Gwyneth Paltrow: “You have the power to look however you want”
May 7, 2010 in Celebrity Quotes, Gwyneth Paltrow by Versus
Gwyneth Paltrow recently opened up about the weight fluctuations she had to go through for her new movie role and about the things that keep her motivated to stay in shape (spoiler: it’s her son pointing out her “fat belly”):
IN GREAT SHAPE FOR RUNNING IN HEELS
“I don’t think life is worth living if I can’t eat food and drink wine and have cheese and all that stuff. But it’s just about knowing, ‘OK, I’ve got this coming up where a lot of people will see how I look, so if I want to be in shape, I’ve got to be disciplined and I’ve got to work extra hard.’”FOR HER NEXT MOVIE, SHE ‘CHUBBED UP’
“When I was working on Love Don’t Let Me Down I went to Nashville to play a country western singer. I ate so much and such different food that my son actually told me that my stomach was fat.”THEN SHE HAD TO SLIM BACK DOWN
“Well, I sort of feel like you have to enjoy your life, but nothing comes for free. It’s like I can’t eat whatever I want and not exercise and look like this. I have to be realistic. I can’t go to Nashville and eat fried chicken for six weeks and then look like this without going on a major detox and a diet and hitting exercise hard again. You can achieve anything. Sometimes I work hard and sometimes I slack hard. Then, my son points to my fat tummy and then I step it up. I think it’s just about knowing that you have the power to look however you want. Are you going to wake up and make yourself do it and lose the weight you need to lose?”
… Gwyneth in Parade Magazine.
yaay, first comment
she looks stunning, I’d kill for those legs!!
Whoa … if i said that to my mum i would be in BIG trouble! haha. Seriously though, it’s not a very nice thing to say
She should tell her son that being skinny/perfectly toned isn’t the most important thing in the world rather than immediately “stepping it up” … i doubt the weight she put on was significant anyway, so that fact the he comments on her having a less-than-perfectly-flat stomach (sounds like he’s said it to her a few times!) is worrying. Idk, i am only a teenager, do kids say this often?!
She looks much heavier compare to her usual look. And I can say she looks fantastic and super hot. Actually I had never found her sexy back to the past. But now…if this is so-called “chubbed-up”, she has to stay this shape because she looks amazing.
Also she sounds very smart and reasonable, without that boring “I eat whatever” thing.
You go, girl!
whatever she does- works, cause she alw looks amazing bodywise…great legs…pity though her face and personality don’t appeal to me
She looks wonderful! However, maybe her son needs a few pointers in the manners department. If he’s saying she is/was fat then he’s going to be set up for some very unrealistic expectations with regards to womens’ bodies.
Still, I realize that most young kids just literally say whatever comes to mind
I’m not a fan of hers but are body is amazing, and I think she comes of as privilege and arrogant, probably the way her son is going to be! However I do think kids say whatever they won’t, and half the time it is true, it is part of growing up and realizing when it is the appropriate time to say and do things
He has a point though, you can (to a degree) make your body look however you want. At least, you can make it the best version of itself. I’ve gotta keep that in mind!
She irritates me, and the fact that her son points out her “fat” stomach irritates me. I understand kids say things, but as a mom that should prompt her to first correct what he is saying (I doubt her stomach was actually FAT in an unhealthy way), THEN worry about “stepping it up.”
I think she should be commended for her straight talk!
She eats in moderation and eats when she has a craving for something (cheese, wine, etc). She doesn’t force herself to cut anything out, and that’s very healthy, because if your body is telling you it wants something, it needs it – it’s up to the person to make sure they don’t over do it. She works hard at the gym when she overindulges sometimes, and she takes her health into her own hands by saying “let’s lose the weight I need to lose”. If everyone used this view, I think North America would be a healthier place and obesity wouldn’t be such a huge problem.
And kids are great in that way – they are truthful to a fault. I remember babysitting for a 3 year old boy who’s mum was getting reading to go out and had a bit of muffin top coming out of the top of her jeans – he pointed and said, “mommy! your stomach is coming out!”. It’s just what kids do – most people won’t tell you, but kids do.
She sounds like she needs to find a middle ground somewhere. It’s not just indulging in everything, and then restricting and exercizing.
How about just eating healthy, exercizing regularly, and then indulging one time a day? And then seeing where your body will fall?
Cause the truth is, whenever I see pics of her, she either looks too thin or too big (she’s never looked chunky or fat, but bigger than the size I think she would look best at). Perhaps a middle ground would put her in the middle and everything would be great.
From her interview I think that’s what she means. She’s not restricting and excercising like mad, she’s eating a variety of foods that she enjoys, without cutting herself off from anything, but at the same time making sure she excersises consistently. I don’t think she ever looks too skinny anymore (I remember she used to, when she was on the macrobiotic diet), although she looks long and lean, but I think that’s more attributed to her height (she’s 5’9 1/2 i think).
I have never seen this woman look “too big”, except for when she has been pregnant. She has either been too thin or healthy and toned thin.
She usually makes really stupid or prententious comments, but here she just flat out makes sense. I trully wish celebs would say that they have to work for what they look like instead of mostly going the “I’m naturally thin” route (not that there aren’t naturally thin women in this world, but are they all really concentrated in Hollywood?).
I love what she said. Fiiiinally, somebody is speaking the truth: how you look is up to you! You can choose to eat junk and be lazy or you can exercise and eat right. I’m sick of the “I am naturally fat” BS.
I’m just glad she actually tells the TRUTH about when people ask her “how do you stay slim?” Uusally celebs either say “I have a fast metabolism. I hate working out.” Or “I eat in moderation and work out sometimes.” She’s honest.
im sorry but first off her son is very young and dont necessarily know that calling someone or something “fat” is considered rude. aside from that she sounds like a smart woman so im sure she told her son that its not very nice to say that kind of thing. so people really shouldnt assume anything!!! secondly people can hide things very well, for instance i can put on ten pounds and people dont really notice because you wear things to cover it up, however when your used to feeling a certain way gaining those ten pounds makes you feel fat and uncomfortable, even if you dont look fat! so give the woman a break!
wow, that speech is motivating !
It really was motivating. Sometimes I just give up because I think I’ll never be as fit as I want to be, but the truth is I just need to step it up a notch. Start working out harder and I might finally lose these final 10 pounds.
Awesome woman. Her focus on balance is what
she was born to be preoccupied with. But beyond
that she lives her appreciation for beauty, and that’s
admirable.Being blond is just the frosting on the cake.
I understand that what she said is truthful in her case but I don’t think that
1) you can look however you want no matter what your body type ie a naturally curvy girl cannot look like gwenyth paltrow
2) that being thin and toned is a relfection of being in shape or that it is top priority
people are so ignorant. Gwenyth would not be unhealthy even if she gained a bit of weight so using the word “need” in relation to weight loss is ridiculous. I think it’s shameful that people out there in the public eye speak like this when they are role models out there for the billions of young people who could never, as hard as they may try, look like this. Statements by celebrities promoting weight loss when they are fabulously healthy and gorgeous to start with feeds eating disorders and self esteem problems for so many women.
That said it’s not her fault. She’s part of a larger cultural problem where women are valued as human beings based on their body size and ability to diet.
There’s so much more to life…