[Alley] recently bragged on her Twitter site that she’s lost 50 pounds with exercise and her Organic Liaison weight-loss program. But those close to her say she’s lost barely half that weight and that there’s no way she’s down to 180 pounds!

What’s more, a photo taken on Sept. 29…shows that the plus-size actress hasn’t lost nearly as much as she claims… The struggling star “has been goosing her weight-loss numbers” – insisting she’s dropped 50 pounds, when it’s more like 25…

In September, while in Italy, she tweeted that she had lost 50 pounds, posting a photo of herself surrounded by handsome men. But the picture appeared to be air-brushed to make Kirstie look thin, and she hid her lower body behind one of the hunky men.

As if weight-loss programs aren’t enough of a scam, hers doesn’t even temporarily work! I hunted down that picture so you can see for yourself. She does look pretty airbrushed, no?

2. Ricky Gervais has lost weight recently, and now feels like jokes about fat people are off-limits.

“Now I’ve got to stop making jokes about fat people, which is annoying. When I was fat, it was okay,” the creator of ‘The Office’ tells People. Gervais, 49, lost “20 or 22 pounds,” he says. “It wasn’t so much about the weight. It was more that I was a fat, lazy, out of shape slob, to be honest.”

Ricky Gervais shutting up about fat people is probably for the best, then, isn’t it? Oh, Ricky.

3. Kim Kardashian posed nude for W Magazine (photos at this link are NSFW) and the pictures are everywhere. There have been a lot of ugly comments that I’m sure you can find if you search for about ten seconds, but I liked this one:

I’m 5’1 and I love the way I look, and it’s nice to see more women with hourglass figures in the media lately, being unafraid to [bare] it all, like Christina Hendricks and Ms. Kardashian here. I’m not going to stop loving myself just because I have the figure of a cartoon character.

Stop the hate, people! There’s so much hate in the world, do we really have to tear each other down over how we perceive each others’ bodies?

4. Crystal Renn is a size 10, and Manolo for the Big Girl is over it.

There’s nothing wrong with being a size 10. She’s had a tough row to hoe body-image wise and if that’s where her body is happy then far be it from me to complain.

But she’s a size 10.

That’s not plus-sized, that’s not close to plus-sized and even though I am the biggest fashion industry apologist on the planet, I just can’t pretend that she counts as a plus-sized model in any meaningful sense and therefore she deserves no more and no less press or attention than any other model who doesn’t wear plus-size clothes.

I’m a big proponent for variety and I’d rather see a size 10 model as a staple than a size 20 as a gimmick every few years, but the days of breathlessly reporting on her every move as a victory for fat girl kind –inasmuch as I ever have– are over.

5. Via The F Word, celebrities who have struggled with eating disorders include Felicity Huffman, Elton John, Kate Winslet, Victoria Beckham, and Snooki.

For years she denied the rumors that she had an eating disorder, but Calista Flockhart finally admitted to her problem with anorexia. “I started under-eating, over-exercising, pushing myself too hard and brutalizing my immune system. I guess I just didn’t find time to eat.” Even though the actress hasn’t gained much noticeable weight she ensures, “I am much more healthy these days.”

I recently read Kathy Griffin’s Official Book Club Selection, where she talked frankly about her binge eating, her husband’s binge eating, and going to Overeaters Anonymous—as well as the botched liposuction that nearly killed her.

2. I think I’m in love with Amanda Piasecki, who coined the term “Fatshionista,” after reading this interview on Big Bum Jumble.

At my best and most resilient, I enjoy exaggerating everything about my size and rocking hot, gruesome, femme monstrosity. At my most weary and over-it, I work a surly, fat Russian Riviera look. For a long time, I attempted to dye my hair the same color red as every woman in communist Poland had, but no one made the connection except my immigrant family, and my skin looked terrible. Now it’s a less belligerent Californian henna color. I am one of the least invisible people I know, even when I’m trying to be – I receive a lot of street hassle, from come-ons to fat bashing, and everything in between. I do the best with it that I can, and sometimes my outfits are a way of fighting back or making a visual inside joke with other outsiders.

