The Model & Celeb Weight Thread [Read post #1 before posting] #2

[mimi_belle]

Originally Posted by gossiping

how do you know tho there is such a thing as natural thin-ness (and natural "skeleton-ness" as they call it!!)

There are people with a very low natural weight, but it is statistically highly improbable that all models are like that. You don't see "naturally skeletal" people on the streets all day long. If this was a normal feature like being blonde/brunette or brown/blue eyed or having a big/small nose etc. there would have to be an equal portion of very skinny people with "non-modely" faces. And girls who are a) very tall and b) facially beautiful with c) good skin and d) nice hair are already an exception. This is why it is unlikely that almost all of them should also be "naturally skeletal". There is no genetical link between those features causing them to occur in combination like e.g. red hair and freckles. And if a tall, gorgeous girl gets the opportunity to model by losing a bit of her natural weight with a (constant) diet, I think we are safe to say that in many cases she will at least try to do so. As sad as it is, there have to be many models doing "starving days" (as Anja R. calls it) to do the job.

[tigerrouge]

Originally Posted by mimi_belle

there would have to be an equal portion of very skinny people with "non-modely" faces.

Or women who are really tall - but not wafer-thin. Sometimes I wonder what it's like for someone who's maybe six foot tall, but with a proportionally normal frame - which would make them much bigger and wider than the average, even though they wouldn't be overweight in any way.

Do they feel a particular pressure to downsize themselves? Do they feel they take up 'too much room'? Do they experience any expectation that a tall woman should automatically look more like a model?

[Boomer]

I am rereading Janice Dickinson's book "Everything about me is fake, and I'm Perfect" and she goes into great detail about what she and the other big models did to keep their weight down...like eating one piece of dry toast in the morning- and that was it for the day...Scary stuff. And I tend to believe big time models who have been there, and mention the other big models and what they did...It is somewhere between terrible and having some sort of admiration for their sacrifice and dedication to their careers...

[mimi_belle]

Originally Posted by tigerrouge

Or women who are really tall - but not wafer-thin.

Absolutely, good point! I guess that many very tall women at an average weight are seen as less feminine as women with a lither frame and men seem to be intimidated by them. Not that it counts what men (or other people in gerneral) think, but it surely increases the pressure on those who care.

[tigerrouge]

Speaking of physical "sacrifice and dedication", a lot of sportspeople have to regulate their diets, and often quite severely. For example, boxers and jockeys have to 'make their weight' or else they're disqualified - and they're usually quite open about what it takes to make the grade.

In a feature in The Guardian in 2007, this is top boxer Joe Calzaghe:

When he is only a few feet away it's hard to miss the sunken features of a starving fighter. His ordeal is also evident when you hear the way some words stick at the back of his dry throat. "The weight's so tight I can't drink too much. I'm making sure I don't get dehydrated but every ounce is vital. The week of the fight is torture. I can have 500 calories a day from Monday to Wednesday. But on Thursday, the day before the weigh-in, and on Friday itself, I usually can't eat anything. Sometimes you can have a sliver - it depends how you do it.

"The alternative is to come in at 12st 4lb on the morning of the weigh-in. But shifting 4lb on the day can feel like you're trying to get blood out of a stone - but I'd often rather do that as it means I can eat something the day before. If I don't eat on the Thursday I usually come in 1lb over but I'm so weak that it's a killer to sweat it off in the sauna."

As today is one of this week's supposedly easier days I ask Calzaghe what he might eat for his 500-calorie intake. "In the morning a small bowl of porridge cooked with water," he grimaces.

"Lunch is a diet yoghurt and, maybe, a banana. At night, it's a small piece of chicken and salad. It's not a lot especially when you're training twice a day in sweatsuits. Thursday night is horrible. You're so starving and angry you can't sleep. But once I'm off the scales it feels like the fight is almost won."

After he had achieved all he wanted, he said in 2009:

I spent my professional life on a diet. I fought in the light heavyweight group and at least six months before a major fight would have to starve myself to get to under 12st — not a natural weight for someone over 6ft.

Invariably, 36 hours before we were weighed I’d still have some extra pounds to shift, so I would be living on nothing but fruit and water. It was gruelling.

I retired from professional boxing in February and put the weight back on. I’m now around 14st — a much healthier weight for me to be.

[mimi_belle]

I assume gymnasts have a pretty hard life, too. Especially when they get older (older as in 18/19).

[mimi_belle]

Oh, and not to forget the ballet dancers! It looks so beautiful, but they really have to suffer...

[Linnéaa]

The "trend" in gymnastics is actually changing. A lot of gymnasts are now focusing on being healthy+having muscles instead of being very thin.

I can't discuss personal stuff here, but if anybody has a question, PM me. I used to be an elite gymnast myself, so I have inside experience :P

[Boomer]

Yup- I knew a pretty high level college wrestler back when- and he was as 'bad' as any model with his diet...And- he had to always lift weights for his strength, not a good combination- extreme dieting and weight lifting... He basically lived on protein drinks..

[gossiping]

Originally Posted by mimi_belle

Oh, and not to forget the ballet dancers! It looks so beautiful, but they really have to suffer...

karlie kloss really doesn't come across that way to me

[modela]

but karlie isnt a professional ballet dancer.

[diesanni]

Originally Posted by mimi_belle

Oh, and not to forget the ballet dancers! It looks so beautiful, but they really have to suffer...

I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it or what it was called but there is this documentary about the "Royal Ballet School" in London where they follow this young girl and their friends and food is pretty much all they're talking about because they'd have to leave the ensemble should they get past a certain weight or "look" to heavy. It was crazy and very sad.

(I don't know if that is really what it is like at these schools or if the footage was edited to be made out like it was, though.)

[cold_sun]

^it definitely is like that. i know for sure. id even go so far and say that ballets much harder than modeling, because in modeling you "only" (as far as that goes) have to be that thin but in modeling its about having that type of body as well as the ability to fulfill the dancing requirements. its very tough

[gossiping]

Originally Posted by modela

but karlie isnt a professional ballet dancer.

its not about professional though, if you're one you have that supposed "diet" professional or not

[diesanni]

Originally Posted by gossiping

its not about professional though, if you're one you have that supposed "diet" professional or not

I don't really get what you're trying to say. You either are a professional one and live by the "rules" that come with it or you're not and therefore don't have to.