Between 2005 and 2007 Kirstie Alley lost 75 pounds as a Jenny Craig spokeswoman. She then went on Oprah in a bathing suit – a super gutsy move. Very shortly thereafter Kirstie seemed to lose her motivation and began regaining weight. Now she says she’s committed to losing it all over again, and admits some of the mistakes she made that caused her to have to start from scratch.
Kirstie Alley has a sympathetic ear in Oprah Winfrey when it comes to weight loss – and gain. In an interview scheduled to air on Thursday’s The Oprah Winfrey Show, the former Jenny Craig spokeswoman discusses her recent weight fluctuations – and reveals an unlikely inspiration in her renewal to get fit.
“We look around. We see what we want,” says Alley, 58. “Don’t you look around and see what you want to look like? I’m, like, ‘Look, Michelle Obama’s guns. I could have those arms,’ ” she says. “I don’t know about the legs.”
Responds Winfrey: “You’ve got to work for that.” … “I know,” Alley says. “I’m saying, I think I’m ready to work.” After reducing on the Jenny Craig program, Alley tells Winfrey she gained back all the weight because of a lack of urgency. “I just said, ‘I’m going to cut myself some slack.’ Big mistake.” Having turned her home gym into a dining room, “I thought, ‘You know what I need? You know what I haven’t had a lot of? I haven’t had a lot of dinner parties and company,’ ” says Alley.
The actress, who last February announced she would be developing her own weight-loss brand, admits, “In a way it’s sort of … crazy. We’re in the middle of a recession, and I decide, yes, I’m going to create my own business … I’m going to lose 80 pounds … I’m going to be in a bikini again.
[From People]
People has a short clip from the show on their site and it looks like Kirstie’s already lost some weight. I’ve always found her to be really likeable, and I appreciate the realistic way she talks about weight issues. She doesn’t throw a bunch of trite garbage at you and is honest about her mistakes. I don’t find that pre-packaged diets like Jenny Craig work very well for me. I like to cook and bake so I prefer to make my own food. But Jenny Craig clearly worked for Kirstie and a lot of other people, and you’ve got to figure out what best fits your lifestyle.
Speaking of which, Jenny Craig said they’d be happy to have Kirstie come back – as a client.
One option that could be open to her? Returning to her former employers, who say they’ve still got friendly feelings for Kristie.
“Jenny Craig maintains a friendly relationship with Kirstie and we are proud of her accomplishments while she was on our program. Kirstie successfully lost 75 lbs and maintained that weight loss throughout our three year relationship, which came to an end in December 2007. We remain supportive of Kirstie, wish her nothing but the best and we would welcome her back at any time as a returning client,” said a Jenny Craig spokesperson.
[From OK! Magazine]
It seems like there might have been a dig or two in there. That part about being proud of her accomplishments “while she was on our program.” Not just proud of her accomplishments. But maybe they were just trying to get in another plug for Jenny Craig. They were definitely clear that they didn’t want her back for an endorsement deal with that whole “we would welcome her back at any time as a returning client” thing. Of course you would. Hey maybe they’d even waive that $20 fee?
Here’s Kirstie in September. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .
Oh, Kirstie. Those pictures are so horrible. Sad. I hope she’s able to lose weight again and keep it off.
I’m pullin for her.
I’d rather have Kirstie than KFed as a spokesperson! (Oh wait, maybe KFed is NutriSystem, anyhoodle…) I think Kirstie is brave to recognize and acknowledge publicly that she let herself slip. I hope she can both lose the weight and find a way to enjoy dinner and company again. That’s got to be a tough balance, and if she can, I would definitely want to learn how!
I hate to say it, but isnt it hard to remember that she was once considered a sex symbol?
Aw, she worked so hard to lose the weight last time. I hate to see her like that with it all gained back.
^^^*blink* Seriously? That must have been when I was in preschool, because I have no memory of that whatsoever.
No, it’s not hard, she has great tits and a pretty face. All beauty fades — get used to it.
I wonder if she wants the BBQ or Sweet-n-Sour sauce to go with them?
gastric bypass You ( Kristie ) and You too Oprah
bullllshittte she never was the weight she said she was when she put on that pathetic bikini with pantyhose and prance’d out on Oprah.
you might want to do some research on JennyGraig and see just how many “celebrity spokespeople” have been failures on that plan.
