Last Friday my pop-culture bible (also known as US Weekly) came in the mail and once again, it featured another truly amazing weight loss story. I can now sleep at night knowing that Jennifer Love Hewitt has lost that extra 18 lbs she's been carrying around for so long. Sheesh, I'm surprised the Beverly Hills Fire Department didn't have to perform a life-saving rescue by tearing down her bedroom wall and hauling her fat ass out with a fork lift before she was finally able to overcome her obesity.
As someone who has a body type very similar to J-Love's "before" picture, I have a bone to pick with the tabloids. A few months ago, she got a lot of heat for donning a bikini and (gasp!) revealing some unsightly cellulite. Even with the cellulite, she clearly couldn't have weighed more than 120 lbs. Today at 18 lbs lighter, she is newest weight loss "success story". In a world where a 120 lb Jennifer Love Hewitt is considered a fat ass and a 97 lb Nicole Richie, anorexic, there isn't a lot of wiggle room in terms of "The Perfect Weight".
At 5'2" and 117 (with a butt-load of cellulite and a smidgen of back fat), I would currently be categorized as overweight in the tabloid world. If I got rid of my orange-rind thighs and lost 10 lbs and I might be considered "just right". Lose another 10 and I become Mary Kate and Ashley's long lost tiny triplet. One would think that at the age of almost 40, I'd finally be comfortable with myself and stop comparing myself to Hollywood starlets whose diets consist of Adderall and Salem Lights. Sadly, like most women in America, I will probably always have issues with my self-esteem. Even more sadly, I will also be the first to purchase the Star Magazine quarterly issue of the "Best and Worst Beach Bodies", and gobble up every detail of Life & Style's expose on the diet secrets of Blake Lively.
-Val
