So many middle aged Irishmen have let themselves go

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121900644#Comment_121900644

Hmmmm, the standard varies. You also see a lot of the OPs look about the place. I don’t think it’s standard to be as muscular as the other lad who posted the photos. It wasn’t his clothes that were impressive.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121900707#Comment_121900707

Fair enough. Perhaps Irish men have the muscle hidden under a layer or two of insulation..

Daisy78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121900879#Comment_121900879

Not to harp on about this but the other thing I never understand is the ubiquitousness of black. See it every morning on the train, black everywhere, both sexes guilty of this. It’s not half as flattering as people think it is, can make a pale Irish complexion look washed out. A bitta of navy, olive or go mad, burgundy here or there would be a far better option. We definitely have an aversion to colour in this country.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121900703#Comment_121900703

Thats true....would I be right in saying its more visible, more in your face so therefore draws a reaction more

+ a lot of people tend to think its the persons own fault (rightly or wrongly depending on the issue)

And its sort of a habit...starts or at least used to start in school

Ash.J.Williams

I accidentally bought the wrong jeans online , I feel I need a huge pair of white trainers to complete the dad look now 😀

Leg End Reject

I think the worst thing a man can do is dye his hair, and I say that as someone who can barely remember my natural colour.

Grey hair suits men, an all over dye not so much.

corks finest

Naa hadn't the nerve to do anything 🙄

But sure if the man above has it planned it'll sort itself

In the meantime I'm in control of the TV 😛

corks finest

Haven't the balls

corks finest

It's difficult

But many thanks to all

mod

Ah here lads look there’s about 100 threads you can argue about obesity on. This isn’t one of them.

babyducklings1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121888484#Comment_121888484

It’s all so fake, society has become obsessed with looks. People spending a fortune on botox, eyebrows, eyelashes, butt lifts, nails, etc etc. ‘ All that glitters in not gold’ as Shakespeare said and while there is nothing wrong with trying to look nice it’s become obsessive. Maybe blame the selfie, I dunno. The beauty/ cosmetics industry are laughing all the way to the bank no doubt!

JupiterKid

Almost 49 here so well into middle age and I'm told I look well for my age...well, my partner thinks so! 😊

I weigh 13 stone and I'm 6'1" (185cm) in height and I would rather be a bit leaner and more toned...have a bit of a belly but not too much. I was slim/skinny throughout most of my life. I swim a lot, cycle and walk, do yoga and meditation but I do eat a good bit of crap in the evenings - cheese and chocolate especially. I don't drink - recovering alcoholic 5 years sober now - and I'm happily going grey with a full head of hair.

But then, I'm a gay man with no children which are a massive stressor and do seem to age many parents - men and women. I look at my mates my own age - the ones who have children and the few who don't and the former do seem to have "let themselves go" a bit more but at the end of the day I reckon a lot of it is down to genetics, lifestyle (when my drinking was out of control, I looked awful - red, puffy face, overweight although I hardly ate anything in my worst years) and diet and, as other posters here opined, priorities.

Another thing I've noticed is that boys who hit puberty early definitely age faster, sometimes much faster, as adult men in looks than those who don't.

Gay men are certainly much more looks and body conscious than straight guys - there's no doubt about that - but younger straight lads are much more into fitness, looking good and drinking far less than my own generation. Men simply don't have the deeply ingrained cultural pressure/conditioning on looks that women do, that's changed a bit over the past 25 years but not to the extent that the media would have you believe.

A lot of Irish middle aged guys do dress badly but Irish men dress better I reckon now than they did 25+ years ago. Although I'm gay, I'm not really into clothes unlike my OH who is very dapper and like some women with their husbands, picks out clothes he thinks would look good on me. 😁

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121900879#Comment_121900879

It's a free EU. People who prefer the Seedish look can head off and enjoy their life without having to be constantly annoyed by substandard dressed peers. The rest of us can just keep doing what we're doing in a free country.

Fat shaming, fashion shaming, ugly stick shaming, you've it all here in this thread. I wonder should we look to include additional provisions in the deemed essential hate speech legislation🤣

I get it that some people consider themselves almost perfect and like to constructively encourage to be more like them but seriously most people couldn't care less.

Potatoeman

Op it took guts to post those picks, just a little too much guts for someone calling other people fat. :p

Alexus25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121902151#Comment_121902151

No, I disagree, it doesn't suit a lot of men, just makes them look older and less attractive, get the bottled dye out

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121905715#Comment_121905715

Not attracted to any man so maybe I’m the wrong person to speak here but if you ask me an obvious older man with clearly dyed hair just looks ridiculous.

Montage of Feck

****, I've had a look in my wardrobe and it's full of those half zip sweatshirts! The uniform of white middle aged Irish men. Should I book a one trip to Switzerland or is there still hope for me?

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121905973#Comment_121905973

I love a good half zip

I also love the shirt (not check) under fine knit jumper look.

c.p.w.g.w

As a nation out adult population obesity rate is closed to 50%...the overweight rate is very sky high as well...

That's for both genders...

Also I can imagine a lot of folks have tough weeks with working, commuting and kids...most lads in my workplace with kids have pretty much given up any hobbies aside from the pub on a Saturday night as it's their only escape from the dregde of the week

Alexus25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121905908#Comment_121905908

Yeah I think some men can get away with it and some can't

Montage of Feck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121906372#Comment_121906372

But it's going to look ridiculous eventually, might as well just take a quick hit rather than dragging it out.

Alexus25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121906403#Comment_121906403

Men don't find it problematic when women dye their grey hair in their 30s, so it's shouldn't be problematic with the roles reversed, it's called maintenance

techman1

All forms of media paint white middle aged men as out of shape and useless. We're just living up to our role models.

Which is actually false because its usually people of African descent thar are now the most over weight when they get older. I think their genes are more prone to this due to needing to store energy when there were long periods of droughts in Africa. However in the western world with plentiful food all the time there is always abundant food. Also culturally doing exercise is not a thing like it is for Europeans.

During the covid outbreak it was actually the minorities that suffered higher fatalities since covid was more severe on people that were over weight. Obviously the media were careful not to say this explicitly

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121912690#Comment_121912690

You're heading into a bit of pseudoscience there with your genetic observations.

The higher rate of black folks being overweight seems to be from US statistics, where black people also have a higher rate of poverty.

What do food and poverty in the US have in common? Calories, and lots of them. The poorer you are, the fatter you tend to be.

Compare that against a global BMI chart showing obesity throughout the world. Not many fat people in those middle African countries. (obviously, as a lot of them are living in poverty)

Whether you're fat or not tends to be more to do with where you live and how poor/wealthy you are.

corks finest

Head off myself

corks finest

On a serious note these Patagonia jobbies are class,warm N stylish

Guaranteed to last yearrrrssss

PS not advertising that particular site just googled and that came up

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893998#Comment_121893998

It not always possible or the right option, I’m not sure how it works to be fair but I think it involves taking the hair from the back of the head and transplanting it on top. But what if you end up Bruce Willis type bald. There just isn't going to be enough hair from the back to transplant. Additionally it involves taking tablets for the rest of your life.

Much better to just accept it and keep it shaved reasonably close imo. It’s not the end of the world.