Quantity with Quality
Fighting Gives Her Life
How a former Sports Illustrated model kicked her unhealthy lifestyle to the curb
It is day 30! So, this is my final story in a series of articles responding to Dr Mehmet Yildiz’s challenge to produce a short quality article with three take home points each day for thirty days.
During this time, I missed a few days of doing this challenge, but I did publish an article of some sort every day. While I won’t be doing this challenge and using this header, I think I will still use Wikipedia as a great source for writing inspiration. I have learned a lot doing this.
I have chosen to use Wikipedia’s main page as inspiration, choosing one item from the “Did You Know” section as topical encouragement.
At her lowest point, fashion model Mia Kang considered suicide, but Muay Thai fighting saved her life. After losing a large amount of weight at age 13, Mia began a career in modeling. For several years she worked as a top fashion model, walking the runway in Milan and Paris for London’s Model 1 agency.
Mia’s father advised her to go to college as she couldn’t always count on a career in modeling. She heeded his advice and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and philosophy and went on to obtain a master’s degree in finance and financial law, all while modeling.
Once she graduated, she set out on a career in finance, but found that she missed the modeling profession and returned to it once again; but only to find herself incredibly unhappy in spite of her success.
After beating out other models to be featured in the 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Mia took a 10-day break from modeling returning home to Thailand. While there, she noticed some young fighters training in the local gym and was instantly intrigued.
What We Can Learn from a Fist-Flinging Model
Initially Mia took up fighting as an aerobic activity to lose weight, however she quickly became enamored with the sport. Learning to respect her body and how to eat healthy foods to promote strength and fitness began to take center stage for Mia.
Mia has become a body positivity advocate and now rather than letting the modeling industry dictate how they think she should look, she concentrates on living and eating healthily.
Mia’s body positivity activism has resulted in being named the 2018 Today Show Style Hero and Self magazine’s New Year’s Challenge star.
Take home points:
- Inspiration comes in unlikely places. Mia’s interest in Muay Thai came from a break from work to visit family. It has shaped her entire life since.
- Don’t let others dictate how you should look or think. Mia has demonstrated that following others’ standards can be exceptionally unhealthy and dramatically affect us in negative ways. Don’t listen to the crowd and make your own way.
- Beauty isn’t a replacement for education or hard work. Mia’s is most proud of her education but should also be proud of her commitment to healthy living and body positivity.
We can all take some inspiration from how a former model pursued a healthier lifestyle and became much happier and fulfilled.
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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.