Kristen Bell talks weight: ‘I am not a woman whose self-worth comes from her dress size’


Kristen Bell covers Redbook in an orange peplum sleeveless shirt and check print pants. The editorial is a little goofy, with Kristen wearing some fug floral printed jeans and skipping rope barefoot in one photo. I know that floral print jeans were in briefly this year, but they look so 90s to me. It’s like all they were going for in this photoshoot was “wholesome.” In the interview, Bell talks about losing her baby weight and balancing being a mom and having a career. She had a daughter, Lincoln, with partner Dax Shephard about four months ago and is currently working on the Veronica Mars movie. Kristin says she’s not back to her pre-baby weight yet, but she’s obviously lost weight since and she looks great. I don’t see the difference with how she looked before she was pregnant. It sounds like she has a healthy attitude about her body, but that she really had to work to accept herself. She admits as much. Here’s more:

The actress — who welcomed her little girl Lincoln with fiance Dax Shepard on March 28 — is in no hurry to get back into shape, even though she gained 43 pounds while she was pregnant.

On losing her baby weight
“I’d like to get back down to where I was before the baby,” she tells Redbook magazine.

”But if this is where my body wants to be, so be it. I’m not going to make myself miserable for the rest of my life trying to get back to where I was before.

“I refused to worry about something I could not change, and I still refuse. Look, I’m like any other woman. All this evolved b.s. that I’m telling you is my mantra: It’s not something I practice naturally.

“I had to surrender to not worrying about the way I looked, how much I weighed, because that’s just part of the journey of having a baby. I am not a woman whose self-worth comes from her dress size.”

On balancing career and motherhood
“I still want a career. Lincoln will always be number one, but I think if you cut that cord of obsessiveness, then you can work and be a good mother and wife.”

[Quotes from Redbook via Showbizspy, E! Online]

Again, I don’t see a real difference in how she looked before. If I do the math in the article she only has about 15 pounds to get to her pre-baby weight. She was so fit that the difference seems inconsequential to me, but probably not to her, especially not in the business she’s in. I like how she’s trying to make self acceptance her mantra. It’s nice to hear that from a celebrity.

This makes me wonder when Kristen and Dax are going to get married. When DOMA was shot down she proposed to him publicly over Twitter. Those two have often said that they wouldn’t marry until their same sex friends had the same rights. It’s time they made it official and I would love to hear wedding news from them. Kristen told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show earlier this week that she asked Dax if he wanted to have a quickie wedding at the courthouse and he begged off, saying that he had a meeting to go to. Maybe he just wants a traditional wedding, or maybe he has cold feet.

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31 Responses to “Kristen Bell talks weight: ‘I am not a woman whose self-worth comes from her dress size’”

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  1. Jennifer12 says:

    Fire whoever styled that shoot.

  2. Gee says:

    Dumb shoot. She looks great, weight-wise though.

  3. Sannie says:

    I just love her!

  4. SmokeyBlues says:

    Those pics are silly and awful, the pants on the cover are making me cringe. This chic is very cool and beautiful, too bad she looks like an insane person in this photo shoot. The looks they captured on her face… Freaky.

  5. MonicaQ says:

    Those pants look like those magic eye puzzles I used to do in elementary school. If I cross my eyes, I can see a unicorn.

  6. Apsutter says:

    I love her but that’s easy to say about weight when you’re incredibly petite and have been naturally skinny your entire life. I don’t think Dax has cold feet he probably just wants a big wedding and party. He adores her and has been trying to make it legal for years.

    • Raquel says:

      Exactly. If I had a dollar for every actress under size 10 with their own personal trainer and dietician who brags about not being sensitive about their waist size.

      It’s just so obvious that a lot of them say that bull because they know its what the plebs want to hear.

      • caitlin says:

        Raquel, your last sentence is spot-on. This is nothing more than a pr stunt to endear her to every woman who is insecure about her postpartum body. It’s becoming a trend as I recall several other celebs saying something similar in the last while….

      • Tiffany :) says:

        I took her comments in a completely different way, Raquel.

        I didn’t hear her bragging, to me it sounded like she was TRYING not to be bothered by her weight. That she was putting effort into having a healthy perspective, hence her comment:

        “All this evolved b.s. that I’m telling you is my mantra: It’s not something I practice naturally.”

