''Supersize She'' is a 2005

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called ...

focused on

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

professional

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

Joanna Thomas Joanna Clare Dawson Thomas (12 December 197626 April 2020) was a British professional female bodybuilder. She was the younger sister of British professional female bodybuilder Nicola Shaw. She was the youngest British female bodybuilder to win ...

. The title was a take-off on the success of the film ''

Super Size Me ''Super Size Me'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's ...

''. The one-hour program premiered at the MIPTV in April 2005. Since airing on Channel 5, it has been sold and distributed to over 30 countries.

Plot

Early life

Joanna was born on December 12, 1976, in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, U.K. At the age of 15 she began bodybuilding. She broke a world record when she became the youngest British female bodybuilder to turn IFBB pro, at the age of 21, in a sport in which over 10,000 women compete at amateur level worldwide. At the age of 27, Joanna moves to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. Joanna's goal is to win the Ms. Olympia title and retire on the top.

Training

Over the next five months, Joanna begins her training and dieting for the 2004 GNC Show of Strength. She endures regular massage secessions that tear her muscles, which is although painful, but makes her muscles grow larger. Another prominent female bodybuilder featured was Debbie Bramwell, who is a friend of Joanna, helps Joanna train at the gym. When the issue of steroids was brought up, Joanna sarcastically said that "Yeah it's all about the steroids, you know. We just take steroids and look like this. Try this at home everyone, for a few weeks, and see how you look." She visits her nutritionist to measure her body fat. Joanna's body fat goal is to get herself at 3% body fat. Her body weight came in at 2.6%. She lost a total of 30 lbs in 6 weeks.

Modeling

Due to poor funding in professional female bodybuilding, Joanna main source of income is modeling for her website that is consistently updated with pictures and videos of her, which is her sole source of income. It's a members only website where those members pay $25 for her content. Joanna explains that there is no way for her to get a job and work several hours a week and be a professional female bodybuilder because it would be too stressful.

2004 GNC Show of Strength

In order to qualify for the 2004 Ms. Olympia, Joanna must come in first or second place at the GNC Show of Strength. There are about over 70 professional female bodybuilders in the world and each are eager for recognition by attending the Ms. Olympia. Joanna and Debbie travel to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

for Joanna to compete in the 2004 GNC Show of Strength. Joanna commented that Jeannie Paparone had a nice shape to her and she could be hard for her to beat. Other predominate professional female bodybuilders include Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia, Mily Pena, Nancy Lewis, Rosemary Jennings, Gayle Moher, Mary Ellen Doss, Monica Martin, Angela Debatin, Michelle David, Mary Ellen Jerumbo, and Elizabeth Gomez. Debbie Bramwell, although did not compete herself, was with Joanna backstage helping her prepare and encouraging her. Before the show, all of the female bodybuilder would eat sugary food and work out with weights in order to show off their veins. While performing, bodybuilders are dehydrated and at their weakest so performing poses is very tiring and strenuous. At the end of the first round, the judges pick out their top three favorites, which is a strong indicator of final placing. Nancy Lewis was picked first, Rosemary Jennings was picked second, and Joanna Thomas was picked third. After preparation backstage for the final round, Joanna came on stage in a pink bikini and posed to the song ''

Barbie Girl "Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 as the third single from the group's debut studio album, '' Aquarium'' (1997). The song was written by Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, an ...

''. During

posedown In bodybuilding and physique, a posedown is a free for all posing round in a bodybuilding or physique competition where the participants strike various poses, highlighting specific muscles and their overall physique. Posedowns are usually the fina ...

