Weight Loss & Weight Gain

"Young and the Restless" star Kevin Schmidt's famous pet -- Yuma the Pig -- has scored a children's book deal and will go on tour to promote it ... but he needs to drop a lot of sausage first.

Yuma's a micro-pig -- which typically weigh 45 lbs ... but has ballooned to more than 80, meaning Kevin and his hog have some serious work to do before she hits the wheels of squeal in September.

In order to make weight, Yuma will be walked 4 times a day and fed only organic meals by a pro chef ... at a cost of $1,000 a week!

Yuma's easily been worth her weight ... having already hammed it up on "A-List Pets" with Ian Ziering, booked several $15,000-a-pop public appearances, launched her own clothing line, chalked up 32,000 Twitter followers, and -- not to be forgotten -- recovered nicely from her near-death experience on TMZ Live.

Now if we can only get her off the couch.

"Dancing with the Stars" star Cheryl Burke looks dramatically different these days ... but she says she's NOT deathly ill ... hasn't had plastic surgery ... and she's pissed at all the trash talk.

Burke -- who recently dropped a sizable amount of weight -- posted this pic on Facebook ... and got bombarded with comments from people saying she looks anorexic. Someone even suggested she's dying of AIDS.

One person wrote, "Those Botox lips need there [sic] own FB page, gross" ... and another said she should delete the pic before it ends up on TMZ.

Burke is especially upset because she believes the same people who are trash-talking her now are the ones who called her fat before.

Burke -- who was once a regular on the club/party circuit -- tells TMZ there's absolutely nothing wrong with her ... she recently turned 30 and decided to stop drinking and hard partying. She says she's living healthy ... and that what you see is the result of hard work.

Burke tells us, "I didn't have plastic surgery and I don't have an eating disorder. I'm just actually happy."

The woman whom Adam Richman called a c**t is licking her chops now that Adam's show has been yanked from the Travel Channel ... telling TMZ she will only be satisfied if he walks with fat people.

Amber Sarah -- got in a Instagram battle royale with Adam after he pissed off the eating disorder community by bragging about his 70-pound weight loss by posting a pic with #thinspiration. Sarah and others called him out for being insensitive. He responded, "Grab a razor blade and draw a bath."

Sarah is happy the network pulled Adam's show, "Man Finds Food" from the schedule, but she's not out for blood. She wants Adam to volunteer with eating disorder groups by participating in walks that help obese people get in shape.

And she wants him to donate money.

BTW ... Sarah says she could end up arm-in-arm with Adam on one of the walks. She doesn't weigh herself, but calls herself a "fat activist who is fat."

Mercedes "MJ" Javid swears she hasn't been photoshopped, she really did drop 20 lbs., and she tells TMZ ... she did it the old fashioned way -- lots and lots of sex ... and some traditional exercise.

The "Shahs of Sunset" star says she's seen all the haters accusing her of doctoring the pics from a recent swimsuit shoot -- but says her real secret is simply banging the weight away.

Best of all ... MJ claims the more pounds she shed, the more sex she had -- and the more sex she had, the more calories she burned. The least vicious cycle ever!

She admits cutting back on hard partying and late-night boozing definitely helped too ... along with hiking, biking, tennis and dodge ball -- but says she's definitely sticking to her sex diet. She says bluntly, "I'm too pretty to be fat!"

Shahs of Sunset star, Mercedes "MJ" Javid painted on a bathing suit for a rooftop photo shoot in L.A. this week ... and it looks like she's dropped a bunch of weight. LOOKS like it anyway.

MJ's been pretty open about her weight issues -- and last year claimed she was shedding pounds without really trying. She never revealed a number, but this is pretty strong evidence.

But here's the issue -- this is Hollywood where everything isn't always as it seems.

So ... we gotta ask ...

Senator Claire McCaskill -- who grilled Dr. Oz like a cheeseburger during Tuesday's hearing -- was incredulous over the Doc's "miracle pill" because she's walked the walk ... sources connected to the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection tell TMZ.

McCaskill lost a ton of weight in 2011 ... actually more like 50 pounds. She did it the old fashion way -- diet and exercise -- and she was proud of it. We're told she thinks diet shortcuts are ineffective and often fraudulent.

So when Oz came to The Hill ... we're told McCaskill was locked and loaded for a showdown over Oz touting green coffee beans as a miracle drug. One of McCaskill's staffers tells TMZ ... this was not a vendetta against Oz, and others have told us the same -- that she just thinks these quick fixes are harmful, especially when they're endorsed by credible people.

For Oz's part ... we're told he and his staff privately acknowledged he went too far on the air, and pulled back on the hyperbole several years ago.

A wobbly Jessica Simpson hit up Warwick nightclub in Hollywood Sunday night, but from the looks of it ... she did plenty of partying beforehand -- and even had to make a 911 call for fast food to soak up the booze.

Simpson was accompanied by Eric Johnson and it's a good thing he was there ... because somebody had to make sure she didn't fall flat on her face!

Mrs. Weight Watchers -- who did look AMAZING -- had a hard time making her way in and out and definitely seemed to have a hard time answering fairly simple questions. Best part of the video ... the driver making a Jack in the Box run for Jessica WHILE she was in the club!

