Do all triathletes have BDD(body dysmorphic disorder)?

Triathlon Forum
1

I have read little bits and pieces about Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and recall a brief discussion about it here.

In my case, it seems as if I am more critical of myself and my appearance now than three years ago when I started getting back into shape. Since then, I have lost 25 pounds and am in the best shape of my life. But I still get upset when I gain a pound or two, complain about my little love handles, and do other things that cause my bride to threaten me with a frying pan.

So do you do the same thing? Are we all just perfectionists, or do we have a real problem? And if you are perfectly happy with yourself and your physical condition, I’d like to hear that too.

2

I look a hundred times better now than I did a few years ago before I started tris/cycling. Before you could see my ribs and I had super skinny legs. So when I think I am not looking great, I pull out my old pics of me and realize how much better I am now.

Never been great looking, but I am happy with my appearance (then and now).

3

Hmmm, well, yeah…

Ah. I guess I am not a fat guy, but I was. I look at a fella like Eric Fernando and I say, “He is much more fit looking than I. I want to look more like that…” So as your fitness improves, and your appearance, the bar goes up.

Is it a problem? Depends…

If a person is going off to buy boob jobs (implants or reductions or lifts), stomach staples, Botox, hair plugs, liposuction, blah, blah- that is a bit of a problem unless they have been disfigured by an accident.

The reason I think it is a problem is they are placing an inappropriate emphasis on physical appearance. Remember, when we are old, we’re pretty much all going to look like shit.

For females, it is rampant. Cosemetic surgery leads to more cosemetic surgery. It’s like murder, once you do it once- the second time is a whole lot easier.

4

Yeah, my girl tells me I do anyway. I also lost a ton of weight coming out of college and progressivley have become more and more fitness oriented. My family says I am “skinny” and I also freak about a few pounds and my body. My girl says I am as much a girl as most girls she knows with the body and wieght focus, shaved legs etc, but she also really appreciates the lifestyle too so she understand

We will occaisionally find old pictures and just laugh.

5

I was the architypical fat kid at school, and as a result swimming and cricket were the only sports that I represented the school in, was always the last to be picked at football etc. But now I look at myself 10 years after starting triathlon, 3 IMs in the bag lighter than I was 20 years ago and certainly fitter.

I like my appearance after I have worked out in the morning cos I am more defined before I eat breakfast, but I don’t like my love handles and know that no matter what amount of fat/ weight I lose I will not lose those handles.

But am I happy, I guess. Would I like to lose those handles? sure in a second, cos as Tom will confirm if you have been fat for some time you always have that self image but you know it’s not there anymore when you look in the mirror.

So for me it’s not a real problem just a by product of my chosen sport and self improvement.

6

I do…I tell my girl friend that I have “Fat Patches” - they hide on my back and places that I cant see them…she get SO mad it is funny.

7

They are not love handles, they are my Ironman fuel cells!

8

well, now I don’t wear certain clothes because they make me look fat.

I was walking with a coworker and we passed a mirror on the way to the gym, I asked her if she thought the sweater made me look fat. She told me I sound like a woman.

9

I think that since I have lost over 50 pounds since my culinary school days that I love looking in the mirror. not to say that I don’t see the little changes in my appearance like an addition of 2 pounds of whatever here or there. I know that when the ladies are whistling at me while I’m on my runs that I know I must be doiing something right. Now, deservingly so I have earned what I have. Everyone does whether they are fat or skinnny, muscular or flabby. Everyone has what they have earned. I know that with all of the effort that I put into my workouts and training for triathlons and road racing that I deserve what I have.

There is no way that we should be adding a name to every single thought that we have in our minds. I know that earliier this morning I thought that I didn’t want to get out of bed because I had a final exam today that I didn’t want to take. Does that mean that I’m depressed. It’s things like these that just are unfair for people to be characterizing as one thing or another. It’s a though not a belief becuase once it’s a belief than it’s something serious, but until then there is only one thing to say

“DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY” from Bob

David J
ASU SUN DEVILS!!!