Wow Kiki, it’s nice to know you are perfect. Give her a break, it’s not as easy to keep the weight off @ 58 as it was 18
so she gained weight, but why does she have to dress like she spent the night sleeping in a dumpster? at least brush your hair, kirstie!
She looks like Mad Madam Mim from Disney’s Sword in the Stone.
I think the “while she was on our plan” is meant to convey to people that Jenny Craig does work if you stay on it. It’s such BS. It’s not a realistic lifestyle to buy prepackaged meals for the rest of your life. Of course you’ll gain weight once you stop unless you learn to have a healthy lifestyle.
@ firedmyass, my thought exactly.
You know, I have a diet system for her….PUT THE SHOVEL DOWN.
It is such a struggle for some to lose weight. She is obviously one of them. I hope she succeeds; she really is a beautiful woman, but more importantly, she needs to lose weight for her health. More power to her! I hope this time next year she’s showing off her fab new body!
I love her. i always have. with the yo-yoing and everything else she’s seems like a very likable person
“It’s not a realistic lifestyle to buy prepackaged meals for the rest of your life. Of course you’ll gain weight once you stop unless you learn to have a healthy lifestyle. ”
VERY well said. that’s why study after study shows that the only “diet” that works (for the rest of your life) is Weight Watchers, because they teach you how to eat
emotional eating…..and I really like her. I hope she can reclaim a sense of control and start juicing and eating organic fruits/veggies and eat meat only once a day and then down to once or twice a week….same goes for the sweets. She must feel depressed and in a rutt………
UGH…
to continue what I was saying above…
they teach you how to eat regular foods, but in moderation and in the right combination. how to eat healthily…
yeah, you can splurge and have a brownie but you have fewer “points” to negotiate the rest of your day with.
every person I’ve known who did the Zone, or the Adkins, or South Beach…when they start to eat a regular diet again, they gain most of the weight back because those plans are not a lifestyle change, they’re a temporary fix.
she seems cool… real woman with real problems… though i agree with the previous poster, why not just get a lap band or something at this point? (Oprah too). the side effects have got to be worth it at this point, after a lifetime of weight and dieting issues, i’d probably just be sick of it and get stomach stapling…
best of luck to her.
I hope she can find the answers she needs and the lifestyle and mentality change she needs to maintain weight loss. Its one of the hardest changes to make and I don’t envy the struggle ahead of her.
I like her a lot, I really hope she gets to where she wants to be.
It’s a physical and emotional struggle with over-eating/addictive eating and it’s certainly not something that can be done by simply ‘putting down the shovel’. She needs to lose weight for health reasons and that can’t be done by going on a diet – you need to change the way you eat and the way you think about food forever.
Actually, I don’t like her very much. Based on biographies, interviews, etc. I have always considered her arrogant and totally self-absorbed.
I have to agree totally with McKenna: the worst part of these Jenny Craig-type “diets” is that they are NOT teaching people how to change their eating habits. If you rely on food that is pre-packaged so you don’t have to make any decisions, what do you do when it is over? (and the term diet implies that it has a time limit).
That is why so many people on programs gain weight back. They are not prepared to really change their lifestyle (at least not longer than it takes to reach their “goal”)
Despite my dislike of Kirsty Alley, I do agree that it is much harder to lose weight and keep it off in your 50’s than in your 20’s.
anon, a friend of mine (who has done Weight Watchers, as have I) is currently having a LOT of success with Overeaters Anonymous. Lots of overweight people do know how do eat, but it’s an addiction issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case with Kirsty, because she used to be a drug addict before $cientology programs “cured” her. (Often addicts will replace one addiction with another.) A shame that whatever helped her with the drugs can’t help with the food.
STUPID ASS.
