I think that woman looks good but I agree with you. It’s all too often just an excuse to throw in the towel.
How can someone credibly run an “online fitness guide and community” while essentially contending that your physique is not in large part determined by your training and diet?
Lots of people have goals that aren’t aesthetic. But you don’t see Zadrunas Savickas, for instance, claiming that his belly is just his belly and there is nothing he can do about it. He’s knows what he can do about it and what that would cost him in terms of performance and he just doesn’t want that trade off.
If you don’t think that diet and training can allow you to change your physique, then you aren’t credible. And even if you were, why would you do something that you are essentially arguing doesn’t matter?
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I agree. I think she looks great, in fact. No, she doesn’t have sub-20% bodyfat, and she’s not going to win a figure contest in that condition (not that it’s a goal, or needs to be a goal). She’s tall, has a curvy hourglass figure, great proportions, and has a very pretty face. Not that my opinion about her body should matter.
That’s one of the funny things about this, if someone who looks like her feels tortured about her body, then things are pretty messed up. What about the women who put all their fat at the waist? Did you read any of the comments on that HuffPo article? Most were from people saying “You look great,” or “She’s a TEN” kind of comments.
Of course, if you sell yourself as a “fitness coach/ trainer” and put pictures of yourself up on the web, you’re going to get some people both praising your body, and critiquing it. Erin Brown (also from Girl’s Gone Strong), has recently written some similar things, and posted pictures of herself looking very soft and curvy with the title “As Is.” She seems to want to do that, and not have anyone express any opinion either way on the internet. That seems a little bit crazy to me.
I’m fine with the body acceptance thing, and people deciding to be comfortable in their skin. We all have our own genetics, and it’s perfectly fine to admit to yourself that eating cake is more important to you than having abs. That’s honest.
The part of all this that kind of grated on me was the implication that “If you enjoy working on aesthetic goals, you probably have a bad case of self-loathing, or are going to CRAZY extremes.” Some people with eating disorders or body image issues end up latching onto this lifestyle. It can feed perfectionism. BUT it can also just be healthy and just good fun for some. I think I’m in that category.
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Silyak, Push, and On Edge,
She talked about how her ability as a coach, and her worth as a person was questioned.
That’s terrible if she felt less valued as a person, but there’s so many unkind people, or just trolls out there that are going to say things on the web. If you’re a public person, you’d have to develop a thick skin and ignore them.
Honestly, I can see where people expect a coach to walk the walk. There’s a strength coach at my gym who’s really talented. He’s not walking around with abs all the time, but I’d absolutely trust him to help me with my lifts.
On the other hand, I’m leaner and stronger than all the female personal trainers, so why would I ask them for help with nutrition or lifting? Maybe that’ not fair, but people don’t expect to hire a financial planner who’s always declaring bankruptcy.
I think there’s an appeal to women who feel beat up by unrealistic expectations, or who want to be able to be happy about how they look. I get that. It’s better to come at something from a positive place, but we’re all about changing our body comp, or working on our quads or delts, or whatever here.
There’s a place for healthy self-improvement. Otherwise, we’re all just celebrating and striving for the ordinary.
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I’m sure. I’m secretly miserable deep inside. 
It seems to be a major trend. Lots of respect for Jen Sinkler, but she just wrote a very similar article in Women’s Health about the effect of the “No excuses” captions on young women.
From Jen Sinkler - Jan 29, Women’s Health.
To be honest, there are plenty of good excuses not to have a six pack… But the most important one, the one it all boils down to, may simply that you have other priorities. And that’s not only okay, it’s great…Like Kang and Pell, I’m a fitness professional. I don’t, however, have kids. I also don’t have a six pack. Or a care in the world about that fact. I am simply not interested in being hungry enough to fight that battle. Our bodies are our own business, and truly empowering messages revolve around what we can learn to do with them rather than how we can shift and starve and shape them to look a certain way
Sure. Performance and Strength Goals, All Good. I like to work on whose goals myself. Then you look at that magazine find so many articles with pictures of fitness models with titles like these.
Tight, Toned and Sexy
Sculpt Killer Legs
Build a Better Butt
Flat Belly Fast
Build Firm, Sexy Arms
… You get the idea.
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Thank you for expressing your points so well. You did a much better job then I did explaining a females perspective. I fall in the middle of training for strength and wellness, and training for the pure fun of it and aesthetic results I expect to get, and nothing less. At one time I was training with a focus on pumping my chest up so much that I would eventually forget about the breast tissue I no longer had. Afterwards I was very happy with all the push-ups I could now do and the cleavage I developed.
The fact is, at least for me, training can really take you through a roller coaster ride of emotions. And I think, more so for women, the biggest issue is our self-criticism.
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Why are some women so hard on themselves (and others) about looks, clothes, hair, etc? More often than not they are at least acceptable, some even really good looking, but if you ask them- “Oh my god! I’m a mess!”.
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I’m not a big fan of Jen Sinkler, but I think what she is saying in that quote is crucially different. Acknowledging that aesthetic or performance goals beyond a certain level will progressively consume all aspects of your life is a very important point. But that’s different than simply saying your body is what it is and expecting it to be celebrated.
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Hey, you’re very welcome. I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts as well. Sorry if I took your thread on a bit of a tangent about body acceptance in general. Back to boobs, I have several friends who are really happy with their implants. One friend had compressed breast tissue after nursing four children so she was really happy about having them reconstructed. She doesn’t lift, but she’s one fit yoga queen, and she looks fantastic. 
You should do what’s best for you, and what will make you happy. I wouldn’t do it just for the sake of maybe getting on a stage to do a figure comp.
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You’re probably right, Silyak. Still, being able to shape our bodies continues to be a big motivator for people, myself included. It doesn’t have to become all consuming and make you unhappy.
Seeing young girls develop really unhealthy body image issues is a problem, and I see why some of these fitness writers are trying to push back against the emphasis on appearance. I should probably just assume that’s the motive. Women do tend to be very critical of themselves. Finding a woman who’s really content - not necessarily conceited - but content and happy with the way they look is probably rare. That’s sad.
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