Author: Jawdah Hannad Basara

The first thing you notice about Gotham Gym in the West Village of Manhattan is that it doesn’t resemble a gym frequented by celebrities. There are worn mats, low ceilings, and an enduring leather and disinfectant odor. For years, Bella Hadid has been going there to work out with trainer Rob Piela and wrap her hands while the city goes by outside. Her eating habits were designed to support that type of work, not to diminish her, so that detail is more important than any meal plan. Most people consider breakfast to be unglamorous. A plain bagel with an egg…

For women in the public eye, there is a specific type of cruelty that goes by the name of concern, commentary, or casual observation rather than outright cruelty. After winning Miss Universe 2021 in Eilat, Israel, Harnaaz Sandhu entered the public eye with the pride of an entire country. She didn’t anticipate that within months, a portion of that same audience would turn against her, dissecting her body with the same fervor that they had previously used to applaud it. The internet reacted harshly and quickly to Harnaaz’s obvious weight gain after she was crowned Miss Universe. There were comments…

Over the years, Brian Daboll has discussed his weight with a certain level of candor. Not the polished, media-trained kind, but the other kind, in which a man simply states the truth because he is too weary of asking the same question. He referred to it as a roller coaster. And anyone who has observed him during an entire NFL season would likely concur that’s the appropriate term. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the 2024 offseason makeover. When he arrived at training camp, Daboll—who was still leading the New York Giants at the time—looked completely different. Sharp-jawed, noticeably energized, and…

Every time a woman in the public eye appears differently than she did the last time anyone paid attention, a specific kind of internet spiral begins. A few unposed pictures appear, the comment sections start to buzz, and all of a sudden a very common human experience is the subject of widespread conversation. This has also happened to Lydia West, the British actress who, in It’s a Sin, caused viewers to actually mourn fictional strangers. When you search for her name online, “weight gain” almost immediately comes up in the results. The reason for this is what the searches fail…

Any online forum about hormonal contraception will have threads with hundreds of comments, most of which are variations on the same narrative. After having the Mirena coil installed, a woman continues with her life until, three months to a year later, she notices that her body feels strange, her clothes fit differently, and her scale is slowly rising. Her doctor informs her that there is no scientific evidence to support it. When she returns home, thousands of women tell her the opposite on Reddit. This is where the Mirena coil weight gain controversy resides: caught between lived experience and clinical…

Gemma Collins has always drawn attention, and not always for the best reasons. She was a young Essex woman navigating a body that didn’t behave as she expected it to long before she became the cultural force known simply as The GC. Everything changed when she was diagnosed with PCOS in her twenties. She was thin and gullible one vacation. Her relationship with her own body completely changed after doctors informed her that she had polycystic ovary syndrome shortly after she returned. It’s possible that the majority of viewers of Gemma on TOWIE were unaware of the extent to which…

Entering a Krispy Kreme and seeing Bulbasaur staring back at you from a display case is almost surreal. But starting on August 18, the donut chain will formally launch its Pokémon Donut Collection, which consists of six limited-edition items timed to the 30th anniversary of the franchise. The partnership between Krispy Kreme and The Pokémon Company International touches on a nostalgic theme that makes a lot of sense when you consider who grew up with both at the same time. In February 1996, the first Pokémon games were released. The children who played them on Game Boy Color are now…

The black market discovered retatrutide before Eli Lilly did. The Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company filed six lawsuits on Wednesday against American businesses it claims are selling illicit versions of its still-experimental obesity medication, a substance that has not received approval from any global regulatory body. Given the developments in the GLP-1 space over the past few years, the move seems less surprising and more inevitable. Retatrutide, sometimes referred to as a “triple-G” medication because it targets three distinct hormone receptors simultaneously, has demonstrated truly remarkable outcomes in clinical trials, with some patients experiencing weight loss that is comparable to that of…

Jennifer Jaspers had been anticipating this journey. The 52-year-old Omaha resident planned to visit her father and cousins in North Carolina, including a new cousin she hadn’t yet met, and had a first-class ticket. She also had a birthday coming up. On the morning of July 23, her mother, Cindy Garrett, drove her to Eppley Airfield and, as families do at airports every day, walked her to the American Airlines check-in counter. It didn’t feel out of the ordinary. Jaspers, who has Down syndrome, has flown alone numerous times. The question then surfaced. Jaspers was asked if she could leave…

When a fast-food chain executes a seasonal menu flawlessly, it’s almost quietly satisfying. In honor of the company’s 80th anniversary, Chick-fil-A has been running a campaign called “Newstalgia” that combines well-known comfort food concepts with innovative execution. However, it appears that the campaign has finally found its footing with the fall 2026 lineup, which will be released nationwide on August 24. Waffles and chicken. S’mores. Two things that don’t require reinvention but were nevertheless successful. It’s easy to understand why the Chick-fil-A Chicken and Waffles Sandwich is the main attraction. The construction is fairly straightforward: three strips of applewood-smoked bacon,…