Yo-Yo Dieting Isn’t A Career
Posted by: Jessica Wakeman
Filed in:
celebs
9:30AM, Monday June 1st 2009
I have no idea how much my own weight has fluctuated in the past couple of years, but I can tell you all about Kirstie Alley’s rides on the bathroom scale. And Melissa Joan Hart’s. And Britney’s and Kelly Clarkson’s and…well, you get the idea. A girl can’t grocery shop without 42-point font headlines screaming about another celeb’s double digit weight loss.
The problem isn’t just opportunistic tabloid editors making a quick buck. As Times’ Sunday Styles section pointed out, the “Ass Size Ad Nauseum” problem is not so simple. No, some celebs are more than happy to tell us all about their jiggly parts.
“Some celebrities, like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tyra Banks, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Simpson and Kelly Clarkson, respond to the tabloid finger-pointing with shoulder shrugs or defiance. But others take part eagerly. Their weight sagas inevitably include self-abasement as a springboard to their new selves.”
I’m so over celebs like Kirstie Alley exploiting their weight gains and losses in magazines and on TV, conveniently putting a little oomph in there careers. Any savvy handler knows how to spin the entire story arc—the weight gain, the shameful fall from grace, the weight loss, the redemption. Instant magazine cover, plus an article inside about all the groundbreaking things that celeb did to lose the pounds! You know, like eating less and exercising more. Groundbreaking!
Regular women, of course, don’t profit from book deals (like Kirstie’s How To Lose Your Ass And Reclaim Your Life) or TV shows (like “Fat Actress”). Maybe yo-yo dieting is profitable for a handful of celebrity women, but it’s relentless negativity for us real women: “
“These celebrity stories can even be counterproductive: health experts say that many famous dieters flaunt weight-loss goals that are unrealistic for most obese women.”
One woman, a 31-year-old doctoral candidate in theology at Notre Dame, told the Times, “It’s easy to lapse into ‘Oh, my body’s ugly,’ and ‘What’s the use?’ [Alley] triggers all those messages for me.” Anyone who says women should just tune all this out doesn’t realize its everywhere and we’re only human—we’re open to the power of persuasion.
Kirstie said she is “disgusting” because she re-gained over 75 lbs. But us ladies can scarcely avoid Kirstie and other actresses smack-talking their own bodies when they’re “fat” and praising themselves when they’re posing in a bikini. Those messages are telling women all over the country that that their bodies are gross too. And that, Kirstie Alley, is the real reason why you’re disgusting. [NYTimes]
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shannac02
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 10:05 am: [report]
Ugh. I’m so sick of these chicks. Great! We Get it! You lost weight! Awesome! Oh yeah, except you forget to include that you have a personal trainer come to your L.A. home 6 days a week and MAKE you workout. Oh, what’s that? You don’t currently work? Oh, so you have TONS of time to cook healthy foods and just WORKOUT WORKOUT WORKOUT? its sooooooo easy!!!!
Ugh.
I realize that people should motivate themselves and MAKE the time to eat healthy, but when you work 40-50 hours per week AND go to school/take care of kids/have a life outside the gym, its a little difficult. Magazines like People make regular gals like us feel like poor, fat, lazy slobs because we can’t afford the Nutrisystem foods or a personal trainer…
fallonthecity
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 10:37 am: [report]
I want to punch Kirstie Alley every time I see one of those commercials.
kristy1584
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 10:42 am: [report]
I cant stand Kirstie Alley. Doesnt have to do with her weight though, she just annoys me. And I agree completley with Shannac02. These celebs have TONS of time to workout and they have nutritionists cooking for them. If I had the time and money they do, I could prob lose 42 lbs too!
Jessica
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 10:56 am: [report]
@shannaco2 I completely agree with you about the trainers and whatnot. But I still think women who are famous have a responsibility not to be so horribly negative when talking about their own bodies.
shannac02
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 10:59 am: [report]
@ Jessica: I totally agree… I even hate when real world women make comments about their bodies, especially in front of their impressionable children… That above post was just my personal Monday rant
juliePS
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 11:19 am: [report]
ugh. I’d be one skinny broad if I had a personal chef, a trainer, and a lack of 9-5 job.
becktasm
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 11:22 am: [report]
Hahaha that “horrifying photo” is basically me in every picture, ever. Is it time for Maxi Cleanse? Nah, I like cake and pierogies way too much.
As for Kim Kardashian acting “defiant”- as if! Remember when some magazine called her plus sized like two months ago and she responded with, “I’M NOT PLUS SIZED I’M A SIZE TWO.” What a wonderful opportunity for her to help women everywhere embrace their curves- but nope. Also, props to her stylist for replacing all the size tags on her clothes. Girl is gorgeous, but a size 2 she is not.
crustee
wrote on June 1 2009 @ 11:36 am: [report]
What KILLS me is that ads for Nutrisystem designed for women (read: has “dainty, feminine” food) are aired approximately 24759876487466856 times more than the Nutrisystem designed for men (“hearty, manly” food).
I wonder how this started—are women’s insecurities feeding the Nutrisystem PR people? Or are the Nutrisystem PR people causing women’s insecurities?
My vote: It began with the former, and has now become a vicious cycle.
eskim00ninja
wrote on June 2 2009 @ 12:41 am: [report]
Somebody needs to tell the U.N. to order a Celebrity Yo-Yo Dieting Cease Fire against ALL the magazines! It seems like that is what it would take to make then shut up and quit giving the women of America weight complexes and self esteem issues. We have enough to deal with without them.