I get People magazine at my office.
Yes, yes. I admit. I flip through it. A guilty pleasure I am sure. It is a bit of “plastic surgery” research though as well.
This will be a quick post, but The March 8 2010 issue had on the front cover, Nicole Eggert. “How I lost 15 pounds!” So I read the article. I saw the photos.
She did lose weight. She does look better. But I have a strong suspicion this was not just her eating plan of not skipping breakfast, eating a large salad for lunch, and broiling fish for dinner. So I searched online to see if anyone has the scoop on what she did. In looking at her photos, I can’t quite see her moles on her 2009 photo to compare to her current one. In her 2010 photos she is lifting her hands above her head (we all look better that way), so I can’t quite tell how tight her skin really is. Why would I look for moles and skin tightness? My strong suspicion is she had liposuction, a tummy tuck, or a mini tummy tuck. When you have a tuck, your skin is tightened and walah, your moles would move.
So why am I writing about this? Trust me, I am a busy surgeon. I am not searching gossip columns to dish on celebrity surgery. But this People magazine article makes me mad. Women who have children frequently don’t have the bodies they did before having children. And for many, it is not eating too many hamburgers and being a couch potato which causes it. I have many patients at their ideal weight, who do work out daily and eat well, and “can’t tone things up.” They can’t tone it up because their muscles are separated and their skin is stretched.
I don’t want people to read this article and think “If I just eat broiled fish for dinner, I can look like that too…” This is misleading. This is not the whole story.
So I don’t know what she did. I am glad she feels better and is in the best shape of her life. She looks great. But we mortal women who have had children should not read these magazine articles and think they are reality.
Though maybe we should all raise our arms over our head when we take photos. It is a simple thing to do. And that will make our bellies look better.