I don care if she is fat. but she lied about her weight. she said she was 145 -150 lbs.. she was not. if the Cof$ help kick her off her cocaine addiction.. why cant they help her with this? plus she has an additive personality.. food replaced coke
Holy crap, that’s the ugliest picture I’ve ever seen of her…or anyone, really.
she’s almost 60 years old, why does she think she still needs to be in a bikini?
she almost 60 years old why does she feel a need to be in a bikini?
she still wants to do that, She said she lost 20 lbs in 4 weeks and she is developing her own weight loss thing..whatever that might be
even Oprah whose eyes light up when ever someone mentions a secret weight loss gimmick seemed unimpressed. Kirsite wants to be on Oprahs show in Nov showing off her new “thin” figure. shes still at almost 60 years seems fixated on a set weight. Telling you all this is not going to work. she get thin and get fat all up again. Interesting with women like Kirstie and especially Oprah that they have every opportunity in the world, special diets personal diet cheifs exercise trainers and they can’t be where they want to be.
Lord, honestly, I think these are the two most boring topics of conversation ever:
1. what you dreamed about last night
2. your plans for losing the same 40 pounds for the fifteenth time.
Look, I’ve been there, done that. I’m sympathetic. I seem to gain and lose the same 30 pounds every year or two. But I’m still me. I’m ok heavier and I’m ok lighter. I’m not going to assume the entire world is interested in my weight or what I eat or don’t eat, etc.
I guess I’m trying to say I think part of the reason society makes such a big stinking deal over women gaining weight is because the women themselves make a big stinking deal out of it.
Actually, people with an obesity gene eat less than most people. They generally don’t eat anything different. Its simply that starch carbs and sugars even in small doses cause the body to retain fat. It’s genetic. A person with this gene would retain fat even from ONE bowl of cereal and a half sandwich a day and nothing more. My mother was 400lbs and I have this gene. I struggle to stay at 130lbs. It actualy takes eating carbs only once a week and living on just meat and vegetables 95% of the time. Those of us with this aweful gene know how LITTLE we eat.
beave, you make an excellent excellent point… i’ve often thought about this and wondered “when exactly in history did weight become such a big deal”). it seems somewhat arbitrary. but, the fact of the matter is, weight IS a big deal to women. it carries immense emotional burden.
KansasRefugee addressed this somewhat on another threat, but it basically boils down to the fact that women with good bodies tend to get away with a lot more. they tend to be more taken care of by men. they tend to have more romantic experiences. they tend to make more money. they tend to get hit on more. they have more variety and choice in lovers. the list goes on really.
so if you trace back the real cause of why women worry about their weight so much (and looking good in general) is because men tend to have a preference for thinner women. so i suppose if someone had no interest in dating and romance, being thin or fat wouldn’t be such a big deal. although there ARE still health implications. but studies show that carrying around a little weight isn’t a huge problem, it’s obesity that’s a big health concern.
anyway, i dunno… i guess there’s just that instinctual urge to date and mate… which seems to be the driving force behind all these weight issues…ultimately, men are fueling the fire, but they seem to just sit back and watch us women fall all over ourselves dealing with it and chalk it up to “cat fighting”.
this is not intended to put any blame on men, they like what they like… just making an observation.
EH, she needs lotz and lotz more “auditing”.
The real factor that nobody can deny is simply this:
There AIN’T no substitute for good old-fashioned exercise. Get up off that couch.
She wants Michelle’s arm…and I want to take my arm and beat the living crap out of Jenny Craig for this phuckery gone wrong!!!
I love that one of the ads on this page is Valerie Bertinelli (sp?) looking svelte. lol
As for Kirstie, after seeing her in interviews, and reading her for years, she no longer interests me. She comes across as a bitter person, and that’s a shame, because she once seemed so fun.
gg, naturally thin women don’t need to move and can eat an army’s ration of food a day. The severely obese women (you are right) have to MOVE constantly in order to just stay at a satisfactory weight and eat less than half the normal potions. Genetically obese people are the “eco-green’s” vision come true. People who eat almost nothing and still live. (laughs). Put them in a concentration camp, they’d be the last alive on one roll a day.
“that’s why study after study shows that the only “diet” that works (for the rest of your life) is Weight Watchers, because they teach you how to eat”
I hope you are right! I’ve been doing WW since the end of February and have lost 30 lbs so far. It really is a good, sensible program and the beauty of it is that I can have anything I want–nothing is off limits–as long as I don’t go over my points for the day. I love it!
