Gabourey Sidibe had bariatric surgery last year: ‘I wasn’t cheating’


Gabourey Sidibe has a new memoir which is out in May called This is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare. I found out she’s 33. I could have sworn she was younger than that, but 33 still sounds a little young to write a memoir. Still, if Lily Collins and Anna Kendrick can write memoirs so can Gabby. She’s releasing her book at the same time as she’s revealing a significant weight loss, which was achieved following laparoscopic bariatric surgery. Gabby had the surgery in secret last year, and she explains that she did it out of health concerns over her weight and after both she and her older brother were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She also told People about a rather amusing job she had for three years before she landed her big break – she was a phone sex operator!

She had laparoscopic bariatric surgery in May 2016
“I just didn’t want to worry,” Sidibe, 33, tells PEOPLE of her decision to get l after she and her older brother Ahmed, 34, were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. “I truly didn’t want to worry about all the effects that go along with diabetes. I genuinely [would] worry all the time about losing my toes.”

“My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half. This would limit my hunger and capacity to eat. My brain chemistry would change and I’d want to eat healthier. I’ll take it! My lifelong relationship with food had to change,” she writes in her wise, witty and unapologetic memoir, out in May.

“The surgery wasn’t the easy way out,” she says. “I wasn’t cheating by getting it done. I wouldn’t have been able to lose as much as I’ve lost without it.”

Since the procedure, Sidibe has changed her eating habits — working with a nutritionist — and upped her fitness regimen, working out with a trainer, swimming and riding a tricycle around the Empire set.

The star’s decision to undergo surgery wasn’t one she took lightly. Since she was 6 years old, the New York City native has struggled with her appearance. And after her parents — a subway singer (mom Alice) and taxi driver (dad, Ibnou) — split, she battled depression, anxiety and bulimia, which she eventually overcame through therapy.

“It has taken me years to realize that what I was born with is all beautiful,” she writes in her book. “I did not get this surgery to be beautiful. I did it so I can walk around comfortably in heels. I want to do a cartwheel. I want not to be in pain every time I walk up a flight of stairs.”

She worked at a phone sex company for three years
“I was actually pretty good at it,” Sidibe, 33, tells PEOPLE of the phone-sex gig, which she did for three years, fielding calls for two months before moving up in the business. “I did it for two months before I was promoted.”

“I was really nervous about it when I was 25; I was really, really nervous about it when Precious was coming out,” says Sidibe, who went on to earn an Oscar nod for her role in the film. “The whole Oscar run, all of it — I was becoming an actor, becoming a person that people were interested in and looking at and judging, so I didn’t want what I did for work [to come out]

[From two stories on People.com]

I didn’t realize that “phone sex operator” was still a valid job, like hasn’t the internet made that obsolete? It was almost ten years ago though so there were still positions in that field. Also, how do you have a crazy job like that and never mention it in an interview? Props to Gabby for keeping that under wraps because it would have made a great story. I understand why she didn’t want it to come out when she first became famous though. Gabby told People that the photoshoot for her book coincidentally took place in the same building where she used to work for that phone sex company, which has since shut down. She said “The last thing I did for the book was go right back to where I was a f—ing phone hoe!” [sic: People doesn’t know how to spell ho]

She looks incredible and good for her for getting surgery. I have a cousin who had a gastric bypass and has lost 190 pounds. She recently had skin reduction surgery, she looks and feels great and has changed her life completely. Gabby is right it’s not the easy way out, it’s a lot of work and sometimes the hardest thing is admitting you need help. You know how Gabby’s photos were used for all those clickbait articles where they called her “Precious” and claimed she lost a lot of weight? Well she had the last laugh by not only calling out those articles, but by owning her story and doing the reveal her way.

thisisjustmyface

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Gabby in early 2015:
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Gabby last month:
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Photos credit: WENN, FameFlynet and PRPhotos

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87 Responses to “Gabourey Sidibe had bariatric surgery last year: ‘I wasn’t cheating’”

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  1. Barrett says:

    Diabetes is brutal. Good for her, hope she is on a healthy, happy road.
    I loved her on that show about cancer with Laura Linney! Very talented.

    • HeidiM says:

      A friend just recently lost 3 of her toes to diabetes. And only last year her husband lost his leg to just below the knee. Both are in their early 40’s. These stories are endless. And the ages of those affected get younger and younger as our addiction to sugar and processed foods continues to grow. Good for her for taking the matter so seriously, but it certainly is serious.

