Anytime a celebrity or major public figure undergoes dramatic weight loss, the public seems to raise its eye in disbelief that the process must’ve been anything but healthy.

“She must’ve starved herself.”

“We know she was in the bathroom after eating.”

“Look how small she’s gotten. We can see her ribs! She must have an eating disorder.”

While it’s certainly admirable for the public to care about the health of its favorite celebrities, not every dramatic weight loss story is a sign of an eating disorder. Eating disorders are defined as a group of conditions composed of abnormal eating habits that involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual’s physical and mental health. While the most popular faces of eating disorders have been ribs-protruding, young white women, the truth is that people of all body types, races, and genders suffer from these diseases. And moreover, newly-achieved thinness or dramatic weight loss is not an automatic diagnosis.

But what could dramatic weight loss be a sign of? Well, it could serve as evidence of a strict exercise and dietary regiment. It could be a byproduct of surgery. It could come from dieting pills. It could result from a lot of potential situations, including an eating disorder, but that shouldn’t be the first conclusion that we jump to.

If we look at the dramatic weight loss story of media-mogul Raven Symone, it seems like the media threw her newly-achieved thinner body under the bus. Countless publications accused Symone of having an eating disorder, getting surgery, or taking unhealthy dietary pills. Some even went as far to say that she was being a horrible example for young women, assuming that she didn’t achieve weight loss in a proper way. But all of these conclusions are pure speculation, as Symone has maintained that she lost the weight the good old fashioned way: diet and exercise.

On a more personal note, even when it comes to our friends and family, the same speculation often applies. If someone experiences dramatic weight loss, the first question most people ask is: “have you been eating?” Or they assume that a more selective dietary plan is a sign of self-starvation and thus, an eating disorder.

Is it better to speculate and be concerned about our loved ones and favorite celebs perhaps falling victim to an eating disorder? Or should we not be so quick to assume the negative? Perhaps, we should take dramatic weight loss at face value: a sign that someone put effort forward to lose weight.

Drop your thoughts….

 

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17 Comments

  1. I key clue on how she lost weight is the fact that she’s not toned, at all. She’s very flabby.

  2. I don’t know if you can surmise the manner in which someone lost weight through a photo. Some people are more apt to develop muscle definition than others. Not only that, she was hella overweight. . .if she is “flabby,” and I’m not saying she is, that can be attributed to excess skin.

  3. Excess skin is attributed to losing a lot of weight in a short period of time. Consistent exercise will tone skin and is a key indicator that someone lost weight a healthy way. I don’t know Raven Symone personally, but articles like these tend to add fuel to fire of judgement.

    • @SheThrives11: RE: “healthy way”

      That’s not true. I know a woman who told me she was fat all of her life and she didn’t lose her weight and become a size 4 or so until her 40s. She worked out more than I, and while she was slender, she had saggy skin and was struggling to gain tone and definition. Again, you can’t make a determination regarding a “healthy” way of losing weight until you actually have first hand knowledge.

  4. With diet and exercise you can lost alot of weight. Even if you eat 6 times per day, take a bike and move for half hour move every day.You can lost alot of weight.
    Yes offcors many take the surgery, or taking unhealthy dietary pills to lost weight.

  5. What’s funny is that if Raven and Jennifer Hudson became famous as they are now, no one would think twice about speculating over eating disorders or starvation. Unfortunately, it’s become part of pop culture to judge women’s bodies, period.

    • This is what I always say when people ask have they gotten “too skinny”? They only reason they look “too skinny” is because they used to be much bigger. If they had come to fame at their now normal weight sizes, no one would ask that question.

      Now when you get to the Nicole Richie – actual ribs showing – point, that may signal an issue brewing.

  6. Unfortunately most people are uneducated on the process of losing weight. Actually, if you want to lose weight starving yourself is not the way to go about doing it. Most of these celebs have hired professionals that give them the proper nutrition and right amount of exercise to achieve weight loss!

  7. I don’t know about the celebrities, but I lost weight “the old fashioned way” and I resent people saying that because I tend to be more toned in my leg area than my arms and stomach, I’ve done it in an unhealthy way. I’ve had children, unlike Raven-Symone, but even before that, I tended to collect more weight in my upper body. We are all built differently. Why is it that folks want to jump to the wrong conclusions about how someone lost weight? Give someone a year, and they can lose over 100 pounds–in a healthy way. Just because not many can do it doesn’t mean that the few did it the wrong way.

  8. I am happy for Raven Symone. She is a bright, beautiful young woman making healthy changes in her diet, exercise and lifestyle and a fabulous role model for young woman. Weight loss is a very hard and challenging undertaking. I hope she is able to honestly share her healthy weight loss tips to her fans. She certainly has a lot of smart business success tips to share as well.

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