“The Sopranos” actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 26, was honored last Thursday by the National Eating Disorder Association for both “her fundraising and consciousness raising work for research into eating disorders.” She has drawn a lot of attention in the media to have eating disorders seen as real medical and mental illnesses and not just a “superficial disease.”

Sigler suffered from anorexia and exercise bulimia while working on “The Sopranos.” In 2002, USA Today wrote:

Sigler cut her calories to less than 500 a day and dropped a quarter of her weight — sliding from 120 pounds to 90. “I had an eating disorder,” says Sigler, who has detailed her potentially deadly experiences with anorexia nervosa (AN) and her simultaneous rise to fame in the new book Wise Girl. “I hated the way I looked when I saw myself in the mirror, but I just couldn’t stop what I was doing.”

“Going out with my girlfriends to go to the mall was out,” says Sigler. “They might decide to go to the food court and order pizza.” Excessive exercise is a common strategy in both anorexia and bulimia. “I’d begin the day with an hour or so on the treadmill,” recalls Sigler, “and then I’d put on an exercise video. I’d even figure out how to make doing laundry or talking on the phone use more calories.”

[From USA Today]

Since then Jamie-Lynn has done a lot of hard work to get healthy and stay in recovery, and has become a spokesperson for the National Eating Disorder Association.

“It’s hard for me to even recognize who I was,” the former Sopranos actress, 26, tells PEOPLE. “My reality was so warped. … I knew I had a problem and wanted to get better, but I was not able to let go of my habit.” She recalls one moment in particular – a meal with her family, when her father begged her to have some cake. “I remember rationalizing that if I had that one piece of dessert, the next morning I would wake up and weigh 400 pounds,” she says. “It sounds so wild, but for me it was true.”

[From People]

To stay in recovery, Jamie-Lyn says she tries to eat healthfully, but makes sure she doesn’t let herself make any food regulations. She noted that she used to know ” every calorie that entered my body, and I tried to measure every calorie that I could burn. So for me, any sort of regimen, any sort of ritual or rule when it comes to dieting or exercising, is bad for me.” Stars like Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Jennifer Love Hewitt are doing a great job of drawing attention to the negative effects women (and men) can suffer as a result of poor body image. Good for them for speaking up and trying to live healthier lives.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Jamie-Lynn Sigler is shown at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards on 11/5/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

On Thursday we told you that Jennifer Love Hewitt got engaged, and that most of the press about her engagement focused instead on recent unflattering pictures of her in a bikini. I thought the criticisms were a too harsh – no one looks as good as they do when they’ve got professional lighting, fuzzy lenses, and retouchers. But as a result of all the professional lighting, fuzzy lenses, and retouchers, our perception of how people are “supposed” to look becomes skewed. Though there were a few commenters who called her fat/overweight/unhealthy, it seems that the majority of you believe that Jennifer has a nice and normal body. She’s certainly put on weight in the last ten years, but who has the exact same body they did at eighteen?

In the last few years Jennifer has ignored the bad press her curvy figure has received, but finally felt the need to respond to all the hate going around about her ass. On her website Jennifer wrote:

This is the last time I will address this subject. I’ve sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women’s bodies are constantly scrutinized. To set the record straight, I’m not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image. A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn’t make you beautiful.

What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles. I know what I look like, and so do my friends and family. And like all women out there should, I love my body.

To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini – put it on and stay strong.

[From safesearching.com/jenniferlovehewitt]

I’m not sure if Jennifer was saying that a size 2 isn’t fat as a general rule, or saying that she’s a size 2 and not fat. I think she just put her sentences in a funny order that makes it a bit confusing. Regardless, it’s pretty clear that she has a healthy body image and a good perspective. She points out that she’s just gotten engaged, and people aren’t even talking about that – they’re talking about her ass. I think she looks gorgeous and will make a beautiful, healthy and happy bride.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ross McCall are shown in Hawaii this weekend, thanks to Splash News.

Who knew that Alec Baldwin cared about childhood obesity further than calling his young daughter a “vile little pig”? Turns out it’s an issue near and dear to Alec’s heart, and as a result he’s written a public letter to presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, urging her to vote no on the massive $10 billion farm bill which is now before the senate. The bill subsidizes farmers who provide unhealthy foods to schools.

The “30 Rock” star wants the Democratic White House hopeful to vote “no” on the $10 billion farm bill, now before the Senate, that would give subsidies to farmers who provide cheese, sugar and other fattening foods to schools.

