Dating With a “Dad Bod”
Okay, maybe you no longer have the time to go hiking every morning and then hit the gym every afternoon. As the years have gone by you have put on a few pounds. Whether it is just the natural course of aging or if you never were in shape to begin with, the situation is that you have a plump midsection. What most people would refer to today as a “dad bod.”
If you are involved in a happy relationship, chances are that having a dad bod is not going to bother you that much. However, if you are reentering the dating scene and you have a dad bod, you are probably going to be self-conscious about it.
— The “Ideal” Solution —
In an ideal world you would simply dedicate some additional time to physical fitness and watch what you eat a little bit more carefully and you would magically regain the sculpted body that you had in your twenties. Unfortunately, the reality is that you likely do not have the time nor the self-discipline to do all of that. In other words, the ideal solution is going to be out of reach for most of you.
So, what then can you do? Is dating still possible with a dad bod?
Fortunately, dating while not looking at your physical best happens all the time. Honestly, look around you next time you’re in a bar or restaurant. Identify those couples who are obviously on a date. Yes, you will come across those who are specimens of human perfection, but you will also come across a large number of men who are obviously dating but who would never grace the cover of GQ magazine.
That does not mean that those men are not attractive, simply that their bodily physique is not one of their main attributes. If those men can do it, so can you. All that is necessary is a few tips on how to date when you have a dad bod.
1. Mind What You Wear
When your physique is not as sculpted as it should be, you must be more careful about what you wear. Look at it this way, a 22-year-old muscular male with an athletic build can wear a dirty and torn t-shirt with raggedy jeans and look absolutely manly and desirable to all of the women who see him. However, if you are in your mid-forties, recently divorced, with a receding hairline and a dad bod, wearing that same outfit is not going to yield the same result.
That does not mean that you are not handsome, it just means that you can no longer pull off that a type of look. This is why if you have a dad bod you should be very selective about your wardrobe.
Go for a style that makes you relevant without making you look desperate. In other words, you want something that is modestly stylish or classically elegant. You want to avoid anything that is trendy. The reason for this is that trendy male fashions tend to be designed for younger and fitter bodies. Squeezing yourself into something like that is not going to have the result that you want.
When you are looking for inspiration for the type of clothes to buy, you should seek examples from men in your own age group. Simply browsing through male fashion websites full of pictures of twentysomethings is not going to be your best source.
2. Knowing the Right Time and Place to Show Off Your Dad Bod
Obviously, if you are dating that means that you will eventually want to get some action. Hell, some of you might only be thinking about casual dating and hookups anyway. Whether you are reentering the dating scene to find a new long-term companion or just for a quickie, it means that the women that you will be courting are going to see your dad bod in the flesh and in its entirety.
Whatever you do, don’t start panicking. The fact that the new women in your life will be seeing you naked should not be as great of a concern as you make it out to be. By the time that you reach such a level of intimacy with a new woman in your life, the both of you should be in a state of sexual excitation. That means that with all of the urges, pheromones, and hormones pulsing through both of your veins, the both of you are not going to be as prone as to start noting any of your imperfections. In other words, if she’s horny enough to want you, by that stage, your dad bod is not going to be that large of an issue.
However, if you start showing off that that dad bod of yours before you reach the stage of intimacy. If you prance around with an open shirt or pants that are too tight for you that your belly bulges out more than it should — then chances are that the new women in your life are never going to enter that crucial horny stage.
You should never be ashamed to get naked and perform your manly duties when the time is right. But you should also never blindly highlight the fact that you have a dad bod before the time for sex has arrived.
3. Charm and Personality
We won’t lie to you. When you were younger — especially if you had an attractive physique — a few of your romantic conquests may have been swayed primarily by your looks. Even if you didn’t have a charming and personable personality your looks may have compensated for it.
Fast forward to the present. Now that you have a dad bod being charming and having a desirable personality become highly important. This does not mean that you have to pretend to be somebody who you are not. You should always be yourself but always take care in the way that you present yourself. Do your best to be courteous, even chivalrous. If you have a natural sense of humor don’t be afraid to show it off.
Avoid being self-deprecating. Being able to laugh at yourself is one thing, obsessing over what you perceive to be your shortcomings in front of your date is not attractive at all.
— Summing It All Up —
Having a dad bod is by no means an impediment to successful dating. Whether you are recently divorced, separated, or widowed — you can get your fair share of casual encounters with women. Likewise, if you’re more serious-minded you can also attract plenty of women to start a new long-term relationship.
It’s all a matter of being conscious of your present-day self. Don’t attempt to reenter the dating scene seeing yourself the way you were 10 or 20 years ago. Yes, you are a little bit older, you may not look the same, but as long as you can tap into the original confidence that you had in the past, modern-day dating will be just as, or even more, enjoyable.
