Most women have a number; an idealized—and usually unrealistically low—delusion about their perfect weight. Perhaps it’s what you weighed in high school while on cross country, or sick with Mono, or even the speculated proportions of a beautiful (and airbrushed) admired celebrity.

Well get rid of it.

Studies repeatedly show men are attracted to healthy, natural-looking women; not the romanticized, skinny image many women strive for. The fashion industry is also evolving to spotlight more shapely models instead of emaciated skeletons.

The voluptuous Brooklyn Decker and Kate Upton are slowly replacing gaunt Kate Moss look-alikes. The swimsuit-models-turned-high-fashion are still very thin (Kate Upton is estimated at 5’9 and 125 pounds) but are definitely healthier role models—and more accurate representations of what men find attractive.

“In study after study, women consistently underestimate the amount of body fat that men prefer…women consistently choose a skinnier figure than the men actually prefer… This misreading of men's desires may encourage some women to mistakenly think they would be more attractive to men if they weighed less,” according to Psychology Today.

I decided to run a mini-experiment of my own to test this theory. I showed men photos of model Ciara Price, Playboy’s Miss November of 2011 compared to photos of typical high-fashion models. Price is 5'4, 118 pounds and has measurements of 32C-25-35. The bottom two photos of Kate Moss—whose motto is “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”—and Natasha Poly represent the stereotypical fashion model. Poly is 5'10 and clocks in at around 105 pounds.

The robust Price won by a landslide.

“She has more curves and looks a lot more natural compared to the super tan/skinny girls,” said USC sophomore Rollin Baker. "She has definite features that are easy to notice and point out. You hear a lot how big a girl’s breasts and butt are, but no one talks about how flat a girl’s stomach is.”

Although the polled guys admitted Moss and Poly are still attractive, they were more attracted to the Playboy Playmate.
 
“I like a woman with some curves, an athletic/toned body, and a cute face with a great smile,” said USC senior Brett Emard. “I don't want to see bones.”

Los Angeles native Aaron Mueller broke it down even further: “Guys really look at three things: face, chest, and butt. It’s a turn-off when they are too skinny.”

The Body Mass Index (BMI) measures body fat based on height and weight. Healthy women have a BMI range of 18.5 to 24.9, overweight women have BMIs of 25 to 29.9, and anything above a 30 is considered obese, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Miss November has a normal BMI of 20.3, whereas Poly’s estimated BMI is only 15.1, making her underweight.

Also keep in mind men pay to look at the models in outlets such as Playboy, Maxim and pornography, whose body types have commonalities such as long, flowing hair and full-figured, toned bodies with great waist-to-hip ratios.  

“The average Playmate is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. This gives her a BMI of 18.5, and most have BMI's of 18 or 19,” according to Psychology Today."These are similar to the BMI's men prefer when rating the attractiveness of images of women with varying BMI's."

The fashion world is finally beginning to capitalize on more sensual, curvy models. Kate Upton glows in Vogue Italia’s Issue this November and makes appearances in Cosmopolitan and GQ as well. Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker has also appeared in the magazines Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Vogue.

Upton represents a much-needed new wave of fashion models with a dedication to health rather than thinness.

“I think it’s important to look at magazines and think a healthy lifestyle is attainable,” said Upton in an interview with Vogue, “I still want to hang out with my family and be a normal girl. You have to be confident, and that doesn’t mean starving yourself.”

It's no secret women today are weight-conscious from an early age. Many women with healthy BMIs still have a little voice in the back of their minds pushing them to lose weight. 'If I just weighed five or ten pounds less everything would be better; I would be more attractive and finally happy with my body,' many women believe.

“By 17, only 3 out of 10 girls have not been on a diet – up to 8 out of 10 will be unhappy with what they see in the mirror… Among women over 18 looking at themselves in the mirror, research indicates that at least 80% are unhappy with what they see,” according to a Harvard study.

Changing the faces of the fashion industry—and reminding us that men are attracted to healthy-looking women—are steps in the right direction.

FitGirl is a weekly health and fitness column. If you have any questions you want to see answered feel free to email me.