Katherine Heigl’s career isn’t where she wants it to be, I’m assuming. Her legal drama, Doubt, was canceled by CBS about three weeks ago after just two episodes had aired. Before that she starred on NBC thriller State of Affairs, which ran for just one season before it was eliminated. Since Doubt she’s only had a voice role on The Nut Job 2 and according to IMDB has nothing else in the works. So she needs to drum up some interest and cash and what better way than by sharing a relatable story about trying to lose baby weight? So Katherine posted a too-long story to her blog, Those Heavenly Days, about how much weight she gained while pregnant with her third child, son Joshua, born on December 20th of last year. She uses a lot of words to explain how she lost all but 10 pounds of that weight already by being kind to herself or something. (This was her first pregnancy and while I normally wouldn’t distinguish between her biological and adopted children, it’s relevant to this story.) Here’s some of what she wrote and it’s all about her and how hard this was for her and body positivity, etc. Then she plugs a meal delivery service, because this is where her career is now. As an editor I would have wiped out about 70% of this essay. This is a condensed version of course:
She gained 50 pounds while pregnant
In the seven months since Joshua Jr was born I have managed to slowly but surely drop my pregnancy weight with only 10 pounds left to lose. I gained almost 50 pounds during my pregnancy and I’m not gonna lie, I had moments of sheer panic that I’d never be able to lose it all. I had hoped to only gain 25-30 pounds like my mother during her pregnancies but found that just wasn’t possible for me.She lost 30 pounds soon after the baby was born, most of it water and baby
About ten days after Joshua Jr’s birth I got back on the scale to see where I was at and how far I had to go. I had miraculously dropped about 30 of the 50 pounds. I remember being absolutely dumbfounded and weighing myself two more times to be sure the scale was correct.She’s lost 10 pounds since
We’ve all heard about the gals who tone up and get right back into their skinny jeans weeks after their babies birth but this was not me, nor was I trying for it to be. I have only lost 10 pounds since that first initial drop but that’s ok because I decided from the start that I was going to lovingly but patiently reclaim my pre baby body, and forgive the glorious imperfections that would forever grace my new post baby body. Like the caesarean scar that everyone said would be practically unnoticeable but in my case stretches almost hip to hip.Her “best weight loss advice”
My best weight loss advice is to start every morning by saying out loud a positive mantra of your choice about your body. Mine is “I am easily, with good health, inspiration, grace and gratitude losing weight faster than I can even imagine with harm to none.” Then I say my gratefuls. Thanking my body for it’s perfect health, strength, limberness, vibrancy, youthfulness and beauty.”
“Thanking my body for it’s perfect health, strength, limberness, vibrancy, youthfulness and beauty.” You really get a sense of her personality in this essay and I’ll leave it at that.
I gained over 50 pounds during my first and only pregnancy. Like Katherine I lost about 25-30 pounds after my baby was born. Then I gained again when I stopped breastfeeding and yo-yoed for about ten years, honestly. Weight stuff is hard and it can take a while to reach a point where you’re comfortable and can stay there. In the scheme of things Katherine lost this weight quickly. Seven months is nothing, but compared to her peers I guess she was slow. I appreciate that she’s typically a very healthy not-too-thin weight. (Although I get why celebrities do that – access to fashion.) She’s an actress, so she needed to slim down fast to be considered for more roles, sadly. I mean she has other impediments to being hireable, of course. Also being perceived by the public as down to earth and likable is important. This will give her some headway, but in the end it was just a commercial. She should really focus her social media on her animal advocacy work. People love pet rescue stories but you don’t get paid for that.
Also this Instagram caption below is not correct. She does talk about eating lower calorie meals and making her calories healthy food. She also talks about cardio but not going too hard.
photos credit: WENN and Katherine Heigl
She definitely looks like she’s at a healthy weight, so I’m not saying she should *lose* or anything…but she kinda doesn’t look very fit/toned. Probably wouldn’t hurt to lift weights a bit.
Also why does she wear her glasses pushed up so far on her face? Theyre the wrong shape for her face/nose and it looks super weird to me. Is that just me?
meow….
Yeah you’re right, that was too catty. My bad k-heig.
Well, the last time I saw her on screen was in a cat litter tv commercial, so MEOW is right!
The sunglasses thing drives me crazy! They never look right on her face, in any picture.
