Valerie Frankel Speaks Out About Trying Over 150 Dieting Programs

A while ago, we told you about ex-Mademoiselle editor Valerie Frankel's new book, This is the New Happy, and some of her shocking revelations about the world or fashion. But there's more -- in a recent article at the Daily Mail, Frankel discusses her life-long relationship with dieting -- starting when she was just 11 years old.

As a child, Frankel's parents put her on several diets to help her lose her adolescent chub, beginning a lifetime of self-doubt and weight worry. Dieting at a young age didn't sit will with Frankel. She says, "The blunt and sudden understanding - that if I wanted to continue to shine like the sun, to bask in praise and glory, I would have to eat celery sticks for ever - gave me a physical pain in the gut." But from that point on, she was constantly measuring portions, questioning food choices and striving to cut calories -- until a devastating loss caused her to re-examine her priorities.

From parent-enforced eating plans, to gaining and losing the 'freshman 15,' to adopting an unhealthy body image working for fashion magazines, to struggling with baby weight, to finally giving up the struggle with her body when her husband died at a young age, Frankel's story is not only moving, it's shockingly accurate for many of us (well, minus the husband dying young part -- most of us thankfully don't have to endure that devastation.) Click here for the story in her own words or pick up Fat is the New Happy at bookstores everywhere.