Arghhh!!! One of my personal pet peeves is that alot of the photos linked to are of Oxygen-type fitness models. Which is really a distortion of what a woman should look like! You don't see abs unless your body fat is 10% or less. At 10% or less body fat, you lose alot of breast tissue. So these women get implants to get that "ideal" body. These are comic book women -- women drawn to an ideal by men and marketed to and overwhelmingly pre-pubescent, adolescent, and young male market...
Surely we can do better than THAT as ideal?! How about normal weight with the functional ability to haul yourself around, walk for a couple of hours, lift some things, and enough body fat to sustain your life!!
Check the thumbnails -- I can't see much difference in body types...so sad...
OK, rant over...
Kira
Sorry, I have to chime in. I am one of those women with abs.
Yes, I started out on 3 fat chicks with a gut and eating Wendys burgers 3x per day. Going from that to an Oxygen body CAN happen. No, it isn't easy, and no, you don't need 10% bf (10%bf for a female is the lowest that even fitness models compete at - I know of one girl who got down to 8%). I have abs and I am at 18% bf.
Yes, I may work out 1-2 hours per day running at 9.0mph on a treadmill doing sprints or deadlifting my bodyweight, but it took 3-4 years to get there. No implants, lol. It isn't unrealistic, but it is a major lifestyle change and one that most people do not have the dedication for. That's fine, there's nothing wrong with simply walking around the block for exercise, it is a matter of personal choice.
But it isn't unrealistic! I know many women with this lifestyle, mainly because we gravitate towards each other. My significant other is the same. Check out bodybuilding.com and you will find hundreds of women in the women's section who look like Oxygen models.
i like long and lean, soft look.
I personally don't like muscular look.
As the article say, it's a personal choice and work hard for it........
(and i need to work hard for it, as i'm not doing that right now >"<)
I think the problem is we are still trying to look like models. We've just gone from emulating the fashion models to emulating the fitness models. But both are unrealistic as a general ideal body type that the female population at large judges themselves against.
I do have well defined muscles in my arms. It wasn't by choice really, as my weight dropped my definition just started to appear. I actually kind of like it and even do push ups and workout with handweights on 30 DS. I much prefer looking defined to what I used to look like. I do get the question a lot though..
"are you an athlete?"
You don't see abs unless your body fat is 10% or less. At 10% or less body fat, you lose alot of breast tissue. So these women get implants to get that "ideal" body.
Actually, for women it's usually more like 15% and some can even be a little higher (and some do have to be a little lower). I've never seen women on Oxygen Magazine that look like the super ripped one you posted. That women does have extremely low bf. If women wants to have 15% body fat, what is wrong with that? It's their preference and it is attainable. It's difficult but it's not completely out of the real of possibilities. It just takes a lot of time, hard work and dedication. If someone is willing to put in the work, then have at it!
And if a women does want the "oxygen model" look that doesn't mean she doesn't take her own body type into consideration. If you have wide hips...you'll still have them. If you have small boobs..well, say goodbye. If you have very large shoulders..they may look a little masculine. If you go look at female fitness competitors you see they vary wildly in body types. They all look different.
Last edited by LandonsBaby; 06-21-2009 at 01:13 PM.
I think the problem is we are still trying to look like models. We've just gone from emulating the fashion models to emulating the fitness models. But both are unrealistic as a general ideal body type that the female population at large judges themselves against.
I know I am not headed for the model zone, heh heh (well, maybe if there is some scientific revolution that allows for major overhauls in many areas...)
exactly, maybe we shouldn't feel like we have to look like a model.
Mine. My body is unique. It was created just for me - no one else.
It isn't perfect (don't get me started on saggy-baggy after losing almost 100 lbs.). But, it is a perfect fit - FOR ME!
And, actually - even the saggy-baggy is good. Because it is an excellent reminder of where I have been. The journey I have traveled - and is an wonderful reminder of WHY I changed my lifestyle and why maintenance is so important
Last edited by CountingDown; 06-21-2009 at 06:05 PM.
There seems to be a little anti-buff-women sentiment here, as well as in the video in the link. (Am I reading into it?) ...The more I do resistance, and the lower my body fat gets, the more you can see my muscles. And I am delighted! The last time I lost weight, I got down to the low 130s, through cardio and calorie restriction only--and I gained it back, and then some. When I started my weight-loss/fitness journey last spring, if you had asked me what I wanted to look like, I would have said how I looked then, the last time I lost weight. But that was a random goal--because it was the lowst I could remember weighing post-university, and it was the last time I truly felt hot (because a guy I was dating at the time saw me in a special outfit and said, "You look hot" ). Now, I weight about 15 pounds less, and I bet my body fat percentage is significantly lower.
As a consequence of doing resistance and lowering my body fat, my muscles show. I have had muscular legs for a few years now (even when they were hidden under fat) because of cycling to work, but now my arms show muscle too. I scratched my arm the other day, and I felt something funny, and I went, "What the heck is that?!?" It was my tricep--my arm was flexed and my tricep was pumped out--and I couldn't have been happier with myself. That little pumped muscle represented a lot of hard work, and I am proud of it. My shoulders also are noticably defined now, and my biceps too--and a year ago I would have never imagined it could be my body that looked strong.
One of the things I liked when I first started cycling to work was that it made me feel strong. I had never really known my body in that way before, and it may be something unique to the experience of women in this day and age--men are taught to be strong, and in almost every century before this one (and maybe the one before it), women would have spent much of their lives using their bodies for things that required strength--working in the fields, hauling loads of wet laundry, etc. For me, my relationship with my body before cycling was limited: my body was for enjoying (enjoying food, or enjoying pleasure) but it was not strong.
The article that was linked ended with, "Decide what body you want, and train for it." I am deciding what training I want, and love the body that I am getting.
I love the body of Kate Winslet. Curvy, soft, feminine. If I couldn't have that I would want to be lean and buff with lots of muscle definition, but that sounds like lots of work...
Thanks Sacha, LangdonsBaby and NakedMango for speaking up regarding the Oxygen models. Yes, SOME of them have breast implants but not all of them do. And they definitely have more than 10% BF.
Kiramira, you don't have to be a fitness magazine model to look like that. Look at all the people who became Body For Life followers. Here is a link for you so that you can see it for yourself: http://bodyforlife.com/ - just look at the slide show at the top of the page, and if interested, there are links to other rounds of challengers.
NONE of these people are models. They went from obese to super fit by eating clean and doing exercise. Now these are people who deserve a standing ovation. And they all look absolutely fabulous.
My ideal aesthetic is lean and pretty smooth. But I actually have a more muscular build, so I embrace that. Besides, as I get older, I'm more into what I can do with my body than exactly how it looks.
I would like to say that I have seen an actress who actually has my body type, but that would be a lie. Most actresses are just tiny people in general... and I am not a tiny person. I would like to hope that once my weight loss is over and I am working on maintaining, I will look similar to Tyra Banks (when she had curves) or Heidi Klum.. she seems to have more of an hourglass shape. When I was thinner (once upon a time), I did have a very defined waist, but still had a chest and booty.. so I'm working for that body back!
i like long and lean, soft look.