It’s her big cheeks – the large sunglasses hit them and push everything up. I have the same problem, which is why I avoid that style
Thanking my body for its perfect health…
not “it’s”
I know she can’t keep her mouth shut re: complaining about work, but I’m legit surprised that she still hasn’t found a way back into regular work. Even asshole dudes don’t get shut out of work like that – Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, etc etc
Because they are dudes. Hollywood doesn’t forgive bitchy women, it gets even.
Ask Alex Pettyfer where his career is. Hollywood doesn’t like people who bite the hands that feed them. She had multiple opportunities. Talk to Aunt Viv about one and done careers.
right? she’s an a-hole for sure but the menfolk in her industry get so much more leeway when it comes to assholery.
“Thanking my body for its youthfulness and beauty” … Ahem?
A friend of mine who is a doctor told me that the best way to “get back in shape” is to be “in shape” before getting pregnant and maintaining a nourishing, healthy diet plus exercise during pregnancy. I am aware that each pregnancy come with its challenges but still, there are healthy women who put their feet up, use pregnancy as an excuse to eat more than advised, and then they complain they can’t lose the weight. I even know a vegetarian who was spot on on her diet before getting pregnant and then ate loads of meat during her pregnancy. I know a stay-at-home mom who had 10kg more to lose a year after she had the baby. She had nothing else to do then looking after the baby, cooking, laundry, cleaning a very small house – the husband participating to cooking and cleaning. No judgement though.
I dont have kids
And with that said
Your meaness in judging the ppl you know is a good example of women being A-holes to women for no reason.
It’s really a learning moment. If they don’t want to do the work and complain that’s their choice. Who cares? U don’t live their lives-just yours pumpkin.
kimbers
I don’t have time for people who call me an asshole or who translate my observations into me being mean.
Pumpkin
You kinda make it seem like you have time by all your replys.
Learning moment here
I don’t think Pumpkin was trying to be unkind in her comment she was just stating that she observed two friends who went through two different pregnancy and weight gain/loss experiences.Im no vegetarian but I craved meat so much during pregnancy.And my body loves to gain weight but somehow after gaining 27 pounds with my daughter at 3 weeks I had lost 31 pounds,and I was a SAHM.We are all so different and each pregnancy is too.😀
Sounds like quite a bit of judgement.
Observations, not judgement.
Uh huh. And I’m going to assume you’re a paragon of virtue that has never had weight problems, always has a pristine home without a speck of dust, top performer at your job, laundry done, and either no kids or perfectly behaved children that slept a solid nine hours at night from birth, or else someone else might be making unkind “observations” about you to internet strangers. Mazel tov!
She had nothing to do except take care of a baby and a house? Oh, you sweet, sweet ignorant child…
Thank you for the compliment.
I know that particular situation so I know what I am talking about.
I gain about what Katherine gained during my first pregnancy. I don’t think I was, “kicking my feet up” as much as I was just enjoying not worrying about food and being fat for the first time in 15 years. It was really freeing, having spent most of my adult life with various eating disorders.
That being said, I did regret it after my pregnancy. Taking care of a baby and a house is HARD, no matter what you say. Try not sleeping more than 2 hours at a time for 2 months, constantly attached at the boob to an infant, and see how much you feel like cooking healthy meals and cleaning house. A million times worse the second time around when you’ve got a toddler. SAHM’s will tell their house is more messy than a working mom’s, simply because at least working mom’s kids go to daycare and destroy that place all day instead 🙂
Try to have a little empathy. Saying “no judgement” doesn’t take away from the fact that it sounded super judgmental.
I’ve given birth, and I’ve been told the same by a doctor. I was pretty overweight when I got pregnant with my second and was told I needed to not gain any weight during pregnancy, and that it was safe and possible. And I was able to, but it stunk being super conscious of everything I consumed. After giving birth it was 10 times harder getting back into shape (or rather, a shape I was happy with). Before my first child I had been an avid swimmer and weight lifter. I lost my healthy habits along the way and I could really feel it after having my second child.
For some the SAHM experience can include feelings of depression and isolation. That can make losing weight tough.
She looks like she aged 50 years too since I last saw her. Physically, but clearly not mentally as she still sounds as exhausting as ever.
AWw man. Katherine, you can’t talk to the press like you talk to your moms.
Moms thinks your body is youthful and wonderful and beautiful and will smile and nod, the rest of us kind of roll our eyes because you are backhandedly bragging.
Dear Pumpkin, I will tell you what I tell all men ( I’m assuming you’re a man) and women who didn’t give birth: unless you carried a baby for 9 months and gave birth, I and the Universe,do not need your opinion about it.
