How do hungry people sustain unnaturally low weights

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?
«1

Replies

  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    edited October 2014
    Money. Cash. Moolah. If I made 5 million per movie like Julianne, I would skip dinner, too. :#
  • rungurl3
    rungurl3 Posts: 106 Member
    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
    Because nothing tastes as good as thin feels
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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

  • Like a previous poster said. If someone offered me 5 million dollars and told me I had to lose 20lbs, guess what? I am doing anything humanly possible to get there. Money is the motivating factor for most. Some are narcissitic and thrive off the adoration of looking a certain way.
  • DianeinCA
    DianeinCA Posts: 307 Member
    How celebs and actresses (many of whom are not rich enough to have private chefs, full time personal trainers, etc) get so insanely thin:

    Pressure. You want that role, you keep seeing it go to competitors who are 0 or 00, you get the message.

    Anorexia. Flat-out no eating for days. And if you do eat something, get rid of it fast.

    Drugs. Particularly the hard stuff (think Walter White). Anything to keep from eating.

    Whenever I read some starlet say, "I do light yoga and walk my dog," I cringe. Because there's a 99.9% chance she's NOT. Really, really.
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
    Yeah, it's money and fame. They are VERY motivating factors. If I had an agent and he told me "I've spoken to producers and you need to drop 20 pounds to get that role that pays a million dollars," that 20 pounds would be GONE. We all know the strategies they use from the ones who are nice enough to admit it and not lie to us claiming they are so thin from "hiking a few times a week" or "just watching what they eat." Yeah you watch it, smell it...and you don't eat it lol. If you drink lemon water for breakfast, tomatoes and a couple cubes of cheese for lunch, and 1 chicken breast for dinner, indeed you will lose that weight lol.

    That's why some of them are rumored to be so rude. They're hungry. I get angry when my boyfriend grabs a giant bite of my food...I can't imagine how mad they are when they diet.

    And as another poster mentioned, there are those that use substance assistance and pills sadly.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Some of them go up and down a little within a certain range. I remember an actor talking about going out for cheeseburgers on the last day of filming a movie.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    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.

    Everyone is different, though. See. When I was 107 lbs, even eating what I eat now to maintain my current weight, I felt hungry. All the time. Because I wasn't meant to be 107 lbs.

    The only real answer to this thread is... they lose their sanity doing so. They can smile, and pretend they're sane and happy. But I doubt they really are. If you try to maintain an image that is not natural to your physical and mental state of being, you are eventually going to break.
  • ajnb88
    ajnb88 Posts: 339 Member
    Someone I work with suffers from a pretty severe ED, and it's only recently that she admitted she's pretty much constantly dizzy, tired, weak, and feeling sick. Thing is, it's so ingrained in her now that for her it's worth it.
  • ILoveGingerNut
    ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
    they do binge. they just don't work every day of the year like us, so you don't get to see them when they have some extra weight.
  • LilyOfTheValley008
    LilyOfTheValley008 Posts: 95 Member
    Well I can kind of understand how it would feel to have your appearance and weight constantly under scrutiny as a celebrity. Imagine having a cheat day and then seeing yourself on a magazine cover with "so and so piling on the pounds" or something. God.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    I recall Demi Moore saying that being in shape and fit was her job. She approached working out and looking great as her work. I thought that was well stated. Also many actors lose weight for a role and gain some back right after..they talk about it all the time.

    As for personal chefs and trainers? Oprah has had those her entire career. That's all I'll say on that.

    But for us typical folk.. we have to decided where we want to land with weight goal. For me.. i want to enjoy my life..which means food too. I don't know for sure how much I'll lose…because i don't want to be stuck eating 1200 calories, which i know can't be sustained.

  • onionparsleysage
    onionparsleysage Posts: 103 Member
    Because they need to.

    If my boss would fire me for gaining weight, you'd bet your bottom dollar that I'd be obsessively dieting! There are all sorts of challenges to reaching our dreams. I don't need to lose weight to reach my dream job, but I do pull 24-36 hour shifts when needed. How? Because I need to. Being sleep deprived for a few days is better than giving up on my dream.