Good morning!
(One of my favorite Sadie pictures of all time.)
I hope your Thursday is going well so far. Ryan and I were talking yesterday about how long this week has seemed. For some reason we feel like we’ve lived 1,000 days in the past four days of the week.
I guess moving and unpacking will do that to ya!
Breakfast
Yesterday’s lunch apparently sparked a chocolaty smoothie craving in me, so I listened and blended up a chocolate coconut banana smoothie bowl.
In the mix:
- 1 1/4 c. almond milk
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 c. frozen strawberries
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 tsp. coconut extract
- 1 large handful fresh spinach
The coconut extract really amped up the flavor of this smoothie bowl. I am a coconut lovah!
Men Prefer…
On the way to the gym on Monday, Ryan and I heard about a recent UK study conducted to discover which physical features men found most attractive in women.
Approximately 60 percent of the 2,000 men polled said they preferred women with darker hair (33.1 percent chose brown hair and 28.6 selected black hair). Blonde hair received 29.5 percent of the votes with redheads receiving 8.8 percent of the votes.
The study also surveyed men about the size of women they prefer. According to the Huffington Post’s conversion from UK sizes to US sizes, “38.8 percent of men actually favor a pretty average girl — about a size 8 or 10. Only ten percent of British males find a size 2 or size 4 woman most attractive.”
(I loved this comment on the Huffington Post’s summary of the survey: “We like all women. Period. Let’s be honest.”) 
The results of the size preference of women that men preferred reinforced a thought I’ve had for the longest time… I think most women feel like they have to be skinny for other women.
Whenever I point out a celebrity or a girl I think has an amazing body to Ryan (um, Carrie Underwood!) his reply is almost always “she’s too scrawny.” The boy likes a booty!
Questions of the Morning
- What do you think about this survey? Were you surprised about the hair color or size preferences? Disgusted a survey like this was even conducted? Share!
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One of my ex boyfriends would always say that he couldnt tell one outfit or hairstyle from the next and that us girls were just looking good for other girls. I couldn’t agree more!
Not that we’re competing or anything, but who wants to be the girl with the “ugly” style? haha
Heck ya, +1 for big bootys!!
I totally agree with your thought! I feel like women tend to try to impress other women more than men. So strange.
I like this survey though! And I’m pretty sure that Jay would be in with the majority of the other men in the study…good thing for me. 😉
What men actually like and what girls perceive men to like are so opposite! Men don’t like stick thin models, but girls strive for that. Our society is so backward!
agreed. whenever i point out a girl i think has cute body ryan often says “she looks like a little boy! where’s the booty!?”
I’ve heard that one sooo many times too!
lol, my bf would always tell me – looks like she needs to go to Five Guys! (a hamburger joint for those who don’t know! )
Hey now…let’s also remember that some women are naturally “scrawny” or shaped like “little boys” and can be attractive too! As a size 00 who can’t put on weight if I tried, I often notice that people are very sensitive to “curvy” or “larger” women’s feelings but are quick to throw insults at the “skinny” girls because it’s more socially acceptable. After dealing with these types of comments my whole life. honestly, I’m sick of it! When people say that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, let’s remember that a stick is a shape, too!
sarah, i just emailed you, but please stay tuned next week for a post about your comment and how much it helped to open my eyes. 🙂
Totally agree with this too! My husband much prefers me, and women in general, with more curves than when I was much skinnier. I too have pointed out a girl with an amazing body and the hubby thinks she’s too skinny. Crazy how everything is backwards in our society – men love the booty and curves!! 🙂
I think it’s SO true that women are the ones who prefer smaller sizes. Why is that?!
Speaking as a curvy brunette, I like this survey 😉 haha
I love that picture of Sadie too!
I think that you nailed it when you said women feel like they need to be skinny for other women. Keith is the same way when I comment on some movie star’s amazing body. He always says they are too skinny.
I have always heard that men prefer curves, but women DO dress/eat/act for other women, mostly. It’s kinda weird that we are all dressing up for our friends instead of our husbands, eh? I am totally jealous of anyone with a booty. I’m part of the pancake club lol!!
yes! and i’m totally guilty of it myself. i really never wear makeup around the house around ryan (he says he can’t see a difference – psssh), but when i go out to dinner w/ friends, i’ll always try to pull myself together. 🙂
I completely agree with the comment about girls trying to look good for other girls! I know plenty of women who compare themselves way too much to other women and it leads to such insecurities. I have to say I am not surprised by the study at all. However, I am a blonde (natural) but I do wish I could go darker! haha! But let’s be serious…does it matter when they have a naked women in their bed?!