@Christina T: You may be right about going the lap band/gastric bypass route, but it’s not for everyone. It’s not just a quick fix…it is surgery and there are a lot of risks that go with it. I have several friends who have had successful weight loss surgery (yay for them!), but I also have a friend who had it done a year ago, and spent 4 months in a coma as a result of surgery gone bad. She is much better now, but still has a lot of issues and may never feel really good again; her life is now defined by whether she feels really crappy or just kinda crappy. Granted, she’s lost a ton of weight and quite frankly is a very beautiful woman now, but she will tell you that it was NOT worth it.
@yae: your post defies all known science and logic. Obese people eat more than people who are not obese. Your post is so full of false information that it is mind boggling. Regardless of genetics, the simple fact is that to lose weight, one must burn more calories than one takes in. That’s it. That’s all. Nothing else.
I used to work with a woman who was very overweight (I would say by around 100 lbs or so). She would talk about how she just NEVER eats, and that it made no sense that she was fat. She went on at length about what a medical anomaly she was because, well, she just didn’t eat! I felt bad for her until I happened to see her eating lunch one day and saw that she had a meal that would satisfy a linebacker…a huge sandwich dripping with mayonnaise and fatty meats, chips, sugary soft drink, etc. But she just never eats and cannot understand why she is fat. I think she was self-delusional (as opposed to deliberately lying). Reading your post makes me wonder if you are her…if not, then I think you must be quite like her if you think you can eat very little and still be fat. That just is not how it works.
watched a couple of fat actress episodes last nite – sooooo funny.
@Barnesir–I think you (and the woman you mentioned in your post) both suffer from the same misconception–that obese/overweight people need to eat LESS in order to get thin.
That’s not true–it’s what you eat. Look at it from your former co-worker’s perspective…she is not eating anything more than most “average” women are (a sandwhich and drink and bag of chips), and very likely it is all she is having until dinner.
The real problem is that she is probably hungry most of the time (she has more body to feed than some women), has no energy and is probably ravenous by the time she gets home.
The real issue is that she’s making bad food choices (mayo, processed meats, sugar, junk food), so that even though she is not eating enough to make her feel full, she is getting way too much fat and calories.
She doesn’t need to eat LESS–she needs to eat BETTER food that she can have more of it so she is not hungry and resorting to junk.
As I said in an earlier post, this is what is wrong with Jenny Criag. You might be able to stick with it–the deprivation, the pre-made food–for a while. But how does that help in the long run? How does it help a person know what foods are their best choices without having to be reduced to salad day in and day out? (and who wants to live with only salad and veggies to look forward to?).
Sorry for the soapbox…I just see so many women who are overweight yet constantly starving and miserable who just need good food strategies: NOT to be told they are delusional for thinking they don’t eat that much or that they should eat less.
barn, good point about the surgery risks… i know there are plenty.
although, i disagree with your statement that this woman eats like a hog… sounds like a typical lunch to me… although, in all honesty, i dislike when people walk around whining about how little they eat… nobody really wants to hear that sorry to say.
Barn, I actually have maintained my weight at 130lbs-145lbs (Im short) for years. (with the exception of dealing with a recent acl tear), I have spent my life jogging, roller blading and cutting starch carbs from my diet in order to fight off weight gain that can actualy reach the level of a lb a week if I eat starches or sugar everyday. I noticed this in my twenties when I would jog three miles a day and still ate pasta, yet I was still getting “thick”. The muscel was there from exercise but there was a growing layer of fat that refused to let go and it would GROW. I won’t be a rude as you are. But lets just say you need to speak to an MD about genetic obesity and they will tell you that its a fact, sometime thyroid, sometimes just genes. So when you get your MD we can chat
I suppose genetically THIN women who are UNABLE to put on any weight no matter much they eat DON’T exist either? Well, if they eat alot by YOUR logic, genetically thin women must surely have to get OBESE. Well sorry, genetics dont always follow your rules.
Somebody alert Captain Ahab.
I love Kirstie and I hope she finds a plan. The key is consistency and maintenance. Don’t give up Kirstie!! We all fall off the wagon, but we get back up, learn from our mistakes, and keep it moving.
