Kirstie Alley: ‘Yes, I Gained 83 Pounds’
People Magazine runs the story about Kirstie’s recent weight gain and you can also check a video of Kirstie on Oprah (after the jump), explaining why this happened & revealing her future plans. Here’s what People says:
When Kirstie Alley stepped on the scale for the first time in 15 months, it wasn’t pretty. “I started screaming,” recalls Alley, sipping homemade fruit-infused water in her Hollywood kitchen. “It said 228 lbs., which is my highest weight ever. I was so much more disgusting than I thought!”
But looking back, Alley, 58, is hardly shocked. During her three-year stint as a Jenny Craig spokeswoman, she famously trimmed down to 145 lbs. after losing and keeping off 75 lbs. But since parting ways with company in 2007, she had not worked out and banished her gym equipment to the garage. As for her diet, her small, low-calorie portions gave way to Chinese takeout and pasta drenched with butter. “I fell off the horse,” says the 5′8″ star.
Today, Alley says she is primed to hire a trainer, toss the butter and sign up for a triathlon in order to whittle her “schlumpy” figure back down to a bikini-ready 140 lbs. “I’m going to have to work harder than last time,” she says, but “I’m way excited.” In a candid interview, Alley sat down with PEOPLE’s Elizabeth Leonard to talk about how she piled on the pounds – and how she plans to get her body, confidence and – yes! –even her groove back.
Okay, how did this happen?
It started with New Year’s [2008], right after leaving Jenny Craig. When you’re a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, there’s responsibility. You have a person every week standing over you when you get on the scale, and I did it naked because those panties could weigh 30 lbs.! It was amazingly successful. But the first nail in the coffin was that I didn’t have to weigh in. I just sort of went wild.Did you go right back to indulging in cakes and pies the way you did the first time you let yourself go?
It wasn’t the exact same M.O. My food demons are Chinese food, sugar, butter. A lot of butter. If I’m at the movies, usually I eat popcorn without butter, but I’d say, “I’m at the movies, so who cares?” And toast with butter. Or let’s say I had two cups of pasta and six tablespoons of butter on it. There was a lot of butter going on.What else would you eat?
For seven months I was a vegetarian, and I can’t tell you how much weight I gained being a vegetarian! A vegetarian would probably be eating vegetables. But to me being a vegetarian meant I’m going to eat enchiladas with no meat, and I’m going to eat lots of bread, lots of carbs.What weight do you want to get down to?
I have to be below 140 to really look good. I have to work my legs like crazy. Actually, do you want my real goal? My real goal’s always too low. I love the way I look at, like, 128. One time on Cheers, I weighed about 148 lbs., and they told me to lose, like, 20 lbs. Now, I’m 5′8″, so at 148 lbs., I wasn’t fat. But they’re saying, “You know, you need to lose 20 lbs.” So what does that put me at? 128. That’s where I keep getting this number.
Are you self-conscious?
I’m totally inhibited. When I’m overweight I will not go out. With my closest friends, yeah. But you wouldn’t see me at a premiere.But you seem ready to turn your life around.
I’m ready to work. I messed up along the way, but I’m not going to concentrate on that. I’m gonna go, “You know what? Get back on the horse, lose the freakin’ weight, and then just move forward!”
[pro-player width='425' height='344' type='FLV']http://www.youtube.com/v/kGKJteqTYpw[/pro-player]
k a was insanely attractive, when she was young. she still has the most pretty face, but maybe she should try and settle with a healthy lifestyle instead of trying to get a modellesque shape – the weightloss will come with balanced food and fitness.
I can understand weight gain, and I can understand weight gain to some excess (I’ve been known to gain and lose 30lbs a couple of times) but 83lbs? She should probably settle on a higher weight like 160 which she can maintain, not 140 or the ridiculous 128, she could never keep that up!
I agree, that is dramatic.
Good luck to her.
very good point. obviously, she has some BIG underlying issues with food that she needs to deal with before going on another hardcore diet. and at her height/age, i think 160 would suit her well.
I dont understand the physiology of how someone can gain that much weight….I just dont get it! I mean, I know that weight gain is a result of eating more calories than your body needs/burns, but 75+ pounds? Dont you feel the weight coming or the health related issues that come with such weight gain? Maybe she really needs to see a psychologist to see what is really causing her to overeat….oops, forgot, she is a scientologist.
Really? Scientologist? God damn it, these celebrities are totally crazy.
what does bein a scientologist have to do with her weight issues?
i agree, her extreme weight gain are possibly due to a eating disorder, which she should firstly deal with.
Klara,
I didn’t say that being a scientologist has anything to do with her weight issues; I said it may be keeping her from seeing the proper help (psychiatrist/psychologist) she may need to deal with the underlying issues that are what obviously lead her to overeat.
Yeah, they kinda need to solve their issues alone by spending tones of money
yeah i think in scientology they don’t believe in prescription medicine or doctors….remember the tom cruise argument with brooke shields where tom cruise bashed brooke shields for taking antidepressants for postpartum depression ….so yeah she might want to consider getting help with overeating issues even if her religion is against it. She shouldnt worry about a number on the scale but just to be Healthy!
Most celebrities I don’t have a problem going on about, like Tori Spelling and her big head and odd body, but I really feel sorry for Kirstie Alley. She is BEAUTIFUL, thinner or heavier, but preferably thinner. She obviously has a big problem with food. As a counselor, this shows she has a lot of issues she hasn’t dealt with and she abuses food to cope with her issues and to feel better, much like an alcoholic does, but it’s really only like putting a bandaid on something that needs stitches. It’s not going to heal without the proper treatment. She needs a counselor. I hope she isnt too much of a scientologist that she wouldn’t realize that, and get her issues resolved or be able to let go of them, then she will not eat as much because she wont stress eat cause she will have less stress. She HAS to do this. I believe this has caused her to lose SO MANY acting roles. She would have been just as popular as someone like Jodi Foster, or Helen Hunt, and she knows it too. So, knowing that and realizing that your career ended because of your weight, and STILL not being able to change it shows she has a serious problem. It’s not just lack of willpower. She needs therapy.
Come on Kirsty. Your still beautiful and you can get those roles. Go treat the underlying issues, cause we want to see you at the movies!