Ugh Weekly picks the weight winners of the year

Oh, I know that Us Weekly is not exactly the bastion of stellar journalism, but someone's got to call them on their BS, right? Check out this weird slideshow: The blurbage uses the generic term stars, but 15 of the 15 celebrities are female (go figure) and apparently they have won some kind of approval from Us Weekly for managing their weight. Or dropping some weight, maybe, even though I can't really tell on some of the photos selected. For instance, in Lauren Conrad's case, her big achievement was losing a mind-blowing six pounds. Most women in real life would probably give their eye teeth to look like most of the Before pictures.

Actually, setting aside the entire approval for looking better, the Before pictures are my biggest problem.

Almost a third of the women pictured (4 out of 15) are, like, 14 months pregnant in their Before shot, so a lot of their post-partum weight loss plan involved passing a 9 lb. human and associated effluvia through their cervix. Please don't misinterpret: I have no doubt that it's difficult to lose weight after a pregnancy. heck, it's difficult for me to lose weight and my uterus has never had an occupant. But picturing these women at the peak of pregnancy and then raving about their amazing weight loss...doesn't it kind of imply pregnancy = unhealthy fat? And they had the audacity to pick the absolute worst paparazzi picture of Jennie Garth, sans makeup, looking like her feet are killing her and like she just wants to curl up on a couch with a blanket and a TiVo that's chock full of Project Runway.

Yay for women taking pride in their bodies! Yay for embracing fitness! But booo for Us Weekly for jumping on those achievements like a hungry pack of wolves.

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From the Community…

Comments 1-6 of 6

Posted by Sweet T Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:38am PDT

I noticed all the pregnancy Before pics, too, and it really made me mad! It's like saying "You're pregnant, fat, and ugly! Look at how deformed your baby makes you!" Plus, I think a lot of the after pics are kind of gross. I want to give those poor women a sandwich!

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Posted by beautykween Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:44am PDT

this really is the strangest slideshow ever. is it me, or do the "after" pictures just look like the photo was taken while the celeb had more flattering clothing/a more flattering camera angle? call me crazy, but i really don't see anything eye-popping or worthy of looking at.

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Posted by RetroMom Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:16pm PDT

It's a slow news week for them, no one is going in out and out of rehab, and no one is serving a 3 min jail sentence. That is probably the saddest and more disturbing misrepresentation of what women should be expected to look like.
I'm sorry, but unless you are Tory Spelling; you are too busy taking care of a new baby, a husband, a house, and probably working to look like her. What a joke! If we all had a nanny, didn't work an 8-5 job and then come home to cook, clean and care for kids we could all work out for several hours a day!

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Posted by elissyann Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:35am PDT

the worst part is, in their before pictures, they look like normal people... so, normal people don't look good then... thanks. Maybe because as retromom said, normal people don't have time to work out for hours a day. I work out for at least an hour six days a week and I don't look that great. These women aren't being healthy, they're being obsessive.

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Posted by Parveneh Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:44pm PDT

Of the 4 pregnant ladies, two gained an unhealthy amount of weight during pregnancy (60 and 80 pounds, respectively). According to the MayoClinc, even if you were underweight to begin with, you should only gain 40 pounds max to remain healthy. Most normal weight people should gain 20 - 35. Overweight should only gain 15 - 20 and obese should gain 15.
I think too often women get this notion that they can have a free for all binge fest during pregnancy. You're not doing yourself or the baby any good by doing so. Being overweight during pregnancy brings about gestational diabetes and high blood pressure.
Additionally, normal people do not need to spend "hours" in the gym to achieve the bodies they see on the movie and TV screens. Thirty minutes a day of vigorous weight lifting or cardio coupled with moderate eating habits should do it. You only need 200 - 500 extra calories a day for breastfeeding and that should be factored into your post pregnancy weight loss plan to ensure you are eating enough.
Basically, I think people are lazy and will make any excuse to remain unhealthy. Being healthy takes work - a lot of it.

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Posted by Rowdygirl Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:07am PDT

How sad that we live in a world where a supermodel losing 11 pounds makes the difference in being acceptable or not. No wonder we're all so screwed up.

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Comments 1-6 of 6

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