News-Record.com

As we've noted before, it took a while for me to come into my own.

Growing up, I saw the sporty types at the ol' high school getting up all the cute women. Later, in college, I saw that happen too. But there seemed to be a little more balance. Frat types and sorority girls got along, hippies dated hippies, punks got with punks and emo-kids were still lonely. There was also a little market for my type, whatever that was.

But one constant, it seems, is the drive to be perpetually physically fit for the opposite sex. Female eating disorders have been long been at least partially blamed on the value that our society puts on youth and image.

Is that affecting men, too?

Last week I had to buy new pants because they had started getting a bit snug. I'm on the last hole in a lot of my belts. Traditionally a skinny fella, I'm growing wider than I am taller for the first time in my life.

So, it's back to the gym, mostly because I can’t stand clothes shopping.

But as I hit the weights, I wonder. As a late 20-something, is image so important anymore as it was in the shallower high school and college years? Or is it more important, since we only have a few minutes to catch a gal's eye?

It's important for health to be fit, we know. But who do you do your sit-ups for? Why?