I am getting sick and tired of the double standard how Hollywood has between overweight actresses differently than overweight actors.
I’m not nearly as fat as her but I can relate to Kristy because losing weight is a hard thing to do but keeping it off is even harder.
I know she’s heavy-but good gawd-she COULD dress in a more flattering manner.
You just know she doesn’t have underwear on underneath her mumu.
If she keeps gaining the weight back then it’s psychological and any diet plan she tries will always be temporary.
Some women, for example, feel more vulnerable at a thinner weight and so keep gaining the weight back.
Without examining those issues she’s always going to gain it back.
FF; shes not that kind of person cause if she lost it one time already she can loose it again shes gonna loose weight easily cause thats the kind of person she is her stomach can loose or gain weight as much as she wants it too she gained weight cause she wanted to then she lost weight cause she wanted too so if she can loose her weight like that she can loose her weight now
@yae: I work for a medical university and speak with MD’s at great length on a daily basis, and have for the past 12 years. I have sat in on literally hundreds of morning report sessions, noon conferences and medical lectures, many of them on the topic of obesity, its causes and various treatments, as well as having read numerous medical journals on that topic (as well as others). I believe that, while I am not an MD, I have had a rare opportunity to learn more about the topic from the perspective of an MD than most, simply because I happen to be lucky enough to work in this environment. So your comments that I am undereducated on the topic are extremely incorrect.
I stand by what I stated; nothing in my post was factually incorrect. Having a genetic predisposition to being overweight may make it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight, but that doesn’t negate the simple formula that one must burn more calories than one consumes in order to lose weight. However, I have heard lots of doctors complain that their patients come to them looking for a magic pill or something to help them lose weight but won’t put in the effort it takes to exercise a little or to cut back their caloric intake. They complain about obese people who doctor-shop until they find one that will prescribe a motorized scooter so they can stop walking the little that they do. Then these same patients come back and complain-as though it were the fault of their doctor-that they “can’t” lose weight, when in reality it isn’t that they can’t, it is that they won’t.
I’m not saying it is easy or that I am not sympathetic; God knows I have struggled with weight issues myself. I’m just saying that genetics might be a factor that makes it a little more difficult to keep weight to within a normal range; but regardless, the formula simply doesn’t change, no matter how much we wish it would. You must burn more calories than you take in to lose weight. There is just no way around that, period.
Oh, and a thyroid problem is not the same thing as having the obesity gene.
“suppose genetically THIN women who are UNABLE to put on any weight no matter much they eat DON’T exist either?”
If the genetically thin women eat more calories than they burn, then yes…they will gain weight. There is no getting away from that simple formula. That is just the way the human body works.
Those genetically thin women are people like my niece, for example. Sure, she’s tall and thin. But she also “forgets” to eat when she is busy. Or she might have a high calorie meal that would make people think she eats a ton. But what they don’t realize is that it is probably her only meal that day. And that she is always on the go, burning up those calories. She doesn’t sit around every night eating chips and ice cream watching TV. If she did, she’d gain weight, as would any other “genetically thin” woman.
Genetics do play a role with our weight, no question. Some people have faster or slower metabolisms than others. But you clearly think that genetics has a much larger role in determining our body sizes than it actually does. There is just no getting away from the fact that, even with a genetic predisposition to heaviness, if one eats a low-calorie, low-fat diet and gets moderate exercise, they WILL lose weight.
I don’t forget to eat and I eat quite a bit and am very tiny (no gym for me!) But I like to DO things. I don’t watch TV. I already spend 10+ hrs on the computer because of work, so when I get home, I’m over sitting in front of a screen for the rest of the afternoon. I don’t walk around because I don’t want to get fat, I walk around because I’m sick of sitting on my ass for 10+ hours.
That being said, I do agree on the notion of genetic predisposition playing a factor but not the only factor in obesity.
It comes down to eating too much and then parking your fatness onto a couch instead of taking your dog for a walk.
I don’t jog. I don’t hit the gym or even exercise by those standards. but I walk my dog, and I try to take the stairs instead of elevators (mostly because elevators freak me out and I’ve gotten stuck in them).
Served with wine white gravy and a side of fava beans, no doubt.