I was in great shape before becoming pregnant: biking to amd from work daily, running 3 to 5 times a week, more biking on the weekend. Then morning sickness came, I had to take the bus, the only thing that made me feel better was food. Unhealthy food. I tried to go swimming in the 3rd trimester, but the weight kept piling. I gained 60 pounds, I’ve been exercising and eating healthy since giving birth, the baby is 8 months now and I’ve lost 50 pounds.
Bottom line: it was and is f***ing hard to be a mother, cleaning, cooking all day long, breastfeeding, not sleeping and making time to work out. I chose to do it for me, but it comes at great expenses and I wouldn’t dare yo judge some other mom deciding she doesn’t have the energy or time to do it.
So yeah, you are an a**hole and go f*** yourself!
Wow you’re rude.
SAHM here, and formally a “working”
Mom. And I can tell you that staying at home was a hellva lot harder than working. Less sleep, more work, no pay, no thank you, and more judgement from people who think it’s so damn easy.
Not one thing easy about being a SAHM above I commented how for some reason that seemed like nothing shy of a miracle I lost all of my baby weight fast-but I attribute much of that rapid weight loss to being SAHM,never was there a dull moment!No judgement to anyone with a different experience that was just how it worked for me.
I stopped working outside of the home last year and I’m struggling to reorient myself. Didn’t realize how much my sense of self was connected to my career.
Don’t be too hard on yourself it gets easier.It is weird when your job suddenly becomes about what everyone else needs,self identity can get lost a bit but taking time for you helps the transition.
You’re right! Working on getting out of my shell too 🙂
@Dumbledork, BINGO! You nailed it.
Lol nothing like walking around wearing a top with your own face blown up on it. Humble in speech and attire!
OMG I didnt notice that until I read your comment! Yikes!
Katherine is not someone who seems to know the definition of humble.
I think that sweatshirt is an advertisement for her animal charity.
I gained 65lbs during my pregnancy, and only *lost* about 20 after leaving the hospital. I was in phenomenal shape prior to getting pregnant, but had a small hemorrhage during pregnancy and horrible migraines, so I was on and off bed rest the entire time.
I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within 6 months, partially due to severe postpartum depression. If you looked at me from the outside, I looked like I had complete control over that whole process…I didn’t.
Now (my son is 15 months old), I’m back to being healthy. I don’t have nearly the time i used to for working out, but I eat relatively healthy. I’m not in the shape I used to be, but I’m strangely more confident in a swim suit than I ever was before.
@Mle428 – Congrats on your baby, getting your health back, and dropping your weight. Six months is quick to reach that goal, and you should be very proud of yourself! I too suffered PPD, but I found that forcing myself to exercise (when my mind would conjure up every excuse under the sun not to) asap after an emergency c-section really helped combat those dark days.
I don’t mean doing heavy workouts, I mean gradually getting back into it all. I went from taking the baby for long walks in his stroller to putting him in a jogger so I could climb hills as he grew older, to putting him on my back in a pack. He loved it, and I reaped the fitness benefits… and after gaining 60+ lbs. during pregnancy I sure needed it!
The best thing was, I got into even better shape after pregnancy because he was so active and I did all the running around at parks with him (and after him, lol). The second time around with son #2 (another C) wasn’t as easy, but I stuck with the same formula of taking baby with me, while big bro followed on his tricycle or bicycle. They would get to sit on my stomach as I did crunches or lie flat on the soles of my feet pretending to “fly” as I did leg presses while on lying my back. I have fond memories of those days “getting back in shape” with my little buddies. The PPD gradually faded away, and I’m convinced it was due to exercising. As they grew my sons never sat down, so I also had to be sure I took them outside every day to burn off that excess energy. No Nintendo consoles for us. (One neighbor mom told me I was “socially stigmatizing” my kids because I refused to buy them game consoles, lol.) Instead, I was the first person who threw them a ball, played catch, hit off a tee, kicked a goal, dribbled to the basket, demonstrated the underwater handstand, goaltended their slap shot, or threw a spiral. They went on to being involved team members in various sports. TV was only for calming down if there was any time left (usually not). By modeling an active lifestyle we can keep unwanted pounds at bay and demonstrate to our kids how much fun it is to breath hard. Oh how I miss those days.
Thanks for telling your story. It was very inspirational. No snark!
Kudos to any woman who can feel comfortable enough to pose in a bikini within a year, or even longer for that matter, after giving birth.