You may have heard the announcement this week that after dropping some lbs, Jennifer Hudson is spokeswoman for Weight Watchers. When I first heard this, I got really annoyed. I’m so sick of celebrities and their weight loss!
Hey, Jessica Simpson…you’re hot, and even when you’re “fat,” you’re skinnier than most women! I don’t care how reality TV people stay underweight. Kardashians, stop saying “lots of salmon,” while you shill diet pills! Kirstie Alley, please go away…and take every other B, C, and D-lister who is trying to get a story in US Weekly by losing ten pounds with you! I stopped reading tabloids when I realized stories like this were making me not eat.
I figured Jennifer Hudson was going to be the next US Weekly “Before” and “After,” getting all Valerie Bertinelli in a bikini, when really, it’s been nice to see her win and Oscar and survive tragedy and have a great career while representing a bigger size.
Besides that, I’m not a big fan of Weight Watchers. Having done it before, I can say I definitely think it has its benefits and it works for a lot of people, but I take issue with the whole fake-food-is-one-point-but-peanut-butter-is-ten aspect of it.
So, yes, I was a bit cranky about J Huds…but when I saw this clip of her on Good Morning America, I reconsidered.
Things I like about this interview:
- She never says how much weight she lost and she won’t share her size.
- She lost weight over the course of seven months, not two.
- She looks good (great actually!), but not ridiculously thin and about to fall over.
- She never says the words “baby weight.” Ugggh, I hate that expression. Unless you want to call it, “I grew another human being weight”…STFU, please.
- She talks constantly about having a healthier lifestyle.
- “I was comfortable with myself before. I’ve never had a problem with how I looked. It’s just that…I have a child now and I want to set a great example for him.”
- “I’m educating myself on how I can do this. How can I make flying through the airport with no time to grab anything to eat healthier?”
- To her credit, Robin Roberts also says, “You’ve always been talented, always been beautiful…you’ve just decided to make better life choices.” I really like that. I feel like so often when I celeb loses weight, everyone goes crazy, treating her like some new sex symbol, where we all know she was still thin and gorgeous before. It’s like in the Five Stages of Weight Loss Grief…everyone is always reminding you what a fat cow you were before!
I also watched Jennifer’s new commercial for Weight Watchers.
“It makes me love myself that much more.”
That I can support. That is what’s empowering about healthy living. And that is the healthiest thing I’ve ever heard from a celeb who has lost weight. And you know…unlike most celebs, I actually believe her. I just love that she never says, “Oh I saw these pictures of myself and I knew I needed to change.” She says, “I’ve always been comfortable with how I looked.” And that is so, so important. You can’t make healthy changes if you hate your body.
And who knows? Maybe Jennifer Hudson does the WW Core plan, which is not focused on points and doesn’t reward processed foods. I surely hope so. But I do think she’s setting a really good example of how weight loss has to come from a place of self-love, with a goal of a healthier life.
It’s also interesting to me that Jennifer Hudson is promoting this plan now that she’s done it for seven months. Recently, celebrities have been endorsing diet plans before they actually even lose weight on them. That seems a little unethical…not to mention weird! I’d hate to tell everyone I was going to lose weight on a diet without having actually tried it first.
I also find it really interesting that when Queen Latifah repped Jenny Craig, she also didn’t talk about pounds or how much weight she had lost and instead focused on 10 percent of her body weight. Why don’t more celebs representing weight loss plans take this approach?
I think it has something to do with the fact that Hudson and Queen Latifah are both black. Studies have shown that black women and white women approach weight loss, dieting, and self-image differently. (I mean, we all know they work out differently.) I think a curvier black celebrity would really throw off her black fan base by dropping to a super low weight and losing her booty and thighs. But is the flip side of this that a white audience wouldn’t accept, say, Kelly Osbourne promoting a diet if she was still carrying an extra 10 pounds?
Regardless, I hope that Jennifer Hudson is the beginning of a trend. What say you??
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m with you on being sick of celebrity weight loss plans. Most of them can afford purchasing meals, personal trainers, and working hours in the gym. It’s not realistic for the average person though. But I like your perspective on Jennifer Hudson. I never saw it like that before.
thank you for this! i just read kelly osborne’s weight loss story in some magazine the other day and i wanted to vomit. she was all, “i’m so happy i lost the weight! i feel so much better at a size 2. i just hope that if i gain a few pounds the media isn’t going to hound me.” well maybe you should have thought about that before you did a 2 page spread about how AWFUL it was when you were a size 10…
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I really wish there were more ladies like Jennifer Hudson out there who looked like that POST-diet program. I think women would feel so much better if there were more curvy, realistic “afters,” especially if the celebs went at it with a message of positive self-image. As much as I love that she’s not doing the full weight disclosure, I wish more beautiful curvy celebs would throw some numbers out there–women need to see what beautiful, fit and 150 looks like! Maybe then they’d all stop scrambling for the 115-120 range that seems to be the ideal number, regardless of size and build and fitness levels.
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Yes! Jennifer Hudson is looking great! I like the fact that she states that she did not have an issue with herself before she released the weight. Lifestyle changes are tough but get better over time and she had plenty of it in her seven months as a new mom. Kudos!
.-= Kionda´s last blog ..Interesting Question! =-.
Thank you for sharing that ABC interview. I have to admit: when I heard she was doing WW, I thought “great, here’s another one…”. But her viewpoint is RIGHT ON – embrace your body for what it is, and the fact that she’s doing it for her health & her family – NOT Hollywood’s standards… I just gained a great deal of respect for JHudson.
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I must say … I’m guilty of watching E! News 100 top Bikini Bods and then proceeding to plot how I can get one too. I love the JHud commercial as well…makes you feel empowered. And it’s true, if she did become a size two the black community would have real issues with it and question the message she’s sending. Surely my hubby would kill me if I lost my booTAE!
She is so inspirational! Thanks for sharing such a feel-good story about weight loss. Usually I just feel depressed that someone else has fallen into the underweight-is-beautiful category. They never focus on true health, just the superficial anecdotes of moderation and produce, which are all good ideas, but pretty empty. If you don’t already know those are the basics, I doubt you’ll learn it from a celeb dropping down to 80 pounds.
Anyway, I definitely think the philosophies between black (women?) and whites are interesting, and we could probably learn a lot from more research being done on the differences.
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GREAT POST!
I definitely agree…she is going about it the right way and I love how she said she wants to set a good example for her son. Weight watchers definitely scored on this one!