American women are hyper-focused on extremes. Have we lost

MU i IVAIIUI\ LtN I I{AL
Welgh
American
womenarehyper-focused
onextremes.
Havewelostsightof
thefactthatbeingfit andhealthy
iswhat'simportant?
FITNESS
reports.
WE'REA PRETTYSFIARF.
GROUPOF WOMEN in this country. But our ranksaresuffering,it seems,from a lack of focus,
partrcularlywhen it comesto our own healthand happiness.
Regardless
of our size,we all seemto be staringinto the mirror
feelingtoo "this"or too "that."This extremismis zappingour
abilityto seeourselves
for who we reallyare:strong,freeto make
choices,intelligent,creativeand beautiful.Sure,sometimeswe
idolize fit wslnsn-gslsna Williams and Gabrielle Reeseand
Hilary Swank-but more often, we 1et red-carpet celebs and
runway models set standards of beauty without really thinking
about how they got the bodies they have. "We hear of beauty
inside and out, but I tell you, beauty takeswork. Having to work
for my new body has made me a stronger person on all fronts.
I have worked tirelessly to change my entire state of bei
spiritually,"KirstieAlley told FITNESSrecently"If
beautifulto ourselves
it would be verydifficultfor
us that way"
This month, wipe yourmind clean
of skinny, lat or obese-and
ing or slimming or
yo:urhealth.We
r preconceivednotions
nking about calorie burnver your goal!) as crucial to
help support the idea of healthy,fit
women. There
be a stipulation that if you're healthy and
a role model. "Regular exercise can reduce
-stress,stabilizeyour mood, improve immune function,
lower blood pressure, improve cardiac function, boost
energyand improvesleep.And did I mentionit canmake
you feelsexy,strongandpowerful?"saysSarahHarding,Ms.
FitnessUSA (2004 and 2006) and spokesperson
for the
"TheaestheticbeneFoundationfor ChiropractrcProgress.
fit is the lcins on the cake."
While lor'rng the way you look is a f,ne goal, we need to aim for
our owrl personal best (not someone else'simage), and recognize that beauty can come in all shapes and sizes.When FITNESS launched its real-women campaign last year, vowing not
to put ceiebrities on the cover but to showcase, instead, real
women and athletic models on our pages,we got overwhelmingly positive feedback.Feeling enlightened but in need of more
information, FITNESSbegan further testing of imagesand headlines: We showed women "get healthy" messagesalongside
promises of quick weight iossand body toning. Guesswhat hapTell Us How You Really Feell We knowyou haveopinionsaboutwomen
and weight-lots of 'em-and we want to knoweverylastone.Co to
www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight
and share,share,share!
)! rn
l-lA
L)tr,
pened?Women overw
human nature. It's
We asked
between
ingly chosethe quick fix
American. But, its a problem
I expertshow to solve the split
we think (make me skinny too!) and what
't show us unhealthymodels!)-here'swhat they
you to know. Their main point: Never forget that feeling
well and fit is the key to happiness. It's about movement, being
able to do what you want and maintaining good health. But
we're not all there yet, say our experts: "Americans are in denial
We need to begin a journey of mental and physical transformation. We need to recognize that berng fit or being a healthy
weight is about wellness-not about a number on the scale.
Wellness is a gift you give yourself. Ask yourself, if not now,
when, are you going to stop searching outside for an answer to
how you should look inside?"saysPamelaPeeke,M.D., a FITNESS advisory board member and author of Bodyfor Life Jor
Wmen and the new book Fit to Live.
Another problem experts identified: When it comes to our bodies, we're always reaching for that unreahstic brass ring. We can
never achieveit, so we think, Why bother, right? "In the U.S.
theres a tiny segment of the population-the super-slim-that
has incredible ability to influence the rest of us. lt shouldn't,"
Martin Binks, Ph.D., director of behavioralhealth at Duke University Diet 6c Fitness Center, told FITNESS. "When it comes
ing yourself a simple definitron of wellness and remind yourself of it daily Wellnessmeansbeing fit to live, not just to survive but to thnve: eating on a regularschedule,exercisingdaily
(even for just 20 minutes) and not obsessingover the hot diet
book or shockingly skinny celeb of the moment.
lf you need a fast fix to get you jump-started on the road to
body positiveness,well then, maybe a headline like "Get the
Body You Want" or "Drop Inches Ali Over" isn't a bad reason
to pick up a copy of FITNESS. The quicker we can get you
started on a path to health and wellness-whether that be dropping weight becauseyour BMI is over 25, working in 5 or 10
minutes of tomng moves in the moming or finding inner confi.dence-the better.
