1. Lance Armstrong
When
it comes to thriving in the face of adversity, few stories are more
inspiring than that of Lance Armstrong. In 1996 the cyclist was
diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had already spread to his lungs,
abdomen and brain, and told he had less than 40 per cent chance of
survival. However, Lance not only survived, he thoroughly refused to be
beaten by his illness. Following surgery and chemotherapy, Lance was
back to training by January 1998, going on to win the Tour de France a
record seven consecutive times.
2. Kate Winslet
It’s a well known fact that many of us
lie about our weight in order to appear more attractive, so it is
refreshing to come across a lady so accepting of her body shape as Kate
Winslet. In 2003, when GQ magazine retouched photographs of the curvy
actress to make her look slimmer, Kate – who claims to be completely
comfortable with her body – publicly spoke out against the airbrushing
procedure, claiming that she has “no intention” of looking that thin and
that women shouldn’t feel that they need to be thin in order to be
sexy.
3. Jessica Alba:
Many
people believe that your weight is determined by your genes; however,
for Jessica Alba, genes were not a good enough reason to settle for poor
health. Jessica, who has admitted to coming from a heavily overweight
family, took her body shape and health into her own hands from a young
age by starting to cook healthy meals for herself when she was 12. The
Hollywood actress is now a long-term healthy eater and the owner of an
enviably slim and healthy body.
4. Christina Applegate
When, in 2008, Christina Applegate
was diagnosed with breast cancer, the actress made the difficult
decision to have a double mastectomy to prevent the cancer from
returning – yet her bravery did not stop there. Although Christina
admits to feeling upset over the visible reminder of her illness, she
inspirationally looks at her health scare as an opportunity to help
other women. Since her diagnosis, Christina has continued to battle to
help women at risk by founding Right Action for Women, a charitable
foundation dedicated to promoting early breast cancer screening.
5. Eddie Izzard
In 2009, British comedian and actor Eddie
Izzard took on the huge challenge of running back-to-back marathons,
six days a week, for seven weeks across the UK – with only five weeks of
training and no history of running behind him. Eddie, who took on this
challenge to raise money for Sport Relief, covered 1,100 miles across
the UK and completed an impressive 43 marathons in 51 days. However,
challenge completed, Eddie was not ready to rest, and continued to run
between shows as well as setting his sights on completing an Ironman
Triathlon.
6. Jessie J
Jessie J burst onto the music scene in 2010
and quickly shot to worldwide fame. However, what many people may not
know is that it was Jessie’s health struggles that helped to motivate
her success. At the age of 18 the singer, who had been in and out of
hospital for years with a heart problem, had a stroke which left her
fearing she may never walk or sing again. However, rather than letting
it get her down, the experience taught her to value her life. Jessie
realised that she didn’t have time to waste and used the experience as
motivation to take a risk and realise her dreams.
7. Britney Spears
We all love a good comeback and in 2008
Britney Spears was voted as the greatest comeback ever for her truly
inspirational life and career overhaul. Despite going through an
annulment and divorce, losing custody of her children and suffering a
mental breakdown in quick succession, Britney showed remarkable strength
with her comeback. In an interview with MTV Britney stated, “I've been
through a lot... And you just cope, and that's what I do. I just cope
with it, every day.'” And with her career back on track, a new fiancé by
her side and a slimmed down physique, it seems that the star has
bounced back better than ever. Well done Miss Spears!
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