Kirstie Alley has long been on the roller coaster of weight gain and loss, and it’s not like we haven’t noticed.
Every time Alley decides it is time to lay off the butter, she decides to go public with it, I think, as a means of inspiration. She draws from the energy and support of her fans.
Well, it’s that time again. After dropping to 145 pounds then leaving Jenny Craig in 2007, her old ways started creeping back in.
“It said 228 lbs., which is my highest weight ever. I was so much more disgusting than I thought! I fell off the horse.”
This time Alley is convinced she is going to get down to 140 pounds. But will she be able to keep it off? That’s the real question.
Okay, how did this happen?
It started with New Year’s [2008], right after leaving Jenny Craig. When you’re a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, there’s responsibility. You have a person every week standing over you when you get on the scale, and I did it naked because those panties could weigh 30 lbs.! It was amazingly successful. But the first nail in the coffin was that I didn’t have to weigh in. I just sort of went wild.
Did you go right back to indulging in cakes and pies the way you did the first time you let yourself go?
It wasn’t the exact same M.O. My food demons are Chinese food, sugar, butter. A lot of butter. If I’m at the movies, usually I eat popcorn without butter, but I’d say, “I’m at the movies, so who cares?” And toast with butter. Or let’s say I had two cups of pasta and six tablespoons of butter on it. There was a lot of butter going on.
What else would you eat?
For seven months I was a vegetarian, and I can’t tell you how much weight I gained being a vegetarian! A vegetarian would probably be eating vegetables. But to me being a vegetarian meant I’m going to eat enchiladas with no meat, and I’m going to eat lots of bread, lots of carbs.
What weight do you want to get down to?
I have to be below 140 to really look good. I have to work my legs like crazy. Actually, do you want my real goal? My real goal’s always too low. I love the way I look at, like, 128. One time on Cheers, I weighed about 148 lbs., and they told me to lose, like, 20 lbs. Now, I’m 5′8″, so at 148 lbs., I wasn’t fat. But they’re saying, “You know, you need to lose 20 lbs.” So what does that put me at? 128. That’s where I keep getting this number.
Are you self-conscious?
I’m totally inhibited. When I’m overweight I will not go out. With my closest friends, yeah. But you wouldn’t see me at a premiere.
But you seem ready to turn your life around.
I’m ready to work. I messed up along the way, but I’m not going to concentrate on that. I’m gonna go, “You know what? Get back on the horse, lose the freakin’ weight, and then just move forward!”
[PM]
