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"When I met Serena Williams at the Palace Hotel in NYC yesterday, I expected to witness that now infamous in-your-face personality firsthand. She was there for a Nike event (actually, she was the Nike event--the &amp;quot;workout with Serena&amp;quot; invitation went out by Tweet earlier this week). However, after just a few minutes of talking with the 28-year-old, I saw something very real and relatable underneath that tough facade we saw on the court this week. Before I got to sit down with her for a few minutes, I asked a woman next to me what she&amp;#x27;d want to know about the tennis player. &amp;quot;How does she get that awe-inspiring body? And what does Serena Williams eat?&amp;quot; Food being my favorite topic, I wanted to know too. There&amp;#x27;s no questioning her boldness when talking to lineswomen, but when I asked Serena about the conversation she has with the mirror, she admitted she isn&amp;#x27;t always so self-assured. &amp;quot;Like every other woman, sometimes I wish I could get rid of this or get rid of that,&amp;quot; she said, grabbing the flesh of her inner thighs. &amp;quot;And it&amp;#x27;s something I talk about in my new book, On the Line.&amp;quot; Have these real-woman hang-ups about her shape caused her to join the Carrots-for-Lunch Club, I wondered? &amp;quot;I had fries with lunch today,&amp;quot; she assures me. &amp;quot;No, I didn&amp;#x27;t eat them all, but I&amp;#x27;m not going to deprive myself.&amp;quot; And winning the doubles title with Venus on Monday was no time for deprivation either. Her celebratory meal? Pizza! (She&amp;#x27;s a woman after my own heart.) &amp;quot;I love this pizzeria in New York, Bella Vita.&amp;quot; Pepperoni or plain? &amp;quot;Just cheese. I&amp;#x27;m not really into pork.&amp;quot; OK, while we&amp;#x27;re talking grub, on eating before a match: &amp;quot;Usually I can&amp;#x27;t,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;And I haven&amp;#x27;t been able to figure out why--it must be nerves!&amp;quot; she speculates. &amp;quot;But I did have some turkey sausage and a baked potato before this last match. I try to do a combo of protein and carbs.&amp;quot; Does she think it&amp;#x27;s ironic that fashion week in New York occurs at the exact same time as the U.S. Open? After all, athletes and models often look like different species. Nope, there&amp;#x27;s plenty of room in the world for both: &amp;quot;I love fashion week,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;There isn&amp;#x27;t one mold for what a healthy body looks like.&amp;quot; I agree. And I, for one, care less about her body breaking rackets than I do about it breaking stereotypes. Because we get to turn on the TV and watch Serena serve, soar and score epic aces, women have a different kind of silhouette to reference when we aspire to &amp;quot;awe-inspiring,&amp;quot; beautiful bodies. Do you agree? And what do you think when you see Serena&amp;#x27;s physique? More on body image... The Picture You Can&amp;#x27;t Stop Talking About: Meet &amp;quot;the Woman on p. 194&amp;quot; Guys Answer: Would You Date a Woman With a Belly Roll? 3 Things That Trigger My Worst Body-Image Days"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2009/09/i-asked-serena-williams-about>