Did you hear? Lady Gaga Gained 25 Pounds!

by Nicole on September 26, 2012

Hello Wednesday. How’s it going for you this morning?

I have a little bit of a controversial topic to bring up this morning. I watch the Today Show every morning, while I eat breakfast, have coffee and do work. It’s a background noise thing for the morning. Depending on what I have going on for the day, I’ll catch it at different times. So far I’ve heard Lady Gaga’s weight gain talked about once on Kathie Lee & Hoda and once on the 8 o’clock hour on the regular Today Show. Both times I sat, watched and listened while they showed pictures and talked about it.

If you don’t know, Lady Gaga has come out and said on Z100 that she has gained 25 pounds since Christmas. She attributes it to her love of eating and her father’s restaurant mostly. There have been pictures posted everywhere about her weight gain and then yesterday I was watching Joy Bauer’s segment (which I usually love) and at the end she added that Lady Gaga doesn’t have to let go of her pizza or pasta, but she should just bulk up her meals with veggies and lean protein. While I know it was good intentioned, (and she even tweeted me back to apologize!) I just didn’t understand why Lady Gaga needed to be brought up. The segment had NOTHING to do with her and it seemed like a random after thought just to talk about celebrity weight gain.

First of all, Lady Gaga is by NO means overweight. She gained weight. So what. Have we not all been there?

Second of all, have you seen the pictures of her weight gain? This is not what we should be talking about. What does it mean for our society and for young girls body image if images like that are looked at as “overweight” or weight gain.

Third, if you’ve seen the pictures of her from behind in fishnets.… has anyone in the media thought about what they would look like if they were put in that outfit? Who actually looks flattering from that angle? And it’s amazing that she is so confident that she’ll rock this outfit…at any size…because I certainly would not.

In what land is this a “fuller figure”? This is why we have major body image & dysmorphia problems.

(source)

I have so many problems with this because of the focus on perfection. Lady Gaga isn’t perfect and guess what, either are any of us. We need to let up on the pressure to be thin and perfect and focus on being fit and healthy.

Fit and healthy also means not eating perfectly 100% of the time or getting in a workout every single day in order to be “good enough” or worthy.

I don’t know if it’s being pregnant that’s fired me up so much or if I’m just sick of our obsession with being perfect and achieving that perfect body or diet. Life is about SO much more than that. Trust me, I understand the allure of having a rock hard body, but when you are sacrificing living life because you need to get in a workout or you need to stay home to get in the right amount of protein, then you need to reevaluate and look inward at what you are doing to yourself.

I’m happy that Lady Gaga is focusing so much on the positive and started a Body Revolution movement, where she’s encouraging her fans to embrace their flaws. Lady Gaga wrote on her website, “May we make our flaws famous, and thus redefine the heinous. Now that the body revolution has begun, be brave and post a photo of you that celebrates your triumph over insecurities.”

(Edited to add: I thought I should note, I have no issue about Lady Gaga wanting to lose weight, I just feel like either way it’s her choice and not a big deal that requires all this media coverage. I know she’s a celebrity, which is why it’s in the news. I feel it should be celebrated and/or ignored because she’s a REAL woman who deals with weight gains and losses, just like you and me!)

What do you think? Do you think all the talk around Lady Gaga is a big deal? Do you not care at all?

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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }

Janet September 26, 2012 at 8:30 am

150% agree with you!

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Danielle September 26, 2012 at 8:37 am

Couldn’t agree more! It blew my mind last week when I was watching the news and “breaking news” came on about Lindsay Lohan “hitting” a pedestrian while backing up. I just can’t understand why that’s considered to be breaking news. We need to get our priorities in order!
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Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen) September 26, 2012 at 8:42 am

I could not agree with you more! I’m so tired of the skinny and overweight focus that everyone is putting on people. I wish the focus was more on health and not size! Also, talking about anyone’s weight in a bad way is just in poor taste no matter how you look at it. If Lady Gaga is healthy and happy, then that’s all that matters!
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Erica { EricaDHouse.com } September 26, 2012 at 8:44 am

I love you! Every time the media makes an issue about weight at all, good or bad, it’s bring attention to a topic that should just be put to rest already. If they were concerned about her health (as in she was seen binge drinking constantly or something) that’s one thing. But, she’s put on weight – goodness let’s not make it headline news.
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christieo September 26, 2012 at 8:45 am

Ohmigod THAT’S “FULL FIGURED?” I’m a little upset that she even thinks she’s full figured, THIS IS NOT FULL FIGURED! Oh lawdy. I am however pretty happy she is still wearing whatever she wants and is confident.
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Nicole September 26, 2012 at 8:49 am

I KNOW. It’s so ridiculous.

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Heather September 26, 2012 at 8:45 am

I think…well, I think “who cares!” There are children starving in Africa and this is what we focus on? plus even with her “weight gain” she still looks very healthy to me, so i just don’t get it!
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Nicole September 26, 2012 at 8:50 am

Exactly, I don’t get it either. So many bigger issues in this world.

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Jennifer (Savor) September 26, 2012 at 8:51 am

This is why my daughter, age 8, is asking if she looks okay or if she is fat. My daughter looks great and watching her strong body perform on the competitive gymnastics team amazes me every week. This kind of story makes me mad!

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Nicole September 26, 2012 at 8:58 am

that is so sad your daughter is already asking that. she’s lucky she has a great role model like you though to help to see she’s strong and beautiful!