“As you are well aware, the epidemic of childhood obesity is worsening day by day, leading to higher risks of diabetes, heart disease and several forms of cancer,” the actor wrote Monday in a personal letter to Clinton and each of her fellow senators. “I know that you share my concern about this crucial issue. As a parent, I see firsthand the challenges of keeping children focused on healthful foods. These challenges are made all the more difficult by federal policies that keep high-cholesterol, high-sugar foods all too plentiful in schools. .. There has never been a more urgent time to take action.

[From the New York Daily News]

Alec Baldwin isn’t exactly someone I’d call in great shape. He’s not disgusting by any means, but I am a little surprised that he’s interested in this issue. It’s kind of like when Dr. Phil talks about his “Ultimate Weight Solution,” and you’re sitting there wondering why he hasn’t read his own book. Alec Baldwin’s situation isn’t to the same extent as Dr. Phil’s, but something tells me he’s been on the business end of a block of cheese on more than one occasion recently.

Baldwin has teamed up with the Committee for Responsible Medicine to encourage senators to vote no on the farm bill. When asked how he thought Hillary Clinton would vote, Kyle Ash, a spokesperson for the Physicians Committee said:

“I think she’s vacillating. I do think she’d like to vote for something healthier for kids, but the last time we met with her staff, they told us she was concerned about dairy farmers. Dairy is a big industry in New York. Clinton’s spokesman Philippe Reines told us: “Sen. Clinton has a strong and long record of promoting healthy foods for children, and has worked to strengthen programs that promote fruits and vegetables.”

[From the New York Daily News]

Dairy may be a big important industry for New York, but childhood obesity is at epidemic proportions there. I’d never seen so many chubby little kids until I moved to Brooklyn. And I don’t say that in a mean way; I was always the chubby kid in class (but I was also 5 feet tall on the first day of third grade, you know how kids’ bodies fluctuate). It’s just startling and worrisome to look around and see what appears to be a quarter of the kids on the subway sporting huge round bellies. I’m not sure that voting against the farm bill will make a big difference though. It seems like there’s a lot of issues that need to be tackled, starting with better nutrition and exercise at home, and getting rid of vending machines in schools. I really don’t think too much cheese is the issue. Though I find it kind of bizarre that Alec Baldwin has thrown his weight around (so to speak) on this issue, if it helps get some needed attention, more power to them all.

I’m pretty sure that Queen Latifah is the coolest lady in Hollywood. The rapper/sing/actress gave an interview where she talked about the changing bodies in Hollywood, noting that the definition of beauty is expanding and diversifying.

“Beauty is not just a white girl. It’s so many different flavors and shades,” the 37-year-old rapper-actress tells People magazine in its latest issue. “It’s good for regular girls because the meter (for beauty) has been a slim white girl. (In Hollywood) we’ve definitely gotten better with body type,” she says. “It used to be just me! Now with Jennifer Hudson’s success and America Ferrera, I got some successors to take the reins on this whole bodylicious thing.” Latifah describes herself as being voluptuous – “definitely curvaceous. I think I’m normal compared to the statistics,” she says. “This is a big country nowadays.”

[From the Associated Press]

I think Queen Latifah is gorgeous, and definitely knows how to work what she’s got. She’s right – America is a big country nowadays, though that’s not really a good thing, health-wise. But it’s good that Hollywood is a little more accepting of different sized people. Latifah also talked about having a breast reduction in 2003 after she lost 25 pounds but her boobs stayed the same size.

The star of “Chicago” and other films says she had elective breast-reduction surgery in 2003 to alleviate years of back and shoulder pain. “I didn’t want to get it. But I had lost 25 pounds and my breasts didn’t go anywhere! I was still carrying that load,” she tells the magazine. However, “I didn’t quite want them to be this small,” she laughs. Before surgery, Latifah says she was “an E or an F cup. I was pretty big. Now I’m like a DD. I wanted to be a triple. They took one D too many! So that was hard to deal with. … I missed my old look.” Latifah says she isn’t interested in more surgery. “There are people who love (plastic surgery) and want to cut and chop anything. I’m like, `Y’all are crazy!’”

[From the Associated Press]

I don’t know that I’ve heard many women complaining that their DDs are too small, but everyone has their own ideas. I would think that DDs could still cause a significant amount of back pain – though they’re probably a big improvement on Fs. I love what a positive attitude Queen Latifah has. She’s pretty succinct, but in a fun way. People that are always hacking at their bodies are a little crazy. It seems like she’s one of the most likely Hollywood women not to give into pressure.