And wait, she lives in Oakland? Amanda, come hang out with me! East Bay represent!

3. Sherri Shepherd is going to play Lula in the adaptation of Janet Evanovich’s book One for the Money. I envisioned Lula as being heavier based on the book descriptions, but then again, I envisioned Stephanie Plum as being not Katherine Heigl, so…

4. I don’t watch Hung (or get HBO), but for those of you who do, I got a really interesting email from Cleofaye about fat politics on that show! In her words:

I don’t know if you watch the show hung on HBO, I don’t really like it that much, but it’s in between True Blood and Entourage, so what else am I going to do for a half hour?… the lead character is Ray, a male prostitute, but the relavent story line actually involves his ex wife and daughter. His ex wife Jessica is played by Anna Heche, stereotypically beautiful. Her daughter, Darby, is played by Sianoa Smit-McPhee. She’s fat and doesn’t apologize for it. She’s shown as smart, confident and attractive. In one episode she attends a fat protest, where a group of fat women distribute slices of cake and chant things like “Fat? So!” The exchange between Darby and her mother in this scene is really telling for such relationships, with Jessica refusing the cake and not understanding why it upsets Darby and her friends. I thought you guys over at BFD would find it interesting.

Here’s a clip featuring Smit-McPhee, in case you’re curious. (It was the only one I could find, of an Angry Dad Moment—if anyone can find the cake scene, that would be awesome.)

[ETA: Don't miss Sarah's report in the comments. Thanks, Sarah!]

5. And finally, a girlcrush shoutout to commenter Sheildmaiden1196, who said in the Urban Outfitters T-shirt thread:

I got [a T-shirt] from ‘The Onion’ store that says “I wish somebody would do something about how fat I am”. I like to wear it to the gym.

Ha!

Our body project is a collection of personal narratives written about bodies. They range from broad declarations of body and experience to small intricate pieces focusing on body parts or functions. Most importantly, they are written and shared here in an effort to create a community for positive body image and sexual experience. They are written and shared here to remind us that we are not alone with the pain of a distorted or negative self perception, but also to remind us, perhaps more importantly, perhaps not, that we are not alone when we feel good, really good, in a world where people are often unaccustomed to sharing expressions of joy about their bodies.

And from “Hip to the Hips”:

“Hey. Hey you. Nice hips.”

I was just trying to shift from one class to another, dragging my feet so that they didn’t ever lift off the ground, past the lockers on the second floor. What? What did that boy just say to me? I’m just trying to get to my next class. Just trying to get through the day. Just trying to get through high school. Why I am being noticed? Why did that mean? How could one even have nice hips? Does that mean I’m fat? I just wanted to hide–or better yet melt away–be invisible. But I just had to keep on walking down the hallway, embarrassed and confused.

Lots of great reading there, and they accept contributions! Or you can, as ever, share your own body thoughts or creative expressions in the comments.

Thanks to Jenfu for the link!

For its June 2010 issue, French Marie Claire has gone curvy with editorials featuring plus-size models in lingerie and swimsuits à la française–that’s right, only bottoms, no tops!

Of course, these are all models, so “plus-size” is like a size 10. I personally took a counterbalancing stroll through some wonderful recent pieces at Adipositivity. Mostly NSFW. Except this one, which I love. And this one!

It made me want to take my own half-naked pictures, even if I wouldn’t necessarily post them on the Internet for the world to see. But there’s so much beauty in all types of bodies. It really is lovely to be reminded of that.

Happy Friday!

And now, on to the things that are definitely not called “fattie quickies.”

1. Oscar-nominee Gabby Sidibe has an awesome designer.

What Hall is saying is something many women, regardless of the size, already know about fashion (high and otherwise): designers aren’t designing clothes to make women look good, they’re picking women to make their designs look good.

