The numbers she gives don't add up---219-75=142. And she also told Oprah she wants to lose another 30-40 lbs. That would be ridiculous for someone who "spent most of her life at 130." Obviously, she is still in the 175 range if she wants to lose that much more.

OTOH, I'm 5'9" and 174 and I'd never dream of wearing a bikini! She does look good and has every reason to be proud. But would she wear that bikini on the beach without pantyhose???

I'm betting that there isn't a person here who wouldn't be delighted if we made as big a difference in our appearance as Kirstie has. Good for her, no matter how big her thighs are, or how much she actually weighs right now.

According to Oprah, Kirstie's highest weight was 220. Kirstie is saying she has lost 75 lbs. I give her a lot of credit for getting on national tv at 55 years old in a bikini. She looks good.

She's something like 5'8" tall....no way is she now 140-145....

No, she probably WOULDN'T wear that bikini on the beach without pantyhose... there'd be too many papparazzi waiting to get the most unflattering picture they can, so they can put a big headline across it declaring she's lying about her weight, or gaining her weight back.

She looks good... whatever her true weight might be. And she seems to feel better which is even better than how she looks.

OT... Kim8461... I see you're 7 lbs from your goal! Almost 100 lbs!! That is awesome!! Congrats! Where in NW Jersey are you? I grew up in Mt. Arlington.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...

I don't think this is "bashing" I think we are just stating opinions for conversation but I do think if she is going to make a national issue of it on TV then she should be open and honest about her weight. Yes it's great that she's lost all that weight but she is also promoting a weight loss company and shouldn't be fudging the number of pounds lost by eating this companies products.

Oh, yes. We can't put a black mark on the honesty and integrity of television commercials by not proving how much we weigh at any given time. Next, you're going to tell me those people don't all have hemmoroids?

I guess by saying she made it public, so it's open to discussion and "conversation", it would be okay to post and critique the photos posted by members? After all, they made it public.

Just saying.

Feel free. It's certainly not going to come as news to me that I'm overweight, or that I have a lot of work to do ::shrug::.

To me this is not just about television commercials. I don't believe that Heather Locklear uses Loreal hair colors, that Halle Berry uses Revlon makeup, or that Kirstie Alley lost all this weight just because of Jenny Craig.

My issue from the beginning has been that it's disappointing to have someone who is holding herself up as an example of getting more fit and healthy, be dishonest about her weight.

Yes, she looks great. Yes, she's done a lot of hard work. But think of it this way: If she did weigh 300 pounds or close to it to start (and she may or may not have, I believe she did), then how much MORE inspirational and amazing would her story have been to other women who are far more than 220 pounds? What if she had said, "I weigh 275, and I'm going to do something about it" and then proceeded to take all the steps that she's taken? Would it have detracted from her message in any way? How many women between the 220 and 300 mark would have found someone they could identify with much more easily?

Instead, what we've seen is someone who is clearly still self deluded about her weight issues, and apparently thinks that the rest of us are deluded too. As Dr Phil says, you can't fix what you won't acknowledge.

Well said Spiritof72, well said !

Dr. Phil also says the things that bother us the most about other people are things we, ourselves, need to look at more closely. Why on Earth should it bother people so much if they THINK Kirstie weighed/weighs more than she reported? I suppose a write-in campaign to get her to step on a scale on national television would be proof enough for some, but there'd still be that group claiming the scales are rigged.

Altruistic motives of wanting her to inspire more people aside...

As a member of the Triple Digit Club, I can tell you how hard it was for me to put my stats down when I first joined this site. I was mortified by my own numbers....but I saw many others doing it so I took comfort in knowing that I was not alone.

I suspect that Kirstie had something similar going on when she first decided to go public with her weight....I really feel that she could not tell the world her real number as it was too much for her to deal with. Maybe if she had been part of a group like this , it would've made it easier for her to tell the truth.
Kirstie got a series on cable based on her fat body...then she got a contract from JC, to lose weight eating their food.....she had to lose or not earn that money...probably. My point is this...I am an intelligent woman and I really feel that she is insulting me and her audience by not telling her true original weight. That takes away from her credibility in my mind.

Even Oprah talks about her all time high being 237...I believe that to be true because we know that we trust Oprah.


As far as what Dr Phil has to say? Has he ever lost 100 lbs or needed to lose 100 lbs....or dealt with the shame of being obese? NO!
He is speaking of the mirror concept...that which we see in others and makes us nuts ...is something that we need to examine in ourselves. I've faced and dealt with my morbid obesity...but I am not a movie star or a celebrity...so I could do it here in my anonymous little corner of the WWW.

Being that she went public, IMHO, she did herself a disservice by not telling her true weight. Oh, and one more thing....losing the weight is the easy part...lets see where she is one year from now!!

What I meant was to examine our own motives for bringing someone like her down for whatever reason. I've seen pictures of Oprah where she may or may not look like her stated weight...big deal. People who don't like her are very quick to point out whatever nitpicky hypocrisy suits them.

No, Dr. Phil hasn't personally lost 100 lbs., even though he has close relatives who struggle with morbid obesity, he's the first one to tell you he hasn't walked a mile in their shoes. What I was talking about, aside from the "mirror concept", was thinking of the reasons it might bother someone that Kirstie is supposedly so ashamed of her "numbers" she feels the need to lie. (again, allegedly...unless anyone has SEEN her weight on a scale or is her personal doctor here) Maybe that shame pulls our own strings if we've had what we see as a greater struggle, maybe it hurts because we're still struggling with more to lose, or maybe some people just like to feel good and smug that they've done "better" and want to make SURE everyone knows it.

<shrug>

That'd explain why a tubby doctor writes diet books, wouldn't it?

And it might also explain why the perception someone lied about their weight would generate buzz - because many have done the same thing. Kudos to Kirstie for turning it around, but keep in mind she started this very public discussion and is nobody's victim.

Huh. Well, that's all very dramatic and insightful, but I'm not trying to "bring her down." I'm just discussing what I see as a discrepancy between her walk and her talk.