[quote]Professor X wrote:
Kailash wrote:
kevbo wrote:
Of course. Everyone cares about what people think, anyone who says you shouldn’t is being ignorant. Although it seems noble to say you’re “bodybuilding for your own peace and enjoyment,” this isn’t the case. I love working out and I love looking bigger, but if I were the last person in the world I wouldn’t do it.
Speak for yourself. I don’t like that people can tell I work out. I don’t want their “yo, you the buff man!” comments. I don’t want the questions “why do you do it?” I loathe attention and don’t want any of it. But it seems I have to get used to it, to learn to get out of it as quickly as possible.
Not everyone does this for others. I just want to be all that I can be, out of a sense of duty. I feel I owe it to the universe and everything in it, to live up to my highest potential, or die trying.
But you’re right, kevbo, that I do care about what people think. I want them to leave me alone.
And I’m sorry for anyone who’s the opposite, and wants to get this attention. But maybe you understand now that, like anything, it’s a double-edged sword.
He won’t understand just like most people won’t unless they are actually carrying enough size to stand out everywhere they go. Yes, it does get tiresome sometimes for people to ALWAYS acknowledge you based on size. You end up learning to get used to it. However, it isn’t something you can take off at will. Someone who carries that much size won’t blend in anywhere. Work on your own self confidence and it won’t matter much.
Along with that is the truth that someone who truly pushes themselves that far above average isn’t looking to fit in. I have no desire to be only a number or to be easily missed upon walking into a room. I could care less for the most part what every individual thinks. I didn’t blend in even when I was smaller so it really isn’t that much of an issue.
One thing that does stand out is how much importance he places on the thoughts of others. If you are only lifting for other people, I doubt how long you will be doing this. People like that seem to be the first to drop out of the gym the moment life throws a curveball. They become one the “off and on”. [/quote]
I never said I only lift to look good for other people. If all I cared about was looking good, then I wouldn’t be sitting here at ~16% body fat in a race to gain 50lbs in a year.
To deduce that I lift because I crave attention and I want people to come up to me to feel my arms from the post that I made is ignorant. Every time my friends/family mention something about me getting bigger, I shy away and change the subject. However, if I said I would rather my efforts of busting my ass in the gym and completely changing my lifestyle from a year ago be unnoticed, I would be lying to you.
I have goals, stength and otherwise. I don’t tell anyone these goals. I workout alone and I don’t expect anyone in my life to care when I reach these goals. I’m embarassed when someone asks me what is in my steel mug when I drink it at work, and I just tell them it’s a milkshake. It’s naive to say that I will not last in the gym, I am someone with great ambition and goals that I am determined to achieve. I’ve decided to give up my passion for computers (I worked as a tech for 4 years) and study Nutrition Science, with a goal of at least a masters degree.
Moving on from my life story, I come to my point. This is a body building forum. In a bodybuilding competition, bodybuilders are judged by other people. If winners were chosen because of how content each person thought they looked, all of the delusional 150lbs Brad Pitt-wannabes would be Mr. Olympias.
I’m a realist. I’m not going to sugar coat my posts as if I were going to become a role model. My posts are for the people who are true enough to themselves to realize what I am really talking about.