      • WTW says:

        @HeidiM, that is so scary. My grandmother had her feet amputated, but she was in her 70s. Even at that age, I wouldn’t want to lose any body part to the disease. Type II diabetes runs rampant in my family. I’ve mostly been skinny to average weight but put on some pounds working from home and dealing with a depressing medical condition. Anyway, stories like your friends’ motivate me to try to remain a healthy weight and to hit the gym, even when I feel depressed. Ironically, once you start working out you don’t feel as hopeless, but I do have a love for sugar I’m trying to kick.

      • NotSoSocialButterfy says:

        People so often think of the effect extremities because it is so visible, but truthfully, the entire microvasculature is affected by diabetes- kidney and heart disease are not uncommon in diabetes- in fact, the risk for CVA goes up, too. My mother-in-law’s long standing diabetes ( developed at 35) was pretty well controlled ( and she worked hard at it) until her later 70s; she ultimately succumbed to renal and heart disease after a small stroke. Proper management is such a big deal.

    • Kitten says:

      My BF is a paramedic and he has SO many horror stories about Diabetics. I knew it was a dangerous disease but I don’t think I fully realized how deadly it is.

    • Bazoo says:

      Good for her. And frankly, I’d much rather see a celeb get bariatric surgery to help keep them alive and healthy than I would another celeb getting surgery to make their face look like a plastic alien.

  2. Luca76 says:

    She looks great! I’ve always liked her she seems so open and genuine I’m glad she made this decision and is focusing on her health.

  3. The Original Mia says:

    Good for her!

  4. minx says:

    Good for her.

  5. Abbess Tansy says:

    This is great, hope she continues to do well.

    Diabetes is prevalent in my family, so I understand where she’s coming from.

  6. QQ says:

    I Love Love Love me that Girl!, Her Personality is everything, she always comes off so secure in her sense of Self that one can’t help but love her if one follows her on IG or Twitter, good for her on the surgery and weight loss and her sound reasoning behind it (not that she owes anyone that)

    • AreYouForReal? says:

      I’ve always loved her, too. Despite her weight, she has the “it” factor and just lights up the screen.

    • Sophia's Side eye says:

      She seems like such a nice girl. She’s always stood up for herself when people, were consern trolling her about her weight. Love her spirit.

    • BTownGirl says:

      She’s one of those people where just hearing her name makes you smile! LOVE HER.

      • MyHiddles says:

        @BTownGirl You are so right. I’ve always loved her even when she was at her heaviest. I just think her face is beautiful and she has such a positive spirit that just shines from her face.

        I’ve also always loved her skin tone.

    • Tulip Garden says:

      This woman is charming personified. She’s upbeat and happy while still being honest, a straight shooter. It would be hard to dislike her if you ever watched her interviewed.
      I am very happy for her.

  7. Celest says:

    I’ll always love Gabby for proving Howard Stern wrong about her career. I bet you whatever skinny blond playmate he was crashing on that month, vanished into obscurity that same year.

    Having said that, I do wish the bigger girls would be honest about how they feel about their weight while they are there. All the ones I know rave about how happy and healthy they are until they lose the weight and then confess that they were actually struggling the whole time. Meanwhile, some impressionable women were buying their narrative and heading down the same road not recognizing it as a dead end.

    • BJ says:

      I wish couples would be honest about being in unhappy marriages before they announce their marriage is over.I wish parents would be honest about not liking their kids and sometimes regretting they ever had kids.I am not going to criticize others because there are things I haven’t been honest about, not to others or to myself. # self-denial

      • Tenniswho says:

        Totally right!

      • Sandy says:

        And I’d like kids to be honest right back to their parents that they were terrible and they wished they could’ve had different parents. Sorry, it’s my pet peeve, had crappy parents who thought they were poor put upon saints.

        But yes, unless you are 100% honest about everything at all times, don’t get your panties in a bunch when everyone else isn’t.

    • jwoolman says:

      It’s not being dishonest. Your weight is only one part of you and not necessarily something you even think about 24/7. You can be happy in other aspects of your life and the weight problem may simply not seem like such a big deal, and you can be annoyed with those who see it as a bigger deal than it is and just have to bring it up every chance they get. I always figured she would normalize her weight when she was good and ready, probably when the resilience of youth began to fade and she started feeling other problems surface. Which seems to be exactly what happened.

