I found this article about male obesity pretty interesting...

[R.M.]

This is a great read. https://www.rodalewellness.com/health/obesity-manhood

There are libraries full of research showing connections between obesity and your health—heart disease, cancer, diabetes—but one area is commonly overlooked: the bedroom. "Intimacy and sexuality is a question of high importance for tens of millions of Americans who are overweight or obsese and having difficulty in the bedroom," says Sarah Varney, author of XL Love.

#1. Shrinking Penis
"[Many men reported that] as they gained weight their penises appeared to shrink," says Varney. She learned from Edward Karpman, MD, a California-based urologist, that a shrinking, even disappearing, penis is a real concern for obese men. "This wasn't a matter of rounded bellies getting in the line of sight; the men's penises, when measured, were in fact not as long as they once were."
Don't worry, your penis doesn't actually shrink when you get fat, but it does look like it. Varney explained that this happens because the penis is attached to the back of the abdominal wall, so as23 the belly expands outwards, it "engulfs" a man's penis. "Dr. Karpman explained that for every 50 pounds overweight you are, you lose an inch of penis," she says.
Take a sigh of relief because the reverse is also true: As men lost the weight, their penises returned to their rightful size.
More From Rodale News: 11 Surprising Sperm Killers
#2. Low-T
"The association of low testosterone and obesity in men is well established," says Varney. She explains that belly fat has an enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. It's not that obese men aren't producing enough testosterone, it's that what they have is getting converted into estrogen. "Normally, men lose about 1 percent of testosterone a year, but obese men fare far worse; testosterone loss starts earlier in life and occurs more quickly." And one symptom of low-t is decreased sex drive.
Varney has found that doctors often prescribe testosterone treatments for these obese men as a way of jump-starting the process. Then, as men lose weight, their body begins to naturally increase testosterone production, returning them to normal levels (and normal vitality).
#3. Erectile Dysfunction
"That dip in testosterone also causes a dip somewhere else," says Varney. In her interviews with different doctors, she discovered that obese younger men were coming in with organic causes of erectile dysfunction. And it's not just low-t that effects ED. "Diabetic men are twice as likely to have abnormally low levels of testosterone than men without diabetes," says Varney, "and—perhaps not coincidentally—three times as likely to develop sexual problems as nondiabetic men of similar age." She explains that studies have found that half of diabetic men have moderate or mild ED and one in four had severe ED.
More From Rodale News: Poison-Free Foreplay—10 Ways to Climax Without Chemicals
Losing weight not only gets rid of the testosterone-killing belly fat; it helps strengthen some of the necessary hardware, as well. "Increased physical exercise can also improve the functioning of the cells that line blood vessels and are critical for maintaining an erection," says Varney.
#4. Self-Esteem
"The ob-gyn practices for women always have psychologists on their staffs," says Varney, "You just don't see that as much in men's practices." And this is an issue because there's a big connection between weight, self-esteem, and sex. "The most powerful force is what people feel about themselves," she says.
In writing her book, Varney encountered a man named Eric. "In the way that he avoided mirrors and his own reflection, Eric felt like he was hiding from himself and from his wife. His self-loathing was so great that surely, he imagined, his wife must loathe him, too," Varney explained. With such low self-esteem, Eric lacked the confidence to even approach his wife with the idea of sex. Luckily, with the support of his wife and therapy, Eric has been able to unhitch his sexual confidence from his weight to get back to intimacy.
For more reasons to enjoy sex more, check out these surprising benefits of sex.

[Still Looking]

[Still Looking]

[R.M.]

[DocHolyday]

An interesting read R.M. But nothing surprising inthe read. Thanks for posting that PSA for the morbidly obese members.

[JohnnyYanks]

A very thoughtful posting, miss.

You need to also post this in Austin -- that city harbors the whale of all whales.

[R.M.]

Some tards like to dish it out. But cant take the heat back. I hear there are a few ManWhales in Austin. We have a few in Houston also. I hear open season is coming soon.

[quzi]

interesting http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2017-20212-001/

[R.M.]

Even more interesting. https://seattlechristiancounseling.c...mothers-impact


Larry Mark


Apr
2016

04



Common Abandonment Issues for Men — A Mother’s Impact

Individual Counseling
Part 2 — How Abandonment Issues Impact Men’s Lives

Parents or parental figures have the greatest influence on the emotional development of their children. Sons are impacted by their fathers in profound ways, especially with regard to their sense of competence and confidence. Mothers impact their sons in equally profound ways, especially their sense of self, their well-being, and their emotional attachment to others. A mom’s influence can have far-reaching effects on her son’s adult relationships. This article is the second in a two-part series on abandonment issues for men. In the previous article, I focused on the impact of a son’s relationship to his father, while this article focuses on a son’s early relationship with his mother.When a Mother’s Love is Interrupted

From infancy, every child needs the tender touch, attention, comfort, nurture, and love of a mother. Dan Jenkins, a licensed psychologist and professor of psychology at Point Loma Nazarene University, notes that, “Infants are born with constant recurring needs, and if those basic needs are met they grow up to understand what it means to build relationships based on trust. If the infant’s mother is largely emotionally absent, then the child does not learn to internalize a healthy representation of attachment to his mother, and later in life, to other people.” But sometimes the flow of a mother’s love and emotional connection is interrupted, cut off, or non-existent. A mom can be separated from her child through her own illness, death, or divorce. Children can be separated from their mother through the illness of the child, incubation and/or hospitalization, or adoption. Neglect, abuse, or a mother’s emotional distress can create an emotional wound that can leave a child with “feelings of abandonment, the dread of aloneness, a loss of a sense of self and well-being, a hunger for feminine touch that can be eroticized, unhealthy emotional dependencies, and possible gender confusion.” (Alfred C.W. Davis, Focus on the Family Canada)
The Consequences of a Lack of Maternal Attachment

The consequences in adult relationships for men can be either emotional detachment, emotional dependency, or a repetitive pattern that alternates between the two. In this, women are pursued as an idealized mother who can save from all the pain and angst that comes from being isolated and alone. Or, alternatively, they are avoided and devalued, once an idealized woman proves to be untrustworthy, and they are thereafter perceived to be always absent.
Men who experience emotional wounding in their relationships with their mother can be ambivalent toward women. They are needy of them, but also wary of them. They can fixate on feminine objects of desire in order to fill the deprivation of mother love. They can remain emotionally fused to their mothers in an unhealthy way, or else become detached in defensive protection. When their wives disappoint them, they can feel profound betrayal and even rage. They can become stuck in patterns of passivity and resentment in their marriages.
Christian Counseling for Abandonment Issues

Jesus not only came to announce good news to all who want peace with God and his loving and wise rule in their lives. He also came to bind up broken hearts, to set captives free, to comfort mourners, and to transform character (Isaiah 61:1-3). The ancient song-writer, King David, wrote, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me” (Psalm 27:10). God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13). Jesus can receive us and our emotional wounds. He can comfort us and help us to forgive our parents and to find our true identities in him. He can reverse, redeem, and create new life in our marriages and in all our relationships. God can fill in our deficiencies.
Christian counseling can assist in the healing process by providing a setting in which you can discover and understand the wounds of your past and their continuing impact in the present. A Christian counselor will point to Jesus as our True Healer. Before our souls can be healed, our emotional wounds need to be acknowledged, grieved, and forgiven. Christian counseling can facilitate this restorative journey by encouraging the value of prayer and the support of loving, truthful, and gracious spiritual community. There is hope for men with abandonment issues because God is making all things new. If you are open to the possibilities of healing and of living a larger life with those you love in your relationships today, I or one of my colleagues welcome the opportunity to talk with you.