Jennifer Love Hewitt may claim she was duped into holding a diet product in photos, but the company she's suing says that's B.S. -- and Jennifer willingly posed for a ton of pics.

As TMZ first reported, JLH sued over a product called Slim Spray, which she claims used her picture on its website without permission ... falsely implying she endorses the product.

A rep for MarzSprays, the maker of Slim Spray, tells TMZ the Ghost Whisperer was very curious about their stuff when she hit up a Hollywood gifting suite in 2012. The rep claims J.Love asked several questions about items in the suite and "posed for the camera over a dozen times with our products."

The company claims it legally purchased the images of her in the suite -- like the one above -- and insists it's on legal solid ground to use her face in ads.

As for Hewitt's claim the product bombed on "Shark Tank" -- they point out one of the sharks, Lori Greiner, DID invest ... and they were even invited back for a recent follow-up episode.

Rob Kardashian plowed his SUV through a crowd of aggressive paparazzi -- none of whom work for TMZ -- as he exited an L.A. gym Thursday ... and you could clearly hear his car make contact with at least one of the shooters.

The situation was a mess from the beginning -- the photogs were gathered right in front of the exit driveway and forced Rob to make a decision ... stop and be shot ... or GO. GO. GO.

He went with Option 2.

The photogs refused to move at first, playing a game of chicken with the SUV -- only getting out of the way when it was clear Rob had no intentions of slowing down. Still, they hammered Rob with questions about Kim's wedding and his weight issues.

Rob Kardashian is now vowing to shed his unwanted pounds by intensifying his exercise regimen with trainer Gunnar Peterson -- and it looks like the shame of bailing on Kim’s wedding is what pushed him to commit.

Every stuffed crust pizza has a silver lining.

Rob Kardashian is determined to drop his considerable gut after fleeing Kimye's wedding in fat shame ... vowing to hit the gym EVERY DAY until he sees his toes again, Rob's trainer tells TMZ.

Celeb trainer Gunnar Peterson tells us ... Rob texted him when he arrived back from Italy, where he bailed on Kimye's wedding because he felt too fat to pose for family photographs.

Gunnar says Rob's text was clear as crystal -- he wanted to hit the ground running ... literally ... posting up workouts every day this week, and continuing the intensity until the fat is gone.

As we reported, Rob's gym regimen hit a lull before Kim's wedding -- he worked out just a couple times a week -- but we're told Rob is now determined to get his old body back.

Gunnar tells us ... he will show Rob no mercy -- he'll endure a full hour of high-intensity full body exercises, cardio, resistance training ... the whole hog -- daily.

Gunnar tells us ... "Rob is locked and loaded" ... and NOT with cheeseburgers.

Casey Kasem's daughter -- an aspiring singer -- claims her weight problem went from bad to DEADLY ... all thanks to a quack wellness center that plied her with crappy weight loss meds ... and now she's suing.

Liberty Kasem filed the lawsuit against Dr. Edgar Guess of Beverly Hills Wellness Center, claiming she sought out his medical advice on losing weight while prepping for a music video shoot in 2012.

Kasem claims Guess gave her a treatment plan that included a new diet, vitamins, meds, and supplements. Six months later Kasem says she began to experience serious health problems.

One day, Kasem says she began to sweat profusely and vomit -- and exhibited other symptoms that caused her to fear for her life. Worst of all, she claims she hadn't lost any weight ... in fact, she'd GAINED.

As a result of the sudden health problems, Kasem claims she had to be hospitalized. She's suing Guess for medical bills, lost wages, and other unspecified damages.

The reason Rob Kardashian ditched his big sister Kim's wedding was simple ... he didn't want to take wedding pics because of his weight gain.

Sources close to the Kardashian clan tell TMZ ... Rob has become so insecure and depressed about his appearance ... he refused to be in the family wedding pics, despite his family's encouragement.

We're told the Kardashians were heartbroken and tried to support Rob, saying he doesn't look bad ... but he still wasn't down to pose

Rob Kardashian left Florence, Italy BEFORE his sister Kim got married to Kanye West ... and we're told it's because some major family drama went down.

Rob booked a flight from Florence to L.A late last night in a hurry ... and we're told he was in tears while desperately trying to secure a seat.

It's unclear what caused the Kardashian family beef -- but it had to be bad -- considering he missed out on not only his sisters wedding ... but one of the biggest celebrity events of the year.

We just shot Rob leaving LAX and he was clearly not in a talking mood.

Rob Kardashian says he's a fully grown man and doesn't need blogs to tell him he's fat.

Rob is scoffing at reports that he checked into fat camp and rehab to lose the lbs. He tweeted, "Then why am i still fat u fools??"

This photo of Rob leaving LAX for Kim's wedding in Paris Sunday triggered all the hubbub. He says, "I don't believe in rehab or therapy or anything of that sort."

As for losing the weight, he says, "I'm a grown man and will work on myself when i choose," adding, "I'm aware that I'm fat that def aint a surprise to me lol and my only therapy will be in the gym ..."

You got it, dumbbells?

We busted Rob Kardashian's chops for packing on the pounds -- but the guy IS trying to streamline before Kim's big day ... so we're now told.

Celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson is flying to Paris to train Rob and Khloe Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, he tells TMZ. Gunnar says Rob was training 5 times a week, but then slowed to twice a week 2 weeks ago because of other commitments.