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| Photo via Radar Online |
Lady Gaga has gained some weight. In a recent radio
interview she estimated it was about 25 pounds. She didn’t have to comment on
it but she did. She said her parents recently opened a restaurant and her father
wants her to eat there. Gaga went on to say she loves pizza and pasta and every
time she goes there she gains 5 pounds (what a plug for “Joanne Trattoria”
which happens to be on the Upper West Side).
She has no issue with her fuller figure saying “I really don’t feel bad about it, not even for a second”. Sounds
good right? She loves to eat, supports her parent’s business and isn’t bothered
by putting on a few, or twenty-something, pounds.
Is this the same person who tweeted about doing back-to-back
spin classes with hashtag #popsingersdonteat? In the radio segment she mentioned
that she constantly has to be on such a
strict diet and she’s trying to find
some sort of balance. Let’s be clear, this isn’t the case of a celebrity
gaining 3 pounds and media blowing it out of proportion. This weight gain seems
to have happened in a couple of months (for the record Joanne’s has been opened
for over a year), so it’s been quick, and strikes me as sad coming from the
“born this way” singer whose lyrics advise us “just love yourself and you’re
set.”
Gaga has been open about her love for booze and recently lit
a joint on stage at a show in Amsterdam. She also has a history of bulimia. At
a conference in California she opened up about this “I threw up all the time in high school. I wanted to
be a skinny little ballerina but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose
dad had meatballs on the table every night. I used to come home and say, ‘Dad,
why do you always give us this food? I need to be thin.” So this struggle is not
new.
Lady Gaga has started an anti-bullying foundation and my
guess is that she wants to put a brave face forward about this. So although
when I asked a friend about the food at Joanne’s and she said, “it’s not
Foodtrainers-friendly” I wouldn’t chalk all of this up to calamari. I am a lady
gaga fan, it’s ironic to think that someone who seemed the epitome of marching
to the beat of her own drum (or piano) is a little beaten down by expectations
when it comes to weight.
When celebrities open up about their weight does it invite more commentary? Do you buy Gaga's explanation about her father's restaurant? Do you think it strange that both as a child and adult she blames her dad for her weight?
This is interesting. I mean, like you said, the restaurant has been open for a couple years....so why only now has she put on weight? And not just a little, but a good amount in only a couple months. I think something's fishy. Coming froma type A person like me, I could never imagine just giving up that much and letting myself put on 25 pounds that easily. Not even if I was pregnant! It's strange, but....I guess...more power to her??
ReplyDeleteI don't buy it. I grew up around the same kind of food and you get used to having small portions of it after a while. Hard to believe that all of a sudden it's become irresistible. I think it has less to do with her father and a little more to do with too many cases of the "munchies". My theory, ha!
ReplyDeletemore power to her if she was really fine with it. It just seems like too much weight to be about a few trips to a delicious restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI am with Vanessa. I grew up in Italian house where there was often carb heavy meals loaded with cheese. On the flip side though, my mom always served at least two vegetables with dinner.
ReplyDeleteI know weight is a touchy subject for a lot of people and like you said, she didn't have to go into any details about her weight gain. I am sure her weight gain is not only attributed to her dad's restaurant. But possibly the stress and pressure of being under a microscope. It may also be due to her unresolved eating issues stemming from childhood. I do feel bad that people are so focused on her weight.
I'm with Vanessa - I don't buy it. Look at Giada De Laurentiis, it's all about portion control. There must be more to the story and I wonder if lighting up the joint may be indicative of a change in lifestyle (more munchies, less physical activity).
ReplyDeletei don't buy it either...that's 10 more pounds than the well-know "freshman-15" and it normally takes freshman a whole year to gradually gain the weight. i'm not sure how long it took her to gain the weight but i'd have to agree with everyone else in that it seems to be the effects of a dramatic lifestyle change, whatever that may be..
ReplyDeleteI think it's telling that she blames her dad. I don't want to make nonsense guesses, but I think that's a clue.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this just coming off of her gluten free phase earlier this summer? I love Lady Gaga, but to me I'm seeing red flags of yo-yo extremity all over this. I think we all know what lack of sleep, stress and calorie deprivation can do to our bodies. And I'm totally in the 'it's not the pasta' camp.
ReplyDeleteyo-yo extremity, love the description.
ReplyDeletehe "wants her to eat" um and how old is she?
ReplyDeleteyup, even a lot for the "munchies" but I guess munchies/booze diet = freshman 15. Poor gaga, even freshman know better.
ReplyDeleteI come from a family of eaters/big celebratory meals, at a certain point though we make our own choices. If you go to a restaurant and gain 5 pounds even if a joke- something's wrong. Something is wrong here.
ReplyDeletemy vote unresolved issues in general, probably exacerbated by fame.
ReplyDeleteI would say not family or munchies but that something is off kilter.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but I think this is a calculated move on her part to get the body image discussion front and center (not that it isn't already..) 25 lbs is a lot to gain, especially for such a small-framed person in a couple of months!
ReplyDeletewow interesting theory, wouldn't put it past her to be provocative
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and you bring up some great points. As someone who used to suffer bulimia (exercise bulimia), I would say that blaming her weight on her parents restaurant is a bunch of bull. I also don't believe for one second that it doesn't bother her because I guarantee in a few months she will have hired a trainer/dietitian/life coach whatever to get her back into celebrity thin shape. Maybe she was dealing with some serious life issues emotionally and started binging again (minus the purge), maybe she wasn't working out as hard or eating as healthy in the past few months and put on weight (like most average people do when they aren't following the seemingly strict diets of a typical celebrity), whatever the reason for the weight gain, it's definitely more than a couple pounds and hopefully she can work out whatever she is going through emotionally to get her health back (weight talk aside).
ReplyDeleteAgree that she will not stay this way as someone who really has zero issue with it might. Partially because her "package" is part of her product and also because I don't believe she loves it as much as she's claiming to.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, Lauren. I wonder if she is okay with it..if she is then that's all that matters. :)
ReplyDeletethanks for bring this back to what's important Ayala. See my point with this is that I don't think it seems like "nothing". I think it speaks of a lack of balance and let's hope she is ok.
ReplyDeleteIt's such an interesting topic----we all have our own perspectives on what we're doing, and we probably have our own way we'd like it to look to other people. I'm sure celebs have that going on too---maybe Gaga knows the imbalance and maybe she doesn't, but it doesn't seem like a great situation either way!
ReplyDeleteIn a way you'd think more "pressure" good or bad for celebrity to stay in a certain place in terms of appearance. For this reason, almost more alarming or concerning when such a visible shift.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Maybe she needs something from him emotionally. But then again, she did get some advertising for her papa.
ReplyDeletei think it is wonderful. My daughter who lives in Vegas is a huge fan of hers. She has gained weight because of Gaga. I am thrilled because I have worried so much about her and her weight. Thanks Gaga!!
ReplyDeleteThe last I had heard about Lady Gaga before I read your post, was that she was cutting gluten out of her diet. After reading your post, I did a little google search and see that {today}she has admitted to struggling with both anorexia and bulimia since the age of 15. Good for her, for coming out with this & I hope she gets treatment to get better.
ReplyDeleteOh give her a break. Do something constructive and judge yourself.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about her weight. She is an artist .. the message is whats important. and if she does struggle with her weight. she is typical of almost every woman, and though that we can see that even pop divas are not immune to the pressures of striving to be skinny, even if you are built to be curvey
ReplyDeleteYes, give her a break, she looks good in any size. Enough of that uniform skinnyness! There are so many better things to put your energy into tthan dieting girls!
ReplyDelete