By the way that chocolate smoothie looks a m a z i n g!
I always try to remember this because I agree with you…girls feel like they have to be skinny to compete with other girls! Its sad because women should support and uplift one another, but often times that isn’t the case. Even if its some unspoken competition, it definitely exists! Luckily most men like Ryan and Mike like a booty 🙂 🙂
YES! support your fellow woman!
I totally agree that we are looking good for other girls! Not just in the skinny department, but in the fashion/hair department as well! My boyfriend thinks most fashion trends are ridiculous, and honestly just prefers jeans and a tee. If I try anything “out of the box” it will usually elicit a “what are you wearing?” response. Oh silly boys 🙂
I was kind of surprised about the dark hair preference though… I always thought gentlemen preferred blondes!
ryan is the same way about fashion trends. he says he likes me in gym clothes the best. god bless that man.
I completely agree (although I’m a brunette with curves so maybe I’m agreeing because it’s fun to agree with it haha). When I was about 5-6 pounds thinner with no muscle mass, I got a lot of “you’re so skinny” comments from other girls, but I didn’t get a lot of attention from guys. Like, at all. When I started weight-training, doing more yoga, and eating more fat (and got over my eating disorder), I suddenly started getting hit on more. Cheers to the girls with bootays!
I’m both surprised and un-surprised by the survey–surprised that there was a preference for darker hair (I’ve always lamented that my blonde hair darkened up!!), but completely and totally UN-surprised about the size thing. I’m with you–I definitely think we’re all trying to look skinnier for each other, to live up to some standard or judgment we feel is being rendered. Which makes me sad! I think we should all just cut each other (and ourselves) some slack. Trying to live up to some unattainable ideal of “perfect” isn’t going to make any of us happy!
Adorable Sadie pic! I think that people will survey just about anything 🙂 I I not really surprised by the results because most men I have talked to DO like curvy over scrawny. There are a RARE few guys who go the other way and like skinny skinny women.
You are absolutely right that women are doing the “skinny” thing for other women.
I have reddish-hair and I think the results about redheads are false…unless they are referring to “chucky-orange” 😉
i agree! my dad has always been a huge red head lover! and one of my sorority sisters with red hair went on to win miss florida and ALWAYS got lots of attention from guys!
Aw I love your dad 🙂
I was the only red head when I competed in Miss Illinois…so I do feel that it is unique, but I have that hair that can go any shade of reddish to reddish-brown and still be ok.
I LOVE red hair! It’s soo freakin beautiful. I always secretly wish I was born that way lol. I don’t think it’ll look good on my skin color tho =P
guys like bruinettes with boobs. no guy likes a huge booty . it all lies. they like boobs but dont want to make a small girl boob feel inferior
i would 100 percent disagree with this comment… but to each their own! i’m sure there are men who don’t like big booties just like there are men who love ’em. as a woman with a booty, while i may personally feel insecure about it sometimes, both of my past boyfriends have said they found it one of my “sexier” features (repeatedly!)… and they said this without me expressing insecurities about it, so i feel like their comments/compliments were completely genuine.
Booty girl over here too…I think that the commenter above is just making a blanket statement without realizing that men have lots of different opinions about this stuff! Being a booty girl, I can honestly say that it does attract quite the attention. 😉
I’ve got some back as well, and I was informed by my hubby that yes, lots of guys we went to school with liked it. He definitely does. And think everything you wrote in this post is so true. I definitely spruce up more for my girlfriends (especially my sorority sisters!) than I ever do for my hubby, unless it is an extra special date night or something.
Well if past boyfriends have said it to you, it MUST be true!!
anonymous – yes, i choose to believe what my past boyfriends have said to me. do you choose to think boyfriends are lying to you when they tell you you’re smart, beautiful, etc.?
Well first of all, some men lie. There are plenty of men out there who tell women they are beautiful when they don’t mean it. I don’t mean that your past boyfriends did that, but it definitely happens.
Second of all, just because your past boyfriends have said it, doesn’t make it true for all men.
well, I’m the same way. all my past boyfriends have told me they’d prefer to have the booty. looks like everyone likes something different.. aaand thats good. ’cause we all ARE different. 😉
The whole point of the replies to the original comment is that it’s not true for all men.
