Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

Thoughts on bikini competitors?

135

Replies

  • FL_Hiker
    FL_Hiker Posts: 919 Member
    edited July 2018
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    Slowfaster wrote: »

    Anyway, let's allow her to decide if that is what she wants to do. Or, if that is something that she thinks that she would like to do. And then let's support her with her decision. I mean, that is what we do here, right?

    I don't know, is it? Yesterday I was thinking of lowering my daily calorie limit to 1100 and I got almost nothing but negative reactions to the idea, hardly "support" and a warning from the moderator saying that we do not encourage unhealthy practices here. Well, I happen to think that it's far more unhealthy for women to strive for the very low body fat percentage that these competitions require, so I wanted to point out some of the negatives. I know several women who used to do these competitions and, looking back, feel like they put their bodies through far too much to get there.

    As for not caring whether they win or not? They may say that, but to me it's like women saying they got breast implants "for themselves," just a little hard to believe. Would they be having their bodies surgically altered if they lived on a desert island?

    For the record I'm not "man bashing," people can't help what turns them on and right now the lean woman with a six pack is promoted everywhere as the ideal -- even the most recent Miss America has that look. So, no, men can't help liking what they like, but women can help whether or not they choose to work their butts off (literally) to meet that current "ideal," or choose to accept and be happy with themselves inside healthy bodies without surgery or a drastic level of body building.

    I'm not "judging," anyone but I'm not going to encourage a young woman to do this sort of thing anymore than I'm going to encourage young women to starve themselves into anorexia so they can have a better chance at a modelling career. It's the voluntary self-harm I find appalling.

    ["Dietland" was eye opening for me.]

    I agree with you completely. Double standards, everytime someone posts on here about 1200 the general consensus is you shouldn't do that. It's common for these women in bikini competitions to diet so hard they lose their periods. How is that healthy and WHY is that an allowed discussion on MFP??? I wish our society would focus more on normal BMI healthy athletic woman being attractive rather than this, it's too much pressure on young girls too who admire the modeling world. Same thing goes for men, men shouldn't be pressured into steroid use, etc. to achieve a certain look. Woo me all you want 😝

    Curious how you feel about other athletes such as gymnasts or figure skaters, where slimness/aesthetics are a premium, or football/baseball/basketball players, powerlifters, bicyclists, etc., where steroid/PED usage is common.

    Nobody is “pressured into” anything when it comes to physique sports. It’s a conscious decision and if they’ve done their homework, they go in knowing exactly what they’re going to need to do to be competitive.

    I don't agree with starving yourself, or steroid usage. That's not healthy. I'm curious why you support it? What's the point? I don't watch sports or support them. I was a competitive swimmer for 10+ years on an Olympic team, my coaches never pushed drugs on us actually just the opposite you got kicked off the team if they saw any funny business. My coaches also taught us good nutrition and to fuel our bodies. Maybe my team was a rarity? Their own bodies, they can certainly do what they want but I feel sorry for them. If bikini people don't lose their periods and it's safer than I've been taught to believe then sure go for it, goodluck. I just don't think it's wise to push yourself beyond that point of making yourself sick. What else does the OP need to do if she's already training hard, etc.? The way it's explained sounds like she's not putting in enough effort to cut down on calories? I'm no expert obviously in this area since I have no interest in it but I'm curious to know if it's not the stereotype of starving yourself. Maybe I would see this "sport" in a better light if it's were explained to me better. Along with dipping too low in calories beyond losing your period you may also have hair loss, have heart problems, organ problems, etc or so I've been told. How is that healthy? Is that WORTH it?

    I lost my period during every swim competition season. So surely, by your logic, that would make swimming unhealthy.

    No, I would say you didn't have proper nutrition. You obviously did not read a single word of my post (I too was a swimmer and am female), please take the time to review it and then comment.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    I know very little about bikini competition except what I've read on here and occasional articles in my news feed. Are competitors actually underweight and undereating on a regular basis? I don't know what the cut and bulk prep cycle involves but it seems like that amount of muscle would require a decent amount of calories to build and maintain, especially for a woman.

    I wouldn't necessarily say underweight, but definitely underfat. And calories get low (or the deficit high with the introduction of more cardio)
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    I know very little about bikini competition except what I've read on here and occasional articles in my news feed. Are competitors actually underweight and undereating on a regular basis? I don't know what the cut and bulk prep cycle involves but it seems like that amount of muscle would require a decent amount of calories to build and maintain, especially for a woman.

