Really, ...How Do You Look

I moved back from the U.S three and a half years ago and at first I got mixed feelings about how people perceived me. I was 210lbs of muscle compared to my 175lb frame now.  


I was told that I was intimidating and un-approachable. I got first impression comments like, "are you a bouncer", "please don't beat me" and "are you a wrestler" to mention a few. At first I didn't appreciate people not understanding the hard work and discipline it took to get myself to that physical prowess. I was proud of my body and strength. I have to admit it fuelled my vanity while I lived in the states. Women found it attractive and men admired it, it motivated me to workout harder, but when I got here I got a totally different reaction. It was really baffling to me; I admit I liked the social attention it got me in America. It bothered me the limited appeal it got me here.  


I did learn something though, that different cultures react to certain body types and looks. It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are guys who like heavy, thick women with mad junk in the trunk and those who like them as lepa and thin as an American top model. Some women also like a man with some chub to him, were as some like them muscular, beefy and cut to shreds. To each his/her own right?


After I dropped down to a mare 190lbs, I got a very shocking reaction when I went to visit some friends in the States. Though some liked me lean and cut up but some preferred me buffed. In the end it all came down to how I felt, and I felt great in my new, smaller and leaner body. I was still very strong because I was still lifting as heavy as I did when I was bigger, well ...almost as heavy. But I was healthier and I looked it. And it really made it easier for people to talk to me, I looked better in my new clothes and I loved the way I looked. The measure of health, strength and fitness really has nothing to do with how you look. In CrossFit competitions and even in the recent Olympic Games a lot of the athletes did not look like they were going to be the ones going home with the title "Cross fittest in the world" or gold medals. So, really ...How do you look?