Last week ago, I entered into my own case study on the differences between the two sexes. Although it has only been a few days, I thought that I would share my preliminary findings since they are fascinating.
Case Description:
This past month, my wife and I embarked on the annual ritual for middle class couples: I booked us a summer trip to the beach and she began freaking out about having to wear a swimsuit. My wife has been worrying at this for a few weeks now and last week she finally came up with a solution. After much thought and fretting, she decided that we both need to go on a diet. *Side Note* It never ceases to amaze me how her concerns turned into an “us” action.
We have been on this diet for exactly 6 days as of this writing and have reacted very differently to the challenges that dieting presents. I have found these differences very interesting.
Her Response:
In hindsight, my wife’s response to “our diet” was predictable. The first thing that she did was discuss it with her girlfriends to find out if any of them are embarking on similar adventures. Sure enough, our neighbor was having a similar experience. After discussing their concerns with each other, they quickly setup a support system where they go to the gym together and share the results of their “Lose It!” food tracking app. This essentially gives my wife a buddy system for tackling her challenge.
The other aspect to my wife’s reaction to the challenge of getting in shape for beach season was an emotional one. From my insensitive male perspective, she seemed to be playing hopscotch with emotions: optimism that she was going to reach her goal; pessimism that she wasn’t going to reach her goal; frustration that she didn’t start losing weight immediately; and most of all, an intense, vocal desire for all the foods she could no longer eat.
My hypothesis is that both of the above responses are typical for females and, frankly, are probably healthier than my masucline response.
My Responses:
Before reading my response, keep in mind that we have been on “our diet” for 6 days and no weight has been lost by either of us.
I believe that the first part of my reaction to the challenge of getting in better shape was typical of a male engineer. I immediately downloaded an app to my iPad to determine to amount of calories that I would need to ingest to reach my target weight by our vacation. When that number was startlingly low, I then used the same app to determine the how I would need to alter my workout schedule to be able to eat more food. Once a satisfactory balance was reached, I then quietly began going about my business working out and eating healthier food with little fanfare or discussion (OK, full disclosure - I did my fair share of trash talking).
The second part of my reaction is the one that I found my interesting. From the minute “we” decided that we were going to get in better shape, I have been overflowing with one feeling: self-confidence. The very first day of the diet, my pants fit better than they have in years, every girl seemed to be checking me out, and I flexed every time I encountered a mirror. It was one of the best days I have had in a while and I am pretty sure I did some pretty ridiculous strutting.
I will say it again because it bears repeating. All of this was done before I had lost a single pound.
Funny thing is, I think that this is a pretty normal reaction for men. Don’t believe me, just go to the local gym around 5PM and watch all the guys peacocking in the free weight section.
Conclusion:
It’s still way too early to come to any definitive conclusions on this experiment, but I believe that its preliminary results are interesting and entertaining. I will keep monitoring as we proceed and may provide additional updates in the form of future blog posts. Until then, it’s back to rocking out to my internal DJ. He's been playing a continuous loop of “I’m Sexy and I Know It” and "I Bring the Sexy Back" for 6 days now.
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