fat actress...not so fat!

I don't know if anybody's seen the new VH1 "I love the new millenium" or not, but they were just discussing how ridiculously "fat" Kirstie Alley was at her biggest, and I have to say it's killing my self esteem. "At a whopping two-hundred pounds..." it just makes me feel like I'll never be attractive! I'm 200 pounds myself, and I just want to be healthy and like myself! But apparently, I'll have to be Nicole Richie to reach the latter... god give me a hotdog!

Why should you care what others think? Lose weight for yourself, be healthy for yourself, not for others. Screw what other people say about you.

How tall are you?

Don't let a bunch of D list celebrities make you feel bad!

I bet you look fine. Hell I'll take you out if you're near me!

Please don't take offense at this, because really, I don't mean any at all. Firstly, congrats on your hard work so far, and I'm sure you're doing great (unfortunately I have to assume since you don't have a picture. :-) ), and will continue to do great in the future.

I do agree that Hollywood is ridiculous sometimes with the ideals that it promotes, but please realize that there is a healthy, happy medium between Kirstie Alley and Nicole Richie. While she doesn't deserve to be torn apart, Kirstie was over 200 pounds at 5'8 (her listed IMDB height), which gives her a BMI of over 30. So yes, she was obese. While this doesn't warrent raking her over the coals, I don't find her size more appealing/attractive than Nicole Richie's. Both of them needed to seek improvement.

Don't let Hollywood's reaction color your weight loss, but realize that 200 pounds doesn't have to be the end point, but nor does Nicole Richie's under-100 weight. There's a whole wide healthy range in the middle there. Good luck in finding what is ideal for you! :-)

Nicole Richie's body is not celebrated by Hollywood.  In fact, gossip magazines are the first to attack her for it.

Kirstie's highest admitted weight (on Oprah?) was 219, but Rosie O'Donnell and others have called B.S. on this, claiming that she must have been 250 at least, based on that really really large picture that was taken. Don't know about when she was doing her show, but I recall her looking like far more than 200.

Original Post by trustwomen:

Kirstie's highest admitted weight (on Oprah?) was 219, but Rosie O'Donnell and others have called B.S. on this, claiming that she must have been 250 at least, based on that really really large picture that was taken. Don't know about when she was doing her show, but I recall her looking like far more than 200.

That's what I was thinking! I know plenty of people around 250 lbs that look remarkably similar to the shape Kirstie was in at her heaviest. I am sure no one really cares either way but it can send an entirely hurtful message to those who weigh less and don't believe or have any reason they should even think they are "fat".

Frankly, there are a lot of larger actresses who look BEAUTIFUL.


QUEEN LATIFA:  I don't know why Queen Latifa got on the bandwagon for weight loss.  She is bold and beautiful as big as she is.

ROSIE O'DONNELL:  She's big and she looks good doing it.  It's kind of in her personality to be big, and I couldn't imagine her getting smaller.

OPRAH Pre-weight loss:  Again, she looked great the way she was.  I can't say she looks bad now skinny, but either way... they're fine.


There are also actresses who look great at the happy medium (still small) as well.

Kirstie Alley @ "Look Who's Talking":  She looked to be between 135 and 150 pounds, looked natural and beautiful.

Jennifer Aniston:  She's skinny, I'll give you that, but she's natural skinny.  She doesn't have the <25" waist (blech!!!) of a model, and she looks great.

Renee' Zelwiger: Again, skinny but natural.  Probably a size 6 waist (which I'd die for), and still has the curves of a natural woman.

That's all I can think of right now.  But the anorexic teens that our youth looks up to as idols are NOT what we should be striving for.  Hannah Montanna, Ashlee Simpson, the Olsen Twins (WTF happened to the cute baby in "Full House"???).

Isn't it funny how 'regular' americans just keep getting fatter and fatter, but the media still has its super skinny ideals?  Its strange to me.  Its like they're moving in different directions.

Original Post by leopardrayne:

 the Olsen Twins (WTF happened to the cute baby in "Full House"???).

 Um, yeah, and why do they always look like they're going to either cry or pass out?  They always look terrible.  Crack a genuine smile for goodness sakes.

I second the Queen Latifah comment.  She is so beautiful...her looks and her personality and confidence.  My sister is a lot like her....everyone LOVES my sister and she certainly doesn't have a problem getting a man. I don't know my sisters actual weight but she is larger than QL but has more confidence of anyone I know.  (not snobby though either). 

Much as I love Queen Latifah, she is likely to have diabetes by 50 and heart trouble soon after that.  We spend too much time worrying about looks and not enough thinking about health.  200+ pounds just isn't healthy for your average woman.  I know, that is what I weighed and my health really suffered.  Most woman's bodies weren't made to carry that much weight.  Read the logs of the older women on this site as they discuss knee problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and the other problems that are far more common in heavier people.  You can think any weight looks good, but science has proven that not all weights will feel good in the long term.

i think you can still be big and healthy...I disagree (in a nice way ) Clharr..I think a big girl can exercise and eat healthy and still be big and be healthy.....just how I feel...

