My annoying girl-crush
Yet another confession: I have a girl-crush on Jennifer Aniston. She’s pretty, she’s stylish and she seems dignified, especially compared to so many of her Hollywood peers.
But sometimes, I get annoyed when magazines portray her as some pillar of healthfulness because she’s skinny, does yoga and drinks fancy bottled water.
News flash: The girl smokes. Cigarettes.
It’s the single most unhealthy thing a person can do to his or her body.
Sure, they probably help Jen keep her weight down, but her lungs are decaying as we speak and she’s putting her bones at risk for osteoporosis. Dont’ get me wrong, I don’t blame her. Kicking the habit is hard. And apparently she stopped for several months, but has started up again. According to People Magazine, she was spotted at Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood with beau John Mayer, smoking one cigarette after another.
It’s dumb editors at seemingly credible magazines like Self who use Aniston and other thin actresses who smoke as examples of ways to get a great body. I say to those editors: Get a clue!
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Cindy Billhartz Gregorian is a features reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She has reported for the Healthy & Fit section since its first issue. She's a distance runner with seven marathons under her belt. 
Excellent point, Cindy. I see so many young women smoking cigarettes these days, seemingly oblivious to the serious damage they cause and the awful addiction that results. As a medical writer, I’ve watched smokers with emphysema gasp for breath as they struggled to walk across a room.
My wife started smoking in her teenage years. She struggled — really struggled — to quit. Improbable as it no doubt seems to the 19 and 20 year olds I see smoking today, she was just as young and seemly invulnerable when she started as they are now.
Fortunately, she’s finally quit for good, I’m proud to say. It happened only because of complaints from our now 7-year-old daughter.