More Bodybulding Stigma

[quote]MementoMori wrote:

I have too much protein (ie I eat about 4300 calories a day with a carb/protein intensive diet and about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilo- 80)

I’ve been told that my physical shape is only possible because I’m 20 and I “will see” when I age.

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these made me laugh because i hear them pretty frequently. while all my relatives are usually pretty fast to compliment any noticeable progress i make (especially if i havent seen them in a while) - they seem stunned by how much i eat at times. my father often tells me flat out “you eat too damn much”, and ive heard from several relatives “you wont always stay as lean as you are, it catches up to you when you’re older”.

i dont argue with them much, merely point out that despite how much i may eat im not really carrying a whole lot of excess baggage (flat stomach, but no visible abs). i also point out that the food “catching up when you get older” is more likely because they stopped working out, and thus are not burning it anymore. simple calories in/calories burned seems to be beyond many of them lol.

[quote]beachguy498 wrote:
You pretty much have to tell people only what you want them to know. Anything can be held against you, etc.

I’m a little more geezerly than you so people look upon whatever I do as a good thing. Then again I don’t fill them in what I eat or take for supplements since they do not have a Need To Know.

Keep doing what you’re doing and remins them that Jack Lalanne is 94 and still kickin’.

BG[/quote]

But everyone knows that’s because of the fresh juice that he makes.

[quote]Professor X wrote:

When I was in high school, I was flat out told by my parents that I could not eat more eggs. It really is no wonder why I gained so much muscle so fast once I moved out.

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Can I ever relate to this. My mother (a Susan Powter devotee at the time) would literally monitor my egg intake. I was allowed 5 per week, due to the fact that any more would supposedly trigger an acute cholesterol-induced heart attack. All the while I would watch my mom INHALE bags of bagels and pretzels, telling everyone who would listen that “fat makes you fat”.

In retrospect, that strung-out crackhead Susan Powter made Tony Little seem like a Ph.D in functional nutrition in comparison.

To the OP, a lot of people here at T-Nation have had “interventions”, I guarantee it. Sometimes these come from well-meaning people, other times its from wuddabins (“would’ve been huge, would’ve been rich” etc). As far as the wuddabins, forget about them…not worth your time. For the well meaning people, I’ve always found that educating them POLITELY is the best way. Some of their beliefs are hard-wired from adolescence, and if you tell them “protein doesn’t harm your kidneys moron!” they’ll stop listening. I always try to “see their side”…basic Dale Carnegie stuff but really effective. “You know, Uncle Chug-a-lug, I used to think that too. Just a few months ago they published a study indicating that high protein intake doesn’t harm the kidneys in any way. I was really surprised!”.

Educate without “educating”, if you get my meaning

[quote]Professor X wrote:

When I was in high school, I was flat out told by my parents that I could not eat more eggs. It really is no wonder why I gained so much muscle so fast once I moved out.

The fucked up thing is I always wonder where I would be if I had actually received some help in weight lifting back when I first got interested.[/quote]

During high school, since I became interested in lifting, I’ve managed to put on about 30 pounds of lean mass. Unfortunately that’s because every last penny I’ve had goes straight into gainer, casein, and postworkout drinks and I get more than 2500 calories a day just from supps because my parents limit my food intake. however i can’t wait to go to college and get on an unlimited food plan.

anyone know if whole foods will make a big difference? i know they’ll be better in general than just powders

I used to laugh when someone would ask, “Why are you trying to gain weight? Trust me, you’ll gain it whether you want to or not when you get older.”

Trust me. Once you’re over fifty all that will change. By that time they’re all fucked up and on medication. While we’re still rock’n and roll’n with a big old badass smile on the kisser.

This is the only thing I ever say to them now. Men between the age of 50-80 will lose 60% of their muscle mass if they don’t lift weights. So if they live to 100 just getting up to go to the bathroom will be a challenge. If you don’t believe me google it! That shuts them up right quick.

Being over 50 and doing what I do has them all eating crow. At least 75% of my customers are retired and that is the greatest motivator I have ever had, DON’T EVER STOP!!!

I’m in med school, and I keep my mouth shut all the time around people.

When you’re in the field, you realize that doctors are exposed to the same media bias as the rest of America. The vast majority have very little experience in the way of heavy lifting, so all they have is media and high school-borne stereotypes.

You trying to persuade them that what you do is healthy/not dangerous is like them trying to explain to you why soy is healthy or pilates is the shit. What one side is saying is absolute horseshit to the other side and vice versa.

The best thing to do is let your arms, shoulders, and chest do the talking for you.

Yeah I’m at the point I just don’t even talk to most people who don’t even lift seriously.

Cause I’ll always hear some bullshit. It’s refreshing when I can talk to another person who understands what gaining size really entails and not get looked at and talked to like child.