    • Wilma says:

      I don’t think that’s fair. I have been pretty overweight for years due to medical reasons and am finally able to lose the weight (60 pounds down, 20 to go before I reach a healthy weight), but for my own sanity I had to accept, love and be happy with myself. It’s not healthy to walk around feeling so bad about yourself and beating yourself up about something that isn’t going to change overnight anyway. I really had to go to a more happy mindset. I don’t get why you would someone to be and obese and extremely unhappy. Feeling bad about yourself is not going to make you slimmer.

      • Sophia's Side eye says:

        Congrats on the weight loss, Wilma! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

        And you’re right. Trying to have a good attitude even when you’re struggling is important to just get by. Everyone does it, it’s self preservation.

      • Happy21 says:

        Love this and agree 100%.
        Congratulations on your weight loss! That’s amazing and so inspiring 🙂

      • tealily says:

        Yes, exactly this.

    • Celest says:

      You know not resisting your feelings or hiding them about your weight is better for your mental health (and physical) than the denial and forcing yourself to feel better when you really dont. If you are in a psychological and emotional funk about it, simply say so. Then your journey to truly fixing your inside and/or your outside can begin with supporters. I cant imagine the “I’m fine, its totally fine, who said I wasnt fine” tact would be considered healthy by any stretch. Who are you pretending for anyway? Anybody with an opinion will move on to something else of interest eventually and you’ll be stuck in forced self denial, acting for the next round of spectators. A life of performance until one day you take action and suddenly we all know you were lying about “being totally fine” all along anyway.

      I’m not suggesting its an easy journey, but its without a doubt the healthiest one to just be honest with yourself and your support system. For the celebrities, they also have an obligation not to lead others to believe that they too can also “be totally fine” at obese weight levels.

      • Wilma says:

        uhm. No.
        There’s a difference between pretending to be happy with yourself on the one side or accepting yourself and being able to be happy with yourself despite what other people think about the way you look on the other side. I really needed to be able to be accepting and loving towards myself to maintain my mental health.

      • Celest says:

        @Wilma

        Sure but thats not what I am talking about. I’m not saying obese people should make themselves feel bad IF they dont, I am saying they should be honest if they do. You dont need to tell the world that you are totally fine when you are not. A lot of the time many are stuck in this performance of how great they feel emotionally and physically, only to tell a heart wrenching story years later of how much effort went into that lie. Note that this is different from saying you SHOULD feel bad about yourself. IF you dont, then thats fine. But if you DO feel bad about yourself, speak your heart, stop the performance. It serves nobody least of all yourself.

        Also, congratulations on your journey! Keep winning.

    • Minty says:

      Celeste, I understand what you mean. It’s just as bad when skinny women in Hollywood claim to be happy and healthy then they try a new exercise regime or diet and lose ten pounds and suddenly they say they’re no longer “sluggish,” or exhausted all the time. It’s like, how come you didn’t mention that before?

      • Celest says:

        Agreed. Although in that case, those smaller girls are very rarely going around telling friends, social media and if they are celebrities, the public, about how happy and healthy they are in the first place. But of the celebs who do, Goop is the master of telling us how happy and healthy she is feeling then instituting a lifestyle change and then telling us how sluggish she actually was and NOW shes really happy and healthy. Rinse and repeat. Its just a self destructive and pointless performance whoever is doing it.

    • Dolkite says:

      While Stern was wrong that she wouldn’t have more of a career, most of his show was about how huge she was and how people needed to stop telling her it was okay to be that fat. Some of their comments mirrored yours; for example, at one point, Robin Quivers said that Nell Carter used to talk about how she loved being fat and then she died at 54 of heart disease complicated by diabetes.

      Stern was (and still is) married when he made his comments about Sidibe. His wife is mostly known now for writing children’s books and books about taking care of dogs.

  8. Christina says:

    She’s still morbidly obese by any standard. She’s on her way but to be healthy she’s got a long way to go. But she’s off to a good start.

    i’m very interested in the psychology of being quite obese. How people get to that point, how some work their way out of it, how and why some don’t/can’t, etc. It has to be such a hard life. And it’s years of struggle. Becoming overweight like that doesn’t happen overnight. And the enablers…

    • Nyawira says:

      I don’t think it’s rocket science that depression has a lot to do with it. You can’t care how you look or summon the motivation to improve yourself when your brain chemistry is a mess. Unfortunately the stuff they crave (sugar and fat) screws that brain chemistry further.

