In a recent issue of Us Weekly, Stephanie Pratt opened up for the first time about her struggle with bulimia. Stephanie cites working alongside her super-skinny costars on The Hills as the cause of her eating disorder, which began after joining the cast in 2007. After watching a scene she shot with Lauren Conrad, the 5'7" star said, "I was horrified. I remember saying, 'I can't believe how huge I look walking over to Lauren.'" Then the awful cycle of binging and purging began. When filming in Hawaii with female cast members clad in only bikinis, Stephanie wore a bathing suit and a cover-up. When she asked costar Audrina Patridge what looked better, "shirt on or off," and Audrina responded "On," Pratt really felt the pressures to be thin. Stephanie said she never felt pressure directly from the producers, but she said, "It's embarrassing working with skinny girls."
Do you empathize with Stephanie? Have you ever felt pressure from your peers or co-workers to be "skinny"?
Oliver Bonas
Okay an eating disorder is a serious thing and if she truly has the disorder then I wish her all the best with her recovery. BUT I wouldn't doubt if this was a media type stunt to get herself in the news more. Just look at how her bro & now sis in law put themselves in the media and what they do to get the attention of the media.
1Anything to get a little press? Just HAD to share it with all of America.
2QUESTION: Do all bulimics wish they could model their bikinis on a magazine cover?
all the best in her recovery.
3I would love to take her seriously... if she wasn't such a media wh*re!
4No, I don't sympathize with cartoon characters.
5i still wonder what purpose her annoying ass served on the hills, and i read this article and for some inane reason she thought being 108lbs at 5'7 made her "huge" in comparison to everyone else. i think she's absurd and with this story has turned a private matter into public one for no other reason then attention.
6I can relate to where she's coming from. Honestly, I think that she was the most "real" looking girl on the show, but if I were in her position, I definitely would feel the pressure to be thin! Lauren is in GREAT shape and hardly eats (see previous FitSugar posts on her), and Audrina is a twig. I'm sure Steph's enjoying the press she's getting from it, but I also totally understand where she's coming from.
7agreed, i wonder how much is true and how much is just a media stunt by a media wh*re.
however, yes, i do feel the pressure. i'm south asian and a lot of my friends are south asian...we differ a lot by region, and i'm from a region that eats meat while most of them are from vegetarian regions. as a result they're all STICK thin and i look fat compared to them (i'm 5'3" and 120, but i have a lot of muscle mass. i'm generally a size 0 or 2).
i hate the fact that i work out 5 days a week (real workouts, no halfassing for me) and eat properly, and i still feel big next to them. yes i fully understand that i am small and that i'm toned and i have good muscle mass and most of them are unhealthily thin, being that they hardly work out, and they eat pizza hut and taco bell for dinner most nights while i make my grilled chicken and veggies.
but you know what? it effing sucks.
8I totally understand her, isnt that the reason why we all start to diet?
9JLMac makes a good point about the bikini-clad cover. Not exactly the picture of someone struggling with self-image problems.
10When I was in college, there were several girls that lived on my dorm floor that were really skinny. At the time, I was pretty heavy and I remember thinking that it was unfair that these girls could be both smart AND pretty/thin. It inspired me to start eating more like them (not so much junk food; more fruits and veggies) and start losing weight and getting healthier. Then again, no one that lived on my floor was really super-skinny...most of them were very average sized girls; I just felt really huge in comparison.
11As someone who has struggled with Bulimia in the past, I found this cover story a little offensive. Although I do relate to the peer pressure of being around a lot of very thin girls, eating disorders are rooted in issues much deeper than just skinny coworkers. I think JLMac makes a really good point. Most people struggling with an eating disorder would certainly not want to be posing in a swimsuit for all of America to see. Bulimia is a serious disease and it looks like Stephanie Pratt is using it as some kind of irresponsible publicity stunt. What kind of message is she sending by saying she felt "huge" at 108 lbs?? I commend women who come forward with their ED struggles if their intentions are to inform the public and help others feel supported and heal, but Stephanie Pratt seems to be just out for attention. However, if her struggles are legitimate I wish her the best in her recovery.
12Stephanie did look like she might be a bit bigger than everyone else on The Hills [not that she was any sort of huge, thick or chunky...it's just those girls are REALLY stick-thin], but that's sad if this is true.
Of course I've felt the pressure to be thin from friends and coworkers...*everyone* else IS thin, comparatively to me. It's not like they go out of their way to make me feel uncomfortable, but it's there, you know? And they never ate healthy in the least...they just wouldn't eat much of anything, besides downing coffee and bagels [I hate BOTH of those!]
As a much larger person than them, I ate a mostly plant-based diet already, but I would always feel guilty eating ANYTHING in their presence, much less "unhealthy" foods. Starving just makes me that much hungrier, and they would always give me the "look" like I was a slob or something for wanting some grilled salmon with brown rice and veggies for dinner.
13Ok, some people do look 'bigger' due to their bone structure and stuff, oh that happens to my cousin, she's not fat but she just looks bigger for some reason, but she has embraced it.
