So much has been written about the dangers of exposure to extreme images, accepting those as the norm, as well as of being focused on your own weight, excluding BMI and health as measures. Yet we continue to analyze paparazzi photos for even the hint of a change. A shift in fabric, poor posture, normal bloating, or ill-fitting clothing could all explain a less than flattering photo more than a body change. Focusing on someone else’s weight and making comparisons is just as damaging as criticizing yourself.

People focus on celebrities as a way to escape mentally from their life. Having an opinion about designer dresses, fashion choices that we can never afford, what is and isn’t a healthy body choice, and relationships that are not available to us allow people to feel as if they might have an opportunity to make such choices at some point. When we have a negative assessment of another person’s life or choices, we can feel as if we have more value because we would make “better” choices. Even such negative comparisons do not build self-esteem.

People tend to idolize celebrities for their talent or beauty or luck. When you look up to someone for one reason, you often give more weight to their opinions in other areas as well. We also want to be as much like the people we idolize as possible. Even if we realize that our bodies are different and some bodies react differently to different diets, people see to want to try what their favorite celeb is trying. Again, it gives them more connection to the life of fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, this obsession is not really helpful for every day folk or the rich and famous. Although there are some that enjoy such attention, the majority of people do not want their every choice observed and critiqued. Comparing yourself to others, regardless if the comparison is positive or negative, will never help you improve your personal self-esteem. Every individual has our own strengths and endearing flaws. That is your beauty, not how much you resemble some standard. Finally, I always wonder how newsworthy such stories really are when we consider all that’s going on in the world with pirates, death, disease, and proposed restrictions on organic farming.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Why We Obsess Over Celebrity Weight

Could you have imagined that he’d be one of the biggest stars on the planet if you were watching him on his cult TV show Freaks and Geeks way back at the turn of the millennium? But alas, he is… however, now he’s big only in the figurative sense. The normally stout star has slimmed down a waist size or five to play the Green Hornet. You would think this is a totally positive experience. But apparently he has “let down” some of his fans.

“I think for chubby guys, I was their guy, so they were like, ‘I can be chubby. Seth Rogen’s chubby, so who cares.’ But now I’m not so chubby anymore. So now they’re like, ‘I have to lose weight.’ I’ve let them down. I’ve blatantly sold out. It’s only for money.”

Rogen’s girlfriend of four years, writer Lauren Miller, has been supportive.

“She’s stuck by me through thick and thin – literally,” Rogen said. “She claims she doesn’t like me any more now than when I was heavier, but I think that’s completely not true.”

I find the apparent backlash towards people who lose weight to be a fascinating phenomenon. On the surface, it’s bothersome. How can someone let their own emotional insecurities get in the way of the logical response: happiness for someone who has bettered their health. But since it must be a fairly deep-seated psychosis, I guess I have a little bit of sympathy for those people. Here’s a blogger who openly admits to her resentment of thinness, at least in an implied way, since she talks about the few heavyset female icons in Hollywood.

One should always be comfortable in their own skin, yet not so much that they don’t care about improving their own health.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Seth Rogen Slims Down, Angers Some

Britney’s spending three days in the gym with her trainer doing aerobics and weights.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was the talk of the town last year with accusations that she was too fat, and then her subsequent weight loss.

Seth Rogen shucked his overweight, slacker-dude look for a fit and trim look that’s quite attractive.

See the other celebrity weight loss success stories, and find out what they’re doing to stay in shape.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Hollywood’s 2008 Weight Loss Winners