I’m not commenting on this, partly because I feel like y’all already have an idea how I feel about it but mostly because I’m curious about what everyone else thinks about this:
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson knows exactly why she gained the weight she did while pregnant with her daughter Maxwell Drew.
“I let myself indulge in everything I wanted because it was the first time I was ever pregnant, and I wanted to enjoy it,” Simpson, 32, tells USA Today.
That included eating one of her faves, macaroni and cheese. But Simpson didn’t quite understand how the indulgence would affect her post-baby body. “I didn’t realize [the weight] didn’t all come off with the baby,” says Simpson.
She’s now given up many of those foods, however, while doing Weight Watchers as the company’s newest spokeswoman – she appears in the ads next week.
She hasn’t revealed her current weight, nor what she weighed at her heaviest, but says she’s lost weight each week on the program.
She also works out with personal trainer (and PEOPLE.com blogger) Harley Pasternak four or five times a week, mostly walking now, says Simpson, because, “my boobs are way too big to run at this point.”
Numbers aside, the star seems realistic. “My body is not bouncing back like a supermodel,” says Simpson. “I’m just your everyday woman who is trying to feel good and be healthy for her daughter, her fiancé and herself.”
Simpson, who is engaged to former NFL player Eric Johnson, will reveal her post-baby body on Katie Couric’s new show, Katie, on Sept. 10. [source]
Flag on the play. “Everyday woman?” Are we sure about that?
I kind of wonder if she said “My body isn’t bouncing back like a supermodel” in a sarcastic tone, maybe in reference to Heidi Klum who hit the runway less than 3 months after giving birth to her youngest child.
What do you think about Jessica’s interview? And, furthermore, do you think we’re too hard on celebrities who just gave birth? Is she set to a higher standard because of her spokesperson contract? Or do we care too much about this altogether?
Sound off!
23 comments
I think she meant her body type is more like that of an everyday woman as opposed to someone, like a model, who may be genetically predisposed to be thin.
That’s interesting. That’s not what I’m getting from her comment at all.
“I’m just your everyday woman who is trying to feel good and be healthy for her daughter, her fiancé and herself.”
Well she doesn’t seem to put herself first, she should have added “and for my fans” lol. Because I think that’s mainly why she does it. She’s a public figure.
I think we’re hard on pregnant celebrities because they keep showing us that they can give birth, and return to their body pre-pregnancy in few weeks and everything is normal. She’s not an everyday woman. Everyday women don’t have personal trainers, don’t have people to take care of their babies their food their laundry etc.
She’s just an everyday public figure and she should not make us believe that she is the norm.
For some reason Jessica Simpson is the only celebrity I actually sympathize with. I wish she wasn’t hawking Weight Watchers but I understand that she has to make money somehow. I am glad she is doing interviews and showing the world that it’s not as easy as most celebrities make it seem to lose the baby weight. I guess I empathize with her because she has always been a curvy woman with a tendency to gain weight so her body is going to hold onto the fat more than supermodels! She may have been sarcastic with her comment but she has all right to be because I feel the same way. It’s been 8 months for me since the birth of my son and I am still literally fighting to get any pounds off.
We say she isn’t an ‘everyday’ woman who has a personal trainer and somebody to watch their child but is that really true? I know many women who have personal trainers (heck for a few months last year I did thru my college) and I exercise in the mornings when my son is asleep. If he’s not sleeping his father watches him so I can get my workout in. And if she does have a chef making her food-so what? That isn’t enough to ensure weight loss-she is the one who has to exhibit self control and not eat junk. That is the same struggle we all have. I don’t think it’s fair to lessen her weight loss just because she may have it a bit “easier” then us. Unless she loses weight via surgery-I applaud her efforts and wish her the best.
And in response to your questions Erica-yes we care too much about celebrities and weight loss. I can’t weight until this fad is over.
I brought this up on my own blog yesterday because some gossip rag flat out INSULTED her for not losing the baby weight fast enough. They threw around words like “gorged moose”.
I think that the media is entirely too harsh on new mothers and “bouncing back”. Its incredibly sexist, intensive and just plain stupid. I mean… Aishwarya Rai was verbally assaulted by the Indian press for “looking like a whale” a couple of weeks after she gave birth because they claimed she was flying in the face of her “responsibility” to look thin and lovely…. never mind she just gestated a human life for 9 months, gave birth and now has a new baby to look after. The same goes for Simpson. Its part of the whole Hollywood machine’s assault on the female body.