      Also, the normalisation of fat is making that slide towards obesity easier. People are less likely to take action at a size 12 than they were 30 years ago. It’s just a matter of a bad week and a few sandwiches from that 12 to obesity.

      • detritus says:

        I haven’t seen any data suggesting that there is a normalization of overweight, or that this normalization is increasing population levels of obesity and overweight.

        In fact, studies show that fear and shame based messaging has little or negative impact on evincing behavioural change. From a harm reduction view, normalizing ALL medical issues helps reduce the stress, reduce barriers to seeking help and increases the ability of people to identify they need help/a change.

      • Chinoiserie says:

        Detrius, I have re recent articles that those articles about body positivity being a positive things for weight loss are often being written by fat acceptance groups so tehy are not reliable. And there are articles that having fat friends can cause you to gain weight since its more socially accepteble and similar activities about society. Not that I am taking about fat shaming being good or anything like that, just that normalization can happen at higher weights today.

      • Nyawira says:

        I was going by anecdotal experience so I won’t fight you too hard. I will say that I don’t need a pubmed account to know that fat has become the “average” in many parts of the world. This is normalisation of fat. Where people would have taken action earlier they now console themselves with the herd. “I’m not fat, I’m average”. I know because I was there once. I genuinely didn’t see myself as overweight because I was either smaller or the same size as many in my circle and my community. Whenever they talked about health and weight on TV i assumed they were talking to someone else because hey, I’m average. It took a random Internet session to understand that I needed to act before it was too late.

      • detritus says:

        Chinoiserie
        I think there is misinformation out there on the health consequences of overweight, for sure. There is similar misinformation out there on anorexia, diet, and thinness though, any community run by a group tends to have bias.

        The idea of social contagion (social groups spreading certain ideas) is very interesting, and supported across a variety of fields. It decreases racism, sexism and homophobia if you are friends with or know someone who is friends with a minority for example. It makes sense this is true regarding weight as well.

        I think the critical point here is that weight is the end result of a variety of factors, and we are targeting the end result. The closer to start of the problem you start the solution, the larger the impact with less effort. It’s not that weight acceptance is bad, or a problem, it’s that the acceptance of sedentary lifestyles, too large portions and nutrient deficient processed food that is the issue, which you touched on. These are the major issues that cause overweight in people that do not have a genetic/hormonal abnormality, and overweight is the end result of unhealthy behaviours, and those behaviours need to be targeted. It’s why we targeting smoking and not lung cancer, or seat belt wearing not head trauma. The causal factors seem so self-evident to many people that they feel comfortable judging the condition instead of the behaviours that cause it.

        Nyawira, I think that may be the difference in interpretation here then.
        A personal story with your perception would be closer to a case study in the type of work I do. Do you mind sharing what caused your mental epiphany? I would love to hear more about your journey, and how it impacted your social interactions.

    • detritus says:

      I’m trying to be nice here, and give you the benefit of the doubt, but you must be very early on your journey into ‘the psychology of obesity’ to even term it such. Using the term ‘enablers’ leads me believe you are not coming at this from a helpful mindset.

      There is a lot of work currently being done on overweight and obesity, and most of it points to genetics, epigenetic effects and environment. The psychology part is very minimal, the personal factors one is able to control are also small in comparison to external factors.

      See the string models of obesity risk factors, look into ghrelin and leptin cycling, and review the literature that suggests over 41 genetic variants that predispose a person to overweight. The major causes are on a larger scale than individual psychology.

      http://www.shiftn.com/obesity/Full-Map.html

      • WTW says:

        @Detritus, that’s interesting, but I do wonder about the psychology of obesity as well. African American women are highly likely to be overweight or obese, and I wonder what role being devalued as women of color plays into this epidemic. I don’t think it’s all genetics because West African women (with which most black Americans share ancestry) are not obese/overweight at the same rates. I strongly suspect that the way Af-Am women are treated in US society leads to these weight problems and turning to food as comfort.

      • Matomeda says:

        Being a parent has made me more sympathetic. I’m very thin as is all my family. I never got why people didn’t just lose weight and stop eating crap. Then I married a skinny guy who had a lot of overweight people in his family. He slowly put onweitht despite not eating much differently than me. Then I had kids. One is very thin like me, one is heavier. They eat the same food and are in the same activities. I consciously feed them healthy but now I see quite obviously that genetics are huge. I worry for my daughter and what kids might say as she grows (not in school yet) and I try so hard to balance healthy food and exercise with very positive attitudes and no focus on her exterior. It’s stressful! And I have a much bigger understanding of the topic now.

