Gracie Gold opens up about body standards

[Ic3Rabbit]

I love my muscular legs... just saying... and i am very serious.

As a skater, I agree with this statement, my muscular legs made me proud.

 

[plushyfan]

I love my legs, muscular and pretty ...why not? I always thought those are the best part of my body...

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

That's the weirdest thing ever.
Why would anyone LOVE particular part of his/her body? Is it some kind of fetish or sth?
"Oh, I love my lips so much I wanna kiss them!"

Totally made me lol too but people are weird about stuff like this. Honestly it seems rather unhealthy to obsess over your body positively or negatively but I'm not interested in discussing any further because to me this subject is very personal and needs to be catered differently for different people in different situations.

 

[jf12]

I've never met a person, who'd say "I love my muscular legs". Maybe for laughs or sth.

If you are a skater you have to like muscular legs!! Even the super slim ones like Hanyu and Evgenia have big quads relative to the rest of their body.

 

[mrrice]

I love my legs, muscular and pretty ...why not? I always thought those are the best part of my body...

Me too....That, and my butt. Just like so many other skaters and dancers that I know. Even if I get a little chunky, my legs never seem to lose their shape....Thank Gawd!!!!

 

[bevybean]

She's completely right and it happens in many sports. It certainly happened in professional dance while I was touring. I don't know how many skaters have eating disorders but, I knew several dancers who did. I knew several dancers who smoked cigarettes because they said that smoking took away hunger pains. I have never smoked and don't know if that's true but, smoking would be hard on a skaters lungs and would have an effect on their stamina. Skating is an exhausting sport and when you're tired after a long practice, it can be tempting to head over to Taco Bell for some nachos and a burrito. Like Gracie says, we ALL knew the score. Heavy dancers don't get work and as "The Fat" dancer in our cast, I can say that she's right. I was told on more than one occasion that if I hadn't been a good vocalist, I would never have been hired to play Ritchie in A Chorus Line.

Gracie has been at this for years and I find her candor very refreshing.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the irony of this for casting a show that includes the song "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three"

 

[bevybean]

Totally made me lol too but people are weird about stuff like this. Honestly it seems rather unhealthy to obsess over your body positively or negatively but I'm not interested in discussing any further because to me this subject is very personal and needs to be catered differently for different people in different situations.

Just because you love a body part or your whole body doesn't mean you are obsessing over it. Being able to say "I love my body just the way it is" is just having a positive body image.

 

[bevybean]

I agree with everything you said. I was the opposite of you, meaning I started in ballet first then started skating. (I also was a state winning vocalist....!) When you are knee deep in dance or skating you just KNOW that thinner is better. In high school once my body started changing I'd eat a full breakfast for the day, and drink three or four Slimfasts. I'd eat my dinner in front of my parents, and excuse myself and throw it up. I was so good at it I only had to think of vomiting and I could. And I thought that was just par for the course. Certainly not an ED, maybe 'disorderd eating' but I only did it when my ideal dance/skate weight wasn't correct. I admire Gracie for her candor, and I think she knows she's 'skater overweight'. Maybe she just doesn't care anymore, and is doing this to get out of all the pressure.

I love that you make this distinction. I'm sure Gracie was never "normal person overweight" just overweight for landing triples, etc.

I wonder if some of the lack of candor and awareness for this is because it is such a difficult distinction to make. I think the "accepted" body type comes naturally for most elite figure skaters. With the training regime that skaters seem to have, I would think they could eat a normal healthy and maintain the proper weight (e.g. lean protein, lots of veggies and whole grains) maybe just watch the calorie intake a little. (Am I wrong?) Plus, the way you use your body can effect how it looks. e.g. a ballet dancer's legs look different than a gymnast's legs. But, people are different so someone could do all the same diet and exercise, but still not have the "accepted" look. Or maintain weight the same way. And it only takes a couple of pounds to throw off a jump. So, we don't want skaters to obsess about weight, but it is a factor in performance.

The question is, if there was a skater who was overweight, but can land quads, would they still get scored the same as other skaters?

 

[mrrice]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the irony of this for casting a show that includes the song "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three"

If I could give 3 likes, I would..... You are NOT the only one!! In fact, the girl who played "Val" and I used to joke about how she had to wear padding to make her body parts look bigger. I used to say......Girrrrrl. I got your A** right here..... Thank you, that gave me a good laugh!!

 

[plushyfan]

Me too....That, and my butt. Just like so many other skaters and dancers that I know. Even if I get a little chunky, my legs never seem to lose their shape....Thank Gawd!!!!

I was sure you are very pretty..If I'm right you are man, afroamerican? and dancer! OMG! The best chance of being a beautiful body!!!!

 

[mrrice]

I was sure you are very pretty..If I'm right you are man, afroamerican? and dancer! OMG! The best chance of being a beautiful body!!!!

