What is it with this new breed of healthy boys? Aren’t boys traditionally stuck in front of the TV with a beer in one hand and a greasy burger in the other? Three very close male friends of mine have turned ultra healthy this year, in some ways even healthier than me!
One friend in particular carries around his health book wherever he goes. It’s almost like his little bible. It’s great for me because he’s always got some interesting health fact bookmarked for next time he sees me so I’m learning a lot. I have male friends who also eat only organic foods, who’ve given up meat, alcohol and dairy, who refuse to eat carbs and protein together in the same meal, have gone on some crazy five day detox and gone cold turkey on sugar. Is this a new breed of metrosexual men? Or is it normal for 25-35 years olds to have some sort of quarter life crisis where they ditch the booze and go for the organic OJ instead?
To be honest, I’m finding this new health trend in men incredibly sexy. I mean, how great is it when your boyfriend is the first one to suggest a nice tofu and green vege stir fry for dinner, instead of rolling his eyes at your vegetarian suggestion and making some joke about soya-decaf-vege-lami. How refreshing is it when he says "Darling, lets pop down to the market for some organic produce and maybe we can pick up an organic apple/carrot/celery juice while we’re there?". Wow, that’s hot.
There is, however, a little part of me that finds this behavior slightly intimidating. Men seem to have this amazing will power that I just can’t beat. If I tried to separate my carbs and protein from every single meal I doubt I would even last a day. If I went on some detox I would have trouble lasting five hours let along five days!
Well, good on them anyway. Healthy men, you’re doing a great job and I congratulate you on your fantastic efforts. I have a lot of respect for you going against the stereotype and putting your body and soul first 
Keep up the top effort!
Frances Kerr
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
9 responses ↓
Why do people separate carbs and proteins? Do some carbs make up a protein? What is a carb exactly? I think I’m getting confused!
A question for the guys - how do you encourage an unhealthy male to care more about his health - without sounding like a nag!
Haha. Men just do it to impress the ladies.
Regarding Gill’s comment about how to encourage an unhealthy male to care more about his health - wow, that’s a big question!!! It’s such a huge number of industries bent on keeping everyone unhealthy - it’s an uphill battle for a person of any gender.
But the short answer is, maybe, this - find out what his dreams were when he was younger. Behind almost every overweight couch surfing guy is a young man who wanted to climb Mount Everest, wanted to run a marathon, or at least had a vision of himself as in good shape with few health problems. This is not true of all men, of course. If you find out what those dreams are and find resources to help him understand that he can still accomplish them, it might motivate him.
Remember, most men are motivated by END GOALS - not by processes, not by vague promises. If you can show them how doing something will get them to a highly coveted goal, you can get them to do anything.
Again, of course, this isn’t true of all men.
Oh - one more thing - there’s research that indicates that men lose weight and increase health more readily by exercise, rather than watching what they eat. So don’t focus so much on the food factor, but encourage activity. I’ve found that increasing activity promotes weight loss and an increase in vitality which will tend to make men more interested in seeking other ways to improve those good results.
Good luck.
Eric
http://deepesthealth.com
I find that I can eat as much as I want and not put on weight- as long as it is REAL food (meat, veg, salad etc.. unprocessed and fresh) and not crap stuff (processed junk- chips, choco, anything from Ronald, The Colonel, or Pizza the Hutt etc..)
By making sure you plan and eat your good food meals regularly it is much easier to not have to worry about the junk food munchies. I only turn into Junk Food Garbage Guts when I let myself get too hungry and reach for the quickest thing to eat. Denying hunger is silly- it’s about being prepared with better options which don’t leave you with the wasted feeling afterwards…
having said that I must admit that since losing my baby fat around 4 years old I’ve never been accused of carrying any extra pudding…
Eric that is such a great idea and I totally agree with you, exercise needs to be fun! For girls it’s usually ’social sport’ so I really like the idea of the childhood dream for guys.
Gill- My ex and I used to do fun stuff together like riding bikes, walking to the local play ground and mucking around exercising on the monkey bars and sometimes we’d have jogging and sprinting races.
I also found the more exercise he did the healthier he wanted to eat. When we were jogging a lot he’d actually ask if we could make a vegetable soup together when we got home. It was great, he really got into those jogs and vege soups!
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If only Mr Walker were of these breed of Males…my life would be more peaceful!!!
Hehe, yeah, my next man is going to be uber healthy for sure. I just need to hang around the healthy guy hot spots …hmmm ..I need to make the Forset my new fav restaurant!
Excercising since I was a teenager in high school has build up my energy, endurance, and confidence in many different situations. Im able to work very long hours and keep a good level of strong character with me wherever I go. About a year or so ago I quit drinking soft drinks and stay away from junk foods including products with a lot of sugar. I had a severe acne and discoloration problem last year summer but was able to clear most of it up by sweating the toxins out from working out and using mosturizers. Also I’ve noticed a big difference in my complexion when I started using the yolk from eggs on my face. It made my face brighter while evening my complexion. I strongly believe doing a lot of excercising can keep your whole body healthy including your face.
I think its just because you are interested in health so you are finding people like that. Also, your living arrangements are strange. You live in the kind of arrangement that would attract people like the ones you’re meeting. I’m jealous. Yah, healthy guys are sexy to me. I’m less attracted to guys who drink or eat a lot of junk food, even if they don’t have a bad body. And I don’t think I’ve ever see a guy like that have a really NICE body anyway.
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