No one ever called it an eating disorder.
They called it dedication.
Focus.
Willpower.
You told yourself the same thing — because for men, it’s never about the food, right?
It’s about control. About strength. About being in charge of something when everything else feels like it’s slipping.
You start with structure.
You count, measure, plan. You train harder, eat cleaner, cut more.
People praise you for it.
“Wish I had your discipline.”
“You’re looking great, mate.”
And every compliment feeds the voice that says keep going.
But somewhere along the way, the structure becomes a cage.
You stop eating what you want and start fearing it.
You skip meals, not because you’re not hungry — but because you feel like you don’t deserve to be.
You overtrain, not because it feels good — but because rest feels like weakness.
You obsess over numbers — calories, reps, weight, control — because they make the world feel smaller and safer.
And no one notices.
Because men aren’t supposed to struggle with food.
You can talk about macros and fasting and gym discipline — but not about shame.
Not about how guilty you feel after eating something “wrong.”
Not about how much of your self-worth lives in the mirror.
So you call it “fitness.”
You hide behind the language of progress.
You pretend you’re chasing health when really, you’re chasing control.
But control always takes more than it gives.
It drains the joy out of everything.
Meals become maths. Exercise becomes punishment.
You start to forget what normal even feels like.
This isn’t weakness.
It isn’t vanity.
It’s pain, turned inward and repackaged as discipline.
And you’re not the only one who’s felt it.
Men struggle with eating disorders more often than anyone admits — not because they want to be thin, but because they’re trying to feel enough.
Strong enough. Tough enough. Worth enough.
If you see yourself in this, you don’t need to hate yourself for it.
You don’t need to keep pretending it’s just fitness.
You deserve help, even if you don’t think you “look” sick enough.
You deserve to eat without guilt.
You deserve to live without counting.
You deserve to be free.
#TriggerTopics | #BodyImage | #TrappedMinds | You’re not alone here
They called it dedication.
Focus.
Willpower.
You told yourself the same thing — because for men, it’s never about the food, right?
It’s about control. About strength. About being in charge of something when everything else feels like it’s slipping.
You start with structure.
You count, measure, plan. You train harder, eat cleaner, cut more.
People praise you for it.
“Wish I had your discipline.”
“You’re looking great, mate.”
And every compliment feeds the voice that says keep going.
But somewhere along the way, the structure becomes a cage.
You stop eating what you want and start fearing it.
You skip meals, not because you’re not hungry — but because you feel like you don’t deserve to be.
You overtrain, not because it feels good — but because rest feels like weakness.
You obsess over numbers — calories, reps, weight, control — because they make the world feel smaller and safer.
And no one notices.
Because men aren’t supposed to struggle with food.
You can talk about macros and fasting and gym discipline — but not about shame.
Not about how guilty you feel after eating something “wrong.”
Not about how much of your self-worth lives in the mirror.
So you call it “fitness.”
You hide behind the language of progress.
You pretend you’re chasing health when really, you’re chasing control.
But control always takes more than it gives.
It drains the joy out of everything.
Meals become maths. Exercise becomes punishment.
You start to forget what normal even feels like.
This isn’t weakness.
It isn’t vanity.
It’s pain, turned inward and repackaged as discipline.
And you’re not the only one who’s felt it.
Men struggle with eating disorders more often than anyone admits — not because they want to be thin, but because they’re trying to feel enough.
Strong enough. Tough enough. Worth enough.
If you see yourself in this, you don’t need to hate yourself for it.
You don’t need to keep pretending it’s just fitness.
You deserve help, even if you don’t think you “look” sick enough.
You deserve to eat without guilt.
You deserve to live without counting.
You deserve to be free.
#TriggerTopics | #BodyImage | #TrappedMinds | You’re not alone here