: I have to use this symbol cuz...With my dark skin, you can't tell if I'm blushing. Plushy made me blush once and so did Maria Butyrskaya. I think I have a Russian problem.

 

[jf12]

I love that you make this distinction. I'm sure Gracie was never "normal person overweight" just overweight for landing triples, etc.

I wonder if some of the lack of candor and awareness for this is because it is such a difficult distinction to make. I think the "accepted" body type comes naturally for most elite figure skaters. With the training regime that skaters seem to have, I would think they could eat a normal healthy and maintain the proper weight (e.g. lean protein, lots of veggies and whole grains) maybe just watch the calorie intake a little. (Am I wrong?) Plus, the way you use your body can effect how it looks. e.g. a ballet dancer's legs look different than a gymnast's legs. But, people are different so someone could do all the same diet and exercise, but still not have the "accepted" look. Or maintain weight the same way. And it only takes a couple of pounds to throw off a jump. So, we don't want skaters to obsess about weight, but it is a factor in performance.

The question is, if there was a skater who was overweight, but can land quads, would they still get scored the same as other skaters?

For your first question, I don't think that most figure skaters can eat normal healthy and maintain the accepted body type. I read somewhere that Yuna Kim ate 1200 calories a day when she was in training. I can't imagine how hungry skating and working out all day must make you, while eating so little.

 

[Barb]

For your first question, I don't think that most figure skaters can eat normal healthy and maintain the accepted body type. I read somewhere that Yuna Kim ate 1200 calories a day when she was in training. I can't imagine how hungry skating and working out all day must make you, while eating so little.

oh, it can´t be possible! maybe is when she is not training.

 

[plushyfan]

: I have to use this symbol cuz...With my dark skin, you can't tell if I'm blushing. Plushy made me blush once and so did Maria Butyrskaya. I think I have a Russian problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ASnEC_jYVs

I have Russian problem, too in figure skating..

 

[Tavi...]

For your first question, I don't think that most figure skaters can eat normal healthy and maintain the accepted body type. I read somewhere that Yuna Kim ate 1200 calories a day when she was in training. I can't imagine how hungry skating and working out all day must make you, while eating so little.

I don't think that can be right. While everybody's metabolism is different, the recommended caloric intake for an active 18 year old woman is 2400 calories. A 1200 calorie diet would result in weight loss of 2.5 pounds per week. Even assuming that the athlete is trying to maintain a weight lower than the average person - and lower than what their body would naturally be - it seems very low.

https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/def...patterns/EstimatedCalorieNeedsPerDayTable.pdf

 

[bevybean]

I don't think that can be right. While everybody's metabolism is different, the recommended caloric intake for an active 18 year old woman is 2400 calories. A 1200 calorie diet would result in weight loss of 2.5 pounds per week. Even assuming that the athlete is trying to maintain a weight lower than the average person - and lower than what their body would naturally be - it seems very low.

https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/def...patterns/EstimatedCalorieNeedsPerDayTable.pdf

Plus, 1200 calories is considered the minimum amount for an adult woman to eat. Less and you can't get enough nutrition and energy to live even a sedentary lifestyle.

 

[jf12]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/10/21/2009102100218.html

I found a quote about it here. I hope it's not accurate, because it sounds incredibly dangerous, but there you go. I think and hope that most skaters would eat more than 1200 calories. However, it's also not possible to eat normal-healthy and get the body you need as a competitive skater. Even if they're able to eat 1800-2000 calories a day, it would need to be really precise and restrictive in order to get a body that can maintain muscle and endurance but not have an ounce of extra fat.

 

[tars]

I kinda knew western societies are obsessed about their looks, I just didn't think it has come to the point of public expressing love to their body parts. Sometimes this forum is like National Geographic to me, and what an interesting tribe you are! :thumbsup: :yes:

 

[mrrice]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ASnEC_jYVs

I have Russian problem, too in figure skating..

How could you!!! Surprise??? Every Broadway purist is going to have a cow!!!!!!!! The song I sang actually called "Gimmie the ball" I'd post it but it has a lot of cussing in it. In fact, that whole montage was definitely rated R.....

The Movie Ritchie is much better than I was. I didn't like the changes they made for the movie but.....He was one of the best things in it. I love the fact that so many people on this site are so knowledgeable about so many aspects of the arts. That was awesome........

 

[Ares]

Gold, who spoke to TODAY Style on behalf of Red Bull, is on the ice five days a week, for three to four hours a day, in addition to weight lifting and cardio throughout the week.

Some people was blaming her weight to she being lazy. It definitely seems a food problem.

There are some genetic factors, factors related to food obviously / your way of eating + environmental ones too that count. My cousin (girl) after spending her first month in England after taking up studies there put up 5 kilograms even though she stayed away from junk food and tried to eat like in Poland.

It can be pretty difficult for many esp. in USA and considering what this sport requires.