Why Fit and Strong is the New Pretty and Thin
Ronda Rousey may not have spoken until the age of four but the undefeated UFC and martial arts sensation is not shy of letting her athletic ability do her talking. The 28-year-old has exploded into the public consciousness in the past two years through her work in the MMA cage and Hollywood, starring in blockbusters such as Fast and Furious 7, and the Expendables 3.
Rousey is probably the best-known female athlete in the world and there’s no doubt her athletic looks have played a part. Not a traditional beauty by any means but handsome, fit, and impressive, a real contrast to the stick-thin creations sometimes held up as role models.
For example, teenage tennis star Eugenie Bouchard is a lads’ favourite, with looks to die for. They recently propelled her to the top of Sports Pro Magazine’s ‘2015 Most marketable’ chart, as reported here by CNN. The acid test for an athlete is the number of championship titles they win, and Bouchard could just be another Anna Kournikova; sexy, stunning, with unfulfilled talent. And would Serena Williams prefer to weigh 30lbs less, or have 34 Grand Slam titles in her locker? I think we know.
For an era of social media selfies, where a photograph can be twisted and turned and analysed by brutal internet trolls, how an athlete looks can be as important as how they perform. Celebrity magazines are eager for their pound of flesh, almost literally, and are only too happy to find an athlete in an ill-fitting costume when they’re out and about socially. Photographs are stored for later use, to compare and contrast the sports star’s apparent descent into middle age-spread.
Us mere mortals, who have other jobs and family life and commitments, have less time to hone our bodies, and anyway we all know people who exercise regularly and eat well but can’t shift the last few pesky pounds. On the other end of the spectrum are those who guzzle whatever they wish and don’t seem to grow an ounce.
However, there is a ‘growing body’ of evidence that a person’s body shape can be deceptive, and that a low BMI might not signify health. Research last year in Australia, cited in the Daily Mail, found that as many as 1 in 4 skinny people have pre-diabetes’ and are ‘metabolically obese’, despite outward appearances. Expert Sheila Zhou said: “Being ‘Skinny Fat’ puts your body under a huge amount of pressure, including added fat around your organs, high cholesterol, and poor blood circulation.”
Fit and strong, perhaps with help from a company such as Fysiqal Nutrition, should always be better than pretty and skinny; other than slightly strange fashion types no-one aspires to resemble the gaunt, haunted looking girls who totter down the catwalk. Their diets are horribly restricted, their routines punishing, and their lives are pressured, all in the pursuit of a beauty that isn’t beautiful.
For final evidence that strength and fitness does not equal skinny in the mathematics of health, examine this parade of athletes from various sports; tall, slim, fat, thin, black, white, broad, lithe. All body descriptions are here and all have reached the peak of their sports – in that regard they’re all equally pretty.
