Catherine Zeta-Jones
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones looked gorgeous on the December cover of InStyle magazine in a black Nina Ricci dress. The 43-year-old mom of two opened up about life with her husband Michael Douglas and her bipolar disorder.
On having more kids:
“My daughter asked me if we were going to have more kids. I said no. She said, ‘Well if you do, I hope it’s not a girl. I don’t want to share the jewelry.’ Smart kid.”
On coming out as bipolar:
“It’s not easy. I’m not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops, but with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it’s completely controllable. I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it.”
On how exercising helps her mentality:
“I don’t have a trainer. Crazy, right? But I don’t need anyone to motivate me. I love exercise, even things like the elliptical and stretching. It really helps my mood too, which, with the bipolar thing, is important. I’m obsessed with hula-hooping. I do it for 20 minutes a day. I don’t use the old-fashioned hollow plastic kind we had when we were kids, but I discovered a new one at Danskin that’s smaller and weighted.”
On her dream closet:
“I’m building a closet in my house now, and it’s like a dream. Racks on each side, a whole boudoir. I sit in there and watch CNN. Michael says one day I’m going to go in and never come out!”
Next up: Jennifer Hudson on dropping more pounds on Redbook
Photographed for InStyle by Horst Diekgerdes
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Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson is an actress, singer, clothes designer and mom to her 3-year-old son, David. How does she do it all? She appeared on the December cover of Redbook to talk about her 80-pound weight loss and how she keeps the memory alive of her nephew, who was tragically murdered in 2008 by her brother-in-law.
On how she honors her late nephew during the holidays:
“The Julian D. King Toy Drive and Christmas dinner is for kids who are doing well in school — just progressing, they don't necessarily have to have all As or Bs — and we grant whatever their Christmas wish is. With everything that happened with our family, it's hard to get through the holidays. So I was wondering, ‘How can we turn a negative around [and] make it a positive thing?‘ And so we came up with giving back.“
On dropping more pounds:
“I’m at the weight I want to be. But I hear all the time, ‘Don’t lose any more weight, you need to stop.’ People are under the impression that I’m still losing but I’m not.”
On her biggest holiday food temptation:
“My biggest thing is banana pudding, but it's the devil! So no one is allowed to bring it into my house. Because I can't control myself. So why put it in my domain?“
On no longer being plus-sized:
“I’m getting used to my new self more than anything else. I got used to being plus-sized and knowing how to be that, whereas this is like, ‘OK, who am I?’ I keep thinking that I probably need an extra-large or a large and the stylist is like, ‘No, you need a medium or a small.’”
Next up: Melissa McCarthy on raising strong daughters
Photo courtesy of Redbook
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Melissa McCarthy
We fell in love with Melissa McCarthy in the movie Bridesmaids, and she continues to win us over with her positive outlook on life as she opens up in this month's Good Housekeeping magazine.
On being a positive role model to her daughters :
“Sometimes I wish I were just magically a size 6 and I never had to give [my weight] a single thought. But I am weirdly healthy, so I don't beat myself up about it — it wouldn't help, and I don't want to pass that on to my girls.“
On her new clothes line that is in development:
“I am plus-size, and the things out there are made either for a 16-year-old hooker or an 89-year-old grandmother of the bride — and they're made from the material used for haircutting capes. The fabric has to be better, the cuts have to be better, and I want [the collection to be made] in the United States. I have no problem saying that an item might cost $11 more than the shirt down the street; it will last longer, and it will fit and look better.“
On not dwelling on the numbers on the scale:
“It's something I'm always working on. I don't know why I'm not thinner than I am. I don't really drink soda; I don't have a sweet tooth, and we eat healthfully at home. We're all weird for broccoli and pureed-vegetable soup, which we almost always have a big pot of in the fridge — it's so good!“
On surviving on no sleep:
“Once you have little kids, it's kind of like survival mode for your sleep. They still get up every day at 5 a.m. I'm now down for the count usually by 9 or 9:30 p.m., but it's never continuous sleep. And then sometimes I wake up too early, and I'll go watch a little HGTV; I can look at houses and find it mind-blowingly relaxing. Luckily, I've convinced myself I don't need that much sleep, but I don't know if that's actually true.“
Next up: Isla Fisher on breastfeeding the baby weight away
Photo courtesy of Good Housekeeping
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Isla Fisher
Isla Fisher is a busy mom of two daughters with Sacha Baron Cohen — and she is a knock-out! The actress looked amazing on the cover of Women's Health UK.
On her early career:
“After Wedding Crashers, I had 12 months where I was auditioning three times a day and I didn’t get a single job. That was a real low point. But with hindsight, those movies turned out to be awful, so I dodged a bullet. If I’d got any of them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I never had the chutzpah to just come to LA and make it. I didn’t have that confidence. I’m always surprised when I get a job. I never saw this in my horizon.”
On body image, weight and pregnancy:
“I do watch my food. But I’ve been blessed in that I never had any body issues during pregnancy. I loved being able to eat whatever I wanted and the whole experience of giving life. And I never worried about losing the weight afterwards, because breastfeeding burns all the calories up so fast. Breastfeeding — that’s my big slimming secret! That and Spanx. Anytime anyone compliments me on my figure, I’m wearing my Spanx undies.”