Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are shedding light on their struggles with eating disorders that originated during their teenage years.
"I simply deprived myself of nourishment for an extensive period," Applegate revealed on the latest episode of MeSsy, the podcast she co-hosts with Sigler. "It was excruciating."
The Dead to Me star, who confessed she had never previously discussed her eating disorder publicly, recounted her enduring battle with food and body image, tracing back to her childhood memories of being called overweight by a neighbor boy.
At the age of 15, just embarking on her decade-long stint on Married With Children, she was enrolled in Weight Watchers by her mother. "She was always striving for superiority," recalled Applegate, now 52. "If I managed to drop to 110 [pounds], she'd inquire... 'How did you achieve it?' And the truth was, I was grappling with an eating disorder. I would consume merely five almonds in a day. If I consumed six, I would be overcome with tears and refuse to step outside. This pattern persisted for many years."
Portraying the character Kelly Bundy on Married with Children, Applegate frequently wore revealing attire, yet "I yearned for my skeletal structure to be prominent, hence I refrained from eating," reminisced Applegate, acknowledging her battle with anorexia during that period.
Her condition sparked concern among the cast and crew of the show: "It was deeply unsettling for everyone on set because they noticed that Christina hardly ate. They approached me about it."
Subsequently, she reveals, she became so petite that even her size 0 garments had to be altered to fit. "But in my perception, I felt enormous," she confessed.
Sigler, aged 42, recounts that her own struggles originated during adolescence when "all my peers were fixated on discussions about food and calorie counts," she recollected. "I simply began to pay attention."
Her struggle reached a peak after filming the pilot episode of The Sopranos in 1997 when she witnessed herself on screen. "I was at my highest weight ever. I didn't resemble any other young woman on any other television show I had seen," she recounted. "There was a year between the pilot and the first episode, and during that time, I battled with the eating disorder."
Sigler reveals that she was grappling with exercise bulimia, a condition where she would compulsively engage in physical activity after eating. Additionally, she meticulously documented every morsel she consumed. "Every notebook from my sophomore and junior years of high school contains little numbers in the corner, meticulously tallying food and calorie intake," she disclosed.
Upon returning a year later to film the show's inaugural season, Sigler reveals, "they nearly terminated my contract due to my extreme thinness," she recounts, disclosing that at one juncture, she weighed a mere 80 pounds. "They were like, 'whoa, hold on, this is not okay!' The production team was incredibly supportive and caring; their primary concern was my well-being."
Applegate, who received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2021 and has since forged a close friendship with Sigler, also living with the condition, reveals that it wasn't until her thirties that she began to feel liberated from the grip of her eating disorder.
However, she confesses that the onset of side effects from MS and its medication led to a weight gain of 45 pounds, reigniting the presence of the "demon" in her mind. "The voice in my head is becoming increasingly loud, and it's frightening," she admitted. "I must remain vigilant to avoid slipping into harmful patterns of self-harm."
That inner "demon" resurfaced, tormenting her, when she stepped onto the Emmy stage in January. Following a thunderous standing ovation, Applegate quipped to the audience about her appearance, "Body not by Ozempic."
Reflecting on this moment on the podcast, she described the remark as a coping mechanism. "I resorted to humor at the Emmys because... it was as though I could sense their judgment... and I felt utterly humiliated. The 'demon' was echoing these thoughts in my mind."
Discussing their fears and challenges, "is essential because I felt like no one was addressing it with me," expressed Sigler, who emphasized that for her, "the struggle with food was about control, but once I began to embrace my true self... I was able to release much of that burden."
Recalling a past experience, Applegate mentioned undergoing liposuction on her legs around the age of 26, noting, "I had a minuscule amount of fat on the back of my leg. Our doctor performed the procedure on me." She expressed her desire to ensure that her daughter, Sadie, grows up receiving different messages.
"I don't want my daughter to witness me restricting food," she affirmed. "I've made a conscious effort... to refrain from self-deprecation... I've battled with low self-esteem throughout my life. I don't want that for my child."
The Quran - Chapter Adh-Dhariyat : 07 - 08
˹And˺ by the heavens in their marvellous design!
Surely you are ˹lost˺ in conflicting views ˹regarding the truth˺.
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْحُبُكِ إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ (By the sky, having paths, you are (involved) in a contradictory statement - 51:7-8) Hubuk is the plural habikah and primarily denotes thin irregular lines or streaks on fabrics when woven.
They resemble tracks and pathways; therefore pathways are also referred to as hubuk in Arabic. Most interpreters take this to be the meaning in this context. Some scholars say that the 'tracks' refer to pathways used by the angels for entrance and exit.
Others say that the tracks or paths of heaven are those orbits of planets and stars that are visible in the sky.
As the streaks of the woven fabric is its beauty, some scholars tend to interpret the verse as 'By the heaven full of beauty, grace, magnificence and perfection'.
Differing Beliefs of the Pagans
إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ (you are [ involved ] in a contradictory statement... 51:8) Verse [ 7] was an oath and this verse is the statement for which oath is sworn.
Apparently, the verse addresses the pagans of Makkah who assigned contradictory attributes to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، calling him at different times a madman, a sorcerer, a poet and other discordant names.
According to another possible interpretation, the verse addresses the entire humankind - Muslims as well as non-believers.
Thus 'contradictory statement' would mean that a sector believed in the Holy Prophet ﷺ and accepted him; and another sector rejected him and opposed him (Mazhari).
