Friday 18 April 2008

Mika you're right - Big Girls Are Beautiful

For the first time ever, a size 16 (UK) entrant is in the running for the title of Miss England. Who is this hero, I hear you say? Why, 17 year old Chloe Marshall of course. Ms Marshall has been causing a splash of late, due to the fact that she beat a handful of slimmer hopefuls this month when she won the title of Miss Surrey, and is excited about her chances for the national title, to be announced in July.
But she's not just in the running for no reason - this girl is fit and healthy as well as bold and beautiful (lol).
"I'm a size 16, I eat well, I exercise regularly – I jog, swim, and work out with weights." she says.
But not everyone is as excited about her success....
A newspaper columnist, Monica Grenfell, has publicly said,
"It's a total fallacy that young girls are being pressured into near-starving themselves into being too thin.
She is an ambassador not for the beautiful larger lady as she'd have us believe but a poster girl for diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, cancers and all the other devastating and potentially fatal health problems that are caused or exacerbated by obesity.
I hope she doesn't win the Miss England title. It would send an appalling - and very dangerous - message to other young women that it's okay to be fat."

(I think she's gorgeous. But there is one problem. This is an unflattering bikini - whoever styled this shoot, obviously didn't think things through...)

If she practices what she preaches (eating right, exercises) then we have no reason to believe this girl isn't the picture of good health. I say, good luck to you Chloe! Even if you don't win, you're an inspiration to hopefuls all over the world.

*****

Keeping on the subject of good health...
I recently came across an email I received a while ago about chocolate myths. I thought it was fascinating, and something I should definitely share:
  1. Chocolate comes from a plant – it’s the seeds (within the pods) of the cacao tree. It’s naturally very bitter; if you munched on a cacao bean, you would find a very harsh and bitter taste, nothing like chocolate as we know it.
  2. Chocolate varies in its preparation. There are government regulations of what can be called “chocolate”, depending on its ratio of: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, and milk. Ranging from baking chocolate (almost no added sugars), to dark chocolate (limited sugar and abundant cocoa solids), to milk chocolate (lots of sugar, added milk, and less cocoa solids), to “white” chocolate (NOT classified as chocolate at all, because it has no cocoa solids!)
  3. A special type of antioxidant is found in cocoa solids, called “flavanols”, which are where the health-promoting heart healthy claims of chocolate come from. This is dose related, meaning the more you eat, the more flavanols you consume. As a comparison, it takes nearly four ounces (that’s 3-4 regular size dark chocolate bars), consumed every day to promote a reduction in blood pressure! That’s 500 calories and 42 grams of fat!
  4. The new “super cocoas” are the wave of the future to harness the health benefits associated with the flavanols. The first of these is a Flavanol Rich Chocolate (containing 200 mg per serving – that’s a lot!), produced by the company, Cocoa Via. It’s the active ingredient, without the sugar and fat of a regular chocolate bar.
  5. Chocolate is also a “carrier” for other nutrients, which are unrelated to the activity of the flavanols. Calcium fortified chocolates (in milk and dark varieties) provide ½ the daily calcium requirement in one disk (at 30 calories), plus vitamin D. Plus, phytosterols (plant chemicals) are added to some chocolates to boost the cholesterol lowering ability of the product (Cocoa Via bars with 80-100 calories each). Again, any potential health benefits come from regular – daily – consumption.
Sorry this didn't turn out to be a fashion-related post in the slightest. I'll make up for it next time don't worry. Lol. Well, it turns out I've got a fairly jam-packed weekend coming up, so I really hate to say that I may not have as much time for commenting other blogs as I usually do. I'm sorry, I hope you all can forgive me.

Catch.

Romany

[photos courtesy of dailymail.co.uk, thesun.co.uk and telegraph.co.uk]

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Especially when they are performing belly-dancing!!!!

riz said...

I wholeheartedly agree that the stylist should have selected a bikini that complimented her shape!

Sheryl W said...

not conventional, but beautiful too.

Molly :] said...

I think she is gorgeous, but im unfortunately going to have to agree with Monica in saying size 16 is not a great trend for 17 year olds. Its good that she works out and is healthy, but it works in the opposite of the size 0 debate. Perhaps size 12/14 would be better as it is in the middle of both conventionaly skinny girls, and the plus size ones. I heard off Gok Wans 'How to look good naked' [If your english, your bound to have heard of it] that size 16 is the average UK womans size. Which is pretty scary, as this could be conidered as overweight. :) x

Daphney said...

she is gorgeous!! and yea-the bathing suit is very unflattering on her. ...chocolate

grenadine said...

