I Got Body-Shamed in Bali… By My Friends… For Having a Six-Pack

It was a wedding, so all was festive… or not

“Dash, stop flexing!”

“I’m walking!”

A decade ago, friends from around the world descended on Bali for a wedding. Coincidentally (or perhaps not, considering what a popular destination Bali has always been), the passengers seated in the row in front of me were also going to Bali for a destination wedding. The main difference was theirs would be on Kuta Beach whereas mine (I mean, not mine, I wasn’t the one getting married) would be in the rice paddy fields of Ubud.

Nearly a decade later, married myself, I returned to Bali with my wife, this time to Canggu, which had apparently become as popular as Kuta in the intervening years.

Anyway, back to the opening scene. We had just gone whitewater rafting, and someone had fallen into the water. Some minor injury was sustained. Luckily, one of our friends was a med student. And appropriately, the guide also had medical training.

I would assume that our med student friend of all people, especially after an incident involving a tip-over from a raft going down a rapid, would be too busy to make fun of me.

Yes, I took and take care of my body. I do tighten my abs when I walk. How else are you supposed to maintain posture? How else are you supposed to be ready to run for your life or throw a punch at a moment’s notice?

“Wow, Dash, you must have a lot of free time.”

Thanks, buddy.

To be sure, I’m still friends with all these people, but the fact that I’m writing about it a decade later indicates that it still grates on me once in a while. I was (not incorrectly) accused of narcissism. I was and (I’m quite certain) am the only person in this particular group of friends who is fit. So… this justifies me as an object of ridicule?

For the sake of balance, I must mention that there were some friends in this group that gave me well-deserved compliments.

Fortunately, there was a much more interesting story that transpired during our stay. This tends to happen when there’s over a dozen of you sharing two villas. Especially when an ex is invited to the wedding.

Alas, it’s not my story to share.

Dash Ip spends as much time as he does maintaining his physique because, unlike with his writing, he sees tangible results. Difference in opinion?