Gracie Gold opens up about body standards

[Moxiejan]

This sentence from Gracie's article has been nagging at me: "But sometimes, I think, oh, they're too big, they don't look like the legs you see in the magazines."

I don't think that Gracie yet gets that the "accepted" look for skating isn't the waif-thin look of magazine fashion models but the lean, muscular look of a trained athlete.
Even in her "thinnest" days as an early senior, I don't think she did the same level of off-ice work for upper-body and core strength that many other elite skaters did.
If she did, it wasn't evident in photos.

I hope she isn't just trying to lose weight. It's entirely possible that she would be helped by more muscle weight, not less.

 

[andromache]

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

Maintaining an already low weight is hard. If you're already thin, and you want to stay thin, there's no way you can eat 2400 calories a day and still stay at that same low weight.

Even intense activity doesn't matter THAT much. An hour of jogging burns 300-400 calories. An hour of running at 6mph burns 500-600. That's an hour straight of whole-body, aerobic exercise. Is an on-ice hour of training great at burning calories? I don't know. I'm going to guess it's less great than running - I assume most skaters aren't going full-out in practice for an entire hour? Eating calories is way easier than burning them, unfortunately. I joined a gym last year and went regularly - got more in shape, but didn't lose a pound. I started tracking my calories and staying under 2000 per day and I've seen a difference in the numbers now.

1200 calories for an elite female figure skater seems about right to maintain their "ideal" body size.

 

[el henry]

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:

It has nothing to do with "Western" obsession about looks; quite the opposite in fact But it is very interesting how such a simple, inoffensive, down-to-earth concept can be read elsewhere. Learn something new every day.

 

[Tavi...]

Maintaining an already low weight is hard. If you're already thin, and you want to stay thin, there's no way you can eat 2400 calories a day and still stay at that same low weight.

Even intense activity doesn't matter THAT much. An hour of jogging burns 300-400 calories. An hour of running at 6mph burns 500-600. That's an hour straight of whole-body, aerobic exercise. Is an on-ice hour of training great at burning calories? I don't know. I'm going to guess it's less great than running - I assume most skaters aren't going full-out in practice for an entire hour? Eating calories is way easier than burning them, unfortunately. I joined a gym last year and went regularly - got more in shape, but didn't lose a pound. I started tracking my calories and staying under 2000 per day and I've seen a difference in the numbers now.

1200 calories for an elite female figure skater seems about right to maintain their "ideal" body size.

I think it depends on the person. I understand that elite female skaters may be trying to maintain an artificially low body weight - that is, a weight that is lower than normal for their particular body. But 1200 calories is about what women on weight loss programs like weight watchers eat. In fact, a 20 year old, 5'2", 100 pound woman needs about 1500 calories just to stay alive. And at a guess, elite skaters skate are probably on the ice 3-4 hours per day, 6 days per week, and likely do off ice training for at least an hour. That's a lot of exercise!

Actually, though, I don't have any idea how many calories an elite competitor needs to maintain her weight; 1200 seems low, but the truth is I have no evidence that it's wrong. When you severely restrict calories it does mess with your metabolism, so maybe that's a factor for some skaters.

 

[Yatagarasu]

I once ran, quite a while ago, into a pretty old study about calorie intake of ice-dancers and I believe the ladies were about 1400 or a bit higher, and another older one, where the female skaters were just below 1500. If I remember right, in both cases it was concluded it was too low. Anyway, I don't think 1200 is possible, not for someone being active in a sport. It's way too low. Or if she did, it shouldn't have happened.

 

[Zora]

I don't know about 1200 kcal, but Yuna was always very lean. Just compare her arms to Joannie's arms and you can see that by genetics and different training regime she would probably need a lot less calories than someone like Joannie Rochette.

 

[stella luna]

by the way, someone know if this kind of drinks are prohibited during competitions?, when I have drunk only half of the bottle I get a lot of energy and I can stay up all night easily, I even can´t sleep if I try, I would honestly drink one daily if it were not because it causes me tachycardia and loss of concentration. I don´t know, I notice that the Shibs are doing a lot of things all the time, it seems they have much energy, I was thinking that maybe they drink those things

I hate Red Bull. It's what I imagine radiator fluid would taste like.

 

[Erin S]

In response to all the comments that "I love my [body part]" is evidence of some kind of Western narcissism, it's quite the opposite. The whole campaign was developed in response to the pervasive tendency among young women (myself included) to say "I hate my [body part]." (In my case lower stomach). One can argue that the whole problem starts with an over-emphasis on body shape in general, and skinniness in particular, but the "love" is supposed to be encouraging girls who would otherwise be judging themselves for not fitting some kind of aesthetic standard to value and respect parts of themselves, particularly for what they can achieve physically.

 

[jenaj]

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.

1200 calories is a weight loss diet. An already skinny skater would have to eat more than that to maintain her weight.

 

[stella luna]

In response to all the comments that "I love my [body part]" is evidence of some kind of Western narcissism, it's quite the opposite. The whole campaign was developed in response to the pervasive tendency among young women (myself included) to say "I hate my [body part]." (In my case lower stomach). One can argue that the whole problem starts with an over-emphasis on body shape in general, and skinniness in particular, but the "love" is supposed to be encouraging girls who would otherwise be judging themselves for not fitting some kind of aesthetic standard to value and respect parts of themselves, particularly for what they can achieve physically.

Well said. 'Tis better to love than loathe.

 

[mrrice]

1200 calories is a weight loss diet. An already skinny skater would have to eat more than that to maintain her weight.

