Some Healthy Diet Lessons From Hollywood

Although it might seem petty to care about and scrutinize celebrities based on their appearances, the fact remains that what they do and how they look ultimately reflects upon society - young girls and women mostly. Most people know what it means to be healthy, but it's difficult to go against what the rest of society is doing. So when it's trendy to be way too skinny, we need some positive examples of girls who are doing things right who can tip the scales in a healthier direction.

On that note, today I came across two examples of people who are doing things right: Natalie Portman and Kelly Osbourne. We're reported before on Kelly Osbourne, who has undergone a major diet and lifestyle overhaul. She used to be the poster child for bad habits but now she seems to be the polar opposite! Once overweight, she's now in the best shape of her life, which is why she's donning this month's cover of SHAPE magazine. Kelly looks absolutely spectacular in a red, belly-baring bikini. Her secret? Swapping chips and soda for healthier options. In her own words, "I started losing weight and realized, ‘Oh, it’s true what they say: Diet and exercise really work!’". That's right - not starvation!!

Now on the flip side, Natalie Portman basically had to starve herself to 'accurately portray' a prima ballerina in her latest film 'Black Swan'. Natalie is normally a wonderful role model when it comes to eating right and exercising (she's vegetarian and maintains a healthy weight), but she had to switch up her healthy habits in order to look underweight. She was exercising excessively and not eating enough, and probably lost more weight than she even needed to in order to accurately play her role. Her extreme weight loss actually alarmed her trainer when he noticed how lean she had gotten and he could see her ribs and spine. Thankfully, once shooting was over, Portman bounced back to her healthy habits straight away. She said "It was pretty immediate. I was ready to leave the ballet life," adding "I was like, 'Please don't let there be re-shoots for this [film] because I don't think I could get back into the costumes!'". Yep, it's better to eat and be healthy!

So, it goes to show that while there are a bunch of bad examples out there for girls and women, there are still some positive messages resonating from Hollywood that might help some people stay on the right track to health!