Are there any girls that look like or want to look like models?
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Welcome to the conversation @PrincessTinyheart! That's all any of us can do is to be the hottest version of ourselves.1
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I tend to be more of a uniform shopper than a fashion shopper: black, gray and navy blue pants, blouses with some sort of interesting pattern, matching high end cardigan, stud earrings in pearls, silver, gold or semi-precious stone, Cole Haan shoes. All this for business, and then casually, work out pants and a collared shirt. I've found that I look best in tailored clothes, so I just tend to buy those. The back of my closet is filled with "experiments" in more colorful clothes, dresses, etc., but I'm never very comfortable in those, so they just come out for more formal business events.
Something I've noted: I think that there is a lot to be said for having physical goals...be it looking like a VS model or Robin Wright Penn/Ernestine Shepherd. I was traveling last week and I noticed how few genuinely healthy looking people there are in the U.S. If I were back in the small Midwestern town in which I grew up, I'd be considered downright skinny...and I'm not, by any standard.
It takes a lot of discipline and focused to be really fit in the U.S. There is food everywhere, it all seems to be high fat, high sugar, processed carbs. Being fit doesn't fit in with our fast paced, sedentary lifestyle.
I was watching a Japanese documentary on, of all places, JetBlue airlines, and I noted..as much as the content of the documentary...how lean the Japanese are. I don't know if it is culturally unacceptable to be overweight, but it impressed me that if someone in the documentary was 10% or so overweight, they really looked different from the vast number of people in crowd scenes.
I just want to be at my fittest for the rest of my life. Last year was a tough one professionally and personally, and I've put on 12 lbs and all of it seems to be fat around my waist!
I'm delighted to find this group!3 -
@WallyAmadeus I think culture definitely has something to do with it - food is a huge reward in the US, and quantity is often valued just as much as quality. One side of my family is from the Upper Midwest and all the family recipes from there are either dessert; filled with heavy cream, butter, sugars, etc.; or covered in high calorie sauces. A lot of that stems from wanting to serve hearty, warming, stomach and soul filling food, which is fine when you mine or log all day, but not as nutritionally beneficial when food is abundant and people are more sedentary.
Obesity is also generally more accepted in the US than most other places (in my experience) I think partially because there are so many overweight/obese people so it's more normalized. That is not to say people don't discriminate against larger people because they totally do, but you wouldn't stand out in a crowd just by being bigger.
I also think something to consider is that there's often a large divide between "fitness junkie" people and people who don't eat healthy or exercise (regardless of whether this results in them being overweight or not because it could go either way), which makes it seem like there's a large entry barrier to living a healthy lifestyle, even though little simple changes can do a lot more than people realize.2 -
WallyAmadeus wrote: »It takes a lot of discipline and focused to be really fit in the U.S. There is food everywhere, it all seems to be high fat, high sugar, processed carbs. Being fit doesn't fit in with our fast paced, sedentary lifestyle.
This is very true... I have to constantly fight temptation at WORK of all places. We have potlucks all the time, and people bring donuts to meetings... they also bring cookies and cake to celebrate birthdays and have pizza ordered in to celebrate victories.
I've even had co-workers literally bring desserts from their lunch outings to my desk. I come back from lunch and there's some banana pudding and strawberry pound cake sitting there. I didn't even ask for it... it just magically appeared.
Trying to avoid temptation is incredibly difficult.
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Yes, and I've noticed here, more so than in other countries in which I've traveled, you can eat anywhere/anytime...on the street, in your car, at a movie theater, at a classical concert. I"m always a work in progress, and part of that is eating at set times, at the table and really eating without distraction.0
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I totally agree with you, guys! I think skinny standards in the US are something else as skinny standards in Europe (and I think the thinnest are East Europe!). Recently a friend of mine told me Americans have around 10-14 days free from work in an year besides weekends. Is this true? This is a lot less than here (around 30). Too much work leads to frustration and overeating as well. And not always to better work. : )
But a dream of mine is to eat a US burger.