10

I was over this illness a few years ago, and now I fret every unburned calorie and hate when I can’t workout. I can’t loose that last 10lbs and can’t give up two of everything to get it done. My legs look so good I can hardly take it- tan, ripped and difined like Atlas. My belly and back are white and flabby like a babby whale. The best and coolest thing about me is that I have flab that deposits itself on my chest like I have big pecs. Now if I could get it all there.

11

What a dumb question! ------------- Now where is my mirror and razor? :~)

Aloha,

Larry

12

I’ve had a skinny complex for most of my life. I’ve been almost 6’1" since I was about 15. At the time I was about 148 lbs. My nickname was Qtip because I was thin and fuzzy at the top(ha-ha). By the time I graduated high school I had gotten up to 163, still quite thin. Started playing college football and lifting weights. I eventually got as high as 204 and very muscular. One of my best friends said, “You look more and more like a superhero every day.” Bodybuilders tried to recruit me for “Natural” bodydbuilding contests. People called me “big man” on the basketball court. Having always had a skinny complex, I was in heaven. I got compliments all the time on my physique.

Started the endurance training and then got really serious about it. All but stopped lifting. Now I’m back down below 170 again, but look even lighter. I no longer get as many compliments or attention from the ladies. I’m back to being called skinny again. Don’t really care anymore. I’ve come to grips with the fact that my body will shape itself based on the demands I place upon it.

13

I have been 150 lb since I was 17 years (I am now 40). Never went up or down by more than 1 or 2 pounds.

Started distance running and tri’s 2 years ago and my weight has still stayed the same.

But, when I trained for my last marathon (last December) I got to 143 lb and got lots of “your too thin comments”.

I am but sub concsious of my lack of arm and shoulder muscle, but I do not do weights, so what can I expect.

But damn, my weight over the last 6 weeks has been 153-155 lb - the highest it has ever been. But I tell myself that it is the extra muscle I have developed which is heavier than fat - although no one else seems to have noticed my newly acquired muscles, probably because they are really KIT KATs that I consume like sports gel.

14

I noticed your new shoulder muscles at the last triathlon. That is definitely where you gained the 2 or 3 pounds. Does that get me a Kona Longboard Lager next weekend? :~))

Aloha,

Larry

15

Larry,

That definately gets you a brew. Now if my shoulder muscles only translated to a better swim that would get you a case of Kona brew.

16

I was the skinny kid in school. I had gotten into Junior hockey, and I could not gain weight from doing weights. I topped out at about 140.

Fast forward a couple of years after when I got married at a stupid young age. I had suddenly balooned to 215 in a nine month time period. I looked awful, I felt awful, and I was always fatigued.

Fast forward about three years after, when I had rediscovered cycling. I shed well over sixty pounds. I was getting the “you’re way too skinny” comments.

In 1997, I had a horrendously crippling hip flexor injury. This had basically kept me from attaining real fitness on a bike or running for nearly three years. I gained some weight back- okay, quite a bit. I got the “dude, you’ve gained weight” (in a very snarly tone) from the same fing people who told me I was too skinny. What the f!?!?

Body image of the 53:36 40K TT-er in 1996: I still had love handles at the “portly”* weight of 127 @ 5’9" tall!!!

*being sarcastic.

I almost sued my employers for accusing me of bulemia and/or anorexia. They were on me all of the time. I just finally told them that I would sue them if they kept on me about it.

People are assholes, that’s it. Some people think they have the right to tell you exactly what you are supposed to look like. These are typically people who are too mentally fragile to hear the truth about themselves. Do you now know why I prefer the company of little furry, long-eared bunny rabbits to humans? Because they are lovely, play fun, are cute as anything on earth and don’t ever tell you that you are too fat or skinny.

