Turns out there’s not much difference between men and women when it comes to body confidence.
Our recent A Slice of Ireland survey revealed that about half of both Her.ie and JOE.ie readers are really unhappy with their appearance.
Berating someone for how they look is such a low blow, and one that’s probably all the more hurtful if it comes from a loved one.
Sadly, that’s what happened Benjamin Montanez from California. Ben was overweight, tipping the scales at 23-stone.
“It was totally to do with an unhealthy lifestyle,” the 33-year-old told The Lad Bible.
“I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was eating anything and everything. At one point it got to where I was eating up to six king size candy bars a day,” he said.
Ben quickly developed a dislike for his body.
Problems with his then-wife didn’t help.
“Me and my ex would get in arguments over my weight and my health pretty regularly. [My wife] would constantly tell me that I was too fat to love – that my weight made me unattractive and even that I was so fat the idea of having sex with me made her sick to her stomach” said Ben.
Ben signed up for the gym and began working out. He later discovered his wife had been cheating on him and he used the breakup of his marriage as motivation to get fit.
Ben lost and incredible 100 pounds.
Now as Ben approaches his goal weight of 225 pounds, he’s inspiring other men to love their bodies and not to aim for an unrealistic ‘ideal’.
“Goal weight isn’t a number on a scale it’s the feeling that you get the day you look in the mirror and say “I like how I look” it could be a size 32 or a 42 a size 3 or a 14. Point is we need to stop looking at numbers and start looking at yourselves and loving who we are at the moment. Don’t let your goal for a better tomorrow keep you from having a happy today” he writes.
“Live your life and just be the best you possible.”
We love you Ben <3
