Are You Sitting Down?

Star Jones admits she had gastric by-pass surgery.

You mean, she didn't just lay off the cheeseburgers and join a walking club? Who'da thunk?

And get the smelling salts ready for this bit:

It was a success, she says, though she found she was "still consumed with the same anger, shame and insecurity as before."

BEING THIN DOESN'T TAKE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS AWAY? MY GOD, I HAVE BEEN WOEFULLY MISINFORMED!

The more interesting confession, if you ask me, is that she gained so much weight through compulsive overeating. Rachel's posted about why weight loss surgery is a terrible idea for compulsive overeaters, and I couldn't agree more:

If one is mentally unable to stop themselves from assuaging their feelings with food, why would they then undergo weight loss surgery in which they risk irreparable physical harm and even death should they not be able to withstand the impulse to binge again?

Star Jones didn’t need weight loss surgery; she needed therapy.

No kidding. As I've said before, compulsive overeating is not well understood and very difficult to treat. But having your guts rearranged so that you get violently ill if you overeat is probably not the way to go. When a big part of your problem is fetishizing "bad" foods, making yourself physically unable to consume them without serious pain and misery is pretty unlikely to take away their power, wouldn't you think?

Also a bad idea? Lying through your teeth about how you lost the weight, when people see you as a role model. Grrrrr.

Honestly, I feel bad for Star Jones after reading all this. She has an eating disorder, a chopped-up stomach that rejects a whole lot of food, a questionable husband, and she was in her forties before she figured out you "can't control what other people think." It's not a bloody wonder being thin hasn't made her feel any better. But I still reserve the right to hate her for spending the last few years indirectly promoting the myth that a little willpower can make you drop 160 lbs.