How do hungry people sustain unnaturally low weights

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intrepidelephant
intrepidelephant Posts: 100 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Not that this is something I'd want to do. I'm OK with being 5'6 and 130 lbs but I remember I heard Julianne Moore saying that actresses are always hungry and they do things like skip dinner. She mentioned that she was naturally slender but felt she had to diet constantly to be thin enough for Hollywood. Side note: I saw a dress she wore in a movie once on an auction site with 32" bust and a 24" waist and Julianne Moore is not short. I have 34" bust and a 25" inch waist that I have to work to maintain. How do people (models, actresses etc.) live in a perpetual state of hunger without bingeing?
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  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Money. Cash. Moolah. If I made 5 million per movie like Julianne, I would skip dinner, too. :#
  • rungurl3
    rungurl3 Posts: 106 Member
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    Good question-- I'd like to know too. My rabid reading of People and Us mags on the Elliptical doesn't seem to address this! I think they must just get used to it? Or make excruciatingly lo-cal choices ALLLLL the time!
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Because nothing tastes as good as thin feels
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
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    It's important to remember that these people have lots of free time and unlimited financial resources. If I didn't sit at a desk all day and had excessive amounts of money, I'd be in the gym for hours with my PT and head home to a meal prepped by a personal chef, too.

    I don't really think maintaining a low weight means you have to be hungry, either. I'm pretty thin (107 lbs. at 5' 2") and I eat at least 1700 calories a day with just moderate exercise (walking) a few days a week. I found losing the "vanity pounds" to be much harder than maintaining my goal weight.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    LeonCX wrote: »
    Money. Cash. Moolah. If I made 5 million per movie like Julianne, I would skip dinner, too. :#

    Yep!
  • shadowofender
    shadowofender Posts: 786 Member
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    I like Chris Pratt's diet:

    "Hey fatty, lose weight if you want to be in my movie"

    That's a huge motivator.
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    brynnsmom wrote: »
    It's important to remember that these people have lots of free time and unlimited financial resources. If I didn't sit at a desk all day and had excessive amounts of money, I'd be in the gym for hours with my PT and head home to a meal prepped by a personal chef, too.

    Yep, they have the time and money for personal trainers and personal chefs... and they'll never tell you about the days that they do binge.
  • intrepidelephant
    intrepidelephant Posts: 100 Member
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    brynnsmom wrote: »
    It's important to remember that these people have lots of free time and unlimited financial resources. If I didn't sit at a desk all day and had excessive amounts of money, I'd be in the gym for hours with my PT and head home to a meal prepped by a personal chef, too.

    I don't really think maintaining a low weight means you have to be hungry, either. I'm pretty thin (107 lbs. at 5' 2") and I eat at least 1700 calories a day with just moderate exercise (walking) a few days a week. I found losing the "vanity pounds" to be much harder than maintaining my goal weight.

    Julianne mentioned that she is unnaturally thin. I know many people can be naturally slim and some can look good an be healthy at higher weights. Also, most actesses and models are not superrich. Also, I don't know how having personal trainers and chefs and such could ward off hunger at 1000 calories a day. The body rebels with too little energy going in no matter how it's all combined together.

  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    i used to be very thin for years - i'm not tall, but i was wearing size 0 with a 19 inch waist. it wasn't because i wanted to be thin or worked at it. at the time, my hobby was taking long walks - i just liked it. many of my walks were 3 or 4 hours and included lots of hills. then at night, i would go to clubs and dance.

    i have a friend who's a model. she DOES work at it - has her trainer come and push her 3 days per week, does lots and lots of intense cardio all other days. she eats meals, but keeps them fairly small with only an occasional splurge.
  • thebillmo
    thebillmo Posts: 11 Member
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    Being in a perpetual state of hunger sounds unhealthy and miserable. Your point is well taken that eating disorders in Hollywood are a serious concern. However there is a middle ground: intermittent fasting.

    Many people practice IF and thrive. The basic idea is you go an extended period without eating, like anywhere between 12 and 36 hours. Then when you eat, eat normally. Don't binge, but get the nourishment you need.

    During the fast you experience hunger, for sure, but what you quickly learn is that it's really not that bad. If you eat correctly before the fast, then your body has plenty of stored energy to carry you through the fast.

    I've been doing IF for two months. I skip breakfast, then eat three normal meals between the hours of 1PM and 9PM, getting my full daily caloric allotment (thank you, MFP). Yes I get hungry during the last few hours before I eat, but it's not debilitating. My body is full of energy (not weak) and my head is clear, not clouded by a low-blood sugar crash. If my mind is busy and focused on something like work, I don't even notice that I'm hungry.

    I liken the hunger to the "empty" light coming on on your car's gas tank. You're aware of it, and it might even be a distracting annoyance, but your car still runs perfectly fine with that light on. Just know your car's limits and get some gas in time, and you and your car will be fine.