haha Someday : )
I must also say that in Germany the biggest temptation is bread. There is bread every f...ng whre. Even though most breads are wholewheat or wholespelt and very good quality, I tend to overeat with this goodness from time to time. There is no country on Earth with such a good bread. As my mum was here for the first time and saw people just eating plain bread on the street, she said ''Wow, why arent they fat, they eat so much bread''. The only bread that she knows is white and dark, there are not many bakeries in my home town, females stick to less bread out of fear to become bigger
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dubstepvideobody wrote: »I totally agree with you, guys! I think skinny standards in the US are something else as skinny standards in Europe (and I think the thinnest are East Europe!). Recently a friend of mine told me Americans have around 10-14 days free from work in an year besides weekends. Is this true? This is a lot less than here (around 30). Too much work leads to frustration and overeating as well. And not always to better work. : )
But a dream of mine is to eat a US burger. haha Someday : )
I must also say that in Germany the biggest temptation is bread. There is bread every f...ng whre. Even though most breads are wholewheat or wholespelt and very good quality, I tend to overeat with this goodness from time to time. There is no country on Earth with such a good bread. As my mum was here for the first time and saw people just eating plain bread on the street, she said ''Wow, why arent they fat, they eat so much bread''. The only bread that she knows is white and dark, there are not many bakeries in my home town, females stick to less bread out of fear to become bigger
Yeah i have met some girls from Germany and they said this too. And you guys would never eat our sort of bread on a sandwich or something you just call it toast and always have it toatsed right?0 -
I know only American sandwich Its a toast bread. I like the heavy german whole wheat breads better. They have a lot of flavour and are healthy. 1
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American bread is usually filled with bleached flour, sugar, chemicals and preservatives. There are some "artisan" breads that do not contain those ingredients, but for the most part they are nothing but bleached flour, sugar and additives. I think that's why so many Americans are obsessed with "low-carb" eating. The only carbs most Americans consume are white bread and pasta!!1
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Hi Ladies, just killed my morning at work skimming this thread.
Although I am 37, mom of 2 - 5'2 and approx 124 lbs' I really hold my weight well (mostly in my bum) which gives me a really nice shape and I am lucky enough to have bounced back to my pre-baby body in all ways after the kids - I think I might look better now than I ever have actually - maybe its just my confidence.
I too though desire to have more of an athletic toned body... especially my mid section and look fine as ever in a thong bikini, I like to travel a lot and I am ready to put one on. Living in Canada our fashion follows Americas and right now showing your mid section is the style with short crop tops.. and luckily I have no problem doing but I still would love to be able to have a more toned belly where I do not have to "suck" in to get that totally desired look.
Attached is me.. as you can see since I am short I still am a little "thicker" but not bad for 37 lol
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This is my body goal though0
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kclewis416 wrote: »This is my body goal though
@kclewis416 You look fantastic for your age! I wouldn't say that I want to look like a model the way I think the OP meant it, especially not the standard European physique, but my goal body is pretty aligned with that of a fitness model (but wit mo booty), sort of like the pics you posted!
I'm 5'4 and at 127lbs right now and even though my goal weight was initially set to 120lbs, I'm getting increasingly scared of shedding more weight cos I don't want my butt to get smaller (it's already shrunk by 1/4 inches since the start of this month). Anybody got any advice for slimming and toning while maintaining or even building the rear?0 -
kclewis416 wrote: »Hi Ladies, just killed my morning at work skimming this thread.
Although I am 37, mom of 2 - 5'2 and approx 124 lbs' I really hold my weight well (mostly in my bum) which gives me a really nice shape and I am lucky enough to have bounced back to my pre-baby body in all ways after the kids - I think I might look better now than I ever have actually - maybe its just my confidence.
Attached is me.. as you can see since I am short I still am a little "thicker" but not bad for 37 lol
You don't sound like you have a problem with confidence to me - and with that body, I can't say I blame you! You look fantastic!
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You look amazing @kclewis416 ! And yes Jessica Arevalo is definitely body goals (keep in mind she is a bikini pro who has been lifting for over 10 years!)
