bb.com - When is it TOO skinny?

[Snowgrrl83]

I was browsing bb.com today and I stumbled upon a female transformation. There are many female transformation on this site and this girl looked fantastic in her bikini.

She did her first bikini competition, but her stats are clearly of an underweight person.

Should bb.com be promoting a person with these kind of stats? In your opinion, when does skinny become TOO skinny? Somehow, overweight is unsexy in this crazy society of ours....but underweight is considered extremely sexy ...what gives?

[viridian]

Competition is one thing - health is another.

Competition is not healthy... dieting down again and again to bodyfat levels that are too low to maintain is simply to healthy for anyone. And the competitors that try to stay very close (or even at) stage weight will tell you that.

If you were looking at her stage weight stats, that is not uncommon to be seen as low - alot of competitors ribs show on stage as well.

At 5'2 and 107lbs, youre 'unhealthily thin' also...

[1972girl]

I was browsing bb.com today and I stumbled upon a female transformation. There are many female transformation on this site and this girl looked fantastic in her bikini.

She did her first bikini competition, but her stats are clearly of an underweight person.

Should bb.com be promoting a person with these kind of stats? In your opinion, when does skinny become TOO skinny? Somehow, overweight is unsexy in this crazy society of ours....but underweight is considered extremely sexy ...what gives?

would have to see pics of what your talking about and if someone who just did a competition having really low body fat is part of it and they don't always look like that.

[Snowgrrl83]

The reason I don't want to post who it is because I dont want to hurt this person's feelings if this person does browse the boards nor do I want to point fingers at anyone in particular. I don't want to be hurtful nor do I want the "this girl looks perfectly healthy to me" response as an opinion.

I think that bb.com needs to recognize that many of us look "up" to these women that are featured on the site and strive to obtain that type of "look".

All that was mentioned was that this person had made a significant weight change. After looking at the before and after pictures and seeing the weight's before and after at this girl's height, it was clear to me that this person was underweight. The feature did not specify what this person's "off-season" weight truely was.

PS- Although I might be just 107 lbs and 5ft2, I am currently bulking (eating 2800 calories per day...yum!). I also have yet to find anywhere (scientiic article or measure?!) that says that my height/weight ratio is unhealthy...maybe if I was under 104lbs, then I would be considered "unhealthy" according to the BMI chart. I don't think that this thread needs to turn into a personal attack.

[juliacheh]

I stopped reading these transformation stories because I smell a lot of BS in them.
They often post competition diets and claim that it is the regular diet for this person - brb gaining muscles on 1200 calories.

They claimed Tiffany Forni was 6% body fat at the end of her transformation. Tiffany did an amazing job, but women are not 6% body fat ever, even at contest. 8% is a shredded female bodybuilder on stage.

The claims about simultaneous fat loss and huge muscle gains are outrageous.

[sonti]

Bottom line I do not believe those transformations. Clearly exaggerations in many (such as too low bf% for women, some of those women should be dead from that bf % lol), lots of ridiculous competition diets, insane workouts, etc.

Yes, I do think it sets an unrealistic standard for those who are new and vulnerable to what bodybuilding in general is about

[rcswent]

I stopped reading these transformation stories because I smell a lot of BS in them.
They often post competition diets and claim that it is the regular diet for this person - brb gaining muscles on 1200 calories.

They claimed Tiffany Forni was 6% body fat at the end of her transformation. Tiffany did an amazing job, but women are not 6% body fat ever, even at contest. 8% is a shredded female bodybuilder on stage.

The claims about simultaneous fat loss and huge muscle gains are outrageous.

I saw that too...

I don't think I've ever received an accurate bodyfat measurement, whether it was someone visually guesstimating or having the caliper test done. Someone at my gym said to me when I was three weeks out from my show "You look to be about 12%". HA! I wish. I have no idea what I was, but certainly not 12%.

People have a tendency to underestimate their BF %. I personally don't find it to be that significant of a "tool"...if I look good in the mirror, then that's all I care about.

In general, as viridian mentioned above, preparing for a competition can turn into an unhealthy event. If she were trying to maintain a very low BF % year-round, I would be concerned.

[viridian]

The reason I don't want to post who it is because I dont want to hurt this person's feelings if this person does browse the boards nor do I want to point fingers at anyone in particular. I don't want to be hurtful nor do I want the "this girl looks perfectly healthy to me" response as an opinion.

