Chanel Iman’s New Diet: Steak and Potatoes

Monday Mar 7, 2011 – by Leslie Pitterson

Chanel Iman is getting thick. Well…she’s working on it.

The 20 year-old supermodel recently hit the promotional trail to introduces Victoria’s Secret new “Incredible” push up bra and declared that she is working on a side project- gaining weight.

Iman, a Victoria’s Secret Angel and catwalk strutter says that she has been trying to get the number on her scale to go up, not down.

“I eat to gain,” said Iman. “I’m a big believer in having hips, butt and thighs!”

According to a reports from Us Weekly, the supermodel (who comes in at 5-foot-9-inches) has recently gained some grown woman weight and is carrying around an extra 13 pounds. We’re not sure where she put it, but even squinting at pictures from her appearance last week in NYC, it is hard to really notice.

All the same, Iman says she is working at putting more meat on her bones and putting in the work it takes to do it. Speaking to the magazine, Iman revealed some of her anti-diet meals:

“I’m eating everything from steak to mashed potatoes; people hate me!”

Yes, Chanel we’ll admit- a little bit.

I for one will admit, it’s hard for me to be too enthusiastic about the supermodel’s blissful sounding diet given what it takes for me to stay in shape. While I am running on treadmills and coming near to seeing God in 100 degree rooms (team Bikram!), I sometimes wish I too could keep my curves in line by chowing down on some Outback as well.

But every woman has a different struggle. And while most women struggle with keeping the weight off- Iman says that for her, keeping it on is just as hard.

“It’s very difficult for me because I’m naturally skinny,” says Iman. “I have to put on a lot of weight and work out to gain muscle. I love curves and being sexy.”

While it’s easy for many of us to do a neck roll at the thought of the supermodel indulging in her new diet food, Iman’s struggle with her weight is one that many naturally slim sisters deal with as well. Many of my best girlfriends who have gazelle like figures like Iman, also share the same frustrations in trying to gain weight that their body seems to shed the minute it is on.

No matter what our personal weight struggles may be, we all know that being comfortable with your body is always a beautiful thing. So if a little more flesh makes Iman strut down runways with more confidence- then power to the sister.

Tell us Clutchettes, what’s your deal: do you have to work to keep the pounds on or off?

Ashley says:

March 7, 2011 at 4:29 pm

I have to work to keep the pounds on! I’m turning 20 in a few months, and i’ve been the same size since the 9th grade!! I just recently gained like 2 pounds but I nowhere near my 100 lb goal. What I don’t think most people understand is that we have just as many issues with our size as a bigger person would. We get picked on because were so “thin” and because we don’t have curves. What really bothers me is when people ask me “are you okay” because they assume that because i’m small i must not be eating.. when in actuality i eat all the time!

↑ Reply

Chaunece says:

March 7, 2011 at 4:58 pm

This may be off topic from the question at hand, but this is something that I think people should realize when they criticize women who are naturally slim. There are people out here that are naturally slim, overeating and binging trying to gain weight. People always talk about body image and the standard of slim being the norm, but in the black community as well as many others, women are praised for having curves. I struggled with that in my high school and early college days. And now that I’ve gained a little weight, it’s like “well I don’t want to workout, beacuse I don’t want to lose this butt.”

This is a society where it is ok to capitalize off of calling naturally slim women “skinny bitches” but if I were to call someone a “fat bitch” (Mo’Nique) All hell would break loose. I think curves are beautiful, but just like there are unhealthy ways to lose weight and fit a certain body type, stuffing your face to gain weight to fit a certain body type probably isn’t healthy either. It’s like even after being paid to be a model for her body type, she still isn’t satisfied with how her body looks, she is still seeking something else, but unfortunately I can relate. At the end of the day it shouldn’t be about what body type is ok, and I don’t think people should look at this model eating to gain weight as a “go ahead girl” type thing because if this was someone throwing up to lose weight it would be a different story. While it is somewhat different, I think both ways display body image issues and I think women should work towards embracing ALL body types so that no one feels the need to to starve themselves or stuff themselves to be beautiful. This isn’t a criticism or your article by the way Leslie, It just lead me to think deeper about the situation.

