exercise routines with names like tyranosauras pecs

i spend 10k a month on supplements because the advert had a guy in a lab coat on it

outside of that i dont really follow the lifestyle

haha 

[Disco187]

ahahahah I cant date right now because i didnt lift or feeling flat ahahahahah ! I was soooooo like that back in the day.

[Coach is Back!]

....... after my last show and about 20 years before that when I decided to stop being a narcissist.

[johnnynoname]

I know that devilsmile is a euro because he used the phrase "solarium" for tanning bed