I don’t think it really has to be said that supermodels aren’t like normal people. They are taller for one. While the vast majority of the women in the world are under 5.6′, that is considered short in supermodel terms. Then they are generally thin and beautiful. The very top of the gene pool. So should we compare ourselves to them? In some ways, yes. Controversial I know, but the training regime of the Victoria Secret Models would put some athletes to shame. I never thought there was anything wrong with aspiration. It is a models job to be thin and fit. Which is why I don’t get the controversy surrounding Russian supermodel Elena Perminova who stripped off for Vogue Russia two months after giving birth to reveal a stunning post-pregnancy figure.
In the first image, Elena is eight months pregnant. The second image is two months later. (Credit: Russian Vogue)
I am seven-months pregnant at the moment. I didn’t look like Elena before I was pregnant, and I won’t look like her after being pregnant. The truth is, genes play a role, but I will exercise and eat well. I have lost weight before, for my wedding last year. I had put two stone on after a back injury and despite having a full-time job and writing a book amongst a million other things, I exercised five days a week for at least an hour and lost all of the weight within months. I didn’t diet or deprive myself but I put the work in and pretty much hated every second. But is Elena being irresponsible? A debate started online with some people saying that she was promoting a lifestyle that was unrealistic for new mothers. The 28-year-old model is married to Russian millionaire businessman Alexander Lebedev and this was her third child. She started a hardcore 7-days-a-week exercise regime a mere two weeks after having her baby by caesarian last year. The article also featured advice to Russian women on how to get their figure back after pregnancy. Elena said in Russian Vogue, ‘Normally doctors say “yes” to sport only three months after giving birth. ‘But I started earlier, just two weeks afterwards, even though I had a caesarian. The doctor allowed me to do it because I felt very well. Naturally, at first I was not exercising a lot, or there was a risk to breastfeeding. And the main thing – I did not exercise my stomach. It is dangerous to do it right after birth.’
Elena did simple repetitive exercises while her daughter Arina slept, and jogged for two hours a day with her husband while on a holiday in Cyprus. He mother-in-law looked after the baby. She said the jogging got rid of her baby weight and the water in her body by helping her ‘dry out’. She ate ‘simple homemade fare, for example, steamed fish with lemon juice.’ Many Vogue readers praised her hard work but many others said she was promoting an unrealistic example. But does a supermodel have to set realistic examples? Is there anything wrong with being aspirational or losing weight quickly, especially when it is part of your job? The truth is: the average new mum doesn’t need to lose weight quickly as our career does not depend on it. We get to eat cake and be tired. We get to sleep and just watch TV when we have time. So is it irresponsible? Let us know your thoughts below.