What is a dad bod?

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What exactly is a dad bod? I used to think it meant having a big stomach and possibly a lot of hair, but I've seen a lot of women say in their dating site profiles that they like guys with dad bods. Since being fat and hairy is considered pretty unattractive, I figure I must have the wrong definition, so... what does it mean?

It’s the bod of the physically lazy.

So it DOES mean fat and hairy? And women are actually attracted to that?

It means a pretty good bod....but with some “imperfections” caused by age and lack of exercise.

It doesn’t necessarily mean “fat and hairy.”

I have a “dad” bod. Not too bad—-but not great, either.

But google images showed me bodies with big bellies; and not really hairy.

Yeah, it means broad shouldered and hairy chested with the beginnings of a "spare tire" around the waist. It conveys an aura of strength and dependability (like a dad) that some women find attractive, more so than the boyish shaved chest/visible abs that are associated with teenagers and gay men.

Then there’s dad breath:

To be cute and cuddly like a certain character that I like.

What is a dad bod?

A better question is how you get one. First you consider that probably a lot of these men were athletic in high school and college. Naturally they are attractive to a certain subset of women.

Once they’re married, have babies, and settle in a career, the performance pressure is off. As long as you’re competing, working out, and trying to impress the girls, plus that adolescent metabolism, it’s easy to stay in shape and look your best.

Dads now are under a lot of pressure from their wives to help watch and play with the kids, while the jobs with most responsibility and higher pay are desk jobs. At the end of the day, you have no time to work out. And even when you do, you’re too mentally exhausted to even have the willpower. Between you and your wife cooking, there’s never a shortage of food. And you don’t like seeing food go to waste, so you pick leftovers off their plates while you spend the rest of the evening watching sports or a romcom with your wife.

The metabolism is gone, you eat too much, and you won’t/can’t work out. You get soft.

And that puts you in this really weird place where you’re overweight, but you don’t have the shape of the typical morbidly obese 800 lb gorilla.

Women are attracted to this guy in part because of a subconscious dad fantasy. It’s all very Freudian. But it also indicated a guy who has arrived and can afford to live comfortably. Women really, REALLY like to hug guys like that. They don’t like hugging “hard” muscular men.

Now...given a choice, who’s the girl going home with? The built, muscular guy. The perception is the more athletic guys perform better in the sack. The dad bod will get you the more calm, settle-down types who actually want you to get them pregnant.

Personally, I prefer myself to strike a balance. Even when I can manage my weight in the 160s I still have a flabby gut and man boobs. Summer is upon us and I’ll be committed to lawn work. I’ll keep working out and will add an extra hour of swimming every day since the pool will be open starting next week. I have three running events this month, starting with a 10k today and two 5ks later on. Starting next week I’ll be more careful with my diet so I can lose a few perform better on the road. I’ll never have the body builder look, but I don’t have to look like I’ve completely let myself go, either.

How do you know this?
Please try to wear a shirt while doing this, not like the guy on the riding mower I saw on the way to dinner yesterday.

I know because I ask.

I wear tech shirts.

For practical reasons, I don’t use a riding mower. For one, I can’t afford even a cheap one. Even if you buy a cheap one, they tend not to last very long and as they wear out, they’re too expensive to maintain. I spent over $100 in one month alone just replacing deck belts. I saved my gig money and bought a nicer push mower thinking I’d come out better. Well...ALMOST. I bought from Lowe’s only to figure out replacement parts took months to get. After it broke down the second time, I just sort of abandoned it at the repair shop and bought a new one from the same store I had repair the Husqy. The new one is a Toro, and while I know I’ll always have repair and maintenance issues, at least they have parts in stock and can give me usually about a 2-week turnaround. Meanwhile, it gives me a good additional 2 hours a day workout beyond what I already get.

Oh, and I just got back from my 10k. My pace today was 8:34. Still kinda pathetic. I’ve got two weeks to train for my next 5k, and I think with a slight modification in my training and diet I can break the 8 minute mark.

Tough luck. My Sears Craftsman mower that I bought in 2003 finally seized up last summer. The only parts I ever replaced on it were blades and wheels (and I could have done better if I knew how to sharpen the blades). I did have maintenance done on it in 2013 after some mice built a nest in it. I'll see whether the new one (also a Craftsman) gives me any more trouble. It amazes me what a great bargain these really are. The cost of a new Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone 8 would cover the cost of 2 of these.