But what’s even more harmful is the fact that this expectation that Hollywood moms should bounce back to pre-baby form within weeks of delivery is harmful to regular women as well.
I think about how its affected me, personally. My husband and i have yet to have children… and part of it was because I have to work to ‘get over myself’. The reason I had to ‘get over myself’ is because I have body image issues from way back, and i know that pregnancy will change what I’ve been working on for years. I don’t know exactly HOW it will change it (but if my mother is any indication, I’m waiting for my booty upgrade 🙂 ) Its always in the back of my mind as to how I’m going to “only gain in my belly” and figure out a master plan to drop the weight quickly (mostly by giving birth). Its insane. But its true.
This is what this culture does to women. We’ve turned the joy that is supposed to be new motherhood into this battle to “get our bodies back” or “fix what pregnancy does” as fast as humanly (or better, superhumanly) possible.
That being said, I don’t plan on using pregnancy as an excuse to be irresponsible with my food choices… if its not good for me, its definitely not good for my baby. But to beat up on women who have accomplished one of the most miraculous things on earth because of aesthetics and ‘diet culture’ is disgusting.
This comment gives me so, soooo much life.
ALL the life. Whew.
I understand completely what you said about body image I felt and still feel wierd about my bodh after having my baby a year ago. I was so focused on not gaining weight and losing it and all that jive that you completely miss out on the moment. I do not believe it is healthy to just indulge in whatever with the excuse that your pregnant tho Imo thats selfish. But while im post baby my goal is just to change my lifestyle to healthier choices and if Lord willing I get pregnant again I dont have to change much and enjoy the process. But its cool your honest with yourself..
I think there’s a lot or pressure on celebrities to “bounce back” after pregnancy. I mean, besides the first baby shot, all the media looks for is the “post-baby” body. I mean, of course she didn’t bounce back like Heidi Klum. I find it hard to believe that Heidi Klum put on that much extra weight during her pregnancy. I’m sure just like every OTHER day of her life, she had a nutritionist and a trainer and a doctor on stand by to help her take care of herself and her body. And if she was on the runway 3 months after giving birth, she knew well before she went into labor that after the baby was born, she was going to hit the ground running.
Jessica Simpson sound like a “regular woman” that wasn’t let in on the secret that not only did she not have to put on all that weight, but that other celebrities usually DON’T put on that extra weight because they are anticipating that big breath taking “post baby” photo shoot. It’s almost like they are in a competition to see who can do it first. “What? Beyonce’s skinny 2 months out? I can do it in 6 weeks!” But that’s all just my opinion.
I think women face a lot of worry and guilt about a number of things before and after giving birth. It seems obvious that women’s bodies heal and react differently postpartum, so every woman whether in the public spotlight or not, should be given space to take the 6 weeks some doctors suggest holding off on sexual intercourse to begin to reintegrate appropriate forms of exercise and figure out an appropriate diet (especially if nursing).
I have to admit though, the issue of weight after birth was different for me as someone who was overweight before getting pregnant. Many books and articles make it seem like you’ve already failed your unborn child by being pregnant and fat to begin with. Pregnancy meant weight loss as a result of the lifestyle changes I had begun making before getting pregnant, but postpartum stresses, anxiety, and isolation made it hard to maintain. Even the most well-supported woman will have her challenges, it seems like extra, sometimes cruel unnecessary noise to publicly scrutinize any one woman’s journey. I’d feel differently if the attention was not judge or sell a product, but to simply encourage women to live healthier lives.
It took a long time for me to realize that daily I’m confronted by messages that suggest I should eat crap, snap into shape, and be superwoman all at the same time with no delay. This site is a part of my defense against the dark arts, a place where I can come to read a counter-message that encourages me to continue to make better choices, without condemning me for not being there instantly.
Even though she’s rich and famous and probably has a lot more ‘help’ than the rest of us, she’s still not the size -0,0,2 that a lot of people expect in her industry. She started off with an ‘average girl’ body and then moved into a ‘thin girl body’ and now she’s in a ‘big girl’ body.