I think that bb.com needs to recognize that many of us look "up" to these women that are featured on the site and strive to obtain that type of "look".

All that was mentioned was that this person had made a significant weight change. After looking at the before and after pictures and seeing the weight's before and after at this girl's height, it was clear to me that this person was underweight. The feature did not specify what this person's "off-season" weight truely was.

PS- Although I might be just 107 lbs and 5ft2, I am currently bulking (eating 2800 calories per day...yum!). I also have yet to find anywhere (scientiic article or measure?!) that says that my height/weight ratio is unhealthy...maybe if I was under 104lbs, then I would be considered "unhealthy" according to the BMI chart. I don't think that this thread needs to turn into a personal attack.

It wasnt a personal attack, merely an example.
At 5'2 and 145lbs Im quite fat :P BUT, most girls that are 5'2 compete around 110-115lbs and have offseason weights around 125lbs.

If you look at Heidismommy, pre-preggers, many would have called her unhealthily thin while in fact she's likely healthier than most any woman on the boards. And she's been that way for years.

I looked through the last 20 or so transformations and didnt see a female that was overly skinny...

And for the record Im very jealous of your calorie consumption right now :P

[Snowgrrl83]

It wasnt a personal attack, merely an example.
At 5'2 and 145lbs Im quite fat :P BUT, most girls that are 5'2 compete around 110-115lbs and have offseason weights around 125lbs.

If you look at Heidismommy, pre-preggers, many would have called her unhealthily thin while in fact she's likely healthier than most any woman on the boards. And she's been that way for years.

I looked through the last 20 or so transformations and didnt see a female that was overly skinny...

And for the record Im very jealous of your calorie consumption right now :P

Please stop referring to other members personally. If you read Heidismommy's BodySpace carefully, you will notice that she had a low bodyweight because she has been recovering from anorexia. Unhealthily thin exists just as much as unhealthily big - yes, it is just as unhealthy as the members that are overweight.

I applaud her for her quest to recovery and on the successful pregnancy too!

[kdiamond55]

Can someone link me to where these tranformation pages are? I'd like to check them out.

[sonti]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trans_f.htm

Some of these sort of demonstrate girls jumping to stage without having years of muscle behind them, which is what I think the OP is getting at - when these girls are showing 5'4 and 105lbs on stage, for example.

A lot of the "after" body fat targets are also on stage (and even then exaggerated) so you'll get some poor girl on there thinking that she can realistically get to 13-14% if she follows the same zero fat diet posted.

I think there are many inspirations in the transformation section, but I also think it should hold a disclaimer about posting the "after" as their competition day stats and not their year-round stats.

[viridian]

Please stop referring to other members personally. If you read Heidismommy's BodySpace carefully, you will notice that she had a low bodyweight because she has been recovering from anorexia. Unhealthily thin exists just as much as unhealthily big - yes, it is just as unhealthy as the members that are overweight.

I applaud her for her quest to recovery and on the successful pregnancy too!

I use her as an example because I've followed her 'transformation' personally since I joined the boards years ago.

I've seen the unfounded accusations happen and Ive read her story many times. Seen her diet workout plan, read many blogs/journals, etc.

Just saying it happens, not that its bad in any way at all She's no longer an anorexic either - She's been adding muscle for a few years now.

Relax a little bit, youre reading into things a little too deeply.

-----

Some of the transformations do have "stage" weight or "onseason" listed. SOme dont.

[Snowgrrl83]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trans_f.htm

Some of these sort of demonstrate girls jumping to stage without having years of muscle behind them, which is what I think the OP is getting at - when these girls are showing 5'4 and 105lbs on stage, for example.

A lot of the "after" body fat targets are also on stage (and even then exaggerated) so you'll get some poor girl on there thinking that she can realistically get to 13-14% if she follows the same zero fat diet posted.

I think there are many inspirations in the transformation section, but I also think it should hold a disclaimer about posting the "after" as their competition day stats and not their year-round stats.

This is exactly what I mean. There is no disclaimer or anything or the sort. There are tons of girls out there who are litterally about to jump on the cardio machine for an hour, follow the weight lifting plan and are about to follow the 1300 calories/day plan only to find out that they won't be able to maintain nor achieve what bb.com has shown them in the long term.

So lets see what these transformations look like on the off-season?!

[SexyChic]

If they do those crazy diets and lots of cardio posted on the transformations, eventually they will realize that they are spinning their wheels and look elsewhere for their info. I know when I first started I had to fight against my genetics of long limbs and eating lots without gaining....It took me about 3 years to figure it all out. I'm not a good example because I keep my bf higher than most women on here.