I have not gotten nearly as thin when I had my comeback in 2001 and 2002. 2003 was another injury riddled year, with crashes that basically killed my run fitness, and I can’t get the motivation to get me back. It bothers me deeply that I can tell that I am slowly but certainly getting fatter and fatter. It really pisses me off.

What am I trying to say? It’s your body, and it is your choice whether or not you are satisfied or not with the look of it. When you realise you can’t change your body any more, either hire a personal trainer or be happy that you’re not injured. Accept what your hard work can get for you. For most of us, being at a healthy weight is going to be a life-long battle, let alone what other’s perceptions of what we are “supposed” to weigh. Don’t make any fat comments about yourself, and if people tell you that you’re “too skinny”, tell them they are fat slobs and to f*** off. If I would have replied the way I had suggested while in the best shape of my life (instead of trying to be nice and brush it off), I would probably would not carry this chip on my shoulder like I do now.

17

Thank you all for relating your stories from both sides of the scale. I have also yo-yo’ed. When I was 12, I got injured and spent the summer laid up. By September my sister was joking about buying me a bra. (I wasn’t that fat, she was just really mean.)

Since adulthood, I have been between 150 and 185, depending on whether or not I am in shape, and I haven’t seen 150 since boot camp in 1986. As bunnyman points out, it’s funny how, at any given point in time, people will be happy to point out that you look “like you have gained weight” or are simply “too skinny,” and as soon as your weight fluctuates, they are the first to tell you.

I am now around 160, and can’t seem to get any lower, even though I think that I am carying around 5-10 extra pounds. I don’t have that radiant “androgynous prison camp survivor” look that the Ironman champs often have. The funny thing is, as Tom points out, every time I achieve a goal, I set my standards higher. But there will come a point at which I won’t be able to get more ripped(“more” being very optimistic), lose more weight, or get faster. At that point, I wonder what I will do.

Given that the average triathlete is more fit than 95% + of the people out there, I find it interesting that so many of us are either trying to gain weight, lose weight, or otherwise change our appearance to attain an ideal that the casual observer probably thinks we have reached. I know that most of my friends think I’m crazy just for doing this stuff.

18

This is the article I was talking about. It took me a while to find it again.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/12/male.eating.disorder.ap/index.html

One interesting point they make:

“And men, in many cases, are unaware that they have an eating disorder. For example, they may exercise obsessively and just think that’s regular guy exercise behavior.”

19

i have been thin for most of my life. i used to get hassled at primary school (equiv of elementary school) for being skinny. when i was about 13-14 i had a pretty big growth spurt as u do…got more muscly. then again from 14-15. i still felt i was too small though. i was a competitive swimmer and into rugby. i always felt my size was holdin me back in both sports. began to do a bit of weights when i was 15. kept the same weight until i was 16. i had a month of swimming and tried to gain weight cos i thought it would help me. gained 17 kgs (about 35 pounds) in 1.5 months. i was now the weight i wanted t o be for rugby…but swimming…well i was abt 10 kgs too fat! at least! i lost alot of that weight but quit swimming the year after, and gained about 16 kgs. i was about 190lbs (im 5ft11)…since then i have been pretty much losing weight ever since.

i feel much better at my current weight (about 70-72kga). i havent got a big frame and i think this is prob my ideal weight…altho people do notice im supposedly ‘skinny’…oh well i guess they havent seen me with my shirt off. haha

20

“And men, in many cases, are unaware that they have an eating disorder. For example, they may exercise obsessively and just think that’s regular guy exercise behavior.”

Interesting. . .Although I would guess that a lot of men who exercise obsessively and think it’s regular guy behavior aren’t doing it for reasons related to body image. I think a lot of athletes just put a lot of emphasis on working more, and working harder, and it’s easy to overdo that. The whole, “I only ran 12 miles this morning, I better work harder and run another 20 before dinner or I’m not doing enough” thing.

On the other hand, I was a little taken aback when I visited the sports section of the local Barnes and Noble lately. Tons and tons of books about how men can achieve that cover model look. Kinda creepy.