Our mission at FITNESS: To help you start truly believing that
beauty comes from the inside out. "l've started exercising and
eating right and I've started to love my self-image,which I think
MEANSBEINGFIT TO LIVE,NOTJUST
WELLNESS
ITTAI(EsWORI(!
BUTTOTHRIVE
TOSUWIVE
o
I
z
o
o
o
o
z
;
to body image, the key is to focus on how you feel, not on the
number on the scale.Theres a broad range of numbers and
weights that are healthy. Some skinny, some heauer. Not just
one. Exercising and eating right-if you do those things, then
you're at your healthy werght," saysRene Zweig, Ph.D.' director of eating disorders and weight management at the Ameri-
is closely related to beauty," one reader recently wrote. Another explained, "Three words come to mind when I think about
beauty: natural, healthy and fit." View yourself as a work in
progress, saysLeslie Bonci, R.D., director of sports nutrition at
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, "Figure out things
you're willing to do to achieve your goal, to improve yourself,
can Institute for Cognttive Therapy in New York City
and say,Aren't I worth it?"
Experts that FITNESS spoke with said that we need to look
qnd
Start bv giv-
Remember the words of curry-proud Queen Latifah the next
time you look in the mirror: "My body is my body and it is
9
;
?
l
MI{JI IVAIIUi\ ilTNI RAL
more of a question of heaith and not a question of becoming
someone else. I think health is not jusr about weight but it is
about mind, spirit and emotions. I have acceptedme," she told
FITNESS.
Be inspired by positive role models-Rachel Ray Meryl Streep.
Ellen DeGeneres.Jennifer Hudson. America Ferrara. Serena
Williams. Penelope Cruz. Denise Ausrin. Diane Keaton. Helen
Mirren. Queen Latifah. Tyra Banks. Christy Turlington. Margaret Cho. Jamie Lee Curtis. Meredith Vieira. Kate Winslet.
Beyonc€.The list goes on. Just like you, rhey wanr ro be recognized for who they are and how hard they have worked to
get there, not just for how they look in a bikini or strolling
down the red carpet. Or, to put it another way: A healthy attitude-not slzes or labels or eating plans or workouts or the
skinny starlet and model of the moment-will
the best you can be. r
help you be
OURCOVER
MODEL:
SHEEATS!SHEWORI$OUT!
FIINESScovermodelCinthiaMoura,25,
dropped her unhealthyeating habits
alongwith fashionshorrus
four yearsago,
and shecouldn'tbe happieror fitter.
WHO,ME STARVE?
When I started modeling,I remember
alwaystrying to loseweight.l'd watchthe
skinny13-and 14-year-old
modelsstarve
themselves
to becomeeven skinnierevenin Brazilwhere
curvesarea wayof life.
ButwhenI stoppedworkingfashionshows,
my mentalitychanged.I wastiredof dietingandtiredof doingnothingphysically.
andstick-thin.
But in Brazil,we havemeat
on us.There,it's importantfor womento
get a healthy,toned bodyby goingto the
gym andeatingwell.That'swhy Brazilian
glow.
womenabsolutely
MY FiEALTHY
ROLEMODEL
My bestfriend,EricaRedling.Neitherof
uscaneatwhateverwewantandnot gain
weight,sowe supporteachotherin makBODYPARTILOVE
ing good decisions.
We pickyogurt and
My stomach.lt usedto beflat andskinny, fruit overgiantpretzelswhenwe'resnackbut now that I work out, I canseemore ingin the airport.
shapeon the sidesandaroundmy lower
abs.Thedefinitionisslight,but it's proof
MYFAVORITT
that l'm healthyandfit, notjust skinny.
WORI(OUT
t\ilOVES
BODYPARTI 5TRE55OVER
Whenmy traineraskedmewhat I wanted
to work on, I told him,my booty.lt's the
first part to surrenderto gravity,and in
my culture,it's the mostimportant.
AMERICANWOMENAND
BODYIMACT
In America,everyonewantsto be skinny
FQRl-lERSt,lTT:squats,
resistance
bands
FCIRHERAB5:medicineand
stabilityballs
FORHfR ARMS:5-to 7.5-pound
weights
FORHeRHEART:30
minutes
on the elliptical,two times
a week
AREYOUA FIT14?(OR 10OR 12OR 16?)rhe average
American
womenisfivefoot four
andweighs140pounds,andwewantto celebrate
you-allshapes
andsizes.
Submitphotosof
yourfit, fabulous
selfat www.fitnessmagazine.com/photos,
MAy2oo7
]S Errr.lrss
FITN ESSMACAZINE.COM