Are men sliding under the radar when it comes to eating disorders? As gym bro culture is on the rise, so are the disordered eating habits around it. There seems to be a big push for ‘healthy’ eating as working out and gaining muscle gain popularity, but are gym bros and influencers taking it too far?
Bulking and cutting seem to allow men to hide behind what is a mask for disordered eating, which can be defined as a spectrum of attitudes or behaviors that impact one’s relationship with food and body image. Consuming mass amounts of macronutrients for a ‘bulk’ in a short time period followed by an ‘aggressive cut’ may be detrimental to mental and physical health. There seem to be obsessive and compulsive behaviors surrounding food intake for men who are dedicated to improving their physique, but why is this normalized?
Historically, society has paid close attention to the way women view and consume food. With Western beauty standards and social norms, women experience complicated relationships with their bodies and eating habits. Men can also face social pressure to look a certain way, especially those dedicated to gym culture, feeling they can never be muscular enough, lean enough, or strong enough, which can negatively affect their sense of self through ceaseless comparison. Holding men accountable for behaviors that promote toxic relationships with food, not only for other men, but for young boys, is imperative for changing the narrative around the normalization of bulking and cutting.
Similar to binge eating disorder, bulking entails the overconsumption of calories, to the point of nausea at times. Calling overeating ‘bulking’ seems to be a way for men to overlook the frightening reality of disordered eating. In contrast, cutting involves undereating while continuing to work out aggressively, with the goal of burning more calories than you are consuming, usually maintaining a 500-or-more-calorie deficit.
Some may argue that gym-goers’ attention to macronutrients supports bulking and cutting. Being aware of protein, carbohydrate, fiber, and sugar intake is another major part of the gym bro culture. Some feel that only consuming clean, whole foods (red/white meats, fruits, vegetables, etc.) exempts cutting and bulking from being considered an eating disorder. Regardless of the nutrients consumed, is it healthy to be obsessed with what we put in our bodies? There seems to be an obsessive and compulsive nature to the eating and exercising practices in the gym bro community, idealizing a total body transformation that for some may be dangerous or unrealistic.
We are only beginning to uncover the mental and physical impacts of bulking and cutting. Eating habits like these can be directly related to disordered eating, including binge eating disorder, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, and the budding orthorexia nervosa. We can already assume the impact undereating has on your physical health, but do we stop to consider what bulking and cutting in short spurts of time can do to your cognitive health? The brain generally relies on glucose to function properly, so what happens when you aggressively cut carbs and don’t give your brain what it needs?
Cutting generally involves a high-protein and low-carb diet. When cutting is paired with intense exercise, especially cardio, the body struggles to keep up with the minimal calories and maximum exertion. Though this formula for losing weight and maintaining muscle may work for some, maintaining it for an extended period could harm the body and brain. Prolonged cutting can lower your metabolism, and all-or-nothingthinking around eating habits and overall weight loss can also affect your mental health long-term. Cognitive distortions that affect your ability to have a healthy relationship with food by creating negative thought patterns can impact mental health and self-esteem, elevating feelings of anxiety and stress.
How can we address cutting and bulking, and the worries around gym bro culture, with the men in our lives? It can be bold to assume any person has an eating disorder; treading carefully around sensitive topics like this is important when trying to get through to someone you care for. It is imperative to raise our concerns without it feeling like an accusation, approaching them with empathy and curiosity.
Though stigmas around mental health are changing, there is still something emasculating about showing concern for the men in our lives in terms of their well-being.
Toxic masculinity is often the primary culprit when experiencing difficulty holding men accountable for their ‘shortcomings’. Men who have an insecure sense of manhood have a harder time receiving help as it can be interpreted as criticism. More often than not, the men who have a precarious relationship with their body and manhood struggle to see their habits as disordered. Insecure masculinity combined with the incipient gym bro culture around cutting and bulking ultimately develops successful outcomes for gym bro influencers who promote unhealthy eating habits, pressuring young men to develop destructive and disordered experiences with food and exercise.
It is important to bring light to the dark underbelly of gym bro culture and dieting now, especially for young impressionable men who struggle with self-image. If you sense the men and boys in your life may have an unhealthy obsession with their food intake and exercise, here are some ways you can gently address your concerns:
● Do not approach with judgment; show you understand and empathize with why they may be choosing to bulk or cut.
● Ask clarifying questions that can help you recognize if this is an unhealthy obsession:
○ “How often do you think/worry about your carbohydrate/protein intake?”
○ “Do you feel guilt when food intake goals aren’t met in a day?”
○ “How do you speak to yourself when you stray from dietary restrictions?”
○ “What is the end goal for your cutting/bulking and how long will these restrictions last?”
○ “When you are in a cut, do you feel a loss of energy that impacts your daily functioning?”
After asking questions like these, you may see evidence that your concern for their eating habits is valid. When a disordered relationship with food is apparent, it is imperative to encourage seeking advice from a licensed therapist or nutritionist, and to let the men in your life know that asking for help is not only normal but essential when disordered eating affects daily functioning.
Prolonged dietary restrictions, especially through cutting, can harm the brain and body. Incorrectly and undernourishing your body can impact immunity, organ function, and even psychosocial effects like anxiety, depression, and at times psychosis. Gym influencers and gym bro culture may not fully recognize the dangers of extreme dietary restrictions and how they may impact an individual’s feelings and views around food and exercise. It is more important than ever to call out the disordered thinking and habits embedded in gym bro culture, revealing cutting and bulking for what it could be disordered eating.
