Body Image

[Gentleman T.rex]

5' 11'' reasonably muscular build. I don't have a horrible body image, but I feel like it could be a lot better. I'm not really embarrassed by how I look or anything but sometimes I feel like, physically I'm not making the grade. I know I don't look awful but sometimes I feel like it's just not good enough. Most of the people I know tell me I look pretty good so I wonder if it's just me being a little too obsessive with my appearance. I'm a very competitive person so I naturally compare most aspects of my life with other people. I have a good diet and I work out regularly and when I do I try to remind myself to exercise to stay healthy and improve athleticism rather than try and look good to impress people. Still, like most I have my days where I feel completely unattractive and slovenly. What do you guys think; am I worrying for nothing or should I start cutting the junk out of my diet and hit the gym a little harder? Honesty is appreciated, thanks.

[tilldeath]

they're going to edit out your weight.

other wise... beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
I used to be super insecure about my body, but then I just had to accept I am who I am and I love me. Then it all came together. I am happy with the way I look!

Just love yourself and what other people think doesn't matter. You have no control what other people think.
I know for men it's different and I know my husband had a hard time with self confidence in highschool... and he had to just learn to accept himself as he was. Eat healthy and take care of yourself.

I'm not sure what you're worried about... you're no overweight and you have good muscle definition... lots of guy would kill to have.

If you're worried about people being into you, you have no control over than. People who are worth your time will like/love you for more reasons than your body.

[escape_thereal_world]

Honestly, don't go by what others think. If you don't feel confident about yourself, then fix it. Maybe it's not your body weight or tone that you need to change. Instead, maybe there are other ways to get your self esteem up. That's what it sounds like is the main issue to me.

If you do have a lot of junk food in your diet, cut it down. Eat healthier. Otherwise, just work on your self-esteem. There are several places online you can get ideas from if you use search engines for "free self-help" or "improve self esteem".

[Jennifer]

Courtney is correct, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've had my share of insecurities and how i felt about myself. I either thought I was too fat or too skinny and people used to agree with me. But now that I realize that it was just the way I saw myself and I guess (not everyone agreed with me), that I needed to just let it go. Let myself relax and as Kelly said, work on your self esteem.

As I have told others, I think the best thing to do even though you are male and might find writing as a female activty. Journal or blog, what you do write about yourself. Don't over do it at first maybe write 1 or 2 things twice a week and then maybe 1 or 2 things every other day. Until you're able to write 5 things you like about yourself every day and it might bring yourself esteem up. I'm not telling you to go and write all the time about it, and for it to be a perminant thing, just until you can learn to love your body for what it does (or don't do for you).

[Ngikhona]

This is going to be cheesy but oh well. There are going to be some people who will think you're really attractive. For example, most people would probably call my boyfriend and I pretty average looking, but I think he's the most handsome boy. I wouldn't worry too much because even if you consider yourself average, there will be some people who think you're extremely good-looking. It's all up to personal taste.

[ScreamKatesName]

I don't think you should worry too much about your body image, anyone who's obsessed with the way you look probably only likes you for that. You should try and find someone who likes you, for you, not only for what you look like.

[FillingWithHope]

Try not to obsess about how you look because eventually it will stress you out so much where it is bothering the crap out of you. But I agree with the other posters, if you don't like something then see if there is a way to fix it but try not to obsess, maybe all you need is a little bit more self-confidence. Each day find something new you like about yourself and write it down. This way you will find all the positives about yourself.

[Gentleman T.rex]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I found a lot of helpful stuff here. I already enjoy writing and putting my thoughts to paper helped a lot to sort things out. Thanks for all the great advice.

[escape_thereal_world]

Since you've got a lot of advice here and you have no further questions, I'm going to go ahead and close this now.