Wilhelmina Cooper's SHOCKING Diet Secrets: Only TWO Meals Per Week!?

[@gigiluna7899]

My mom was born in 1944. She also ate grapefruit for breakfast and lunch and black coffee. Growing up she insisted I was too big and needed to diet. I smoked. But didn't diet. I quit smoking when I was 29. The diet culture continues to be toxic. Look at Skinny Tea, Ozempic and gastro by pass procedures done to loose weight. What will the newer generations say about us? Reflection. Great video!!!!

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

Diet culture can go eff itself, I'm eating all the goodies. Actually, I was born with strong obsessive compulsive tendecies which make one predisposed to eating disorder. But thankfully I never developed one.

[@CandidLy1]

They aren’t concerned about that at all, as they have their own issues with anorexia, bulimia and laxatives.

[@blazingstar9638]

My grandma was about grapefruit and coffee too!

[@barbieskates540]

@@blazingstar9638 I remember them talking about 1/2 a grapefruit for breakfast and black coffee. Lunch was cabbage onion soup.. Supper was a salad with 1/2 cup cottage cheese. Total calories 800 per day

[@ZippyZigger]

I used to work for the Wilhelmina agency. The NY office had many of her best covers framed and hanging in the lobby. She had such an incredible face.

[@hotbxdkitty969]

an incredible bone structure

[@gloriahota]

Let's not pretend modeling industry today is any better, they have just become better at covering up their disorders by posting pizzas n french fries on social media, then taking just one bite of each and throwing it/giving it away.

[@edennis8578]

It's true. Models used for fitting the designs sometimes don't eat at all; they use IVs to take in nourishment. What a horror show.

[@ScotchCherokeeGirl]

Wilhelmina also launched the career of the iconic Gia Carangi, whom she mentored and Gia was devastated when Willie died. Gia, who tragically became one of the first women in the U.S. to die from AIDS, later stated that that after Wilhelmina died, that's when she began shooting heroin.

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

On that kind of diet one must be always in great mood and such a pleasure to be around.

[@user-nc7ui2if4o]

One of my beloved icons is Vampira, I don’t know how much information about her is out there to be included in this series but I would absolutely love to see her featured in any kind of video in this channel!

[@Laurajaneatelier]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@libbykaynorris]

I remember that diet! My grandmother put me on grapefruit, cheese & crackers and little filets when I was a chubby teenager. I started smoking at 14 but quit 27 years later. Still chubby!

[@Laurajaneatelier]

I like the idea of eating a grapefruit for breakfast. I remember seeing Betty do It in madmen

[@amirathealtruist]

And still fabulous!

[@libbykaynorris]

Thanks!

[@lee3171]

​@@LaurajaneatelierI like grapefruit for breakfast but they are really expensive now!

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

My gandmother forced lots of food on me and my sister.

[@susannpatton2893]

The combination of not eating and the malnutrition plus the chain smoking led to the early cancer. You have to give your body nourishment. You need food.

[@katemelanie346]

When people talk about the 1950s being so body positive for curvy women, its nonsense! They also preferred a slimmer look, albeit one with a slightly curvier shape.

[@monicad351]

I remember that grapefruit mess. You will see it in some old movies too. Rail thin woman dressed for bed up to the 9s, only to eat half a grapefruit. 😊

[@rosechardonnay5351]

That super stick thin look became very popular in the 1960s and lasted all the way to the 90s, especially in the modeling world but I think it affected many women from that era. My mom grew up in the 60s and 70s and she has always been overly concerned with remaining thin and is literally terrified of gaining a pound. She's never been over 110 lbs in her entire life except when she was pregnant. She'll be 73 in December and she still watches what she eats and I've never seen her overeat ever in my life....I don't have her willpower lol. Wilhelmina's case was extreme, I don't know how she survived on so little nourishment. Between the heavy smoking and the lack of food it's no wonder she met an early demise. Many smokers do develop lung cancer but usually not as young as 40....I'm sure her lifestyle accelerated her cancer...

