The Cuban Physique

Before the summer slips away, I have to tell you about a revelation I had while vacationing in Cuba last month:

If you want to surround yourself with fit, real human beings, go to Cuba. The Cubans are fit people.

They don’t have the time or money for fancy workouts; they are fit because they walk long distances each and every day–to and from work and grocery stores, school , etc. In Cuba, few own cars unless their profession requires it and the public transport is slow, inconvenient and over crowded and so, they walk….Also, they don’t have fast food and limited processed foods in grocery stores.

Yet another revelation occurred to me while watching the young, super fit Cuban Cabaret dancers: Cubans don’t have plastic surgery.

I love to dance, I dance all of the time for fitness and thus I was thrilled to watch the many dancing shows on most evening at Hotel Internacional. I owe these young dancers a great big thank-you, for they showed me real bodies that are not available for viewing in North America.

As a mother of three children, I know first hand what pregnancy can do to the torso skin: it stretches it out and after two, three or more babies, it will never look as tight as a woman who has never given birth. And yet, North American media tells women otherwise. All the mom celebs are photographed over and over in bikini’s with head lines about their super abs. All the celebs will admit to is working out and healthy eating. I call B.S.

I venture to say at least 2/3 of the cabaret dancers I watched were mothers. They were all young dancers, no one past her early 30s. They were super fit women–most likely serious dancers all of their adult lives. But all of these super fit dancers who were mothers, had loose tummy skin. No one had washer board tight abs. Why? Because no one has a tummy tuck in Cuba.

Cuba’s real women have made me realize that 100% of photographed celeb mothers and most mothers I meet on the beach are all going under the knife and denying it. Tummy skin can rebound after one kid, even after two if you’re built for it. But three or more babes–well, you have a little looser skin on your belly.

Let me honestly say, I was so impressed by how amazingly fit all of the dancers bodies were and how refreshing and more attractive they were because they were natural with no fake boobs and tummies etc.

Plastic surgery for vanity is horrible on two counts:

#1 Why subject yourself to a dangerous surgery (anesthetic and cutting one’s flesh off are dangerous!)?

#2 Why lie about your tight tummy skin and tell the world it is natural? You’re only hurting all the mothers of the world who think they’re somehow deformed because all the diet and exercise in the world doesn’t tighten loose pregnancy-stretched skin.

The North American standard of beauty is total plastic and anti feminine.

Go to Cuba. Witness surgery free bodies and embrace the real and the natural.

…So, these above pics were taken of me one ealry morn of the beach in Cuba (six A.M. to be precise). I thought I’d try to live the dream of running on the Caribbean beach in bare feet each morning. But let me tell you, six A.M. on a Cuban beach in July is already bloody hot! Not to mention the humidity. That white Caribbean sand sinks down about six inches with each step–like quick sand. With each pace, it is like you’re digging yourself out of a collapsing little ditch.

It looks good but in reality it’s just too hot to run in Cuba in July. I preferred latin dancing in the evenings and playing in the ocean all day for fitness–also I did a fair bit of walking and walking and walking into town.

BTW, the super-short video below was a complete surprise to me as I downloaded my Cuban pics off of my camera. Peter thought he was taking a photo but unknowingly pressed record instead. I cherish it as It is a nice little memory of catamaraning in Cuba for me, as we took no “intentional” videos while there.

httpv://youtu.be/v9AGr0e_QPw