, Joanna, along with Nancy Lewis, Rosemary Jennings, Gayle Moher, Mary Doss, and Jeannie Paparone began performing free form poses and try to over-shine their competitors for the judges to see. At the end of the GNC Show of Strength, Joanna came in 2nd place, with

Nancy Lewis Nancy Lewis is a professional female bodybuilder from the United States. She earned her pro card by winning the overall title at the 1991 NPC USA Championship. She competed in a number of professional contests from 1992 to 1998 with a series ...

winning the lightweight title. Joanna won $2,000 dollars at the GNC. The final results for the 2004 GNC Show of Strength:

2004 Ms. Olympia

After finishing the 2004 GNC Show of Strength, Joanna returns to Los Angeles where her parents sent her video of her 1997 EFBB Northeast Qualifier, her first female bodybuilding competition, where she placed first in middleweight. Joanna travels to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

to compete in the

2004 Ms. Olympia The 2004 Ms. Olympia contest is an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition and part of Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend 2004 that was held on October 29, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Paradise, Nevada. It was the 25th ...

. On the night before the contest, bodybuilding fans get to meet with their bodybuilding heroes. Along with Joanna,

Betty Pariso Betty Carmichael Pariso (née Slade; born January 29, 1956) is an American professional female bodybuilder. She was the world's oldest active professional female bodybuilder while competing. Biography Betty Pariso (born Betty Slade) was born i ...

, and

Dayana Cadeau Dayana is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Dayana (pronunciation d̪ ɪ ɑ ɴ ɑ, Language Hebrew, the Judge) variant of the given name Diana * Dayana Cadeau (born 1966), Haitian-born Canadian American profess ...

are seen. Dayana Cadeau boasts that nobody that in her class can beat her. Joanna spends the next 12 hours of fasting and dehydrating before the competition. Her parents and from England flew out to Las Vegas to see and support her. Debbie Bramwell also came to support her. If Joanna did win the 2004 Ms. Olympia she would only win $10,000, a fraction of the $120,000 that would be won by the 2004 Mr. Olympia winner. After five months of training and dieting, Joanna takes part in the 2004 Ms. Olympia. During the first round, Joanna was not picked among the top six. She only has the evening show left to improve her chances. At the end of the next round of posing, Joanna did not place in the top three in the lightweight class, much to her and her parents disappointment. The next day, at her apartment, Joanna calls the Olympia judge and asks where she was placed at the Olympia and she was told she placed 7th place. At the end of the documentary, Joanna was more determined than ever to win the Ms. Olympia title. The final results for the 2004 Ms. Olympia:

Cast

Debbie Bramwell-Washington Debbie Bramwell-Washington (born June 9, 1966) is an American professional female bodybuilder. Early childhood and education Born Debbie Topoozian, she was born on June 6, 1966 in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, of Armenian, Romanian, Russian ...

* Jeannie Paparone *

Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia Yaxeni Milagros Oriquen-Garcia Perez (born September 3, 1966) is a Venezuelan- American retired professional bodybuilder. Early life Yaxeni Milagros Oriquen (born Yaxeni Milagros Oriquen Perez) was born on September 3, 1966, in Cabimas, Zulia, ...

Mily Pena Mily may refer to: People * Juraj Milý (born 1996), Slovak ice hockey player * Mily Balakirev * Mily Clément * Mily Possoz (1888–1968),, Portuguese artist * Mily Sidauy (born 1943), Mexican sculptor * Mily Treviño-Sauceda (1957–1958), Ame ...

* Rosemary Jennings *

Gayle Moher Gayle Moher (born April 7, 1957) is a British- American professional bodybuilder. Biography As a teenager, she competed in several beauty pageants. She took up bodybuilding in 1990 after visiting the United States of America. Moher earned her pr ...

* Mary Ellen Doss *

Monica Martin Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

* Angela Debatin * Michelle David * Mary Ellen Jerumbo * Elizabeth Gomez *

Reviews

Reviews have been written for ''Supersize She'' from

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Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

The Beachwood Reporter ''The Beachwood Reporter'' is a web publication based in Chicago, Illinois, United States that focuses on cultural criticism and critiques of Chicago's news outlets. It was launched on February 27, 2006. The publication shared the Society of Pr ...

, and

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0827207 2005 in bodybuilding 2005 television films 2005 films British television documentaries Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming Documentary films about female bodybuilding Documentary films about sportspeople TLC (TV network) original programming History of female bodybuilding British sports documentary films 2000s British films