In the September issue of Glamour magazine, Jessica Simpson talks openly about her weight fluctuations and body image issues that have plagued her most of her life. "When I was young, I would look at magazines and feel a lot of pressure," says the singer, 29. "As a child of 12, I would write things in my journal like, 'I'm lying here and all I can think about is that my stomach is hanging over my underwear.' That disturbs me even today! There was this idea of perfection I couldn't ever get to".

Recently, Simpson was photographed and ridiculed for looking a bit heavier than usual at a Florida concert.  While the comments were hurtful, she says they motivated her to expose the double standard that women, especially women in Hollywood, have been subjected to.  In her new VH1 reality show, The Price of Beauty she travels around the world as she searches for what people in other cultures find beautiful and why.

Simpson explains, “All women struggle with insecurity, and we all have something we don't like about ourselves.  No matter how much money you spend to make yourself beautiful with all the products, the diets, the plastic surgery, in the end, women need to fall in love with themselves and realize they're beautifully and wonderfully made. There is no 'perfect' you. It will be interesting for women to see how self-obsessed we've become". Interesting, indeed.

While most of us are envious of the celebrity lifestyle, we don’t often look at what price they pay for that lifestyle.  Every fashion misstep, every bad hair day, every ounce of weight gained is chronicled and critiqued.  Unfair? Yes.  No one cares if I gain 5 pounds.  No one will be there to photograph me if I go to the store in clothing from the bottom of the hamper. For celebrities though, the pressure to be “on” all the time really must be insane.  On the other hand, they chose a life in the public eye and they do get paid huge sums of money to maintain an image that is beautiful, sexy, and better looking than the average human.

The danger comes when the average human feels the need to compare themselves to celebrities.  How can we compete?  Most of us would love to hire trainers and nutritionists; personal chefs and food delivery services; plastic surgeons to tweak our bodies; stylists to dress us; and makeup artists to perfect our faces. It is unrealistic for us to expect to look like a magazine cover, yet we do.  Every day women become more resentful of what they see when they look in the mirror.

We have become our own worse enemies. In fact, most of us have a very narrow definition of beauty. What is beautiful to us may be considered ugly elsewhere. Maybe after watching The Price of Beauty, women will realize that in other cultures those extra pounds are a sign of prosperity, or very pale white skin equates health, or that a woman with full, tattooed blue lips is considered the most beautiful and desirable. But, if you are still considering cosmetic surgery check out Extreme Cosmetic Makeovers - Good or Bad Idea?

Stacy Matson is a health enthusiast from Southern California and regularly blogs on Celebrity Health for A Healthier World, as well as contributing to the Best of the Best.