Carnie Wilson discusses her weight gain after baby

Former Wilson Phillips band member Carnie Wilson lost 150 pounds in 1999 after gastric bypass surgery, but has since gained at least 50 pounds back after having a baby. Carnie is a size 16 and weighs 208 pounds. Her daughter Lola will turn three next month.

Carnie talked to OK! Magazine about her struggle with her weight. She probably needs the money that goes along with airing your personal problems in a gossip rag, but I also have to give her credit for bringing up a very important problem that faces a lot of mothers: toddler weight gain. When the screaming and begging get to be too much you don’t reach for a prescription medication and you try to avoid drinking too much to blot out the stress. You remain sober and present for your child when you scarf down three rolls of that delicious bakery bread and are rewarded with a nice carb high followed by a blood sugar crash, not that I’m speaking from experience.

In 1999, Carnie Wilson famously underwent gastric bypass surgery to cut 150 lbs. off her 300-lb. frame. Her struggle with her weight wasn’t over, though, as she gained back the pounds carrying daughter Lola, now 2. But after a stint on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, Carnie shed another 22 lbs. That was two years ago. Now, a month away from her 40th birthday, Carnie weighs 208 lbs. and wears a size 16. Opening up to OK!, the singer says she has hit “rock bottom” with her weight.

“Everyone can see that I’m bigger, but I cannot hibernate,” she tells OK!. “I’ve never lied or been dishonest about what’s going on in my life. Even all these years later, having had such a great weight-loss story, being back in this place is so familiar. And it hurts. I don’t want to feel this way anymore. It doesn’t feel good when you have to struggle to get your pants on.”

The source of her tremendous weight gain is snacking. Since having her daughter, the former Wilson Phillips star says she turned all her focus on her little girl, leaving little to no attention to her weight or diet.

“I had anxiety, started snacking and gained it all back and more,” she says. “I have a weakness when it comes to snacking. For me, it’s a tortilla with cheese, popcorn and graham crackers, all in one night.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Raising a child is one of the most stressful things you can do, and many people cope with that by eating. Carnie says she’s going to “lose 45 to 50 pounds and then try to get pregnant again,” but she’s about to turn 40 so she’s got to do it soon if she wants to get pregnant again naturally. She is trying to do 30 to 45 minutes of cardio every weekday and have a trainer come over three days a week.

Good luck to Carnie. She seems like she has a great personality and attitude. MSat was telling me that she heard her interviewed on the Howard Stern show a few times in the mid 90s and that she would joke around with Howard and wouldn’t shy away from the nasty topics he likes to discuss.

In 2006, Carnie told Oprah that she battled alcoholism after she lost weight and that she was “going down a dark spiral very quickly,” but that she quit drinking and then got pregnant with her daughter three weeks later.

Thanks to OK Magazine for these photos. Carnie’s interview is featured in the upcoming issue which has “Jen’s [Aniston’s] Magic Diet” on the cover.