She has such a pretty face and she seemed to be confident and doing the right thing by praising exercise and eating well, etc. But she is also close to being obese (I don't for a moment believe that she's a size 16 - I've seen more pictures of her and she looks closer to an 18 or a 20 than 16 would be if you look at her full size pic). The fact that they had to play down her size is also disturbing. I would know because I'm a size 12/14 myself and already my doctor has told me to start exercising more because I'm at risk of having diabetes and all other problems.

grenadine said...

http://mamamia.com.au/weblog/2008/04/could-this-girl.html#more

Go up top for a full-size picture.

the assistant said...

I too agree that the bathing suit is very unflattering on her. i think you can be a size 16 and be fit if she does do all the things she does im sorry but to me being a size 16 is better then being a size 0

the assistant said...

I do have to add that she will probably not win because even though society is somewhat excepting her into the race we are not to a point where she would win which is kind of sad :(

Jen (MahaloFashion) said...

I heard about this a couple of weeks back I think it's great that they are re-defining beauty not everyone is a perfect size 2/4/6

Your right about her bikini, she could do so much better, mayabe a sleek black one with underwire so her boobs are not sagging?

she's gorgeous.

Annabel said...

woo! i love the stuff about chocolate!

Unknown said...

not really a fan of her.
but then i do prefer the waif look......

thanks for the kind comments on my blog :)
keep checking back
and lets stay in touch!

Kira Aderne said...

hello dear,

i think you and all UK are so right. The fact is: everybody is beautiful in their own way...i think is totally wrong has to be fit and tall to be a miss or a top model...
i think the only thing that must count is if the girl is beautiful or not...

a kiss and a hug,
nice post!
kira

Anonymous said...

I agree with Jelenie. Chloe Marshall looks quite unhealthy in the full length photo where she is styling the bikini.
BUT she is VERY beautiful. Some women can be healthy while being a size 16 but I dont think Ms Marshall looks healthy. And I do know people who also work out like Ms Marshall says she does but still are not healthy because of the foods they eat.

Anonymous said...

sorry, the anonymous comment was from me, Charlotte. I forgot to post my name after!

Charlotte

Elizabeth said...

She looks happy and healthy, and that's good enough for me.

J.M. Powell said...

there are always people ready and willing to tear people down for no reason. it's appalling, but mostly reflects poorly on those people who are so quick to critisize.

Style On Track said...

Mmmmm... now i feel like some chocolate and now i can say that it is full of nutrients, so I need it for my health hehe ;)

I always love your posts x

Romany said...

I'm soo glad some of you brought up the point about the 'opposite end of the size-zero debate spectrum'. I was a little apprehensive of mentioning it because I didn't know what sort of a reaction it would get.
In all honesty, as gorgeous as the girl is, she does not look 100% healthy (yes I've seen the full length pic, and I'm a size 14/16 myself but my body does NOT look like Chloe's, I must admit). And she is condoning a different and equally unhealthy ideal.

But aside from all that, the girl is very happy with who she is, and if her so-called fitness regime isn't to be admired, then her zest for life and undeniable confidence sure are, as far as I'm concerned.
Thank you all for you interesting, daring and thought-provoking comments as usual! :)
Romany
xx

Fashionista said...

this is an amazing post
I think we all need to support the use of bigger models. Like you said, the average british woman is like a size 14 so this needs to be represented more.
Why do we need to focus on the fact that tis girl is a bit bigger than the usual size. All this proves is that size is the real issue, not that they just happen to pick the skinny models that they pick because of their looks.
What is the most shocking,is the quote you give from the journalist. If this beautiful girl is the poster girl for diabetes tec....what is an anorexic girl telling young girls about their bodies and self image.
Its comments like that that perpetuate the problem. Its a prime example of how the media reinforces negative attitudes of women about body image

Very interesting post

SICK. said...

i think that bathing suit looks terrible on her, but that's mainly because i hate that bathing suit.
she would have looked much better in that red cinched heart one you picked out in your bathing suit post.

she's so pretty though.
really gorgeous.

x.
jessica