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Marisa Miller is probably one of the examples of what keeps many personal trainers in business:

Marisa sometimes has to go to extremes to get away from the paparazzi

Marisa sometimes has to go to extremes to get away from the paparazzi

The never-ending quest to look like someone that others look up to (or just be someone that others look at for an awkwardly long period of time even though their girlfriend is jabbing them in the ribs).

The truth is, personal trainers probably wouldn’t have the lucrative trade they have if it weren’t for girls like Marisa Miller.  Sure, she has a sexy butt, beautiful face and amazing curves.

It would be completely acceptable if it weren’t for the way her beauty is warped into a tool by which personal trainers build their trade.

Here’s how the formula often goes in our younger, more impressionable years:

Girl sees other girl get attention

Girl realizes that hotness is (A) relative to attention from boys and (B)envy of other girls.

Girl creates a vision of what she might want to look like – of which this vision is influenced by (A) the televised and print media, (B) the images that other boys look at and (C) an innocence of understanding the change that might be possible without genetic or surgical alteration.

Girl proceeds to visit personal trainer once or repeatedly, then irrelevant of professional advice but preferring that of shape, cosmo & other tabloid-oriented magazines begins to overexercise, skip meals and generally punish herself repeatedly for not looking like the girl in the picture (even though on rare occasion she might actually get there!)

Here’s where things get really scary:

What do the following supermodels all have in common.

Marisa Miller looks great here - what does she have in common with the other two models?  Stay tuned!

Marisa Miller looks great here - what does she have in common with the other two models? Stay tuned!

This girl is equally pretty in her own way

This girl has a much more natural beauty about her...

And yet another beauty poses.  Did you guess it yet?

Did you guess it yet?

So now let me ask you this:

Is it just me or do these three photos of Marisa Miller all make her look completely different than each other?  Maybe the lips didnt get fixed, but man oh man tell me there wasnt some serious photoshop magic going on.

But I have to be honest, she is very thin and is blessed with maintaining her ‘upper torso circumference’.  But without the photo magic she just looks… well, kinda thin:

marisa miller natural shot

So why do personal trainers love her?  Because she drives women crazy wanting to look like her (even if the pictures they are looking at aren’t necessarily an accurate representation of her)

But why do these personal trainers also hate her?

Because the same women come in asking to look like her – which 90% takes more work than they are willing to do.  It also sometimes is not genetically possible – there are always exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, the rule is a rule for a reason.

marisa miller -photoshop

Those guys are good, huh!

I will save you the anguish and tell you that the butt on the left is real.  I just wanted you to see how good these guys can be:

And then papa bear said... this Marisa Picture is photoshopped juuuust riiight.

And then papa bear said... this Marisa Picture is photoshopped juuuust riiight.

Want to know what I want?  I want someone to come in to see me and when I say ‘what are you looking for’?

My dream client would walk in and say this:

“I am looking to be as fit and healthy as I can possibly be”

That might not mean being a size ‘zero’

It might not be running marathons

It might mean not getting sixpack abs (they aren’t necessarily healthy at a certain point)

But it would be striving to reach your potential – your own personal best and not anybody elses.

Because the truth be told, maybe Marisa could look better… But it doesnt matter if you can look as good (or better) than Marisa.  It matters that you can look and feel and be healthier and fitter than yourself right now at this moment in time.

Think about that…  What would it look like if you were to just focus on you – not any sisters or brothers or friends or role models or sports heroes or supermodels or non-existent airbrushed figments of some photographers imagination.

What if you compared yourself… to you?

What if you took the you right now as a starting point and tried to improve upon that?

With dedication and devotion, you might find that you gain not only change in a positive direction, but a feeling that can only be described as pride in ones self.

Instead of shame for not looking like Marisa Miller.

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  • Jake Apr 8, 2009 Reply

    Excellent advice

  • rose Oct 17, 2009 Reply

    hi!what a great article.im a personal trainer and one of the things i like to do with clients periodically is ask them to email or bring a photo to me of their “ideal” body.another photo of what THEY WANT to look like,and a photo of what they THINK they look like right now….its a very interesting exercise, and im ALWAYs hoping to hear that what they would LIKE to look like or achieve is THEM….only better.

    • jamieatlas Oct 17, 2009 Reply

      Hi Rose – what a great idea! A great way to get an inside look at how people see themselves and what their expectations are. Great idea!

  • Katrina Dec 2, 2009 Reply

    Hey, I read your blog and I know exactly what you are talking about. I was just looking at Marisa Miller pictures (which is how I found your blog) and thinking.. man… I want to look Exactly like her. But I realize now that I dont even really know what she looks like between all the photoshopping. I just want to get in shape. Are there any tips you could give me for when I am in the gym that I could do so that I can just get Healthy.

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