[@retha1875]

Grapefruit for breakfast, boild or poached eggs, maybe 1 piece of toast is a decent and filling breakfast.

[@featherh8853]

I feel like lack of nourishment could definitely play a part in how fast the cancer got her. If you look at the Gerson therapy- it attempts to treat cancer with an over abundance of nutrients. So I can see how the lack of nutrients didn’t help.

[@Laurajaneatelier]

I can see that too, her immune system was stressed

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

@@Laurajaneatelier It was probably nearly dead.

[@wplants9793]

Cachexia (wasting disorder) is the cause of about 30% of cancer deaths.

[@genevievevitale8141]

I don't agree with that. Cancer needs nutrients to spread. This is why most people prior to diagnosis will have an increased appetite without weight gain. When the cancer spreads that is when nausea and weight loss occurs. Starvation slows new illness. Similar to when an animal gets injured. They won't start eating until they start healing.

[@muirgirl]

@@genevievevitale8141This is just incorrect.

[@franescadiano]

She had obviously some mental issues, as her behaviour was suicidal, but unfortunately the people who pushed her to fast just for money and success were criminals. The whole fashion system is criminal.

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

So I heard from a woman who used to model. In Canada.

[@whitalleys5893]

Holy smokes… if she was in the 150s at 5’11” that would be a healthy BMI of around 21 (still low, but in the healthy range). If she lost an additional 30 and then 20 pounds she would have a BMI around 13-14, which is significantly underweight. That BMI is a disability, not a goal.

[@littleblackpistol]

Yes, she had the figure of a starved woman, devoid of secondary sexual characteristics. Sick. Her bones were probably chalk.

[@donnafromnyc]

My speculation is that the European models who set the style were starved as children. As adults they were unnaturally skinny. The US modeling agencies followed this style unhealthily and unnaturally. W. was normal weight in the US and forced to starve if she wanted to model. And everyone smoked during the war and after...cigarettes were currency in postwar Europe.

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

Actually all my grandparents' generation lived through starvation during WW2. Once they had access to all the food they wanted they actually put on a lot of weight.

[@AngelaMartinez-fh6bk]

Omg I would have been so moody! I remember the grapefruit diet! My mom would have grapefruit with sugar. I did too as a kid even up to now but I still ate food. 🤣

[@7arboreal]

My mum was affected by all this, and I still (genuinely) enjoy half a grapefruit with a sprinkling of sugar.

[@donnafromnyc]

As a young girl in Holland and then Germany (and how she got there isn't covered), they didn't eat and what they ate was severely rationed after 1941. Food was limited in Germany after the war when the average civilian ration allowance was maybe 1000 calories. So food deprivation was nothing new to Wilhemina. Audrey Hepburn, who grew up in occupied Holland, recalled that her family was reduced to eating grass. Both W. and Audrey were malnourished as children, skinny in their youth, and died young.

[@AriannaAyers]

Errr, Audrey died in the 60’s. If you ask a kid what’s “young” they wouldn’t say a “Woman in her 60’s”

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

Actually traditional German diet is very hearty. I don't have much experience with the culture but my parents and grandparents did. German women don't seem to be hung up on skinniness from what I hear.

[@PB_324]

​@@MadamoftheCatHouse Yes German food is hearty but during War time it was very scarce.

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

@@PB_324 Yeah, what happened when the people started living well again they started eating a lot, more than they needed and got quite overweight. It was for psychological reasons rather than physical need, from the psychological trauma starvation left. Also they started force feeding their kids and grandkids. That's what happened to my grandparents's generation in Ukraine and Russia

[@roringusanda2837]

​@@AriannaAyersbut it is young to die...it's more usual to live to be at least in your 80s.