And it does happen, but generally I don’t think men would date someone for an extended period of time if they weren’t attracted to them. If they say you look beautiful, then they probably mean it.
I’m sorry if you’ve had experiences otherwise.
And Kim Kardashian is famous for her brains right?
Great point! Kimmy K is bodaciously beautiful! Booty aside she is GORGEOUS and come on…”anonymous” why are you so heated about this?
Ummm pretty sure I’m not heated?
And Beyonce got Bootylicious into the dictionary, because of it’s use in describing what pirates are after.
I think the above commenter is off of her rocker. Everyone has different tastes! My husband loves that I’m a brunette with a booty 🙂
I also happen to have smaller ta-ta’s but he doesn’t have a problem with that! At least mine won’t sag later on 😉 heheh.
I’m too late to the party, but I just had to also agree this comment is ridiculous. I actually have “ideal” big boobs, and everyone I’ve dated has been so much more into my butt. Plenty of men love a booty and don’t care at all about boobs!
That picture of Sadie is ADORABLE. My goodness, it makes me want to hug her!
Women feel judged for not being “thin enough” (what does that even mean?). Yet if they lose weight and become “thin enough,” they suffer from the evil eye and snarky comments. It’s a total catch 22. That’s why we have to love the body we have and treat it with the best TLC we can!
Stay lovely,
Heather
Haha! Too funny you mentioned Carrie Underwood. I JUST watched her this morning on CMT and commented how gorgeous she is!
I completely agree that women dress, wear shoes, etc. for other women…men are WAY too oblivious to notice anything
Guys defo like girls with some junk in their trunk…they need something to grab on to ;)! I used to think there was no such thing as ‘too thin’ but over the last few months, I am finding it so unattractive when girls look malnourished.
Hmmm…I don’t really think much about surverys like this…I don’t know…I think what is on the inside is waaaay more important than what you look like, so if someone will only be with someone who looks a specific way (and I can think of a person I know who is like that) then I think they are really missing out! Although I do know that’s not really what the survey is about – it was about attraction, not love 🙂 xyx
agreed. 🙂
So funny! I’m personally my OWN biggest critic.. I never think of what other women or men think of my bod because I’m too busy judging myself!
Agreed, Jamie!!
i totally agree with you about trying to out-do other women. It’s so true. My boyfriend could care less as long as I am happy. because when I am happy, he’s happy.
=)
Oh man! The smoothie pictures are incredible! I just picked up some xanthan gum and I am excited to try it out. Usually I just throw a bunch of stuff in the blender, but I’m going to copy your recipe exactly to see if I can get that same texture…looks so thick and creamy and amazing! Thanks for sharing it!
Also, I agree that most girls feel pressure to stay thin due to the judgement of other women…in my experience, guys can’t even tell the difference of a 5-10 pound weight gain or loss.
Really interesting results! Though this is a UK study? I can’t help but think the results might be different with a study of American dudes.
Of course every guy has their own preference as to what they like in a woman, ie: tall, short, skinny, thick, athletic, etc. But I think I agree that most men would choose a little meat over skin and bones. Skin and bones is boring! More power to the blessed and big chested and big booty ladies 🙂
haha that picture of sadie is awesome.
this survey definitely surprised me a little…but 2,000 men isn’t a very large polling group. also, I think that culture makes a big difference in what people think is attractive. I think a guy from the UK and a guy from the US might have opposing opinions…
I guess I’m partial because I’m brunette and I’ve got curves, but I’m not surprised by the outcome. I do believe 100% that women are out to impress other women by working to be so skinny. I’m not impressed. I don’t think beauty comes in the form of great abs, or a size 2 pant size.
This always happens to me, too. Jared thinks pretty much all celebrity women considered “hot” are too skinny! Which is fine by me! 🙂
As a girl with a naturally small/flat booty, I have worked extremely hard in the gym to have a bubble butt. I was suuper skinny when my boyfriend met me… he is much happier with how I look now with some meat on me 🙂
me and my girlfriends always used to say that we totally do things that would make us appear “girl” pretty…like getting our nails done for example! guys hardly seem to notice..but i feel like girls always notice when other girls have freshly painted nails…its a “girl” pretty thing! haha…so strange when you think about it but i couldn’t agree more with women trying to impress other women!!
BEST. SADIE PICTURE. EVER.