      • I Choose Me says:

        Thank you for that link. Fascinating reading.

      • Doodle says:

        Don’t forget that a lot of antidepressants cause weight gain, so even if someone is eating well and working out the weight won’t necessarily fall off the way it would on someone who is not on those medications.

      • RN says:

        I don’t have the time to post studies right now, but using “genetics” as a reason why most Americans are overweight and obese is a cop out and a fallacy. It shows a profound lack of understanding of how genetics actually works. No one of intelligence seriously believes that genetics changed so wildly between the 1970s and today. I’ve worked in healthcare for almost 25 years and I’ll tell you what HAS changed – people eat non-stop now, and they have no desire to stop stuffing their faces all.day.long. When I was a child in the 60s and 70s, people ate three meals a day and had an occasional snack. We didn’t have snack time at school or at sports. There were hardly any fast food places. We walked or rode our bikes everywhere. There was MAYBE one or two fat children in the entire school. Now women proudly flaunt their rolls in too-tight clothing and proclaim themselves as “empowered” and “fierce”, all while sucking down their 3rd frappacino of the day. Meanwhile, I’m present for the surgeries that lop off their toes and feet once they hit their 40s. I’m scheduling their dialysis appointments when their kidneys fail. There’s no shame about being so fat that it looks like your skin is going to pop. I see college kids lumbering across the campus and it’s disheartening and frightening. Oh, and if you say something to them during their medical appointments about their weight? They rush to their Tumblr and blog about how they were “fat shamed” by their doctor or nurse. You just are not going to win with people that think it’s okay, or even desirable to weigh 180 or 200 lbs at 5’5″. This country is so screwed with healthcare that it makes me want to pull the covers over my head.

      • Sandy says:

        I’m no expert on obesity and it’s causes but from what I can tell, it is a fairly complex issue that boils down to more then one cause. It seems to have genetic, psychological, socioeconomic, educational and environmental components to it. So to say it boils down to “laziness” or that being obese is becoming social acceptable (which doesn’t account for the billion dollar weight loss industry or the constant bombardment we get of thin standards of beauty) is a bit obtuse.

      • detritus says:

        @WTW, how overweight effects minority populations is a huge issue. Many of those differences can be attributed to the causal factors of obesity and overweight. Poverty and education levels, access to healthy food,etc all play into weight gain, these risk factors disproportionately impact WoC. In Canada, for example, they especially impact our First Nations communities. As each layer of vulnerability is added, it compounds the issues as it creates barriers to service.
        I do wonder as to the social impacts of racism, I would be completely unsurprised if that added layer of hurt contributes to unhealthy choices.

        In addition, certain cultural foods and food styles are problematic. Traditional northern Indian cuisine is pretty heavy on the fat and rice, and it has contributed to heart disease for example. Traditional South Korean food, much healthier, and their government is strongly pushing cultural foods which is allowing them to be the only nation that is not experience the switch between undernutrition to overnutrition. So if there are Southern roots, that could add another layer.

        There are some genetic factors at play as well, especially in smaller seafaring island communities, but science has been pretty shitty to PoC. We have used them for their bodies without permission (HeLa cells, the Tuskegee experiements, and on and on), while often not studying problems that impact them in particular.

      • detritus says:

        @ RN
        Firstly – There is no place I said genetics have the sole role in overweight.Sandy addressed this perfectly.

        Secondly – You should not be treating patients with that attitude.

        I’m horrified and incredibly disappointed that a health practitioner is saying these things, even anonymously. No wonder your patients do not listen to you, it’s coming from a place of judgement. Do you also shame lung cancer patients? Those going in for heart surgery? Breast cancer? All have behavioural risk factors. There is an appropriate way to address these things, and it doesn’t sound like you have the social skills to manage it.

        No one with any intelligence believes the cultural impacts, the physical barriers and the availability of quality food is the same from the 70s either.

        Instead of looking to blame your patients, maybe you should be looking to understand them. If your true concern is health, and change, and not joy from being a sanctimonious scold (stolen loved it), then get off of your high horse about this generational sh*t. You are being a bad person, ignorant and above all, a bad health care practitioner.