    I wouldn't necessarily say underweight, but definitely underfat. And calories get low (or the deficit high with the introduction of more cardio)

    Got it! Thanks! :)
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    edited July 2018
    Strike while the griddle is hot. They'll come a time when this won't even be on your radar. Do it while you can and to heck with what everyone thinks about it. You're not obligated to keep going if you don't like it. I don't see any difference from taking belly selfies all the live-long day. You won't have any filters, it will be LIVE.
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Slowfaster wrote: »

    Anyway, let's allow her to decide if that is what she wants to do. Or, if that is something that she thinks that she would like to do. And then let's support her with her decision. I mean, that is what we do here, right?

    I don't know, is it? Yesterday I was thinking of lowering my daily calorie limit to 1100 and I got almost nothing but negative reactions to the idea, hardly "support" and a warning from the moderator saying that we do not encourage unhealthy practices here. Well, I happen to think that it's far more unhealthy for women to strive for the very low body fat percentage that these competitions require, so I wanted to point out some of the negatives. I know several women who used to do these competitions and, looking back, feel like they put their bodies through far too much to get there.

    As for not caring whether they win or not? They may say that, but to me it's like women saying they got breast implants "for themselves," just a little hard to believe. Would they be having their bodies surgically altered if they lived on a desert island?

    For the record I'm not "man bashing," people can't help what turns them on and right now the lean woman with a six pack is promoted everywhere as the ideal -- even the most recent Miss America has that look. So, no, men can't help liking what they like, but women can help whether or not they choose to work their butts off (literally) to meet that current "ideal," or choose to accept and be happy with themselves inside healthy bodies without surgery or a drastic level of body building.

    I'm not "judging," anyone but I'm not going to encourage a young woman to do this sort of thing anymore than I'm going to encourage young women to starve themselves into anorexia so they can have a better chance at a modelling career. It's the voluntary self-harm I find appalling.

    ["Dietland" was eye opening for me.]

    So, MFP is generally a pretty good place to be. But, with anything that is "public" you are going - generally speaking - to run into people with an agenda...people with their pre-determined talking points. I do the Keto Diet as I have high A1C and it really seems to work well for me. My point in bringing that up is coming, I promise. There are lots and lots of "interesting ideas" - some pro and some con - about the Keto Diet. Usually, and being very generic with this, any post regarding Keto gets a lot of attention. I will put it that way.

    So, your post (under 1200 calories) is roughly the same thing as a Keto Diet post.

    And, generally, that reaction (to both....the 1200 calorie diet and the keto diet) is warranted....simply because there is a ton of ignorance out there (I include myself in that statement) and someone is going to read just one part of a post and run with that and end up in a really bad situation. So, that reaction is not necessarily a bad thing. Generally speaking.

    Same kind of reaction to "hey, I am thinking about competing" type posts. And, the really good coaches out there will tell you straight up "Hey, this is not normal. This is VERY extreme. This is what we need to do, though. I have a plan to get you there.....and, once this competition is over, I have a plan to bring you back to a healthy body".

    I am sorry that you were met with some "resistance"......
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Mari22na wrote: »
    Strike while the griddle is hot. They'll come a time when this won't even be on your radar. Do it while you can and to heck with what everyone thinks about it. You're not obligated to keep going if you don't like it. I don't see any difference from taking belly selfies all the live-long day. You won't have any filters, it will be LIVE.

    Agree......100%.......assuming that OP has a complete picture of what is involved. That is why she posted this question....she is looking for help in painting that picture. Nuff said!
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    I have no knowledge whatsoever about that world, and I'm not going to weigh in on the other statements in this thread (though I find the opinions interesting, and I guess I will say I didn't interpret any comments as man bashing), but if there's validity to the earlier comment that bikini competitors are seen as the fatties of the body building world, I'd carefully consider whether that's a world I want to immerse myself in, even if only for a while.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,846 Member
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    If it requires that you pay for entry or for coaching to prep for a contest...beware a scam. This isn't too dissimilar from those people who used to grab teens at the mall in the 80's and tell them that they have a future in modeling in order to get them to sign up with their 'agency' and pay for head shots.

    That said, if your head is on straight and you know that it won't make you develop any body/eating/exercise issues, etc. then go for it. Might be fun.

    You always have to pay for entry. Every stage competitor I know has a coach as well. But yeah, I'd definitely look into it more and likely talk to some of the people being coached by these coaches and go to some shows before I committed to anything.

    So you have to pay for entry for a bunch of people to look at you half naked...? Yikes!

    Yeah, this was my first thought. I guess you'd have to have an exhibitionist type personality to want to do this. To me body building, bikini comps etc just translate to " Look at me, Look at me".

    Yeah, I didn't like the everyone looking at me aspect of teaching yoga, and that was yoga.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I'd advice to follow your plan to achieve your goal(s) and not entertain what more than likely is someone trying to get your business.