@bodwomon. Unfortunately, as you lose weight, the booty can shrink down too... especially if you carry fat there. What can help is running a glute focused lifting program (like Strong Curves) and taking in adequate protein to prevent muscle loss. You may be able to build some while you lose, but to be honest it is more about maintaining what you have. If you are closer to goal you can recomp (maintain your weight to lose fat and build muscle at the same time) however this process can be slow.1 -
@sardelsa Off topic but you look amazing - hope I'll get to that level someday down the road ^^
Tbh, I don't know how close I have to be to my goal to start trying to recomp, but I've been doing bodyweight exercises for my glutes and thighs twice to thrice a week, 30 minutes per session, for a month already. I just didn't expect my glutes to lose 1/4 inch because I feel sore after every such workout, and with a few here and there where I added reps or new exercises, I felt sore for days afterwards. Anyway, it's only been a month so I'll just keep at it for another month and re-evaluate to see if I need to move beyond bodyweight. (:0 -
Thank you! I have worked hard, many years, many bulk/cut cycles to get where I am (with a baby in between lol). I started out with NO booty and now while it's not huge now, it's so much better than before and more proportional to my body.
Keep in mind, soreness doesn't always equal success. As long as you are progressing in your workouts each time (increasing the weight / reps) it gives it the best chance of staying. If you are losing in your glutes it could be that you have some fat there.. that is normal, after my bulk I lost a bit of size due to fat. In terms of when to start a recomp... tbh there is no clear cut answer.. basically when you are close to goal but you still have a bit of fat left in some places and don't want to lose any more weight. I have never done it so I don't have a lot of experience with it.2 -
Thank you! I have worked hard, many years, many bulk/cut cycles to get where I am (with a baby in between lol). I started out with NO booty and now while it's not huge now, it's so much better than before and more proportional to my body.
I just briefly glanced thru your profile and you've been on quite a journey! I still find it hard to believe you had a baby in between. No, but really, you look absolutely fantastic.If you are losing in your glutes it could be that you have some fat there.. that is normal, after my bulk I lost a bit of size due to fat.
Hahahahahaha there's too much truth in this. I've always had a very fat behind, it's just been very droopy in recent years due to inactivity. I'll wait and see what my body looks like once I've hit 120lbs in that case and evaluate if I need to lose more before I can start recomp. (:
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I haven't been to Germany for years, but I remember the incredible pastry shops on every corner..and similarly in Italy. However, I think people walk a lot more which tends to counterbalance the availability of baked goods. I've never eaten so many baked goods as I did when we would vacation in Europe, and I never walked as much on a daily basis, as well. I read that 50 years ago, the average American walked 7 miles a day. Now, I have to consciously target 12,000 steps and I don't achieve that without going to the gym.
I also have a "mummy tummy". I used to torture myself about this, and even saw a plastic surgeon about a tummy tuck. He told me that I have diasis rectis (I'm sure that isn't spelled correctly) and nothing short of surgery would flatten it to my pre-pregnancy appearance. I've just come to accept it (plus, hours of surgery and weeks of recovery are too scary for me), but I do miss that flat tummy!0 -
PrincessTinyheart wrote: »kclewis416 wrote: »Hi Ladies, just killed my morning at work skimming this thread.
Although I am 37, mom of 2 - 5'2 and approx 124 lbs' I really hold my weight well (mostly in my bum) which gives me a really nice shape and I am lucky enough to have bounced back to my pre-baby body in all ways after the kids - I think I might look better now than I ever have actually - maybe its just my confidence.
Attached is me.. as you can see since I am short I still am a little "thicker" but not bad for 37 lol
You don't sound like you have a problem with confidence to me - and with that body, I can't say I blame you! You look fantastic!
Hey why were you denied??? To add me
Maybe I clicked on the wrong button, sorry.0 -
kclewis416 wrote: »This is my body goal though
This is approx. what I started the thread at, just a bit more boobs and maybe height.
Definitely acheavable with a basic healthy eating and a bit of working out.
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