    The bottom line is that for healthy people, short-term hunger is perfectly tolerable. Here's a great read on the subject: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting/introduction
  • Beautifulbridgittlee7
    Beautifulbridgittlee7 Posts: 352 Member
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    Intuitive eating, that's what I do. I like to workout a lot too, the gym, swimming, outdoors, sports,etc but I don't eat if I'm not hungry. I don't eat just because food is sitting there, I wait until I am, and then I stop when I'm comfortable, not stuffed, because I don't like feeling sick.
  • LAH3001
    LAH3001 Posts: 9
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    Your waist is only one inch bigger than Julianne's, so it sounds like you're pretty much there already. Or very close. Both of you work on your physiques to get to that size.
  • mongoloriver
    mongoloriver Posts: 6
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    I have an eating disorder and I can tell you being at an unnaturally low weight is complete hell. After I crossed a certain threshold I stopped menstruating, and I lost interest almost everything. It's not a good look to try and attain; I would much rather be back at my normal or slightly above normal weight. You can seriously lose your marbles over this stuff :F
  • fivethreeone
    fivethreeone Posts: 8,196 Member
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    it's their job. They treat it as such. and "skipping dinner" is by no means an extreme form of dieting. I'm sure that's the only thing her publicist will let her admit.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Mind over matter. Could go either way. Anytime the question is, "How can s/he do that," the answer is that they just decided to and have the determination to follow through. If I had that determination, I wouldn't be obese. Eating too much and exercising too little is a choice I make -- not a choice I'm proud of or wish I would make but the one evidence shows I have made. I'm trying to develop the determination to make the right choices.

    One other thing can intervene and that's knowledge. If you don't know what to do to reach your goal or are misinformed about what it takes to meet your goal, you can be as determined as you wish but you won't reach your goals.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    brynnsmom wrote: »
    It's important to remember that these people have lots of free time and unlimited financial resources. If I didn't sit at a desk all day and had excessive amounts of money, I'd be in the gym for hours with my PT and head home to a meal prepped by a personal chef, too.

    I don't really think maintaining a low weight means you have to be hungry, either. I'm pretty thin (107 lbs. at 5' 2") and I eat at least 1700 calories a day with just moderate exercise (walking) a few days a week. I found losing the "vanity pounds" to be much harder than maintaining my goal weight.

    They don't have unlimited free time. Their JOB is to be skinny. So they do their job. I expect it's hard. Some of them fail at it and lots of them do it in unhealthy ways.

  • thingofstuff
    thingofstuff Posts: 93 Member
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    You don't get cast in the "attractive female lead roles" without conforming to specific body standards. Modelling agencies state minimum heights (usually 5foot 7 at least) and very specific measurements (Bust somewhere in the 30's, waist 19-20something and hips MUST be less than 36 ideally 35 but that one is really hard because of bone structure!). It is heavily based on proportions more than the exact numbers though. It depends on how strict a contract is, but almost everyone I know through my agency or through networking in the modelling industry works out regularly, eats sensibly...or smokes A LOT or does a fair share of drugs. It depends on what kind of modelling you're doing.
  • clarion_r
    clarion_r Posts: 53 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Simple - what do you want more: food or controlling your weight in a certain way for a certain purpose.

    Which is true of actresses or anyone else.
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
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    Why are most people in Japan thin? Because they eat smaller portions. Here in America, we are used to eating until we're full and then some (sometimes uncomfortably full). Our restaurants give us so much food that we have trouble finishing it and some people ask for a box to take their food home. Over there what they tell people is, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being full, eat until you're at 7 or 8. If you're trying to lose weight, eat until you're at a 6. I think most people here in the U.S. keep eating until they're 10-12, either full so full they feel uncomfortable and can't possibly eat anymore without getting sick. Eventually, you will get used to eating less and you'll be fine. It's just the beginning that's the most difficult. Eat a small portion and then wait 30 minutes before eating just a little bit more. Part of the problem is that the brain doesn't register that you're full for a while and you still think you're hungry even though you've had plenty to eat.

    Celebrities eat small portions (nothing more than a handful of food), work with personal trainers, and exercise for hours each day. That is how already-thin celebrities can drop even more weight if a role requires it (example: Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis dropping to 95 lbs for Black Swan).
  • intrepidelephant
    intrepidelephant Posts: 100 Member
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    stephe1987 wrote: »
    Why are most people in Japan thin? Because they eat smaller portions. Here in America, we are used to eating until we're full and then some (sometimes uncomfortably full). Our restaurants give us so much food that we have trouble finishing it and some people ask for a box to take their food home. Over there what they tell people is, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being full, eat until you're at 7 or 8. If you're trying to lose weight, eat until you're at a 6. I think most people here in the U.S. keep eating until they're 10-12, either full so full they feel uncomfortable and can't possibly eat anymore without getting sick. Eventually, you will get used to eating less and you'll be fine. It's just the beginning that's the most difficult. Eat a small portion and then wait 30 minutes before eating just a little bit more. Part of the problem is that the brain doesn't register that you're full for a while and you still think you're hungry even though you've had plenty to eat.

    Celebrities eat small portions (nothing more than a handful of food), work with personal trainers, and exercise for hours each day. That is how already-thin celebrities can drop even more weight if a role requires it (example: Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis dropping to 95 lbs for Black Swan).

    But Mila Kunis admitted that she ending up mad bingeing the minute she finished filming Black Swan

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