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Is "skinny fit" an unrealistic goal for most women?


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Would most women be incapable of achieving this sort of physique or something close to it with hard work in the gym?

 

Yes.

 

Is it unrealistic for most women?

 

Yes.

 

Both those woman are very thin.

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For the majority of women, physique has a lot more to do with diet than 'hard work in the gym'. So technically yes, 'most women' (AND, conversely, 'most men'!) can look like that with an extremely stringent diet and a lot of time in the gym.

 

But is it worth it? Except for a lucky few, the vast majority of people with bodies like what you and I linked, sacrifice a lot to attain it. I've known women who turn down social outings because a good meal and drinks with friends would mess up their diet plans. Women who turn anorexic/bulimic. Men who turn to hormones and steroids for a shortcut.

 

The majority of people will not have those bodies with only a generally healthy diet and the medically recommended amount of exercise for good health. For many of us, for ourselves and for our partners, us/them being at a healthy weight and in good health is good enough.

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No it's not unrealistic, it's down to diet. It's far too boyish looking though for my preferences.

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Lernaean_Hydra
I'm taking about this type of slim but fit/athletic-looking physique, not this stick figure physique

 

Would most women be incapable of achieving this sort of physique or something close to it with hard work in the gym? Is it unrealistic for most women?

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no, most women wouldn't be incapable of achieving such a physique. The attaining is only half the battle, it's the maintaining that's the real struggle. Although just getting there is a battle all its own. It would be very hard to keep up that body type unless you entire life practically revolved around maintaining that body type.

 

I'm personally of the opinion that, genetics be damned, almost any woman can be "skinny". Hell, anyone can be skinny. Just stop eating, I mean really...just flat out starve yourself silly and start living in the gym. Ta-da! Skinny! Now is that feasible, healthy, desirable or rational? No...not really. :confused:

 

By the way, both those women are...............very petite. The women in the first picture looks like a muscular skeleton. Not sickly or anything just very...sinewy. I'd much prefer something like this.

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Not unrealistic at all.

 

I wouldn't mind betting the girl in the first pic doesn't starve herself at all, and is rarely hungry. She probably eats more than most women do - but all clean food.

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Not unrealistic at all.

 

I wouldn't mind betting the girl in the first pic doesn't starve herself at all, and is rarely hungry. She probably eats more than most women do - but all clean food.

 

Agree, high protein + plus weight training

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It's not unrealistic, but it's not any more realistic than seeing the majority of us men with lean / toned / ripped bodies.

 

It's not that we can't, we decide not to for whatever reason. Different folks, different priorities..

 

I work out 3-4 times a week, and watch my diet pretty well. But I don't have a six pack and, apparently, especially at my age, don't desire one enough to do what's required to get them. Most people, male and female, are pretty much the same.

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I'm taking about this type of slim but fit/athletic-looking physique, not this stick figure physique

 

Would most women be incapable of achieving this sort of physique or something close to it with hard work in the gym? Is it unrealistic for most women?

I think it is absolutely unrealistic for most women. If it weren't, you'd see millions of women who look like that. If you are in your 20s and naturally thin, then you can probably look like that first woman. If you're older, you've had a few kids, or you just have a naturally chunky body, you will never look like her no matter what you do (including plastic surgery)

 

The number one factor in how you look is your genes. No matter what you do, you can't escape your basic body structure. In my part of the country, most of the people are descended from hearty peasant stock and only a generation or two off the farm. A lot of the 20-something women I see in the gym have thick thighs and buttocks that were invaluable on the farm, but don't meet our modern leisure-theory of beauty. They could eat nothing broccoli for a year and not look like that woman.

 

I think one of the most destructive ideas towards health that's out there is that fitness is nothing more than a matter of will. That might be a helpful inspirational message for 600 lb people who lay on the couch all day, but for mentally healthy people it's complete and utter nonsense. You can optimize what you're born with, but you can never escape your genes.

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I think one of the most destructive ideas towards health that's out there is that fitness is nothing more than a matter of will.

 

Plus the origin of 'fitness' to begin with involves having a body that is healthy, active, and capable of carrying out daily tasks with ease. That doesn't necessarily involve being ripped or having a 6-pack or pushing your body fat as low as it can possibly go, which appears to be all the rage nowadays.

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I think it is absolutely unrealistic for most women.

 

You can optimize what you're born with, but you can never escape your genes.

 

I think that's exactly right. I was blessed with a very good physique and my old boyfriend use to go to the gym and he'd see women there breaking their behinds and had said it's a shame that they'll never be built like me.

 

Me...who stays in shape by merely moving while I eat anything I want whenever I want.

 

It's almost as unrealistic for them to be built like me as it is for me to want to grow five inches and have blue eyes.

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Lernaean_Hydra
A lot of the 20-something women I see in the gym have thick thighs and buttocks that were invaluable on the farm, but don't meet our modern leisure-theory of beauty. They could eat nothing broccoli for a year and not look like that woman.

 

I think one of the most destructive ideas towards health that's out there is that fitness is nothing more than a matter of will. That might be a helpful inspirational message for 600 lb people who lay on the couch all day, but for mentally healthy people it's complete and utter nonsense. You can optimize what you're born with, but you can never escape your genes.

