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Body Building as a Lifestyle

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    For my brother, the most important thing in the world is having big muscles and a good body. And he is totally huge. He doesn’t compete or anything, he just wants to look good.

    I think he has gone beyond good and is starting to look weird, but I will concede that this is a matter of personal perspective but I am a little bit worried about how his gym needs have taken over his life.

    I know that he has uses steroids and growth. I give him a hard time about it but he says they’re not that harmful anymore and that he doesn’t drink or smoke like I do so why should I get to lecture him?

    He has a chemistry degree and could get a great job but instead he delivers pizzas and still lives at home so he can spend all day everyday in the gym. He is totally rigid about what he will and won’t eat and most of what he eats seems to come as powders out supplement vats. It’s like working out and looking ‘good’ is the only thing that matters to him anymore …He used to have lots of friends, and now he doesn’t. He used to have a girlfriend and now he hasn’t for a couple of years…

    Am I wrong to think that something is wrong with the way he is living? My parents say that if it makes him happy then I shouldn’t worry about it. But I think there is something sick about the way he is living. It’s like muscles are his drug of choice and he has lost control over himself. I want to get him out of the gym and I want him to be like the person he used to be. Can I have an intervention or something? No one else seems to get that there is something really wrong here like I do?!!!

  • David Johnson Says ...
    David  Johnson

    While I agree it's probably not good for him in the long run, as long as it's legal and not doing obvious harm to him, you can't and shouldn't do anything more than express your opinion very occasionally. Speaking any more often than that puts your relationship at risk. Interventions are risky, they often result in disrupted relationships. What's more important? Do you want to have a good relationship with your brother, or do you want to push your point?

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