      • Matomeda says:

        Ok@RN your comment made me angry. Are you coming for me? You don’t have time for links but do have time for a long winded rant? I understand genetics just fine, thank you very much, as I have both a BS and an MS in it. My child isn’t obese- she’s heavy- and the other very thin. (I’m not talking, in my post, about extreme obesity.) You can put 2 people on the same meal plan and they will look different. There are indeed different metabolic rates. I have a crap heart. I exercise (cardio) SEVEN days/week, I do strength training 2, my BMI goes between 19-20. I am a vegetarian on a DASH diet. And guess what? Low EF. So am I to blame? Or is it more likely that it’s due to 3 generations of my dad’s side (that I know of) who had heart attacks in their 40s despite being athletic and therefore likely have poor CV systems but hadn’t had the genetic testing because it wasn’t invented yet? Please.

      • detritus says:

        @Matomeda,
        This was a very sweet story. Your bbs are going to benefit greatly from your efforts, and how you care for them. You sound like you are doing a great job.

        I think RN was addressing me, or society at large, with a common misconception. It shows how deep fat hatred runs though, and how even professionals can’t be bothered to understand.

      • Matomeda says:

        Thank you, @Detritus! I appreciate your engagement and non-judgemental discussion! 🙂 yes- a little support for fellow humans is never out of line. Why not extol that first, especially in a field dedicated to care, where people are only seeing you because they are suffering in some way? Jeez!

      • Bee says:

        RN:
        My goodness. I’d hate to be your patient.

      • graymatters says:

        The cultural attitude towards food, exercise, and other risk factors for obesity such as smoking do change over time and do affect population health. When that happens, a population’s view of “normal” also changes. RN has a (crudely expressed) point.

        When I was a child of the 60’s and 70’s I went to McDonald’s once a year when I visited my grandmother. The adult-sized burger then was the same size as the one served on the dollar menu today. I drank, at most, 1/2 gallon of soda A YEAR and my parents never touched the sweet stuff. We had one television in the house, no video games or netflix, and evil wouldn’t attack a child playing outside. We rode our bikes everywhere and were moving around several unsupervised hours a day. The one fat kid that I remember was bullied mercilessly and was, by today’s standards, perhaps 20 lbs overweight. Not everything has changed for the worse. I’m glad children are better supervised and that bullying is no longer considered acceptable.

        The adults smoked and drank cocktails, but they didn’t overeat, so they didn’t look unhealthy (but they didn’t smell very nice, from my memory). They didn’t exercise much, either, so they had poor muscle tone. Those people now are often dealing with cancers and dementia, if they’re still living. Many aren’t.

        The economy improved, food expense as a portion of the budget shrank, women in the workplace increased (good things) so dining out also increased. The portion sizes I alluded to in the first paragraph (sorry this is so long) kept growing, and preservatives and flavoring agents such as MSG improved shelf life and flavor of convenience foods. So the culture is where it is today of plentiful, affordable food treated with ingredients that are proven to have addictive qualities. Additionally, longer working hours and sedentary entertainment reduce the use of “slow food” and social occasions take place more often in restaurants with their huge portions.

        Humans are adaptable. They’ve learned to view such portions and flavors as normal. Many of them also see themselves as much like the people around them which makes them normal, even if they’re several pounds heavier than distant societal ideals.

        It’s an interesting thread. I’ve been wondering how far a “voluntary tax” on sugar, alcohol, and cigarettes, for instance, would go towards funding health care.

      • Matomeda says:

        @GRAY MATTERS you put it well. I’m 5’6, 125lb and here I’m thin. But when I visited family in Russia, they made jokes the entire time about how fat I was, and how do I fit through doors. I’m not kidding. I didn’t take offense; I’m fine with who I am. But they also walked everywhere, EVERYWHERE, every day, rarely had a car or 1 adult in the house of all adults had a car so it was more like carpool, I saw zero candy-type eating and all from-scratch cooking. They had no extra food laying around for snacking, their entire yards were used as gardens (no grass). And they were indeed VERY thin. This was in a small former mining town, by the way, and I’m sure it varies by region and all that.

      • graymatters says:

        Matomeda,

        I wish you every success in managing your cardiac issues. That’s got to be stressful. It really sounds as if you’re doing a great job with your children.

        I have four; my “baby” just turned 16 and got his driver’s license yesterday. An entirely different health risk. Your kids are in a good place, from what I’ve seen of my own children and their friends. Don’t worry too much about your daughter. Children’s height/weight ratio fluctuates a lot as they grow, so she’ll likely go through cycles of being more or less socially appealing. Your approach will bear fruit as she will feel free to develop her inner beauty, spirit, and intelligence and find friends who share her values. Unfortunately, if she’s going to be in the company of bullies, they’ll find something random to pick on her for (this goes for your son, as well). Again, your approach will serve them well here, too.

