Ginnifer Goodwin Is Healthy & Not A Scary Alien Cat

By Sadie Stein | January 10, 2011 | 4:00pm

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Ginnifer Goodwin is “shocked” at reactions to her tales of her 9-year-old self on Weight Watchers. Because, she explains, she only meant to boost the program, not tell a tale of childhood deprivation.

You’ll recall that in the Health profile that made such waves, Goodwin copped to being on Weight Watchers for 23 years. At 9, she says, “I began to identify myself as fat” and her mother decided to help her make a change. “Her reaction was not, ‘Oh, I’ll help you get skinny…My mother’s reaction was, ‘Why don’t we all go and learn a little more about our health.'” She also says she has a “happy” weight.

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While people were alarmed by the idea of a nine-year-old on a diet, Goodwin defends her mother’s methods. “I was like ‘No!’ I’ve never had body issues, I’ve never had an eating disorder…I’ve never had to go on a diet and that’s because of Weight Watchers.”

She contrasts her method with the extreme dieting she sees in Hollywood:

I see girls who haven’t had a carbohydrate in three years. The second you go back to eating right, you’re going to put that weight on. You eat one piece of bread and you are screwed, lady I pulled an actress friend aside and I said, ‘I get it. I get what it is that you’re trying to do, but there’s being healthfully skinny and then there’s starting to look like a scary alien cat.

No one’s agitating for what Goodwin has dubbed the “cocaine and cigarettes diet.” And whatever works for her; Weight Watchers is a program that works for a lot of people and is essentially about balance. But the idea of a nine-year-old A) feeling fat while she’s still growing and B) dieting — which, after all, is what she’s talking about — does sound alarming. While it worked for Goodwin, and obviously teaching your kids good habits is crucial, we wouldn’t suggest other mothers get their fourth-graders point-counting, at least not without a nutritionist’s guidance. As Goodwin says, it’s about health — and a program with “weight” in the name could confuse that issue, especially for a child.

Ginnifer Goodwin Reacts To Uproar over Her Weight Watchers History [People]
Eariler: One Actress, 23 Years Of Dieting