The LA Times' James Rainey spoke to Candy Crowley about her weight loss for an article that appeared in the On The Media secion of the paper's website. Here are a few excerpts from the article:
The blogosphere has been awash for months, I discovered, in other incisive speculation about CNN's senior political correspondent: She must have had a face-lift. No, it had to be gastric bypass. One genius wanted to know if she would change her name to Salad Crowley.
...
Yet even we who admire Crowley couldn't help but notice the change. In the aftermath of a brutal two-year presidential campaign siege, one of the top political reporters on television looks slimmer, healthier, even a little more serene.
When I first contacted her, Crowley wasn't at all sure she wanted to talk about this. I couldn't blame her for worrying that all the hoo-ha might distract from what she does best.
With a slight chuckle, she said: "It's stunning to me that something I consider so separate and apart from what I do for a living has taken up so much space in some people's thoughts. I am a hard-news journalist. That is what I do."
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So here it is, straight up and on the record: There has been no Lap-Band. No gastric bypass. No surgery at all. Rather, Crowley said, she has been dieting, swimming and working out, sometimes with a trainer, since last December.
And, in a change she thinks has made the biggest difference, she has taken up Transcendental Meditation. A couple of times a day, Crowley escapes her break-neck schedule to settle into what the TM website describes as a "natural state of restful alertness."
"I feel great physically. I feel really good," the newswoman told me Tuesday. "I'm lighter now in a lot of ways."
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"With the election over, if I can borrow from Anderson Cooper, I wanted to take a 360-degree look at my life and say 'What would make it better,' " Crowley said. "That may sound touchy-feely, but that's what I did."
Operating in a world of furious motion, Crowley had the sense to seek out stillness.
While others have focused on her appearance, Crowley said "this is about the weight and it isn't." Meditation has meant greater equanimity and health gains that "have held together in a way they haven't held together before."
Still, even her mother wants a number. Just how much has she lost?
"I told her, 'You know I don't have a scale in this house,' " Crowley said. "It's important to know what motivates you, not what motivates somebody else."
The flood of messages and blog postings about the "new" Candy Crowley continues to say something disturbing about a society trained to a beauty queen norm. But the newswoman feels encouraged by the fans expressing solidarity, not just with her weight struggles, but with the way she presents herself to the world.
"That's one reason I thought I should go ahead and recognize that this discussion was going on," she said. "I really appreciate what those people have been saying to me, some really heartfelt things."
... to read the full article: CNN's Candy Crowley talks about her new look
2 comments:
Candy rocks. I really miss the raw politics
stories from both Candy and Tom.
I think Candy's weight loss is becoming, as well as healthy and health oriented. I remember her being on Bill Maher's program, some time ago, before her weight loss, and he was somewhat dismissive of her, and it was apparent it was hurtful. She is very intelligent and informative and it is a shame society puts so much emphasis on how we "appear,"
especially those of us who are continually in front of the lens.
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