      • applepie says:

        @RN. Agree with you. I cannot see how genetics has anything to do with this. I think its just an excuse. All my family are overweight except me. I look after myself, exercise and eat well. I may have health issues later on due to genetics from my parents, but being overweight will not be one of them. I recognise the signs and am really disciplined with what i eat as i know that if i get in bad habits i will gain weight. I have in the past. It was a massive struggle to lose it and i do not everv want to be in that situation again. People must realise that putting the weight on is easy. Losing it is hard. Modern life and diet are to blame. Easy access to cheap fatty food, rather than homemade healthy. My opinion. I await the s**t comments…. Re Gabby, go girl. You are doing really well.

  9. JellyBeans says:

    I love her, she was really funny and great on the big c. I plan on reading her book

  10. Zuzus Girl says:

    I hope she continues to improve her health and learns to love her body. She’s on the right track.

  11. Adrien says:

    I want to see her in more projects. She was great in AHS Coven.

  12. Darlene says:

    I’m so happy for her. She has to be so much more comfortable now, as well as being healthier. I think she looks great.

  13. Jeesie says:

    Good for her. Weight loss surgery definitely isn’t the easy the way out. Depending on which method you choose you can still regain the weight or cause a lot of complications if you don’t also overhaul your eating habits.

    Memoirs are simply a collection of memories. That can mean memories of a life, memories of a few years, memories of a specific event in a life ect. I like reading memoirs from younger people. It’s interesting to read about someone’s youth and twenties while it’s all fresh, not only when it’s filtered through another 50 years of experience.

  14. CleaK says:

    I love her coming expressively saying that surgery is not the easy way out. I’ve worked with bariatric patients for the last several years and not a day goes by that I’m not inspired by my patients, their stories, their struggles and their triumphs. They have tried everything, every diet and vigorous exercise regimens but their body chemistry fought them at every turn. They are not lazy or slobs just metabolically compromised.

  15. lizzie says:

    Good for her!! Major elective surgery like that is a routine but scary undertaking. Diabetes at 33 is so young. Diabetes and renal failure runs in my family and it is not pretty to watch someone slowly die on dialysis. It is not a life. She is so vivacious – the woman has “IT” – taking care of herself is hopefully ensuring a longer more fulfilling life.

  16. Margo S. says:

    Seriously how beautiful is she? That last dress. Damn!!! She looks amazing. I’ve always loved her and I’m so glad she’s doing this weight loss for the right reasons. Health is so important!

  17. Whyme says:

    I feel bad she even has to say “I wasn’t cheating”. You do whatever you have to do to stay alive and healthy. Everyone can mind their own damn business.

  18. Alexandria says:

    It’s not cheating, it’s not aesthetic surgery. In fact, I don’t have an easier time terming aesthetic surgery as cheating. Sometimes you need a tweak for a better self esteem. This was vital for her health. It’s when you go crazy obsessed with aesthetic enhancements AND you insist you are natural, then it’s weird. Hi Khloe.

  19. Beth says:

    She definitely wasn’t cheating. Some can’t easily lose weight that’s putting their health and life in danger.2 of my friends had it done. One kept the weight off and is doing great,the other gained it back and weighs more than she ever did. Hopefully it works for Gabby and she stays healthy

  20. Kitten says:

    Bariatric surgery is not a quick fix, the post-treatment is a lifelong commitment. My cousin got the surgery and gained almost all of the weight back. The surgery is just a jumping-off point but the really hard work comes every day after that and requires being diligent about diet/nutrition as well as committing to regular exercise.

    Anyway, I love this woman so I’m happy for her.

    • Happy21 says:

      Crazy. My cousin got it too and she pretty much was just like oh I’m sick of being on a diet, I’m sick of trying so I’m doing this instead. She didn’t try. She drinks like a fish and even joked that now that she couldn’t really eat as much, she’d just drink. I didn’t think she was taking it seriously enough at all. And guess what, she’s still heavy. I would never have considered her obese though and either would her doctor which is why she went to south America for the procedure.

      • Dex and Destruction says:

        Often times when the obesity is tied to a food addiction, a person will simply take up a new addiction to replace it after surgery. In order for the surgery to be effective long term, the underlying psychological issues must be addressed.