        I didn’t take it as her saying that it was effortless to be unconcerned, rather that she was trying to guide her emotions in that direction.

  7. Jacqueline says:

    Love her, she’s funny, she’s beautiful & she’s wearing a FUG pair of pants. Was the stylist on this shoot angry??

  8. Val says:

    She’s so small that even 15 pounds of extra weight on her is noticeable. But I think she looks great.

    • SW says:

      I agree, on someo e as tiny as her that feels like a lot more. She looks amazing though! Love her and Dax together 🙂

      • lalaxoxo says:

        Very true. Im 5 3 and before i had my daughter i was 102lb…now im 116lb…it maked a really big difference. Everyone noticed the change and i glad cause i been trying to gain weight for years. I love my new curves!!!!!…

  9. Ok says:

    She looks pretty. But for someone who refuses to have her self worth dependent on her size, she sure does spend a lot of time discussing her size.

  10. dcypher1 says:

    Finally a celebrity with a healthy perspective of her body image post baby. I’m glad she’s not rushing to the gym and living there after she had her baby and taking her time. Women shouldn’t be rushed to do that. And they should only do it cuz they want to not cus there husbands complaining or if Tracey Anderson says ur fat or the media.

  11. Bijlee says:

    So redbook really does have the worst covers. Ever cover looks like an ad from the magazine or one of those cheap get this look pages. It sucks.

  12. Mitch Buchanan Rocks! says:

    It looks like the stylist went to Value Village and got some eighties clothes – this could be a shoot for Mademoiselle 1986.

  13. erin says:

    appreciate her honesty here. i’m also very petite, 5’1, and it’s kind of difficult when you’re tiny. it’s like, either feel like an awkward whale because every pound gained shows, or attempt to fit this perfect tiny doll ideal everyone has for you. it’s very strange.

  14. Megan says:

    I worked on the set of the Veronica Mars movie and she is definitely bigger than she was before, but she looked fantastic anyway. She was also EXTREMELY friendly, smart, and likeable.

    • Relli says:

      WHAT……………………………

      That is so awesome! I was a late joiner to VM fan club but I love that show and I love her. In my mind we are bff’s!

      I love hearing she is just as awesome as I imagine her to be! Oh god I have a million questions that you cant answer but that is just so cool!

    • lucy2 says:

      Good to hear – I figured based on how she’s stuck with the project all these years and her efforts for the movie, she was a sweetheart.

  15. purpleunicorn says:

    She looks fine.

  16. manda says:

    Thank you! I think that the floral fad is really dated looking. Reminds me of the Merry Go Round in 8th grade!

  17. Micki says:

    On the magazine cover is written: ” How she dropped 28 lbs and quit trying to be perfect”

    I would easily belived her if she tried not to be perfect BEFORE she lost her baby weight. Why trying at all if it doesn’t matter that much?

  18. de-Vine says:

    I give her a lot of credit. If she’s always been petite, I bet it was hard to accept that you may just have a larger body now after having children. Especially in such an image driven profession.

    As for the text on the cover? I doubt she had a whole lot to do with it.

  19. lucy2 says:

    I saw floral jeans at the mall the other day, and had a junior high flashback. Yuck.
    It’d be nice if they talked to her about her successful show on Showtime, and the movie she helped make happen, or all the other stuff she does, but she is a female, so of course she just gets asked about baby weight, body image, etc. She seems to have a good attitude, but how many times to magazines have to rehash that conversation?

  20. Vanessa says:

    I can’t wait for the Veronica mars movie when I saw the trailer I was geek out over the cast the only cast member I didn’t see in the trailer. Was Duncan does anyone know if he even in the movie ?

  21. Norman says:

    I don’t know who are her weight critics are but she looks(ed) fine to me when she was on Leno two days ago and I like skinny women. Rockin it Kristen.

  22. Bridget says:

    Wow. That photoshoot looks like it was styled by my grandma. And jumping rope? What a weird picture.

  23. Tiffany :) says:

    I like that she says it is her mantra…it sounds like a work in progress mentally. She is saying that she puts effort into maintaining a healthy perspective on body image. I find that to be a very honest and insightful comment.

  24. moon says:

    I love that she’s saying all that, AND appearing unphotoshopped in this shoot. So many celebrities spew the same lines then erase out any imperfections from the final photo