The Beauty Blog

Pop singer Janet Jackson is working with her nutritionist, David Allen, to write a book of how to lose weight. In the book, Jackson shares her dieting secrets as well as how to keep the shape you already have. Jackson’s Weight Loss Book is expected to hit bookshelves by the end of this year.

Reuters reports that both the title and publication details of this book are to be announced.

Pop singer Janet Jackson, whose fluctuating weight has fascinated the tabloids for years, is co-writing a book about her journey as an “emotional eater.”

The popcrunch Show quotes Jackson commenting on the book.

“It’s not just this sterile, weight loss and how to do it book, but my journey even from when I was a kid … being an emotional eater,” she says. “It takes you through those moments in my life up ’til now and what worked for me. And hopefully within that, if it doesn’t work for them, maybe they’ll find something that does work for them and a nice place for them to be content with who they are.”

On Billboard, Jackson states that the idea to write a book of this plot was inspired by her fans.

“Everybody asks me — men, women — how did I do it?” she says. “Even young people will come up to me and they have an issue with their weight and they’re very concerned.”

The Beauty Blog wishes Jackson all the best with her book!

Former “Cheers” actress Kirstie Alley plans to launch her own weight loss program, the Kirstie Alley Weight Loss program, after working as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig Weight Loss Program for over three years.

After the Jenny Craig Company announced that it would not feature Alley in their future advertisements, she announced her plans to launch her own.

TV Crunch shares some excerpts of Alley’s interview given to the People magazine about her plans and personal program.

So I guess it’s as good of a time as any to announce that I intend to develop and pilot my own weight-loss brand that I hope to launch in 2009. There was a time when America was not fat, and that was in our not-so-distant past. I’m confident that I can create something exciting and innovative: something that if all goes well, will help change a fat America back into a fit America and will offer this country the healthiest, yummiest, easiest and most effective weight-loss program on the market.

According to Snarkerati, the new program is planned to be produced next year.

But don’t put Kirstie Alley on speed dial just yet, she’ll be making her weight loss mark in 2009.

Perceptions of beauty and whether society accepts them are constantly changing. Once being plump was considered a sign of beauty for models, then it was being slender. Now the criteria appears to be changing once again with the public reportedly eager to see more “normal” looking models who resemble people you might see in real life.

Dictionary.com defines a model “whose profession is posing for artists or photographers.” However, over the years, the definition has changed, or rather been extended, in its meaning. The word model is used with descriptive adjectives as slim, tall and gorgeous, but is it true nowadays?

Newsweek Magazine reports that “real-looking models” are now shining in fashion shows.

Now real people are even strutting the catwalk—the swimwear company Lycra plucked 20 women of all shapes and sizes off the beach to model their suits at last year’s Miami Swim Fashion Week.

It also quotes Simon Rogers, the head of Ugly New York, a casting agency for “real”-looking models, commenting on this new trend.

“I definitely think there’s some backlash amongst people who see fashion shows, then read stories about how the models have to smoke themselves to death and only drink lemon water for six weeks.People would like to see somebody up there who reflects how people on the street really look.”

An expert in the field, Amy Larocca, the editor of “Look Book,” explains the new trend.

“Fashion shows used to be for a very small number of people, very exclusive. Now you can see them an hour later on the Internet. Everyone can be involved. Larocca also links the increased accessibility of fashion to the number of high-end designers creating affordable lines for mass-market stores, such as Isaac Mizrahi’s collection for Target, as well as reality shows such as “Project Runway.”

Back in skinny jeans also states that people nowadays care about models’ health rather than their appearance.

If the woman still looks like she’s only had lemon water with cayenne pepper to eat for 6 weeks, then she’s still starving herself for fashion, and none of us want to see that any more. We don’t care about a model’s fashion look, we care about her health.

Photo: © WillFoster

Queen Latifah has been named as the newest spokesperson for weight loss guru Jenny Craig. Dallasnews.com reports that Queen Latifah’s campaign will emphasize the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

While Kirstie Alley and Valerie Bertinelli focused on shedding those pounds, the Queen’s campaign will be a little bit different — emphasizing a healthy lifestyle rather than getting into a specific dress size.

The Insider quotes Queen Latifah has confessing that her goal is to shed 15 pounds.

“Losing five or 10 percent of my body weight, that is a challenge for me to become healthier, and not be concerned about a stroke, diabetes, liver function, or kidney function,” the ‘Mad Money’ star explains. “These are real things in America, particularly in the black community. One of my cousins [lost] some weight and the symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes went away.”

Queen Latifah also says that her inner confidence has given her the inspiration to become who she is today.

“All the time people come up to me and thank me for the fact that by being who I am, they feel confident in who they are,” she says. “If I can set the example for confidence from the inside; why not set it for the outside as well.”

Photo: © SpinCycleNYC