[@AriannaAyers]

I also have 2 meals per week. It does take me exactly 3.5 days to eat one meal though, and I spread the meal over several plates.

[@littleblackpistol]

Seek medical help, because that is abnormal.

[@disgruntledbystander252]

37 24 36 is big?!? How i wish i got those measurements!

[@Giraffe27]

Right??? I wish I was that “big”

[@SonyaTheSidePieceCrumbSnatcher]

If only the song Brick House had come out in the 40s, maybe Wilhelmina would have appreciated her measurements then.

[@Elle_Gowing]

Top runway models often measure 30 22 24 at 5'11. Nothing has changed

[@shalynv5902]

I feel like fainting just listening to this

[@anouckb8908]

Hi Laura! I would love to see some videos about you trying vintage products that are still around today. Like the videos you used to do. I loved seeing your do vintage diys and trying celebrities skincare and makeup routines. I miss those videos. Just a suggestion, you are a gem 💖💖

[@Laurajaneatelier]

So glad you liked those! I will see if I can do more

[@anouckb8908]

@@Laurajaneatelier I absolutely love them because they really show your lovely personality. I like following you along as you try different things. Thank you so much for responding 😊💖

[@KyndalTheMeister]

I loved all those old beauty tricks videos she did too. But, it's hard to keep finding new beauty tricks from those days, because at some point we all remember the same products Marilyn used, and how this or that actress steamed her face and contoured with blush, so it's hard to expect her to keep coming up with new stuff. I like the diet videos because they are so insane it's almost impossible to believe that anyone survived these things. Especially weird diets. A cool video idea on classic glam actresses (the ones we all love) might be if any were in cults (it's Halloween time, those things are on my mind, haha👻), what religion or spirituality they adhered to (if any), favorite authors or books, or what their love life was like. And I don't mean who they had affairs with, I mean more like, were any polyamorous, swingers, open relationships?Their thoughts on sex and love and relationships? That would be fascinating. Especially models and actresses from the '60s when free love became a "thing." 🐈‍⬛🎃

[@KyndalTheMeister]

I do rewatch those beauty tricks and products videos though!.

[@anouckb8908]

@@KyndalTheMeister I understand your point of view but I do believe that there are plenty of vintage products that we use everyday that can be explored. From perfume, skincare, hair care, to body care the possibilities are there. I also enjoy the vlog style and find the informality of it fun. I just really enjoy the beauty content but I do like that Laura is branching out. I’ll always keep watching! Thank you for your opinion 😊👍

[@carriesmemaw9192]

I was chubby and my Mother put me on the Mayo Clinic Diet at 8 yrs old. It was basically grapefruit, eggs and small amounts of other proteins without carbs. It was horrible. Because of of her, I have had Eating Disorders and Distorted body image for the majority of my 60 yrs. The whole thing is insidious.

[@jennypost7556]

Me too. I'm 50, it's been going on since I was a kid.

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

My family was the opposite. They were WW2 survivors and were always forcing food on me and my sister.

[@MiamiPush2theLimit]

That’s a healthy diet.

[@lillianbowen7408]

Your skin looks luminous . Lovely

[@Laurajaneatelier]

Thank you!

[@lindseystein9676]

I wouldn’t last long with a diet like that, I have hypoglycemia. I’d be fainting all over the place lol. And so many cigarettes…

[@sunset4ever29]

I would like to know what Ali MacGraw's diet tips are if she has ever divulged them. I know she does yoga every day. Eating twice a week is extreme, but I learned a lot about Wilhelmina from your video that I was not aware of and didn't know she died so young.

[@nildabridgeman8104]

My mother would make us do the Grapefruit & cantaloupe diets every summer. I hated grapefruit 😖

[@luloops]

The super model Gia looked up to Wilhemina. She was def. a mother figure to her since her own mother abandoned her as a young girl. Have you done Gia Carangi?