2. And speaking of Gabby Sidibe, she was left off of the cover of Vanity Fair’s “New Hollywood” issue, along with anyone else who isn’t thin, young, and white.

In the accompanying article, Vanity Fair writer Evgenia Peretz calls out the young cover stars by their best attributes: “downy-soft cheeks,” “button nose,” “patrician looks and celebrated pedigree,” “dewy, wide-eyed loveliness,” “Ivory-soap-girl features.” Roles for black, Asian, and Latin actors are scarce in Hollywood, but surely Sidibe, Zoe Saldana of “Avatar” and “Star Trek,” and Freida Pinto of “Slumdog Millionaire” are having their moment.

3. Adipositivity is doing a (NSFW) Valentine’s Day series in February. That’s right, pictures of couples getting it on in which at least one partner is fat.

Every day through Valentine’s Day you’ll see another Adiposer couple gettin’ at least semi for ya. But remember, most of ‘em are in pre-, mid-, or post-canoodle, so some photographs may be even more NSFW than usual. Hope they make you smile as much as they do me. Happy Valentine’s Day!

4. I really enjoyed Snarkysmachine’s post on Shapely Prose about black women and the beauty ideal.

I bought some of the, “Black women can be fat and still be desirable” snakeoil often peddled by white people, never seeing it as a form of subjugation. Not hearing, the rest of the sentence, “…for black women.” Not realizing my existence was still being framed as less than. And then there’s the Black Don’t Crack meme now utilized to sell botox and wrinkle creams to women of other races. Again from an unexamined perspective it feels like progress, but, of course, it’s not. It’s using the cult of youth to force women into obedience.

Also in the comments were links to If Black Women Were White Women and Extremely Flawed Social Experiment, both of which I also read with interest.

5. Thinner Whole Foods employees get higher employee discount. Um, gross. I will not be going to Whole Foods anymore, I guess!

By rewarding a BMI of 24 — a full point below what is considered the benchmark of “overweight” — Whole Foods is not-so-subtly indicating its preference that a lower BMI is better and ideal, thus contributing to an atmosphere in which employees who do not meet this standards are made to feel ostracized and targeted. These blanket standards also ignore genetic, gender, age and ethnic differences across groups, thereby directing this sense of corporate hostility, however passive, toward those employees who may already be among the most vulnerable in the workplace: minorities, women and senior citizens. Would we tolerate this kind of “incentive” if it were directed at other groups of workers?

Talk about any of these in the comments!

V Magazine has released a second editorial from the forthcoming issue entitled “Curves Ahead” that is sure to spark up more debate. It features 5 plus models in everything from swimwear to lingerie to denim to a Lady Gaga-esque leotard. The editorial, shot by Solve Sundsbo, is filled with beautiful woman who have hips, thighs, and maybe a little belly pudge and muffin top but they are all working it for the camera. See for yourself.

A little NSFW!

I knew about Madison magazine from Project Runway Australia, as it is the Elle/Marie Claire of that show (“The winner of Project Runway will receive a spread in Madison magazine…”). Now Beautiful You has a post about the plus-sized celebrities who posed nude for their October issue. More pictures at the link; mildly NSFW.

The woman pictured here, Fiona, apparently lost a lot of weight on The Biggest Loser, regained it, and then settled at this current weight. The photos are lovely, but I particularly enjoyed Beautiful You’s articulate critique of this Daily Telegraph article, which chose to report on the Madison spread in a divisive way.

While I do like the magazine spread and what it’s trying to achieve, I must admit to loathing the way the Daily Telegraph has reported on it. Why is it necessary to proclaim that this story means “the size zero backlash has arrived.” How gross and banal. Such reporting only serves to say that if we embrace people other than a size zero, this then means that body shape is not ok. That’s not what this is about at all. Many people are naturally thin, just as many people are not. This should be about encouraging people to have an appreciation for their own particular size and beauty and recognise that it is possible for everyone to feel great about themselves not matter what dress, jean or bra size they may wear. It should not involve beating up on any particular ‘size’ and therefore person.

