No matter what age you may be, no matter what your body shape, you can become a fitness model. Even if you have a disability you can be a fitness model. Being a fitness model is different from being a fashion model.

Being a fitness model is not about matching up to a stereotype. You may be pear shaped, tall or short. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is fitness and your attitude to your body.

If you have had to overcome difficulties to achieve a better level of fitness then you make an even better fitness model. There is no question of absolute standards.

Fashion models tend to be unnaturally slim for their height. Many of them are unhealthily underweight. They set a standard that is not a good one to follow. The immage of the fashion model often persuades young women and girls that they need to diet obsessively in order to lose weight. A fitness model should not go down that route.

Fashion models look like that because they make the clothes look better. If they have no curves the clothes hang smoothly. They look like that because of their genes. They are chosen for their unusual shape.

But being a fitness model is about accepting your real body shape not about selling clothes. If you want to be a fitness model you should put impossible stereotypes out of your mind.

No matter whether you are a man or a woman you should learn to accept your own body shape. Obviously fitness training will improve it but it will not make your legs longer. Set an example by rejecting the ideal of unnatural slimness.

Men have another false body image forced upon them. They are encouraged to go for perfect abdominal muscles and bulging biceps. But there is no need to look like a body builder to be a fitness model. Many men have light frames and will never achieve the body builder look.

Unfortunately some men are tempted to resort to artificial aids such as steriods in body building. This is very harmful to their health and is entirely contrary to the behaviour of a genuine health model.

So the place to begin becoming a fitness model is by making an realistic assessment of your own body form. If you want to be a fitness model and encourage others to follow a healthy lifestyle you must be happy in your own skin.

Your fitness regime will then be directed towards improving your natural body shape not towards attaining an unrealistic goal. You should set yourelf attainable goals for improved cardiovascular function, resistance work and endurance.

There is no need to work out for longer than half an hour a day. Your whole life does not have to revolve around training as a fitness model. You have to ask yourself fit for what? You are aiming to be fit for life. There is no point being a fitness model if you do not have any life apart from training. Remember that there is life outside the gym.

As a fitness model you must also pay attention to your diet. This does not mean starving yourself. It means eating for optimum nutrition. Then your skin will be clear, your hair shiny and eyes bright. You will positively glow with health. This is how a fitness model should look.

There is no point being able to say that you are the ideal weight for your height if you look washed out and ill. The way to avoid this is by eating properly. Make a careful study of your nutritional requirements. Learn which foods contain what vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Food is about more than calories.

Eating nutritious food should not be a miserable business. A real health model must have a positive attitude to food. Eating healthily is not meant to be a punishment.

Finally, a health model takes a positive attitude to other people and encourages them to feel good about their own bodies. We all need a supportive network of people around us to be healthy and a health model should set the example in helping others to be healthy.