Roshumba Williams‘ diet is under control now, but when she was working as a model, Roshumba Williams’ diet was horrible. No, she was not anorexic or bulimic – she was, however, practically starving herself, and she was using laxatives.
Now, if you think that Roshumba Williams’ workout habits were better than her diet habits, you are mistaken. Roshumba Williams’ workout was just as terrible as her diet – she was obsessed with exercising as much as possible.
Here is a recent interview with Roshumba in which reveals a lot of interesting details about the modeling industry.
Have you been the same size throughout your career? I’m now a sample size, about a 4. But my career kind of went in chunks. For the first part, I was more of a runway model. When you’re doing runway, you have to be able to fit into those European couture clothes. So I was a little thinner than I am now. And then I went into being a bathing suit model with Sports Illustrated. Because I’m naturally thin, I would have to spend two weeks eating Haagen-Dazs before the SI shoots. Then I became a catalog model, so I couldn’t be as curvy as SI but couldn’t be as thin as the runway. It was a yo-yo, but I did my best.
Did you find yourself working out excessively? I’d be working out in my sleep! Put on that pedestal as the example of beauty, I got a little bit fanatical.
What was the most drastic thing you ever did to control your weight? Probably crash diets and laxatives. On a crash diet, I would eat raw fruit for breakfast, raw veggies for lunch and have a salad for dinner.
Were you ever a size 0? I never got that small. That’s not realistic or healthy because I’m 5-foot-11. Me being a size 0 would be a detriment to my health. But when I was working full time and doing runway shows, we weren’t expected to be that small. That whole anorexic phase came five or seven years ago. Before that, it was the Brazilian girls who had curves and long, sexy hair. Supermodels had curves!
Were you happy at your skinniest? I was happy because I was working. But if I were at my thinnest now, when it’s not my priority, I wouldn’t be as happy.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen someone do to lose weight? I would say that the craziest and most unhealthy thing I saw – and I did not do this – was girls smoking and snorting cocaine to keep their weight down. I never got into drugs because I wasn’t interested. I was too busy with work. My oldest brother got into drugs as a teen, and I saw how it destroyed those years. When you see someone you love go through that…I was just scared. But I won’t lie, I saw girls coming out of the bathroom with powder on their noses.
Who do you think has a perfect body? Probably the most perfect body is Heidi Klum‘s. She has three kids and she looks like that!
What is a typical model size today? For a runway girl, probably a size 2. Zero would have been maybe a couple of years ago. For catalog girls, a size 4. Bathing suit girls, a 4 or 6. I know the CFDA, Michael Kors, Diane von Furstenberg – all of these people stood up and created a committee where they just came together and realized it’s important for models to feel supported at a healthy size and healthy weight. It’s a high-pressure career with a lot of competition, but people are stepping up to the plate. [via]