 

Well yes and no. Barring some debilitating physical ailment, practically anyone can "escape their genes" however the levels of dedication/sacrifice required in order to do it will vary and greatly depend upon genetics and/or where they started from. The reality is technically yeah, you could look like that and so could I, but it's hardly as easy making a few small dietary or fitness changes and being "strong-willed". For most it requires a complete lifestyle change and in truth it takes a lot more dedication, planning and attention than a lot of people really understand or are willing to admit.

 

I've never known someone who looked like that that wasn't a 'health nut', 'gym rat' or a 'food nazi'. That's not meant to be derogatory either, it's just those who want that look and place it above all else can most certainly have that look but not without it somewhat taking over their lives. And of course, not everyone wants that look or finds it appealing.

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thefooloftheyear

Its frankly very difficult....

 

The second model looks like a corpse...If you had sex with her, a fire would break out from the friction..:laugh:

 

A woman needs some extra fat, or serious health problems will arise...Even as a guy, where bf isnt as much of an issue, when I was wrestling competitively I often had bf levels of less than 5%...I can tell you that I suffered constant headaches, nosebleeds, and even hallucinations..no, not kidding..

 

I dont see either one as attractive...If you are going to run low body fat levels at least have some muscle, otherwise you just look like a bag of bones..

 

TFY

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I don't think she has amazing genes. Her boobs are fake, most likely (you can tell how round they are) and her butt isn't that big. I don't think that physique is all that special but I think her body fat is too low and she is too skinny. We all look like that under body fat.

 

Genetically blessed women are larger in terms of build/ass/etc because it's easier for them to grow their bodies.

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It definitely takes a lot of work to look like this.

 

Personally, even at 120 pounds (I'm 5'3') I still had junk in the trunk. So I'm one of those whose body shape will never ever look like that.

And I'm actually fine with it lol

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Rejected Rosebud

But it's not just about working out and what you eat, the basic frame of your body needs to be taken into account too. Maybe most women COULD get to the body fat level or musculature of those two but they might not end up looking ANYTHING like them. Like a woman with a heavy lower body and a tiny upper body isn't going to look like them, or one with very narrow shoulders and wide hips etc!! Or no boobs on the muscular one!

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I like the charts within this article:

 

The cost of getting lean: Is it really worth the trade-off? | Precision Nutrition

 

So, no, probably not unattainable. But not realistically how most women want to structure their lifestyle, esp since many women (most?) women are happier with a softer physique (closer to 20% BF)

 

That was a really interesting graphic, thanks for linking! Kind of lays it all out.

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But it's not just about working out and what you eat, the basic frame of your body needs to be taken into account too. Maybe most women COULD get to the body fat level or musculature of those two but they might not end up looking ANYTHING like them. Like a woman with a heavy lower body and a tiny upper body isn't going to look like them, or one with very narrow shoulders and wide hips etc!! Or no boobs on the muscular one!

 

They might not look anything like the girl pictured, but they'll still look very impressive. Maybe better. The girl pictured hasn't been particularly genetically blessed - not much waist/hip curve, not much of a bum, etc. Se has just made the most of what she has. A small framed girl who got lean and muscular.

 

Chances are a girl with (for example) naturally big hips or big bum/legs will look *better* than she does, if they followed the same diet/exercise regime.

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I'm taking about this type of slim but fit/athletic-looking physique, not this stick figure physique

 

Would most women be incapable of achieving this sort of physique or something close to it with hard work in the gym? Is it unrealistic for most women?

 

I think the first one looks really good in her third pic, but the first two where she's face on shows the extent to which she's sacrificed femininity for muscle - and it's resulted in what I consider to be an unattractively (for a woman) sinewy look about the stomach. To me, the optimal look (for a woman) is flat with a line down the middle but still with a soft look rather than that 6 pack deal.

 

The way that girl looks is exactly what makes me wary of people who are really into the gym. You'll tell them that you don't want to be too bulky, and they'll start all the "women don't get bulky - look at this woman. Does she look unfeminine to you??" Then they'll show you a picture of somebody like the woman in the OP pic, and you'll think "Yes, that's precisely what I mean. Her body looks like a thin, fit man's body with boobs stuck on it."

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I think the first one looks really good in her third pic, but the first two where she's face on shows the extent to which she's sacrificed femininity for muscle -....

 

 

 

 

She is peaking or close to it. You don't really stay there all the time. It takes a good deal of effort, people usually don't maintain that. One maybe two weeks of less intensity at the gym and control in the kitchen and the hardness goes away.

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I'm going to say that yes, it is unrealistic for most women because we work full time, study, have families, hobbies and daily lives to keep us busy. I've never had anything resembling abs in my life. A lot of us also cant afford gyms and personal trainers.

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I'm taking about this type of slim but fit/athletic-looking physique, not this stick figure physique

 

Would most women be incapable of achieving this sort of physique or something close to it with hard work in the gym? Is it unrealistic for most women?

 

Emily Skye was a model and is now the 4th biggest female online fitness personality in the world and has more than 3 million likes on Facebook.

 

SO yeah, something ALL women can achieve... :rolleyes:

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Would most women be incapable of achieving this sort of physique or something close to it with hard work in the gym? Is it unrealistic for most women?

Why do you want to know?

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