There is a character who appears once in a while in The Good Place that I appreciate. The Good Place is heaven or might be. It is available on Netflix and stars Ted Danson, bartender at Cheers. This guy is actually named Luke Guldan and his character always wants to go work out. He already has a good shape for his age but he is over the top and habitually thinks of running over to the gym. Every time he thinks he will just run over to the gym for a workout, he quickly peels off his t-shirt and we see his well built chest again. He was born in 1986, Google tells me.
I think he is a good character in the show to think about. I realize we are wired to admire youthful bodies of a particular shape, bodies that look full of energy and life. The admiration, the noticing, maybe the lusting, aims us, biologists and psychologists say, at mating with a partner who will produce promising children. Once we pass our fertility years, we can disdain our own bodies. It is not just our natural drives. Photographers, casting directors, and other artists work to get our attention by providing pictures of excellent and YOUTHFUL bodies.
If we harbor a surge of disgust every time we see our bulging abdomen, we can be wasting possible good times by giving ourselves a failing grade just because we no longer look "good." Body-mass recommendations are coming out for older adults that are adjusted for age and are higher than for those between 20 and 40 years old. You may have noticed that many web pages get out-of-date but are not corrected, sometimes the sponsor doesn't know they need updating and sometimes the person who knows how to change the page is no longer available.
