A tiny waist should not automatically mark a woman as having an eating disorder or anorexia nervosa.
Look at the waist of the woman above; it’s what would be considered tiny or “too skinny.”
However, why isn’t this same criticism applied to male physique athletes?
Freepik.com, halayalex
If a woman like the one above doesn’t have an eating disorder or is not underfed, then what makes her waist so tiny?
Note her muscle development. In no way does this woman have scrawny arms.
Those arms and shoulders look like they can bench press at least 100 pounds.
Her waist and entire abdominal section is actually thinner than a runway model’s.
Yes, I realize that the angle of the model creates the illusion of an even smaller waist, but this does not change the popular belief that a tiny waist probably means an eating disorder or not getting enough to eat.
When I was a personal trainer at a gym, I enjoyed explaining the following to my overweight clients:
Fierce weight workouts (plus a sensible diet) siphon nearly all the fat out of one’s midsection.
Yes — order for this to happen, the athlete must keep their diet controlled.
This doesn’t mean starvation. In fact, in order for a woman to develop muscle, she needs to get an adequate amount of protein and carbohydrates.
She can’t build muscle on an anorexic’s diet or the diet that some malnourished looking Hollywood starlets seem to be on.
Building muscle — and maintaining that muscle — requires plenty of energy.
This must come from food, as well as adequate rest in between workouts.
Muscle feeds off of body fat for sustenance, though it also thrives on high quality sources of protein and complex carbs.
The fat that the trained muscle mass feeds off of includes any fat that tries to accumulate in the waist.
Just because a woman has a super small waist doesn’t mean she’s underfed, anorexic or has an eating disorder.
Is it really fair to pass judgement on a woman’s health just because her waist is tiny? Freepik.com/master1305
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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