I just laugh when I see people basing their diets on drinking soda, eating bagels, donuts, bags of chips and “maybe” some fruit. With their only protein coming from some fast food maybe. Then some have the nerve to “educate” me on their superior knowledge of nutrition and health.

Fortunately the only real “intervention” I have had was from my mom regarding steroids.

My dad took a d-bol/deca/test cycle (I think test) in highschool and got fucking huge.

And because I took to the weights just like my dad did she automaticly thought that I would start to cycle as soon as possible.

It didnt bother me though. That was just her being a good parent.

I was lucky enough to have a coach who taught me the fundamentals early on, at about 14 I think. He was strong, and with both him and my dad, they instilled what was the truth. That lifting heavy shit built you in more ways than just your body. I must say I got lucky that way.

I get the same kind of responses, “why are you trying to GAIN weight?” i’m 26, so all my friends are at the age where they’re just trying to keep their weight off. regular gym goers don’t understand how much you have to eat to pack on muscle. i’ll run into people and they’re like, “damn man, you’re getting big.”

then my fiance will chime in, “yeah, he’s bulking i can’t wait til he cuts.” (she hates the expensive grocery bill, the bulk belly, and the consistent gas)…then people will ask, “what the hell is a bulk?” then i hate having to explain myself and the principles of proper lifting and i usually just try to change the subject.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
…(as I have never seen a Tyra Banks Show)[/quote]

LIES

[quote]jlutz3 wrote:
then my fiance will chime in[/quote]

Well there’s your problem.

[quote]Makavali wrote:
Professor X wrote:
…(as I have never seen a Tyra Banks Show)

LIES[/quote]

I think it is hilarious that she has her own show. I found it even more funny that this is apparently where people like my parents get their medical information from.

Tyra Banks is apparently teaching more people about the horrors of bodybuilding far more effectively than one of the authors on this website.

I’ve always found that those critics with the loudest voices are usually the ones who smoke, drink, and are overweight.

Eh, the only time I get the please don’t get bigger crap is from female friends. But they’ve said I look awesome now, but won’t if I get bigger for the last 50 pounds I’ve put on.

I get those judgements a lot from peers. Everyone I know assumes that I must be taking steroids because I walk around with a big temper, not that I’m angry and I use that anger to fuel my training. Thankfully, my family are all die-hard fitness people. My dad is 60 and walks around with hawt abz and taught me all the basics when I was younger although I didn’t try to put on much size until later in my life. They still don’t quite approve of the amount of red meat and eggs I eat per day but they’ve always been more about the health and fitness and less about being able to dismember someone with your bare hands.

I am not the most serious training person. But even i get it. I try not to tell people specifics. Just keep it general to avoid the resulting discussion. I don’t say “i need to gain another 15kg.” I say, “Just trying to get bigger arms”. For some reason people have a mental disconnect in their heads. Guys want bigger arms. Thats ok. But gaining weight is bad. The more general, and stereotypical the answer the less resistance i get from everyone else.

I also try not to correct other people. I just nod sagely at their advice. Like they have something to contribute to my life. They get to feel special and knowledgeable, I get to look like a nice person.

[quote]Da Vinci wrote:
I get those judgements a lot from peers. Everyone I know assumes that I must be taking steroids because I walk around with a big temper, not that I’m angry and I use that anger to fuel my training. Thankfully, my family are all die-hard fitness people. My dad is 60 and walks around with hawt abz and taught me all the basics when I was younger although I didn’t try to put on much size until later in my life. They still don’t quite approve of the amount of red meat and eggs I eat per day but they’ve always been more about the health and fitness and less about being able to dismember someone with your bare hands.[/quote]

Why is there no love for bare handed dismemberment?

I guess I am just different. Living to be 80 years old isn’t exactly my top priority. I care way more about quality of life than the extended remix of it just for the sake of the song playing longer. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about health either because I do far more than most…and I eat and train like it. However, most of these remarks are coming from diabetics with high blood pressure who are laughing at you for spending hours in the gym yet have the nerve to critique your diet when their own is 10 degrees south of just eating donuts all day long.

I guess I just don’t understand the logic there. How is their 50" waist seen as “healthier” than really big biceps?

[quote]Beatnik wrote:
I am not the most serious training person. But even i get it. I try not to tell people specifics. Just keep it general to avoid the resulting discussion. I don’t say “i need to gain another 15kg.” I say, “Just trying to get bigger arms”. For some reason people have a mental disconnect in their heads. Guys want bigger arms. Thats ok. But gaining weight is bad. The more general, and stereotypical the answer the less resistance i get from everyone else.

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Trust me…get big enough and they will question that too. If I told the average person I was trying to gain more size they would think I had gone literally insane. I downplay my work and my goals as much as humanly possible.