And no one can make you have bulimia, I think. I understand the pressure being the only gal with the bigger bone structure where I came from (and yes, all the gals I was friends with were TINY, SKINNY), and yes, I got teased by them (the gals) for being 'big' and by the boys who think I was 'fat' although when I looked ok (not overweight--just average) when I saw the pics of my high school years. And yes, my mom pressured me to lose weight because she thought I was not good-looking enough unless I lost like 20-30 lbs.
Oh well, it didn't turn me bulimic though. But I understand not liking people who tease you all the time when it comes to your weight.
14And make you kinda decide to not be their friends anymore.
I don't know. I tend to find her one of the more sincere and relatable people on the show. All the best to her.
I feel big compared to other girls all the time, but it's because I'm over six feet tall!
15as a girl who is continuing to recover from her ED for over a year now... i know for certain i would never ever EVER have been in a bikini on camera. in fact, i refused to own one. and being around skinny girls is definitely triggering... so i can understand how someone would develop those body issues that way...
to each their own i suppose
16i watched the Hills since the beginning and never thought that Stephanie was "huge" compared to the other cast. She should be happy that she believes that she is recovering. Publicising what to anyone else would be a private and sensitive topic seems bizarre. if I were in her shoes i wouldn't want the world to know my insecurities. Doesn't the media/tabloids make it hard enough on celebrities as it is?
17Never watched The Hills and I only know her because of The Hills, gotta love how that works out. Either way, I never felt the pressure from anyone to lose weight. I'm a "bigger", curvier girl and I love the way I look. I hear from family members that I'm fat, but I don't listen to them because I don't think I'm fat... and thats all that matters. My doctor said I'm 7lbs overweight, which I can deal with, I've weighed the same for the past 3 or 4 years now (5'3", 148lbs, not ashamed to say it.) I just wish women (and men) would appreciate their bodies... there is no ideal body... there is no way to be perfect, there is no such thing as perfect. Just love yourself and take care of yourself... thats as perfect as you can get.
18I remember freshmen year of college when I gained about 10-15lbs (I wasn't fat but a bit more meaty than I had been before) and when I went to order a starbucks drink and the barista asked me if I wanted whip cream or not, the guy friend I was with (who I had a crush on) shook his head and said "man that's like 1000 calories. Didn't you want to lose some of the freshmen 15?"
I haven't gotten whip cream or a real starbucks drink since. That summer I became so obsessed with getting "tiny" again that I developed an ED and spent the next two years fighting myself emotionally and physically--it's not a battle I EVER wish upon anyone.
Don't let anyone tell you how to look or feel....
19In a recent episode, Stephanie casually mentioned something to Lauren about the pressure to stay thin. Lauren agreed. It doesn't surprise me that she felt this way. But does seem a little like a publicity stunt.
20Thank you Stephanie Pratt for making me feel like sh*t about myself. You claimed that when you weighed 130 you were obese and didnt deserve to live. Im 5 foot 8 and weigh 130, so i guess you are saying i should just go kill myself. You are a stupid self-centered b*tch!
21Anonymous "pissed off" I'm 5'8 also and 130, and I do not look fat at all. I do feel like I could lose a little weight but I asked my doctor, a professional, and he said I should in no way ever go under 126. I'd like to know where these girls get their advice from, because whomever is giving it to them has some serious issues. Saying that you are 108lbs and feel huge is just wrong. Lauren Conrad I think is 119-120 alone and I think she could gain a couple pounds, they all could, your basically just screwing your body when you weigh so low, and it sucks, because a lot of people think that that's what they are supposed to weigh. Just ridiculous.
22I call bullsh*t on being 5'7 and 108. I don't think Gisele is even 108 and she's a LOT skinnier than this girl. I have little to no sympathy for this fake story.
23Who cares about Pratt, all I want to know is who Rob's "women" are!
In all seriousness (ok I wasn't really kidding), I agree with JLMac. It's great for her if she's actually recovering from an eating disorder, but I don't like how it's become "fashionable" to talk about it. Again, it's fantastic that some people now feel free to say they were pressured into losing weight in unhealthy ways, but please let's not use that as a publicity stunt.
24giselle is 130 and 5'11
25For one, if she "began" bulimia in 2007, she won't be recovered now. You develop a dependence on it. Especially if her claims of 5000 calorie binges are true. And it's not that much anyway, so why splash it as if it were some record breaking feat?
second, no fking bulimic will pose in a fking bikini and wear all these revealing dresses.
so. nope, don't think so, and if yes, she must have puked her brains out a long time ago.
26wow...who would have though 108 was heavy? i've always thought stephanie was one of the skinnier ones! LC, Whitney, and Lo all look pretty healthy sized to me....maybe around 120lbs?
27I myself havent felt pressured although lately i have become so much more worried about my weight. I can see why someone like Stephanie would be self concious even though she wasn't fat, it was just because the people around her were skinnier and she probably felt like she had to look like the rest of them
28I don't think the show was actually the cause of her disorder, but it was probably the trigger point.If you have the right personality type and have grown up in society where you have to be skinny to be considered beautiful (or even acceptable) then it can take something as little as nasty comment to push you over the edge.
I don't doubt she went down the binge/purge road - I just don't know what you'd want that to be a cover story on US weekly.
29Poor Stephanie, I understand her situation but nowadays girls are like that it's almost imposible trying to change the way they think about their bodies.
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