[@katrinaolsen2444]

Gia’s mother never abandoned her. Gia modeling was her mother’s dream. Gia’s mother didn’t want to believe that Gia was Queer. But she cared for Gia while she was dying from AIDS.

[@luloops]

@@katrinaolsen2444 She left the family home and left her with her father and her brothers....so yeah that's abandonment. Glad she was able to be with her as she passed...at least.

[@ilsepolly1607]

First time here, loved your videos. your complexion looks amazing beauty and makeup secrets vid please

[@DelectionPie]

Most diet pills up until the 70s were packed with amphetamines. Combine that with smoking and coffee probably explains why Dr's dispensed sedatives and tranquillisers like sweeties. I'm also surprised how most were able to conceive when malnourished as that can make your cycles stop. I guess they were on the pill too. At least we're now appreciating things like yoga, breathing work, forest bathing etc.. But most importantly, we're encouraged to talk about our feelings. Men and women. Even as recently as the 90s when my schoolfriend was killed in a car accident, we weren't allowed to talk about it and no counselling. I know Pattie Boyd has done a couple of books but mostly about The Beatles and photography, it would be good to see what she still uses today. I'd love to see about Liz Montgomery but I do know smoking again is sadly a big part in her story. Thank you for these episodes 💕

[@elizabradley4797]

Emaciated look was so popular in 1960's. Size 1 or 2. From luscious Marilyn Monroe to skeletal look. Grapefruit diet. Smoking and coffee. Of course Twiggy set the stage for many teenage girls. High Fashion magazines pushed the emaciated look. I do not understand how these women slept. Empty stomachs. Eating disorders became prominent. Diet pills with amphetamines were regularly prescribed. The heavy drug era was quickly coming up. Nothing healthy era. Lack of medical knowledge I think was a big part of that Era. What starving did to the body ~ healthy exercise was not in fashion yet. Females were not defined for the 60's. Was she still the housewife? Big change in defining females roles. Be beautiful & very thin. Healthy was something not really known yet. Some teenagers played tennis, swam, moms did too. But fashion magazines were directing females' path to be admired. Health magazines did not emerge til much much later for females. I cannot understand how those fashion models could survive on eating nearly nothing. Very interesting Laura Jane to highlight the era of Wilhelmina ~ Well Done ~ Thank You 👗🚬

[@Bunnidove]

Even monroe wasn't big, she was a 4-6 and had disordered eating too unfortunately.

[@littleblackpistol]

They took sedatives or were so tired they passed out. But sedatives were huge in the 60s and seventies. Speed to keep you going, benzos to knock you out. Cigarettes to kill the appetite. Sick generation.

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

@@littleblackpistol Yet so many are nostalgic for the era.

[@themoonflowerfaerie]

That really is an insane diet, and I’m not surprised she died so young 😢. I don’t know how she lived as long as she did. Ideas for other people could be Betty Grable, Jinx Falkenburg, Yvonne DeCarlo, Bettie Page, Carole Landis…

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

Human body is surprisingly resilient.

[@luciddreamwalking4203]

I mean if you're made to believe cigarettes are ok and you're using that as meal replacement all while starving. Who wouldn't become a chain smoker!

[@Denise00700]

It wasn’t uncommon to see chain smokers in those days. It was a way to keep thin.

[@Laurajaneatelier]

Ya that’s insane to smoke like that

[@PetersayPeterdo]

Although it was undoubtedly a very unhealthy way to live, I really admire her drive and determination to achieve her goals.

[@sylviamitbrodt1562]

Very interesting video. I learned a lot about.

[@Laurajaneatelier]

Thanks for watching

[@conversaeora4964]

Laura,que alegria poder contar com legendas em português para saber sobre suas pesquisas incríveis.Vc é iluminada Saudo desde Brazil 🥰😊

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

Laura speaks Portuguese?