The article also mentions this ridiculous Marie Claire competition that asked readers to ‘vote’ on their favourite body type from a range of women ranging from thin to what would be considered a plus model size. Once again, this serves no purpose except to get women to compare body types (a known killer of positive body image development) and ‘pick’ what is best. Don’t you get it media? The best body shape for anyone is the one they feel happy with and can only be chosen by them, not you. No-one else gets to judge or vote on what that body shape is and we don’t need you to tell us people supposedly ‘prefer’ women to not be too thin. That’s not newsworthy at all so why the nasty competition?

Maybe we can start the size-zero-backlash backlash.

Via Feed Me!

Are you feeling down, low, sad, lonely, lacking in happiness and needing a tiny little boost to get you through that last patch of Friday and boost you into the weekend? Are you feeling cynical, hateful, sure that the world is bigoted and there are no positive, body-friendly messages left on earth and that everyone wants you to hide asexually in a closet somewhere while science figures out a way to airbrush a living human being into a creature with no creases or crinkles?

I say: Fret no longer, and smile big and wide, because plus-size pinup and pornstar (or “muse, model and erotic performer”) April Flores is posing sexy (and in an unsafe-for-work manner) in this covershoot video for Bizarre magazine. This is her second time on the cover–and her first appearance was the magazine’s best-selling issue last year. She is hot, sexual, and she’s awesome, too.

When a recent piece in US porn trade magazine AVN [was insulting to] big girls…April spoke out. She posted a blog articulating her dismay, and a Twitter update titled, “This fat girl’s pissed off.”

She was delighted at the tidal wave of support she received. “I didn’t expect such a strong reaction from people who clearly feel passionate about their body size,” she says. “I also got a big response from men who are dating or married to bigger girls who were also highly offended.

I did it to vent and to say ‘Hey, this isn’t cool’ but I didn’t expect to get such a reaction.” Support also came from others in the adult industry, “A lot of skinny girls wrote to me – Kimberley Kane supported me and wrote to them also, and I got a comment from Stoya saying ‘good for you.’”

April points out that by attacking big girls, the magazine was badmouthing all women. She says, “These days you can’t be so degrading to women and not expect people to call you on it.”

Check out her interview (probably also unworksafe) for the magazine here, and her definitely not safe for work blog here. And I’ll be over here wishing I had a nickname as awesome as “Fatty Delicious.”

We get a LOT of e-mail from PR folks about random stuff that sometimes makes us question whether or not they even READ the blog (Note to PR people: Do not send us diet crap. No, your diet crap is not different, it’s not special, it does NOT pertain to the spirit of BFD no matter how hard to try to convince us that it does. It’s diet crap. Stop it. Sincerely, Weetabix) but our friends at Igigi released a short film on Wednesday that is very sensual and kind of awesomely empowering. And hot. Did I mention the hotness? Yeah. It’s hot.

What do you guys think? Does it make you feel empowered? Or does it make you feel bad about yourself? And to the straight chicks, does it maybe make you reconsider just how solid your sexual orientation is? Er, just me then?

Yeah, it’s probably kind of NSFW, especially if you work at a convent or something.

After reading our Miss America post, Jane e-mailed me and mentioned she had her own blog dedicated to “classical pictures of sensual and lovely women with body types that are rarely seen in modern media.”

I can relate to this; I took a picture of this picture in the National Portrait Gallery, because I do love seeing positive representations of, as she puts it, shapely women. (Obviously, shoutout to Adipositivity here, as well as our own This Is What Beautiful Looks Like Flickr group.)

Anyway, it is a lovely collection of images, with a lot of variety in terms of size. (She does mention in her sidebar that women of color are underrepresented and she’d love people to send those in, I’m sure.)

Thanks for sharing your link, Jane!