The more I hear from Shonda Rhimes, the more I admire her. She’s one of the most successful TV producers working now, and she’s helping bring more women and people of color to the small screen. Plus she tells it like it is and is not afraid to call people out for bad behavior. I only hope that she does film work at some point.
Shonda, 45, is promoting her new book, Year of Yes, which is out next week. The book is about how she conquered her fears over the course of a year. This is one new celebrity memoir I really want to read, especially after seeing excerpts from the book in People Magazine. She describes how, as an introvert, she used to be afraid of promoting her work and of putting herself out there. She gradually got over that by forcing herself to do the things that scared her. She also conquered her food addiction and lost 117 pounds. I related to so much of what she said, especially about being an introvert. Here’s some of her book, from People:
On doing Jimmy Kimmel Live despite being terrified
I never want anyone looking at me. When I am required to do publicity, I often feel (and, sadly, look) like Bambi’s mother – right before the hunter shoots her. Eyes wide, all freaked out… It’s not an attractive look. My stage fright [has] ruled my every public appearance.This year, Jimmy Kimmel’s people have asked if I will be a guest on his show. Live TV. You know what happens on live TV? Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl Boob happens on live TV. You know what else happens? Shonda walking out to greet Jimmy and I trip over my own feet, falling and cracking my head on Jimmy’s desk. I lie twitching on the ground with my dress bunched up around my waist, revealing my double Spanx.
“I do not want to be on television. Ever,” I remind my publicist Chris.
“Shonda,” he says, “I thought you were saying yes to everything?” Damn.
“It can’t be live,” I tell Chris firmly. “I will do Jimmy Kimmel. But it can’t be live.”
If Jimmy thought it was weird that I became a block of solid wood and could not seem to walk and talk while the camera was rolling, he kept it to himself. He simply arranged it so I never had to walk and talk at the same time. Jimmy did all the work… I said yes to something that terrified me. And then I did it.
And I didn’t die.
On her catalyst to losing over 100 pounds
Here’s a thing maybe I forgot to mention. When I decide to begin my Year of Yes? I am fat. I’m not cutely chubby. Or nicely plus-size. I am massive.Look. I believe everyone has a right to love their body in whatever size and shape it comes in. But I don’t FEEL good.
In 2014 I get on a plane to New York. I’m a fancy TV writer. So I have a big first-class comfy seat. I grab the seat belt and – Well, it’s gotta be broken. Right? RIGHT? I do not have a broken seat belt. I am literally too fat for a first-class airplane seat belt.
I have been saying yes to being fat.
Food makes you feel better. It numbs you. The thing is? Being numb no longer suits me. What I have come to call The Airplane Seat Belt Incident of 2014 made putting food on top of things no longer an option. Damn it.
As I started to really lose weight, I started to feel strong. [Now] when I walk past a mirror I think, “Who is that?” The girl in the mirror is a size she hasn’t been since she was sixteen years old.
But it’s me. That girl looks happy. All it took was the right kind of yes.
How her life has changed
I am not only just beginning to understand that the very act of saying yes is not just life-changing, it is life-saving. The years of saying no were, for me, an easy withdrawal from the world. A way to disappear. Saying yes is courage.
[From People Magazine, print edition, headers added]
I’m shy and reluctant to put myself out there, so I connected to that part quite a bit. In terms of Shonda’s weight loss, she’s said she lost 117 pounds through portion control and exercise, which is all very sensible. (Plug for the free app MyFitnessPal. I love that app and site.) Shonda did say that she “hated [losing weight] the whole time,” which is not the best way to explain it, especially since weight loss requires vigilance to maintain. You can’t just lose weight and go back to old habits. If she keeps saying “yes” though, she’ll be able to keep it off. It sounds like there’s a lot of wisdom in her book. It’s reassuring to hear from a highly successful woman who continues to challenge herself, and who doesn’t sugar coat anything.
Photo credit: FameFlynet
