Thin is in, thinner is "inner"

Cate Campbell is a great athlete, a great swimmer, one of the world's best.  And yet she, too, succumbed to the "thin is in", "thinner is inner" mindset that the media bombards us with.  Her struggle is documented in an interesting article from The Daily Telegraph.  She talks about how, despite training for four hours per day, she ate only 1,000 calories.  And how much she was praised for losing weight.  

A comment in Michael Phelps's book helped turn that mindset around.  Apparently, he says "skinny swimmers aren't good swimmers".  Which would seem self-evident and yet it really conveys just how powerful those pressures are.

Speaking as a woman who has ALWAYS wanted to be 10kg lighter (no matter what my weight was) I can understand and empathise with that dissatisfaction.  I spent years on a permanent diet (and only gained weight - diets don't work).  Now my focus is on healthy at my size - get the cholesterol down a bit, schedule time for exercise rather than doing it when everything else is done, eat a mainly wholefoods diet and cut down on alcohol.

Gotta go now - I'm walking with a friend shortly.

Here's the link to the article about Cate Campbell.  What do you think about these relentless pressures to be thinner and how do you cope?

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/more-sports/cate-campbell-dives-into-body-image-debate-after-falling-victim-to-its-destructive-powers/story-fni2frsp-1227291544847