Emelyne says:

March 7, 2011 at 7:40 pm

It seems that she’s also incorportating exercise, trying to put on lean muscle instead of just fat and if the extra weight makes her happy, then I’m happy for her. I completely agree with Chaunece, btw :-)

Alexandra says:

March 7, 2011 at 9:59 pm

I’m 5’9 too. Yay for tall chicks :)
One of my best friends struggled to keep weight on. When I was losing weight, she was trying to gain. It was so funny how we wanted the reverse of each other lol! Now that I’m lighter, she’s still trying to gain with no luck. I also agree Chaunece. When me & my friend would go out to eat, she would overeat on lots of unhealthy foods. That’s not safe at all.
But honestly Chanel is a model & I dont think she’ll stay with those extra 13 for long. That’s a tough business. I hope she safely succeeds her goal though.

goslightly says:

March 8, 2011 at 9:45 am

Interesting. I’m wondering if she’s doing this to serve some greater purpose? Perhaps to make younger girls feel like it is okay to eat (real) food. Or perhaps to say to send out the message that models do eat. Either way I say it’s a good thing. Models are far too thin to begin with, especially Chanel Iman.

Mimi says:

March 8, 2011 at 9:58 am

Totally agree with Chaunece and Alexandra. Not to sound mean, but I think Chanel has body issues. She says that she is naturally skinny and likes thighs and butt and hips, but has she thought about her cholestrol level while shoving all that red meat into her body? If you are naturally skinny and healthy, I think you should just accept your body the way it is. And while it’s okay to be a little juicy to model for Victoria Secret, you better believe she won’t be accepted for gigs from high end designers if she gets too big. If you’re not a size zero, the high end designers won’t even look at you.

The article does bring up an interesting point about how some women have issues gaining weight. I used to always cringe whenever I heard Monique say skinny b!tches are evil. While I’m sure it was just a part of her schtick, it’s still awfully crass and like Chaunece said, if a skinny woman said that fat b!tches are evil, all hell would break loose. The bottom line is we all should strive to be a healthy weight and love the skin we’re in.

Tif says:

March 8, 2011 at 10:43 am

I really like Chanel, but I don’t like the message that she’s sending. I’m really tall and naturally very thin like Chanel. I’ve been bullied and ridiculed my entire life for being thin. There was I time when I too would purposely shove my face with tons of unhealthy things to prove to people that I actually ate. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE food. But now I’m more concerned with being healthy then looking a certain way. But Chanel’s young, so hopefully soon she realize healthy is more important than hips and thighs.

LemonNLime says:

March 8, 2011 at 1:16 pm

I’m sorry but I get really annoyed at the stories of the naturally thin actress or model who is trying wants curves and proceeds to tell us about all the wonderfully fattening things she gets to eat. It’s kinda like, “Sure I skinny and beautiful and making money off my God given body but guess what?! I’m going to rebel against what the world thinks is beautiful and gain some weight! Now give me a magazine article or a segment on a TV show where I can giggle on TV and talk about how beautiful curves are and how I eat ice cream and cake and french fries and I STILL can’t manage to keep weight on me! Poor me!”

Really enough…

Sarah says:

April 2, 2011 at 8:50 am

this.

Courtney says:

March 8, 2011 at 4:09 pm

An interesting article to stumble upon considering the issue I’m going through now.
I set out a few months ago working out more often in an effort to get healthy. If I lost weight, cool. If I didn’t, no big deal.
I went from a size 12 to a size 6/8 (depending on the brand and the fit). People are telling me I look great. I don’t feel Li look any different than I did before.
In any case, I’m obsessing over just about every little thing I put in my body for fear of gaining the weight back. I used to be able to eat anything and hardly gain any weight. I still think that’s true but I don’t want to take any chances.

I’m all for Chanel Iman doing what she thinks is best for her. She shouldn’t be seen as some spokesperson for every naturally skinny person. If she wants to be bigger, go ahead. I do think there are better ways to go about gaining weight.

Femiluv says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:01 am

Yep, I totally understand. I’m 5 ft 9 too, skinny as her and also struggling to put on weight. I’m naturally skinny, everyone in my family is but I also think curves are sexy – I definitely feel more confident when I have more weight on!