Octavia Spencer is definitely one of the ‘it’ women of the moment. Last night at the SAG awards she walked away with the trophy for Best Supporting Actress. Her work in the film The Help, one of the most talked about movies of the year, is nothing short of outstanding, and.. she is a fantastic role model and all round stunning woman. Queen Spencer spoke to reporters on the red carpet about body image issues in Hollywood, her training program and goal of losing 15 pounds. Her take on it all is realistic, health orientated and balanced. Read on for more details about what Octavia had to say.
Doesn’t Octavia look stunning in her silver draped Tadashi Soji gown? She was one of my favorite looks of the night… the hair, the color on her, her skin – she is nothing short of magnificent.
“Tadashi [is] a designer that knows how to cut for women who aren’t size two,” she explained, and her svelte figure also came with a girl’s secret weapon – “This is Spanx, honey!”
Octavia opened up about her weight and her focus on getting healthy. Here is what she had to say…
“I feel for my overly thin women as much as I feel for the overly overweight women. I think there is a lot that needs to change. It’s our society that has told [women] and continues to tell them that when you reach a certain age, you are no longer valuable. When your reach a certain weight, you are [no longer] valuable…I am working out with a trainer…I’m not trying to be a thin mint…I’m just trying to be healthy and look good for me. So another 15 pounds and I will be fine…I’m not healthy at this weight. I think anytime you have too much around the middle then there’s a problem.”
A few weeks ago an article I posted about the best celeb transformations created some controversy and the sharing of many varied and passionate opinions amongst Pink readers. Many of you felt that it was an attempt at promoting and perpetuating unhealthy body image issues, particularly amongst women. Just to clarify, this was far from the case – as is this article. I, like Octavia, believe that health and well being are FAR more important than what dress size you are, and agree that many of our fave stars sadly are scarily thin and in turn encouraging that ideal amongst women in our society. Believe me, I myself have been on both sides of this equation. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for discussion of weight loss and health in some situations. It is all about balance. Octavia is so refreshing, intelligent and eloquent about the important matters of health and body image. I think it is wonderful that we have a talented, beautiful actress openly talking about the need to lose a few pounds to get healthy and feel good. She does look incredibly beautiful now…
YES GIRL! I’ve just turned 30 and I’m a size 14. When I was in my early twenties I was a size 4. I had lower self esteem then than I do now though. My goals are to feel healthy and energetic, not to go back to a size 4. I really think we’d be a healthier happier society if we stressed inner health and not physical ideals of beauty.