[@genny9026]

Many years ago at college, one of the girls in our block went on a diet recommended by a few other girls. It was just a boiled egg and half a grapefruit, three times a day. I didn’t know her, except to say “ Hi” and so on but in about six weeks she looked as if she’d lost a lot of weight. My guess…140 pounds to 120. ( She was about 5ft 3). Then, I wondered where she was, asked someone and they told me, “ At home. She ‘s developed a stomach ulcer”. She came back after about three weeks. So all that grapefruit has never seemed like a good idea, to me !

[@ShalimarH3331]

Always Love & Enjoy your videos ❤

[@Laurajaneatelier]

Thank you so much!

[@kevinverspoor4796]

Thank You Laura Jane Atelier, The first grapefruit diet started in the early 1900's of course only wealthy people could afford it. the grapefruit was cut in half 1/2 an tsp of sugar was put on top. Then Abbotts bitters were sprinkled over the sugar. this was great for the years at the end of the gilded age, because one got the vitamin c that was required. However, it was noted that if one used this as a regular morning breakfast one would lose weight. It then again started to be become more popular in the 1920's when dieting became more publicly common. This was continued in the late 40's through the 70's as a morning diet regimen. Although Angostura's original bitters was used as Abbott's became more obscure.

[@okaycola2]

Pretty sure the grapefruit diet is very well knowN*

[@cin6750]

Natalie Wood diet video pls ❤

[@Chuckie123]

I don't use makeup but your videos R always interesting.

[@Laurajaneatelier]

So glad you like them

[@ann5765]

This is interesting Laura Jane❤

[@venganzamujer354]

So interesting….thanks

[@TrangPakbaby]

She looked like Suzy Parker

[@kansascitian2009]

No wonder she never smiled.

[@LidiaVlogsherweek]

Wow thanks for sharing I never knew she modeled how did I miss that?

[@mollys1584]

Twiggy, if you haven't already!

[@Laurajaneatelier]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@stephmmcbride9197]

Disgusting the way woman were treated by other woman in those days people put so much pressure on others to be slim to comform its shocking even mu mums generation were obsessed with weight and called people fat ofter. And she was born agter the war no wonder the poor woman must have been ill perhaps she was starving herself living off coffee and cigarettes

[@realbeautifulbeauty1556]

They die to stay thin, so sad

[@susquahallasmiley3262]

You skin is glowy !

[@lissyniña]

Wonder about Twiggy..

[@Harleyxjokerforever]

Poor thing. Sounds like she developed a ED.

[@MたいしS]

Sadly, she died of lung cancer at age 40.

[@carlatrezza7561]

Didn't she know Gia carangi?

[@hirodefrance]

I hate how common it was for women to experience domestic violence. All the iconic women from the past experienced it to a certain extent. 😢

[@MadamoftheCatHouse]

She had such a beautiful long neck.

[@Monika____officialMonika_____o]

❤❤❤

[@lavendersprig2905]

How about Frances farmers ? Actress from the 30’s.

[@bilikcantik88]

Wooowwww

[@colleenbrown3366]

Her look is very sculptural and rather cold. I doubt that look would be popular today.

[@WaterMalone42]

and she did coke.

[@Biofeedback1975]

GIA CARANGI

[@tallspicy]

I wonder how she could have children at that weight

[@rachelbachel2]

It happens. Happened to me. Women also can remain fertile well into their late 40s. As long as you know when you ovulate it's pretty easy to get pregnant. Tracking ovulation is easy also. I don't know why Dr's scare women with this fertility nonsense

[@bstorm4413]

She also died at age 40.

[@djl8085]

Ridiculous.

[@NicolewithouttheH]

She couldn’t have gone for long stretches only eating two meals a week… she would have been emaciated!

[@Marlena68]

She wasn’t thin naturally. Look at her hips they are broad, too broad for modeling that way she was starving herself. Compare her to Eastern Europe models and you get the answer.

[@wataki2]

I know she was healthy as h3ll, all that intermittent fasting

[@aiamr]