Correct! They also need a balanced diet. You need carbs if you're going last through a vigorous practice. You need Protein and fiber for strength and digestion. Once you get into a rhythm, your body will follow suit. If you binge and starve, your body will revolt....It's called "Starvation Mode" https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/

 

[bevybean]

Correct! They also need a balanced diet. You need carbs if you're going last through a vigorous practice. You need Protein and fiber for strength and digestion. Once you get into a rhythm, your body will follow suit. If you binge and starve, your body will not revolt....It's called "Starvation Mode" https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/

This is what I thought. Also, carbs feed the brain. People on low or no carb diets also tend to be more forgetful and have issues concentrating (at least that is what a personal trainer I worked with told me.)

 

[Barb]

I don't know about 1200 kcal, but Yuna was always very lean. Just compare her arms to Joannie's arms and you can see that by genetics and different training regime she would probably need a lot less calories than someone like Joannie Rochette.

But Yuna is taller.

I hate Red Bull. It's what I imagine radiator fluid would taste like.

I doubt anyone will drink it for the taste, it is really disgusting, they drink it by the effects.

 

[hippomoomin]

Actually I have a friend who drinks Red Bull for taste. It still tastes way better than 5 hour energy

But Yuna is taller.



I doubt anyone will drink it for the taste, it is really disgusting, they drink it by the effects.

 

[Ender]

In response to all the comments that "I love my [body part]" is evidence of some kind of Western narcissism, it's quite the opposite. The whole campaign was developed in response to the pervasive tendency among young women (myself included) to say "I hate my [body part]." (In my case lower stomach). One can argue that the whole problem starts with an over-emphasis on body shape in general, and skinniness in particular, but the "love" is supposed to be encouraging girls who would otherwise be judging themselves for not fitting some kind of aesthetic standard to value and respect parts of themselves, particularly for what they can achieve physically.

My cousin was ashamed of her body during high school as she was like 1m65 and 70 kgs. Now she is 1m65 and 54kgs and she still says she feels fat and doesn't eat dinner.

About the amount of calories, I think it depends on each person as no one has the same body and metabolism.

 

[jenaj]

My cousin was ashamed of her body during high school as she was like 1m65 and 70 kgs. Now she is 1m65 and 54kgs and she still says she feels fat and doesn't eat dinner.

About the amount of calories, I think it depends on each person as no one has the same body and metabolism.

Everyone will lose weight on 1200 calories a day. (Unless they are in a coma).

 

[GrandmaCC]

Women are always asked in articles to tell the body part that they love, it's an attempt to teach self-love and acceptance of one's body to readers.
As for loving muscly legs...as a swimmer I always wanted broader, musclier shoulders ;p

Calories - depends on the individual, what their metabolism is doing at that age, genetics...in terms of training, I do know that your body adapts to what it does Day in & out. Like, if theoretically your training would burn "X" amount of calories if performed by a layperson (assuming they could execute your training to the same level of intensity), that amount won't be the same for you, because your body is used to expending that amount of energy, the work takes less out of you than it would someone who'd never done it before...plus, different sports use different sources of energy as fuel (swimming requires glucose, for example, meaning a higher carb diet than other sports).
Not a very scientific explanation but that's the general idea.

As for the 1,200 cals, I know Nastia Liukin are that amount per day whilst training for her gold in 08.

Red Bull - I know that years ago there was rule regarding the level of caffeine allowed in the body for a swim competition, I do believe this changed though (this is going back over a decade).
Would be interesting to know what the rule is for skating!

 

[desertskates]

All I can really think as I read this is that if I was getting by on 1200 calories per day and I drank a Red Bull, you can forget the jitters and shaky hands---my head would just straight up explode

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

This is what I thought. Also, carbs feed the brain. People on low or no carb diets also tend to be more forgetful and have issues concentrating (at least that is what a personal trainer I worked with told me.)

This is incorrect information. People on low carb diets are sometimes put there so that they do get their memories back, are less forgetful and have better concentration, there are also studies done where Neurosurgeons have placed epilepsy patients on keto or low carb diets to suppress seizures, memory loss and such.

 

[skylark]

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.

This is hard for us to reconcile, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since reading this thread.

The article quotes Yuna's former coach and is specific about the science, antioxidants to help reduce lactic acid, etc. to address the question everyone is wrangling over in this thread. How can she perform if she's only taking in 60 percent of recommended daily calories? I thought to include a quote, but there's a strict warning against quoting any part of the article, which is short; just click on the link above.

It reminds me of a book on yoga from 1965. The author studied with a Boston teacher and followed her around for 3 months. One day, she said, "I get by very nicely on X calories a day." (I know it was less than 1,000, can't recall if it was 900 or even 800+.) He was properly incredulous, because of all he saw her doing. She proved it by doing a (measurable) liquid 1000-calorie diet for one week, and at the end of it her weight was actually up a little. She said that yoga made her body more efficient in the way it processed calories, so she didn't need as much.

I'm not trying to start a culture war, but I'm fascinated.... I read an interview of Eteri T. awhile back where she was quoted as saying that Julia L. found it too hard to stay on the necessary diet ... and we're talking 2013-14, when I'm guessing Julia's body was trying to go through puberty. Eteri said, "I'm sorry about that, but I can't help it." It sounded to me like that's what Eteri required from her students. And if that's the case (and what Katia Gordeeva said in her book is another piece of evidence), then the Russian figure skating school of thought is just not the same as the American/Canadian/ currently mainstream school of thought.


Under the tutelage of proper Bostonian Marcia Moore, a Radcliffe product schooled in India, he discovered rather remarkable things happening to him. In three months he looked and felt ten years younger, got rid of colds, headaches, indigestion, and sleeplessness. He could concentrate better, and he was more at peace.
--Amazon.com blurb on Yoga, Youth and Reincarnation by Jess Stearn (1965), hardcover edition. https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Youth-R...rd_wg=YHRqk&psc=1&refRID=S491J35HATMEDF0GJ9BE