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Renee September 26, 2012 at 9:12 am

GREAT post! I too watch the today show and thought wow slow news day! Shes young she’s not overweight she aimed some weight it happens! Agree with you 200%!
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Caitlin September 26, 2012 at 9:12 am

Oh Nicole this post so hits home for me! I am so sick of our media talking about Lady Gaga’s weight gain, I think that part of why people are so fixated on it is because it shows them that she is a “normal person”. It’s definitely nice for celebs to say they’re human but who are we to judge whether they or any other people should/shouldn’t gain/lose weight? I’ve heard plenty before about how Lady Gaga needed to “eat a burger” and I guess she just can’t win, and many girls out there I know feel like they can’t win – myself included. I honestly just turn the channel when I hear about this stuff lately.
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Christine @ Love, Life, Surf September 26, 2012 at 9:22 am

I totally agree with you. Did you see Lady Gaga’s response and photos of her doing yoga in her underwear? I admire what she’s doing to encourage us all to accept our bodies – imperfections in all. It is really ridiculous how much attention is being paid to this story. She looks healthy!

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[email protected] September 26, 2012 at 9:30 am

I think this is why I don’t watch the news. Rarely rarely rarely do I watch any tv other than sports or something I’ve specifically recorded. I hate the things that are reported as news and I for sure do not want my children to hear what people think is ‘news’. Disgusting.

Excellent post!
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Lauren September 26, 2012 at 9:31 am

This kind of thing gets me fired up all the time. First of all, if this is going to be news (it shouldn’t be but sadly it is), shouldn’t the media be conentrating on the fact that it’s actually a wonderful thing that she gained weight. She just came out yesterday and admitted she’s struggled with anorexia and bulemia since she was 15. In that respect it’s quite an accomplishment that she’s actually let herself consciously or subconsciously gain weight publicly. And if she wants to lose it, fine, as long as she does it in a healthy fashion.

Second, I’m just so fed up with this obsession with what looks good and is an acceptable body to have. I used to have a friend who was already thin who decided to join weight watchers and when they said the most they could in good conscious help her lose was 8 lbs she asked them to fudge her weigh in numbers so she could lose more. While I struggled with my weight (i was over 200lbs at the time) she complained that she had gained 0.4 lbs two weeks in a row.

I tell Chuck all the time that if we have kids I’m scared to have a girl because I wouldnt know how to raise her in our society. 15-20 years ago when I was in grade school I got called Moby Dick on the playground not because I was actually fat but because of all the girls in my class I happened to be the biggest.

My friends and I had a similar conversation the other day about Tyra Banks trying to give Plus Size Models a positive image by giving them a new name instead of plus size. We all agreed, why not just call them MODELS?!

I really hope this image crisis and obsession with size, weight, all these numbers that don’t really matter starts to change. It’s so disheartening.

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Mindy @Road Runner Girl September 26, 2012 at 9:38 am

I agree with you 110%!!! Who cares that she has gained a little weight? She looks perfectly healthy to me! It’s disgusting that the media is focusing on this and we have little girls out there that are constantly looking at pictures like this and thinking they are not good enough or thin enough. Makes me soo mad!
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Amber @ExSoyCise September 26, 2012 at 9:46 am

I completely agree with you! There is absolutely no need for the media to blast pictures and talk about her weight gain. I think it is sad that celebrities have to go through that, imagine if every time we put on a little weight someone posted photos of you all over the internet and tweeted about it. Awful! She looks great and from what I’ve read she is making steps to get back into shape.
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Cat @ Breakfast to Bed September 26, 2012 at 9:50 am

i agree a gajillion percent. all of it.
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Christy September 26, 2012 at 11:51 am

Um yes! I actually was speaking of this on my Facebook page yesterday. It made me ANGRY. I have my own image problems, but I cannot imagine how life would be if lived out in front of constant camera flashes. She’s by no means overweight-and even if she was, there are bigger fish to fry out in the world! If she asked someone for help with weight loss, then I could see speaking about it, but even if that happened, it shouldn’t be conveyed so negatively.

It seems every day the media becomes more and more obsessed with the image of the celebrity and not the issues that truly matter!
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Michele @ Nycrunningmama September 26, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Could not agree more with you, Nicole. Who the HECK cares if she gains 10, 25 or 50 pounds? There are SO many more pertinent issues at hand than her figure. I was so pissed off when I first heard this on one of the news channels. They kept putting up that pic of her in the fishnets from behind as if they were laughing or mocking her. So stupid.

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Colleen September 26, 2012 at 5:33 pm

I think you hit it right on the nose when you questioned what we’re teaching young girls making this a focus point. It’s weight gain, so what, she is not obese, she is not even in danger of becoming obese, if anything she is probably healthier now. I’m sad that this is even a topic of conversation for the media.
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Meredith @ DareYouTo September 26, 2012 at 10:39 pm

Well said. Great post. It’s so often unnecessary to bring up such things — and in the “NEWS!”
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Miz September 27, 2012 at 5:14 am

It’s simply SAD.
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Tina @ Best Body Fitness September 27, 2012 at 6:53 am

It is so ridiculous. I said the same thing to Peter when we heard it on the radio’s “news”. WHY is this NEWS?!
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Shaunna@mamas13minutemile September 27, 2012 at 10:00 am

Skinny, fat, purple or covered in meat…I love my Lady Ga Ga!

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Nina @ Sweating It October 2, 2012 at 2:52 pm

I totally agree that we shouldn’t be criticizing her! If anything, she was too skinny before, and now she’s simply “normal.” And I love her no matter what!
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