I love that photo of Sadie and the way the light falls on her face, not to mention her expression. Just curious how you took it. Were you flat on your back on the floor pointing the lens at her? I love how you got her in focus and the background out of focus. Very nice!
thanks janey! i took it lying on the floor. we were playing fetch, and i had the ball in my hand and she was standing over me.
Ahhhh the expression makes sense now. One that says what are you waiting for? Throw it already! Since we have a psycho-dog as we affectionately call her, I know it only too well. 🙂
I find surveys like this interesting, but totally irrelevant in the end. Preference doesn’t mean jack squat in the long run – i.e. I’ve got a preference for Italian guys and yet here I am with a blue-eyed blonde dude…go figure lol
I agree with the comments above about women dressing/being thin for other women – I guess it’s a competitive thing? The survey results don’t really surprise me. Girls with more ‘meat’ on their bones look healthier (in my opinion) and it sounds like guys think so too!
I would have thought blondes would have a higher percentage than brunettes.
I totally agree with you that women try to impress other women — I know I find myself having that sort of attitude when we’re getting ready for weddings or other events — I should be dressing for myself (and for Jason too) but I end up thinking about what certain female family members or acquaintances would think. Ugh.
Just curious, if the survey is from the UK, are they referring to European sizes when they say men prefer a size 8-10?
no – the huffington post, which i cited above, converted the sizes to US sizes.
Oh, I love the Sadie girl picture!!! I agree with you Julie about Carrie Underwood, she is gorgeous! I wish I had her body! Have you seen the video with her and Brad Paisley singing, I think the name of the song is ‘Remind Me’,(I saw it on CMT) she look great in that video!
Oh my gosh, Craig is the same way too! I will point out someone that I think is cute & he is like ‘ew! she is way too skinny!’ And recently I have lost some weight (due to issues with the Crohn’s, NOT intentional) & he is all about trying to feed me the most fattening foods- lol! I’m lack BACK off crazy man!! 😀 Haha!
aww! i have a feeling i’d like craig. 🙂
Oh my gosh – that Sadie picture is EPIC! I absolutely love it.
I have to say that I’m a huge fan of that one comment because honestly? Let’s be real – I don’t think anything matters if attraction is there, it’s there!
I have to echo some of the other comments here…is there a similar study done with all American men?? the US just seems so much more focused on being skinny than any other country and I feel like it at least somewhat affects what guys here hold up as desirable…like, I have guy friends who are American AND English and their opinions definitely vary! The American guys’ top women tend to be the skinnier blondes (we love our California girls!) and the English guys pick the curvy girl over the skinny one any day of the week. NOT lumping all English into one category and all Americans into another…! just a small observation in my own life.
Bottom line: I agree that women look at what other women find attractive and just assume guys feel the same way when it’s often NOT the case. Hey, if guys are truly about the boobs and butt…hooray!!! 😀 Unfortunately for me there are skinny girls out there who still have curves (i.e. Brooklyn Decker). Crap!!! lol
i would love to see a comparison survey conducted on american men. it would definitely be interesting to see similarities/differences. they did do the survey in other european countries and all the results turned out the same with the exception of france where men liked skinnier women.
Yeah, it would definitely be interesting to see…who knows, it may end up being way more similar than I’m assuming! I definitely think the media/Hollywood projects what they think is “best” when a lot of ‘regular guys’ may not feel that way at all.
Sadie is so cute! Love this pic!
I hate surveys like this. I’m not sure what the point of them is…to make women feel bad? I feel like they don’t prove anything because attraction is such a strange mix of things. If someone asked my boyfriend for survey purposes I am sure he would say he was most attracted to short, petite, blondes. But he is with me, a tall, athletic/boyfigure, brunette. Attraction is definitely about looks but it’s also about so much more. I feel like everyone has that one friend who guys are always hitting on, and she’s usually not the prettiest in the bunch…she just has something undefinable that makes people attracted to her.
i 100 percent agree! attraction is MUCH more than just physical.
I agree. Surveys like this are stupid–it only encourages women to continue comparing themselves with others. Look at all these comments on here! Practically everyone is lamenting about how curvy women are unfairly judged, while bashing skinnier women. Why is that double standard acceptable? As someone who is naturally slender and who would LOVE to have curves, it doesn’t exactly do wonders for my self-confidence to read that x number of past boyfriends have said women like me are nothing but a bag of bones. This survey obviously didn’t encourage women to recognize that each woman is beautiful in her own right, rather it just changed the direction of insults.
thanks for your comment, rachel! and i agree. please stau tuned for a post relating to your comment and how women are quick to say things about naturally slim women next week. your comment and some of the other comments from naturally slender women were VERY eye opening to me.