And I think the fact that she “let herself go” is something that’s common with a lot of women in pregnancy who want to indulge. It’s common with people period, and they use pregnancy as a good excuse to do it. But I also think her expectations are to go to ‘average girl’ size, not ‘thin girl’ size.
I think she is set to a higher standard because she is a celebrity. I think the public is tougher on celebrities, but we shouldn’t be. Most mother’s don’t bounce back so quickly. I don’t think it’s fair to be compared to an everyday woman because the average woman doesn’t have a trainer to work out with 4-5x a week. It’s nice to see some celebrities take there time and lose the weight because not everybody can be Heidi Klum, Victoria Beckham or Adrianna Lima.
I posted earlier on this subject and this article on jezebel caught my eye: http://jezebel.com/5940780/109-headlines-about-jessica-simpsons-baby-weight?utm_source=jezebel.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation
This is scary and is a topic that must be discussed more often. 109 headlines about her weight? So there aren’t any more important things going on in the world…like the November elections that will affect us all?! SMH…
I would usually agree with you, buuut…. realistically speaking, we *can* walk and chew gum at the same time. Just because the elections are coming up doesn’t mean we can’t talk about other non-election-related things.
I mean, I totally get your point – “MUCH we do THIS much writing about her weight?” – but to imply that we shouldn’t because “there are more important things going on in the world” gives me pause.
We can do both, but I think there are too many people who care only about this. That’s troubling. Should Jessica eat badly, esp with a baby inside her?
Did I just read a news update that indicated she was pregnant again? I am speechless here. I am not sure I understand why a person would agree to be a spokesperson for WeightWatchers who planned to continue to extend their family. While I have no issue with a person making this choice, I don’t know if I understand becoming a spokesperson before goal weight was obtained. It seems like Jessica never really planned this experience. Maybe I am not looking at this from the “whole” point of view, but this campaign appears to have not been handled in the same manner as previous campaigns were.
why? $$$
I believe she did bounce back pretty quickly, I may be wrong because I’m not a fan of J Simpson and don’t follow her life. But despite what she said about being an everyday woman, I really don’t look that deeply into anything she says, from her reality show back in the day I saw she was not the brightest star in the sky.
I think we are too hard because regardless of whether she is a celebrity or not she is still a woman so it is hard to loose weight after a baby. It doesnt matter that she has a trainer or not because I have a trainer myself and the trainer cant keep you from shoving the food down your mouth. His job is to help you get fit and to encourage you. He cant go home with you, like someone else said, you have to exercise self control. Certain celebrities have to get their body back in shape and in unsafe manners because their body is their money maker, it is no different than some of us who are 6 weeks have to return to work because we have to make money. I think when she says I am your everyday woman she means she goes thru the same struggle that we do, and she is trying to do it in a healthy manner. I think if we could afford to have a trainer and a chef to cook for us we would all take advantage of that opportunity.
YES we are. Jessica Simpson is a regular person. Having money means more access to assistance but it doesn’t make her or any other celebrity a superwoman. In fact I’d imagine that all the money in the world doesn’t take away the stress, sadness, anger, and insecurity that these women must feel seeing unflattering pictures of themselves weekly with captions about how FAT they’ve gotten. Being called whales and pigs and hearing people on the so called news shows talk about their weight. And say they’re human garbage disposals. I can only imagine the toll this takes on them mentally and we all know that things that take a mental toll also can take a physical toll. Making losing weight even more difficult. And hearing people like Beyonce talk about eating lettuce and running to lose the weight in 2 months is ridiculous. I love that Jessica Simpson’s choice of public diet was Weight Watchers. Personal Chef or not, the focus is on eating real foods in the real world and eating healthy foods. Not on eating highly processed pre-packaged meals with goodness only knows what’s in it. Along with exercise and they encourage losing 1-2 lbs a week safely so it can be kept off.
I think she was already overweight prior to the pregnancy so maybe thats what she meant. Either way, I wonder why so many woman use pregnancy as an excuse to eat unhealthy. Thats a conversation I think we should have also.
I might need to co-sign that.
I can’t feel sympathy for someone who has every advantage, then whines about it anyway.
Pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood – the great equalizer, when we all finally realize that no matter what we have or do, we are all everyday women.
Comments are closed.