[Rome, August 2. Image via Getty]

Germany's Britta Steffen (L) celebrates with United States's Dara Torres after the women's 50m freestyle final on August 2, 2009 at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome. Steffen won gold and set a new world record of 23.7 while Campbell took bronze. AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE (Photo credit should read FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Tyra Banks Goes From Model To Mogul: "Paris was weird and confusing for me… I asked my mom to send care packages of Fiddle Faddle and Oreos. I ended up eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I got sick. "




Dara Torres on Being a Mom With Medals: "I feel like I'm one with the water, like I was meant to be in the water. I don't know exactly why I've done well, but I know I've surrounded myself with the best. I'm probably genetically gifted."




Rosario Dawson's Humble Beginnings: "Members of my family had HIV, and I was very aware of their mortality and how a little cold that I had meant that I couldn't be around them because it could cost them their lives."




Anna Sui On Launching Her Label: " The biggest compliment is when someone tells me, 'I have a dress I bought from you 10 years ago and every time I wear it, my husband tells me I look beautiful.' You can't ask for more."




Cynthia Nixon's Battle With Breast Cancer: "I feel like there is a complete double standard about the age at which men and women are considered attractive on screen. But that's what's wonderful about being a New York stage actor. If you can remember your lines, there will be roles for you. I plan to die onstage."




Helen Gayle (CEO of CARE) On Fighting Global Disease: "When I was doing my residency training in pediatrics in an inner-city hospital, I saw so many children who showed up in the emergency room at night for non emergency care because they didn't have insurance to pay for regular health care. I realized that many of the things my patients were facing really were linked to broader issues. If I really wanted to have an impact and keep that child out of the emergency room, I had to look at other ways of helping tackle the underlying issues."




Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) , An Inside View of Facebook: "Facebook allows people to be their authentic selves online and therefore use the power of technology to discover each other and share who they really are. The connections they make have a real impact on their lives. Collectively, those bonds can change societies."




Lisa Price (founder of cosmetic company Carol's Daughter) on Becoming an Entrepreneur: "I came up with the name at the very beginning. I made a list of things that I was and a list of things I wanted to become. There were other things on the list, like Robert's daughter and Gordon's girlfriend. But when I said Carol's daughter, I got goose bumps. It sounded right."




Kimberly Pierce on the Power of a Plot: "I read a story in a newspaper that turned into the movie "Boys Don't Cry." The main character, Brandon Teena, was a woman who lived life as a man in order to be with women. She fell in with a group of people who both accepted Brandon and then at a certain point didn't accept Brandon. From the day that I read the story, it was as if I had no choice."




Nancy Andrews (Dean of Duke Med School) on Women in Medicine: "I never felt at a disadvantage, but there were moments in my training when I would suddenly become aware that there weren't a lot of other women in my position. I remember being on rounds with an all-male team and hearing the residents and doctors talk about women patients and nurses and women faculty in ways that shocked me."




Tyra Banks Goes From Model To Mogul [Newsweek]
Dara Torres on Being a Mom With Medals [Newsweek]
Rosario Dawson's Humble Beginnings [Newsweek]
Anna Sui On Launching Her Label [Newsweek]
Cynthia Nixon's Battle With Breast Cancer [Newsweek]
Helen Gayle on Fighting Global Disease [Newsweek]
Sheryl Sandberg, An Inside View of Facebook [Newsweek]
Lisa Price on Becoming an Entrepreneur [Newsweek]
Kimberly Pierce on the Power of a Plot [Newsweek]
Nancy Andrews on Women in Medicine [Newsweek]

And not knocking Fanny (heh), because she sounded pretty kick ass, but do you really need to work out 2 hours a day, five days a week, to be in shape? I work out several times a week, and do anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes when I exercise…and I feel pretty in shape. But I guess especially now that it's Olympic season, non-professional athletes like Yoffe, along with New York Times health writer Tara Parker-Pope, are ab-sessed with bodies like swimmer Dara Torres', she of the "perfect" stomach.

"As my colleagues at the Rings blog have noted, Ms. Torres and her 'phenomenally ripped' belly have become the “physical ideal for mothers, women at or approaching middle age, and just women in general," Parker-Pope writes. But then she also points out that Dara Torres spends $100,000 a year perfecting her physique and that 80-year-old actress Estelle Parsons, who "lifts weights, swims 30 minutes twice a week and takes a 30-minute bike ride on two other days," is a much better fitness icon for the average busy woman.

Is it way too much to ask that we just worry about our own bodies and fitness levels without comparing them to others' all the damn time? Not that I'm above it — I see these two girls at the gym all the time who are clearly marathon runners (um, not that I've eavesdropped on their conversations or anything), and every time I see them stretching their long legs I berate myself for not having that kind of motivation.

But you know, at the end of the day, they're still going to be running while I've already showered and am drinking margaritas with my friends. And honestly, who has the better end of the stick in that scenario?

Spandex Fantasy: I Have A Lifetime's Worth Of Flab. Can I Turn It Into Muscle In Four Months? [Slate]
Olympic Abs Versus Simple Fitness [NY Times]

Related: U.S. Viewers Tuning Into The 'Oblique Olympics' [Houston Chronicle]