        @Happy21 I had a friend who had the surgery but never took the time to explore the why and the how of the problem. Instead, her eyes were only on losing weight. She eventually took up drinking which led to full blown alcoholism, rehab, and the loss of her family.

  21. Micki says:

    That’s one woman I do respect. Self-confident enough not to bullsh*t me with sugarcoated crap about loving herself as she is even if it means to be in pain after a flight of stairs.
    I like the fact that she made a career in Hollywood and wish her success. What I’m dying now for is to hear her on the phone…talking dirty.

  22. Gene123 says:

    She looks amazing!

    I’ve always loved her because she was so honest. her tweets about leaving the oscars in a private plane and not caring what people think were perfect. I have no judgement on the surgery, you have to do whats best for you and your health always. A healthy relationship with food is something a lot of people struggle with and I am so happy to see her take control of her life.

    Also does she not have the most glowy skin in Hollywood? I envy it

  23. I Choose Me says:

    I haven’t really been following her career but I’ve seen the occasional tweet or gram from her and I think she’s funny and quite the firecracker, the kind of person I’d love to hang out with. Good for her for taking charge of her life and doing it on her terms.

  24. Pandy says:

    Good for her. No shame.

  25. aerohead21 says:

    I had the gastric sleeve two years ago and I struggle daily to make the right health choices. It honestly is not the easy way out. It changes your life in so many ways, not just for the positive. When you celebrate, mourn, stress out, or get bored you might find yourself mindlessly eating and then getting sick or gaining weight back because the behavioral component hasn’t changed. Everyone around you eats and you just watch. All the negative aside, I’d do it again because it has saved my life.

  26. magz says:

    Where can I get a knockof of that yellow dress! ITS SO BEAUTIFULLLLLL

  27. Mary says:

    bariatric surgery is not the easy way.
    I had it done, i have not finished a meal in 5 months.
    You can only eat a few bites a sitting, fluids fill you up to much, no more drinking alcohol, infections, ulcers, im now gluten intolerant.
    I have lost 50 pounds but I wouldn’t do it again.

    • tealily says:

      Good luck to you! I don’t think most people realize what a lifestyle change the surgery is.

    • Shelly says:

      I had it, I lost 180#
      It was hard the first year, if your only 5 months out it will get better. But it will take a year to a year and a half.
      I would do it again.
      But I did it to keep from getting diabetes and other family health issues, which was worth it to me

  28. Mia LeTendre says:

    She has always seemed lovely, funny, and kind. Good for her for taking her health seriously. I am not one who thinks you can’t be healthy at 200 lbs, but she was pushing 400. And so young! All the best to her future. She is quite pretty and inspires one of my sisters who has had a life long struggle with obesity.

  29. Snowflake says:

    Happy for her, she seems like a lovely person. Loved her in Precious

  30. Amanda DG says:

    I’m so glad she did this for herself. She looked terribly unhealthy before. I hope her health improves and she is happy. Weight loss is a tough road that I’ve been down a few times! Best of luck to her.

  31. Shelly says:

    Psych Meds are a huge factor for some people in gaining tons of weight.
    In one year of being on certain meds, Mood stabilizers mostly, I managed to gain 150lbs in ONE YEAR changing nothing about my diet or exercise.
    My calorie intake didn’t change, I had the same exercise routine.
    Then when I tried to lose it and went down to eating 800-1200 calories a day and walking an hour a day I still gained weight. I should have been losing.

    I went off those meds and where I didn’t gain more, I couldn’t lose it. Pure liquid diet for months.
    not a pound.
    I got a gastric bypass, because diabetes very much runs in my family and I was at a huge risk.
    Besides the hoped for weight loss, the type of bypass I had keeps you from ever getting type two and for 98% of people is considered a cure for it.
    My mom and sister who were not fat but had type two and insulin was no longer working also got the surgery and no longer have high blood sugar on any of the tests and no longer need medication as they have normal levels now.

    A gastric bypass is not cheating, or the easy way out. It is hard as fuck.
    It is a complete and permanent diet change and the first year is hell.
    But it works and now Im healthy and no longer obese. I lost 180#
    It does a lot more to your body than making you able to eat less

  32. BKittyB says:

    I find her grating and immature, but on screen she’s a good actor. Also so glad she had the surgery. Diabetes is a monster, and I know those who suffer with it. So good on her.