Bodybuilding is mostly about figuring out what works for YOUR body so following someone else's diet/routine is only going to get you so far without fine tuning.

What's that saying, insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results

[KyleAaron]

I was browsing bb.com today and I stumbled upon a female transformation. There are many female transformation on this site and this girl looked fantastic in her bikini.

She did her first bikini competition, but her stats are clearly of an underweight person.

That's bikini comps.

Should bb.com be promoting a person with these kind of stats? In your opinion, when does skinny become TOO skinny? Somehow, overweight is unsexy in this crazy society of ours....but underweight is considered extremely sexy ...what gives?

Historically, whatever was hard to achieve was fashionable. In poor times, being overweight is sexy; in wealthy times, underweight. When poor people worked outside and rich people inside, having a tan was unfashionable and being pale was beautiful. Nowadays having a tan means you have the wealth and leisure time to just lie around, so it's fashionable again.

Screw fashion, just be healthy, and have the kind of physique you're comfortable with - within the bounds of health. And the range of physiques which are healthy is much, much wider than the range of physiques which are fashionable.

The claims about simultaneous fat loss and huge muscle gains are outrageous.

Yes but they sell heaps of product.

So lets see what these transformations look like on the off-season?!

There's been a thread on that before. Basically we had a few very honest women here post some pics, but few professional models are going to do so. Their physique is their career. It's like your personal trainer watching tv while eating a greasy burger. It happens, but you're never ever going to see it

[SexyChic]

Yes but they sell heaps of product.
Their physique is their career. It's like your personal trainer watching tv while eating a greasy burger. It happens, but you're never ever going to see it

Lmao so true

[HawaiianSiren]

I stopped reading these transformation stories because I smell a lot of BS in them.
They often post competition diets and claim that it is the regular diet for this person - brb gaining muscles on 1200 calories.

They claimed Tiffany Forni was 6% body fat at the end of her transformation. Tiffany did an amazing job, but women are not 6% body fat ever, even at contest. 8% is a shredded female bodybuilder on stage.

The claims about simultaneous fat loss and huge muscle gains are outrageous.

I am glad someone brought this up [am my apologies for bumping an old thread... I have time to read a lot of the threads but not able to respond due to time constraints]

I think it is unfair that these transformations are posted with sometimes inaccurate information. For the years I read the transformations, I thought this could be me. I could shred 20% bodfat, gain muscle, and step on the stage in a year! So for years I tried by mimicking the diets I saw on the transformations. Eating 1000-1200 calories a day, doing 3 hours of cardio (no sh*t, read some of them, that's how much they do!) and I ended up a) skinny fat b) binge eating c) exhaused d) all of the above. They are also way mellow dramatic "I cheat only once a week but everything must be consumed in under an hour." Really? You time how long you can eat for? I know one of the girls who is a transformation of the week and I promise you, that's NOT the diet she follows nor is that her exercise routine.

Through the suggestion of many of you great ladies, i found an excellent trainer on here who upped my caloric intake and took my cardio sessions from 2x60 minutes a day to 4 sessions a week, 20 minutes each. I couldn't believe it. I argued with her! Why? Because I've been reading for years these transformations where the information is either from a contest prep diet or waaaay over dramatized. I feel to improve this bb.com should indicate the type of diet that is presented or chose to omit the information. Just a thought.

Also, I've followed up on a lot of transformations of the week and they are now fatter than I am. I've read a lot about why girls crash diet for comps or whatever reason then consequently gain 30 pounds. I never want to be like that and this website shouldn't support that lifestyle. Again, just my opinion.

To be fair, the recent transformation (Kirsten Madison) is a true inspiration to me. She didn't crash diet and is taking her time stepping on stage. To me, she is doing it correctly and has inspired me to do it correctly, too. Sure, I'm losing about .5/1 pound a week but I'd rather do it the right way then lose 20 pounds in one month then binge on Pappa Johns.

To the ladies here who always offer REALISTIC advice whether for diets or competing on the threads - THANK YOU. I know a lot of girls come on here asking for advice or whatever and then yell at you when you try to be REAL with them. don't worry, I got your back. I read your words and do rep accordingly :-) Continue to "keep it 100"' and know that at least one fat girl is listening to you. I wouldn't have come this far without you!! You ladies are ROCK!