In 2020, Rebel Wilson made a commitment to his health. She was clear: the resolution’s main objective was to improve her general well-being by making more informed food choices and exercising regularly. And although she had set a weight goal of 165 pounds – which she achieved in less than 12 months – it was always secondary.
However, the fascination with Wilson was not in the holistic view of his journey. Instead, she has focused directly on the 60 pounds she has lost.
According to psychiatrist Dr. Anisha Patel-Dunn, medical director at LifeStance Health, society’s interest in celebrity weight loss comes from the fact that we idolize celebrities and see them as a reflection of ourselves and what we can potentially accomplish one day. And when a new celebrity loses weight, Dr. Patel-Dunn explains, it’s a combination of everything we love to talk about as a society: celebrities and body image.
This collective concern for Wilson’s health and weight goes back to the idea that, as a Western society, value is directly related to appearances, believes Leah Kern, a “non-dietician” clinical nutritionist at Lenox Hill. Interestingly, the 40-year-old Australian actress has been there. In a recent interview, she admitted that people treat her differently now that she has lost weight.
“Sometimes, being bigger, people didn’t necessarily look at you twice,” she shared during an interview on The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed and Erin. “Now that I’m in good shape, people offer to carry my purchases to the car and keep the doors open for you.”
This, notes Kern, indicates the fact that the culture of celebrity diet is only a small part of a bigger problem. “We are a superprint society and are desperate for answers when it comes to changing our appearance. When you see someone in the public eye getting something you want, like losing weight, you believe you can do it too, ”says Kern.
However, most of the time, the deeper we go into following a celebrity’s diet, like copying their eating plans or following their daily exercise, the more damage we potentially do to ourselves. According to Evelyn Tribole, a registered dietitian, when you buy the idea that you need a sophisticated diet or exercise routine to achieve your goals, you are continuing to validate the idea that your body is not enough on its own. Which, spoiler, is not true. “Food culture is toxic and has normalized the eating behavior of disorders in the past twenty years,” she says. “Eating disorders have doubled. This is because food culture has hijacked health care with the idea that health and well-being will make someone feel safe in their body. ”So when you diet according to these celebrities, you outsource your decisions to someone who doesn’t even know you.
So, what do we do? To change the conversations surrounding celebrities who have lost weight, we need to change society’s relationship with weight. Wilson was on the right track with his “Year of Health”, but some of his methods – such as a personal trainer and a visit to a detox and wellness center in Austria – were a little out of reach for most.
“We need to shift the focus from weight loss to engaging in healthier and more sustainable practices,” says Tribole. “It’s as simple as getting enough sleep, drinking enough water and eating enough fruits and vegetables.” The moment you give weight to your ideal result – which must be good health – you start to be disappointed with 90% of people regaining the weight they lost.
To Wilson’s credit, interest also confuses her. “I also find it interesting that people pay so much attention to the transformation of weight loss,” she said on the radio show, especially “when there is so much going on in the world.”
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