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CNN.com Discuss The Secret Society of Men & Dieting (Including Yours Truly)!
Published by Gyant on Friday, March 23, 2012 at 9:14 am.
Photo: Jeff Daly/PictureGroup)
Living in Atlanta, the weight battle becomes more difficult with each passing day. From extra sweet iced-tea, to almost everything being slathered in butter and all those other dangerous (yet tasty) southern comfort ingredients. But while I am proudly fighting the good fight of obesity, many of the fellas I know keep their dieting on the low. We here at BET.com have examined this issue amongst that African-American community -particularly celebrities.
CNN.com’s Emma Lacey-Bordeaux and Gavin Godfrey examine the connection between men and secret dieting in a fascinating piece addressing the social stigma of men and dieting. Several guys from various backgrounds discuss their affinity with one another..dieting. And I even join the conversation in my usual zaney-high strung way.
Per CNN:
More than 30% of men older than 20 are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Men face the issue at the same rate as women, but until recently, ads for weight loss products mostly featured female faces and voices. According to ad industry watchers, the female-centric advertising had the inadvertent effect of scaring men away.
Enter a slew of new ads from the biggest names in dieting: Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig.
Weight Watchers took a direct approach, with television spots that explicitly tell men it’s OK to diet. One commercial proclaims “Weight Watchers online is for men, too,” and, as a nod to the brand’s more feminine advertising of yore: “It’s not all rainbows and lollipops.”
They go on to say..
Aside from the attention paid by Madison Avenue, some men said they’re learning they need more than just a plan; they need people to hold them accountable and to relate to their struggles.
Lloyd Dinwiddie, an entertainment correspondent who goes by the name Gyant, said men don’t often talk about their diets with other men, something he said he wishes would change. Though his nickname comes from his 6-foot-8-inch frame, Dinwiddie said not everyone appreciates his desire to slim down, and after years of diets, he’s trying new techniques.
“Women look at me like I’m crazy. They say, ‘You’re just big, Gyant,’” he said. “At 310 pounds, every book in the world is telling me I need to lose weight.”
Dinwiddie said he applauds Weight Watchers and other companies that focus on men’s health, but an “average Joe”-style spokesman would work better than a Charles Barkley or Mariah Carey, who have trainers and chefs to keep them focused.
Dinwiddie’s current dieting effort includes a lot more chicken salads and outdoor activities, with a goal of losing 80 pounds. He has turned to an online community, hoping the discussion will serve as communal motivation.
“It’s actually been a collective support system in a roundabout way ’cause in six months, if I’m not following it, they are going to be like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’”
Be sure to log onto CNN.com to listen to the podcast of this interesting and candid piece [Go Here].
Shouts to Emma and Gavin. Great article.
