Skinny Chicks

I used to periodically cross-train with a group of elite triathlete’s a couple of times a week.

My training paled in comparison to theirs. While I averaged six sessions a week they did thirteen. Two sessions a day, six days a week, one session on Sunday, forty-six weeks a year.

They focused on four Ironman triathlon’s a year that consisted of a 2.4 mile swim, 108 mile ride and a 26.2 mile run. Brutal would be a gross understatement. They were, without doubt some of the fittest guys on the planet.

The group was made up of an even mix of guys and girls. And what I soon realized, in regards to the women, was their body shape had very little reflection on their fitness. Some were toned, some weren’t, some had hips, some had butts and some carried more fat than others. But there was no denying it, these guys were all incredibly healthy.

And that’s when I realized that what a person looks like on the outside had absolutely no baring on how healthy they are on the inside.

Skinny is no reflection on health and while it’s in vogue right now I can assure you it wont be in a decade. A quick look at history shows that all types of women’s bodies have been “fashionable”. To try to emulate such a look is not only futile, but it’s bad for our self-esteem. Our focus should be health (both mental and physical) rather than aesthetic.

The extreme Victoria’s Secret Diet has been making its way around the internet of late and it’s ruffled quiet a few feathers. But we must remember that this is an extreme example. We’re talking about women who are about to be seen, virtually naked by millions of people around the world and remember, it’ll be there in print for everyone to see forever. These models go through an intense regime for a couple of days and then return to an arguably normal diet.

And I have no problem with that.

I recently did an episode of television which involved me being shirtless for a scene, and you can feel rest assured that I wasn’t going to eat lunch or drink a lot of water before it was done. I went to the gym that morning and did countless push-ups in between takes. Yes one could argue that I “starved” myself for that day and I probably did more push-ups than I had the previous three months, but it was an extreme situation and in my opinion deserved an extreme regime.

Occasionally I need to be in great shape because it has a direct effect on my livelihood, and this is by no means a lifestyle that “ordinary” people need to concern themselves with.

We must remind ourselves that the images we’re constantly bombarded with via the media is not an ideal. Let’s not be a slave to the half-dozen fashion houses that dictate the world.  Let’s just be.