I think it's important to feel good about yourself in order to go through the process of loosing weight. If you're BMI is above 30, though, I think saying "big + healthy" is akin to being in denial. It's going to catch up with you eventually, so might as well deal with it now.

And I definitely agree Kirstie Alley was more than 200 lbs.

I wish that was so, but I just saw a medical study that would disagree with you.  I can't find it now, but they found that overweight people who exercised were healthier than overweight people who did not exercise, but not as healthy as lower weight people who exercised.  You guys are probably too young to feel it yet, but the pounds do get to you eventually.

Go to my gallery and look at my before picture.  To me, that's close to what Kirstie Alley looked like at her biggest and I was definitely over 200 pounds.  It hurt me too that they talked about her the way they did but it did not change the fact that I (and she) still needs to lose weight.  I think it hurt me most because if I were famous that could easily be me on the cover of those vile magazines.  And when people saw her pictures and saw me as a comparative they'd know I was so heavy I could be +200 pounds.

But you know what?  I bet a lot more women out there are 200 pounds because when I was reaching the 200 pound milestone I felt great, better than I had in years.  I felt like I looked great, better than ever in fact!  When I reached 200 pounds I celebrated that I had lost enough weight to say I was now 200 pounds!!!  Grant it, I've celebrated over and over since but I still look at the picture of me at 200 pounds and smile that I got DOWN TO 200 pounds!

Congratulations being 200 pounds, you only need to lose 1 pound to be in the 100's!!!  And from there you can go lower and lower until you ARE at a healthy BMI.  Good luck on your journey down the scale!!! 

Original Post by dharma_bum:



And I definitely agree Kirstie Alley was more than 200 lbs.

 

Not neccissaraly,  I started out at 194 lbs and freaked out my mom and sister when I told them.  In fact everyone said, I couldn't weigh more than 160.   Then you have my 15 year old daughter who weighs nearly 150 and looks like she might weigh 120 soaking wet.    Muscle weighs more than fat.  She only has fat where she needs it.

On the other hand, I have a friend who should be bigger than me because she is 5 inches taller than me doesn't really outweigh me by that much, but she looks like she outweighs me by quiet a bit. Its part of why I never worried about going on a diet.   I nearly caught up with her in weight.   There was only about 20 lbs difference between the two of us, but most people who looked at us would have guessed she weighed 100 lbs more than I did.

That being said, its just as likely that Kirstie was more fat than muscle and still didn't weigh much more than the 219 she admited to.  

Original Post by leopardrayne:

Frankly, there are a lot of larger actresses who look BEAUTIFUL.


QUEEN LATIFA: I don't know why Queen Latifa got on the bandwagon for weight loss. She is bold and beautiful as big as she is.

ROSIE O'DONNELL: She's big and she looks good doing it. It's kind of in her personality to be big, and I couldn't imagine her getting smaller.

OPRAH Pre-weight loss: Again, she looked great the way she was. I can't say she looks bad now skinny, but either way... they're fine.


There are also actresses who look great at the happy medium (still small) as well.

Kirstie Alley @ "Look Who's Talking": She looked to be between 135 and 150 pounds, looked natural and beautiful.

Jennifer Aniston: She's skinny, I'll give you that, but she's natural skinny. She doesn't have the <25" waist (blech!!!) of a model, and she looks great.

Renee' Zelwiger: Again, skinny but natural. Probably a size 6 waist (which I'd die for), and still has the curves of a natural woman.

That's all I can think of right now. But the anorexic teens that our youth looks up to as idols are NOT what we should be striving for. Hannah Montanna, Ashlee Simpson, the Olsen Twins (WTF happened to the cute baby in "Full House"???).

A lot of the "bigger" actors/actresses may be losing weight for the benefit of their health.  I think the emphasis should be put more on health and less on image.  Just because a larger actor/actress starts losing weight doesn't mean their giving into the Hollywood super skinny craziness.

Also, I'm guessing you haven't seen Renee Zellweger recently because she's looking positively ill.  All her dramatic weight-loss and weight-gain is really taking a toll on her body and she's definitely seen better days.

Original Post by dharma_bum:

I think it's important to feel good about yourself in order to go through the process of loosing weight. If you're BMI is above 30, though, I think saying "big + healthy" is akin to being in denial. It's going to catch up with you eventually, so might as well deal with it now.

And I definitely agree Kirstie Alley was more than 200 lbs.

 This is EXACTLY what I meant. :-) While Kirstie Alley didn't deserve to be raked over the coals, she wasn't healthy (or at least not healthy-looking) and shouldn't be the ideal to strive to.

And on a lighter note, you CAN definitely be 'big and beautiful'...Queen Latifa is a great example. Despite being bigger, she always looks fabulous. Kirstie Alley tended to flub around in sweats that gave her major camel toe. XD