Drama just seems to follow Hollywood stars, no matter how low of a profile they keep. Case in point, a controversial comment made by celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow during a workout with her beloved trainer, Tracy Anderson. Paltrow, who is no stranger to putting in some serious sweaty hours at Anderson’s gym to whip her body back into shape after two pregnancies, made this rather tongue-in-cheek comment about what you need to do in order to look great:
“When you’re 35, you either starve yourself, or you do serious cardio.”
While a few Paltrow fans have staunchly criticized her comment, in my opinion, those attacking her are making the mistake of taking her comment a bit too literally.
Paltrow, having endured the scrutinizing and oftentimes unforgiving comments by the paparazzi is simply pointing out the obvious: That in order to lose weight and look great, you’ve got to work your butt off. And you know what? She’s right.
Granted, I don’t know Ms. Paltrow personally, but she doesn’t strike me as someone who is going to come out supporting starvation as a way to lose weight. Yes, she has unabashedly admitted to following a post-holiday cleanse in order to detox after a few too many slices of pumpkin pie, but what her comment is instead suggesting is that dieting is tough work particularly as you get older and your metabolism slows. You inevitably have to work that much harder to not just maintain your weight but to lose it. And as long as we’re being as frank as Ms. Paltrow, let us all be clear that dieting takes some work and it’s not that fun. That work may involve feeling some hunger pangs as you pass up an afternoon coffee-house cookie for a grande green tea.
So let’s give Gwyneth a break and not misrepresent her comment by making her out to be pro-anorexic. Remember that this is the same woman who spent months eating her way through Spain with famed chef, Mario Batali.
She’s not scared of food. She’s not condoning starvation.
She looks great and she’s got the legs and the sweaty gym clothes to prove it.