I have repeatedly talked about the unhealthy foods and unreasonable quantities and government subsidization of unhealthy processed foods … but today we got something from the other end of the spectrum.
In spite of protestations by ultra-thin actresses and models that they can ‘eat whatever they want’, most reasonable people tend to believe that the truth is uncomfortably close to the parodies on TV shows and movies where the model is asked about eating and claims to have eaten an orange for lunch … then confesses it was a single slice … and was the entirety of her solid sustenance for the day.
Victoria’s Secret ‘Angel’ model Adriana Lima revealed her extreme ‘Victoria’s Secret fashion show’ diet to the UK site the Telegraph.
Here is a snip about her workout routine:
“It is really intense, it’s not really the amount of time you spend working out, it’s the intensity: I jump rope, I do boxing, I lift weights, but I get bored doing that. If I am not moving I get bored very easily.”
But what is really shocking is how she manages her weight – or more to the point how she becomes unhealthily underweight without dying or looking anorexic:
She sees a nutritionist, who has measured her body’s muscle mass, fat ratio and levels of water retention. He prescribes protein shakes, vitamins and supplements to keep Lima’s energy levels up during this training period. Lima drinks a gallon of water a day. For nine days before the show, she will drink only protein shakes – “no solids”. The concoctions include powdered egg. Two days before the show, she will abstain from the daily gallon of water, and “just drink normally”. Then, 12 hours before the show, she will stop drinking entirely.
“No liquids at all so you dry out, sometimes you can lose up to eight pounds just from that,” she says.
Yet in spite of this abuse to her body, Lima is proud of what she has accomplished:
“Actually, the Victoria’s Secret show is the highlight of my life. Becoming an Angel, once I achieved that, it was a dream come true for me. And I know that after all this is done, when I sit down with my daughter one day, we are going to look back and it’s going to be very special.”
“Any model in this world would love to be an Angel.”
Looking at the image above of Lima on the runway, you do not see an anorexic waif who looks one step away from the emergency room and forced re-hydration, but rather someone who has a fit and muscular physique despite being too thin.
And for me that makes this ‘regime’ even worse – at least when you see ghastly anorexic young women like on this site whose ribs you can easily count there is outrage and a call to action. Victoria’s Secret models like Adriana Lima are considered the ‘pinnacle of what is sexy’ in our culture.
As one commenter said:
“Feeding off protein shakes for a week, and then starving and dehydrating yourself for 12 hours is NOT what I call a balanced diet.”
And that is the bottom line – when ‘looking good for the camera’ involves weeks of solid-free diet coupled with excessive water (in other words, a colon cleanse and bare-bones nutrient feed), followed by dehydration, then perhaps there is something wrong with looking at the girl above and thinking she is ‘healthy’.