It Is Not Normal or Admirable That Kim Kardashian Lost 16 Pounds in 3 Weeks for the Met Gala

MET GALA 2022No, It Is Not Normal or Admirable That Kim Kardashian Lost 16 Pounds in 3 Weeks for the Met GalaWhen are we going to stop pretending that food deprivation is normal?

By Nicola Dall'Asen

May 3, 2022

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Trigger warning: This post contains mentions of eating disorders. 

When you're a journalist covering fashion and/or beauty at the Met Gala, you can pretty much guarantee that your night won't be over until Kim Kardashian walks that red carpet. That was certainly true on the night of May 2, when a solid chunk of the Allure staff, myself included, waited with bated breath to see what she would wear (and to go to bed afterward). We gasped in delight when Kardashian revealed to Lala Anthony, a Vogue correspondent for the night, that she was wearing the exact dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in 1962 when she infamously sang "Happy Birthday" to then-President John F. Kennedy. 

Awesome, right? We thought so — then she said something that made our stomachs churn with undeniable discomfort. "I tried it on, and it didn't fit me. And so I looked at it, and I said 'give me three weeks,'" Kardashian said. "I had to lose 16 pounds to be able to fit this, but it was such a challenge. I was determined to fit it." Anthony cracked a joke about Kardashian eating an abundance of tomatoes and her ability to do anything that she "puts her mind to." Kardashian preened as she noted that she lost the weight despite people not thinking she'd be able to. 

That was pretty much the extent of Kardashian's red carpet interview. There were no explanations as to how she lost that weight or even confirmation at that moment that the dress couldn't just be altered (which we assume is the case, considering it's a literal piece of history). The whole exchange took a congratulatory tone, and that's really what made it so heartbreaking to watch. Because it made me feel — and I know I can't be alone here — like I was back in the 2000s. You know, when I thought it was genuinely possible (and healthy) to lose upward of 20 pounds in a few weeks for the sake of fitting into a trendy pair of jeans that didn't come in my size or returning to school looking skinnier after the summer. 

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While we watched this unfold, the Allure Slack channels immediately lit up with one particular question: Has diet culture really changed all that much since that time period, or are we under the illusion that things are better because body standards are a little different? If anything, this conversation proved to me that — despite the progress of fat activism plus the body positivity and neutrality movements — toxic diet culture still has just as much a stranglehold on popular American culture as it did back then. It just looks a little different. 

Just to paint a generalized picture for you: According to a study (which compiled research from more than 100 other studies) on global eating disorders from 2000 to 2018, the prevalence of eating disorders "increased over the study period from 3.5 percent for the 2000-2006 period to 7.8 percent for the 2013-2018 period." Another recent study proved that the pandemic has only caused eating disorder rates to increase further since 2020. 

Case in point: It might be cool to have a fat ass in the year 2022, but that hasn't changed the fact that we're still subject to wildly unrealistic body standards — and those unrealistic body standards are still greatly impacting our mental health in the same way they did back in the 2000s when flat asses were all the rage. And when influential people like Kim Kardashian tell the world they can casually drop 16 pounds in three weeks, it only bolsters the idea that fast, drastic weight loss isn't just possible; it's easy, and it's glamorous. 

And look, there's nothing inherently wrong with losing weight itself or wanting to lose weight. Kardashian has every right to do whatever the hell she likes with her own body. It's the insistence that such drastic weight loss is an attainable goal that is worrisome here. When someone loses weight drastically this way, they could subject themselves to loss of muscle mass, lowered metabolism, and loss of nutrients that can result in constipation, fatigue, hair loss, lowered immunity, and loss of bone density.

The casual way that weight loss is discussed on the red carpet certainly hasn't changed much since the 2000s, but what has changed — thank God — is that people seem to be more aware of its effects than ever. Looking at Twitter, I see a plethora of criticisms of this interview, and that's definitely not something we could have shared with each other back in the day. 

The casual way that weight loss is discussed on the red carpet certainly hasn't changed much since the 2000s.

"The Kim Kardashian weight loss thing is fucked up and NOT okay to talk about on national television where the youth will find it and bring it to therapy to defend their eating disorders," one user writes. Another says, "The fact that Kim Kardashian spent weeks losing weight just to fit into a dress is why women have body dysphoria." Another writes, “Can't believe there are people defending Kim Kardashian's 16 pound weight loss in 3 weeks! Unfollowed someone because of this. It's so unhealthy!"

If I had heard something like that interview when I was a tween, I might have mentally and physically tortured myself for weeks, starving myself and over-exercising, wondering why 16 pounds didn't just fall off my body. Back then, I didn't have the wherewithal to understand that unlike me (and any regular person), celebrities have access to dieticians, physical trainers, private gyms, free time, and even cosmetic procedures. A celebrity losing 16 pounds in three weeks is not at all the same thing as a regular person with school or a job losing 16 pounds in three weeks. Either way, it's not something any of us should be aspiring to do. 

More from the Met Gala:

• The Best Hair, Makeup, and Nails at the 2022 Met Gala
• All of the Beautiful, Intricate Headpieces From the 2022 Met Gala
• Long Nails Ruled the 2022 Met Gala Red Carpet

Now, see the biggest red carpet moments from the 2022 Met Gala:

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Nicola Dall'Asen is the digital news editor at Allure, where she oversees beauty news coverage and writes Learning Curve, a monthly column that unpacks the complicated experience of accepting your body in a world that doesn't want you to. She previously served as senior editor at Revelist and... Read moreNews Editor, Allure.com

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