I pretty much concur with your last thought. My fiance always says that “skinny” is not attractive, curves and natural beauty are. Guys are so simple!
Scrawny, lol!! My husband says the exact same thing. He’s happy for me to work on fitness goals, but he always says, “just don’t lose your curves and get too scrawny!”
Guess I better keep ’em since I’m also a natural redhead!
Those studies make me feel bad, I’m a 0, I have no curves,booty, or anything on top. I wish I had curves! I hate looking like a 10 year old boy.
please don’t feel bad! attraction varies from person to person and is about WAY more than generic survey results.
I was just thinking the same thing! I run like a crazy person for stress management, and I have pretty much zero in the curve department. I have trouble finding clothes because most stores don’t make them small enough for me. All of this talk makes me feel very unpretty. 🙁
Melissa, I just went to your blog and I would LOVE to be that thin!!! I can tell you that as a girl dating a guy who prefers skinny girls he would probably think you are hot 🙂 So seriously, don’t put much stock in surveys like this. Also, come make food for me because the stuff you make looks amazing! !
Haha! I think Huff Post was right on point. My bf definitely is definitely a derriere kinda guy lol.
I might be in the minority on this one but I like to be “skinny” for myself! My boyfriend doesnt care and neither do my friends. I’ve just always been in a certain size range and I like to stay there because it’s comfortable and I feel good.
I kind of dislike these surveys because I’m naturally a 2-4 and would be overweight (for my height and build) if i approached an 8-10 and I know there are a lot of other naturally petite women out there who might agree. But I’m a brunette though so I guess I got it half right?
I think guys just like WOMEN regardless of size or shape. We’re all beautiful!
I have a feeling culture has to do with it a bit with the results of the survey. I feel like people in general think that “common” is average and “exotic” is beautiful. Maybe there are more “blondish” people in the U.K and less girls with dark brown and black hair? When I lived in Honduras everyone thought my pasty white skin was absolutely beautiful and my light colored hair was the prettiest thing they had ever seen. However, if you ask an average American they would probably say they like slightly tanned skin and pasty-freaking-white is not attractive. I think it’s all relative. And also, I think for dating/marrying purposes guys don’t care as much about size and weight, but I do know that men drool over Victoria’s Secret models and Playboy models who are all thinner than average. I sure have never heard a guy call one of those girls “boyish”. So, who knows. I think it all comes down to confidence and that is what shines through. I once heard Madonna say that if you think you are beautiful, you will look beautiful and I think that that is so true. It’s all in how you carry yourself and less about how you look physically.
This is the comment I wanted to write!! I totally agree with everything you said!
a great comment! and i agree that people always seem to think exotic is beautiful. i know i personally find different looking people even more intriguing!
Me too! Maybe that’s why I married my Honduran husband – he’s the complete opposite of me!
I think men prefer brunettes when dealing with the super fake almost white haired blondes!! Natural looking blondes like you are soo much prettier!
I totally agree that women feel they have to be skinny to compete with other women, not to catch the attention of a man! I think more men prefer brunettes because it appears “more real” and less fake seeing how most blondes have their hair colored that way. It makes me happy that men like average sized girl; thats the way it should be! There should not be this pressure to be a size 2!
I agree with everyone else, girls try to look good for girls. Honestly, a compliment from a girl means a lot more to me than a compliment from a guy.
I’m not surprised by the survey results but even knowing that guys prefer curves and a little “meat on the bones” I still would rather be skinny! I don’t know why. My fiance has even told me he likes curves but I don’t care, I’m happy being thin (although I would prefer a little more of a waist rather than be rectangular torso girl).
I will never forget a conversation I had with my older brother a few years back. I was falling him how I wanted abs and all (what woman doesn’t?!) and complaining about a few body parts and he replied ‘the other night in a club a skinny girl came and sat on my lap. She had great abs and all but I felt like a scrawny MAN was sitting on me!” :-O
Men really do prefer some curves I think!!
Hahahaha! I love this 🙂
Well, if boys seem to like brunettes with curves, WHERE IS MY PRINCE CHARMING?? Looks like I’m going to have to move to the UK, good thing I loved it the last time I was there! 🙂
I actually like this survey because it states that you don’t have to be stick thin like celebrities to be considered beautiful. If anything I imagine it should help someone who is self concious feel mor ecomfortable in their skin.