Possible reason why MJ is thinner in This is it...

Maybe he was on a fast or on a raw food or vegan diet. I remember in an old interview he said he would fast on the weekends. Maybe, he fast or went on one of these diets during his tours (including rehearsals) for energy.

Just a random thought I had.

GOOD RANDOM THOUGHT THOUGH! Janet has been knwon to do fasts and cleanses as well. Also they both are known for their health habits-good health habits. Now he did say that when he was hurt or upset he did not eat...but so far there has not been a recent reason for him to have been hurt. Anxiety-yes. Pressure-yes. Possibly afraid-yes. This might cause loss of appetite as well....I don't believe it was drug induced weight loss though.

Yeah I do not believe that it was drug-induced at all. I was thinking about the Victory tour and how skinny he was to the point where he looked anorexic but he had so much incredible energy. Seeing these clips reminded me of that (if they are all the real MJ lol).

Oh one more thought, sorry I just keep having them. I was looking at Lisa Left Eye Lopes Documentary and she talked about this healer/doctor, whose name escapes me, who put her on this vegan diet and fast. In the documentary, they posted a news clipping about the doctor and Michael Jackson's name was in that article. Unfortunately, they didn't post the whole article...it was cut off and shown for not that long but I did see his name so MJ probably knew about this fast and diet. I think Left Eye went on a 30 or 40 day fast in Honduras.

These diets and fasts are known to help with people's spirituality too.

Just something to think about.

Well! I was listening to the Sony Radio Interview on YouTube this morning. Cory one of the Sony executives said whenever MJ was preparing for a show he was always focused to the point of being driven and would just forget to eat and drink. I think the pressure was on him for This Is It. He wanted it to be the best performance he had ever done. Unfortunately, his body wouldn't let him do it. MJ wasn't the same performance wise as he had been 20 yrs ago. He pushed himself so hard because of his perfectionist mindset. I too don't believe his weight loss had anything to do with drugs. Keep the Faith!

Yes-and in the 1993 Grammy Award clip where he recieves the Legend Award he talks briefly (when he is not telling the screamers he loves them) about how he had recently been fasting-or cleansing. I knwo Michael has always at differant point been incredibly thin. I have 4 differant dvds from the History tour and depending on when/where it was he is thinner or bigger. Seemingly at the beginning he was bigger. The last time we saw him perform was the 30th Anniversay and he was pretty filled out there-but that was years ago and honestly he looks better here.

Bless him-of course he would not be EXACT like he was at thiry-but from what I see of this ...he would not have been a laughing stock or let down. Not like you know...Blondie LOL

Sweet1, maybe it was a combo of fasting and being stressful? Can you do both? Be stress and fast? lol

Anyway, neverlandprincess, I agree. He does look better in those recent This is it pictures than on that 30th Anniversary Special. I didn't even think about that. Thanks.

You are absolutely right. He would have been awesome in the eyes of his fans but in his eyes he would have missed the mark. He said that about the Motown 25th Anniversary when he did the moonwalk (backslide). He said he messed up. He wanted to stay on his toes longer but couldn't. The audience was blown away. But hey! that's our MJ. Always giving his best. Keep the Faith!

@sweet-yeah true...blew my mind when he said that about the Motown 25. HA! He really perfected that one very time he did it. Motown 25 performance is still ppls favorite.

@looking4truth-I think you can be stressed and fast-it depends on why and how u r fasting more than likely.

or probably he lost weight on purpose! to make everything look more real!!! for the story!!! michael loses weight coz he doesn't eat and couldn't sleep well and he dies, fits to this story. and you guys realized he wore tighter pants he used to wear? how tight is that red pants! it seems like he wanted to show how he lost weight!

what wrong being so thin if you can pull your a** off!?

Michael never had experience weight gain in his life . Its really impossible for someone who had been skinny and enthusiast before when not performing would gain weight possibly.

earthangelo might be right, its part of their marketing strategy to invite viewers.

the reports of him being frail, skinny and skeleton is AN OBJECT OF ATTRACTION.

They need to PULL STRINGS something very attractive because this is Michael Jackson, after long years people are waiting for him to come out and perform...

If he is really sick and dying or whatever 1 year or 6 months ago, would you be willing to grab this project when you knew you are sick, when you knew you are not capable?

Can you remember how oftentimes does he make excuses as being SICK alibi?

I think Michael have had enough, billion of dollars , from the time he was very busy with concerts to the time he disappeared. I guess he prepared everything and tried to work on this project, for some reasons.. A brief one is for Him to RETIRE.

He doesn't need to SELL HIMSELF TO Promoters every year to maintain his high profit earnings. He is a BILLION DOLLAR man-- we just don't know but this is what he have been maintaining ever since he was still a child...

You guys have to remember that the camera adds at least 10 lbs...regardless of what you think is attractive, there is no way he was a healthy weight. He's said numerous times he doesn't eat enough when he tours. I don't think there's any more to it than that. I've never believed it was drugs. He talked about fasting on Sundays during the 80's, but his chef said he ate lunch every day with his children so I don't think he was fasting. She also talked about what she made him and it wasn't raw or vegan. But can you imagine how many calories he must have burned during rehearsals, practicing for 10 hours a day? He was eating, just not eating nearly enough. Hopefully he's gaining it all back now.

Thinner? Firs of all I think the skinny red pants "Michael" is not the real one and then...don't forget Michael IS a dancer too. If he'd not be thin enough he could face a lot of muscles, bones and ligaments trouble. The active life of a dancer is short...about the age of 40 they have to retire. And, more than that , don't forget Michael is 51 and at this age , the same weight figure can be very different of the similar weight figure of 20 years ago.

here's something about his eating habits....
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7990609&page=1&page=1
''He was just careful about what he ate; he just tried to be healthy," said Kevin McLin, a friend of the family and Jackson's former publicist.

i believe that sometimes he forgot to eat because he was so focused to rehears and he was involved in everything concerning the shows, but i don't think he would go to the phase where he would be fed by his team on the set....that it too much for me to believe.....

I always thought MJ was a vegetarian but then have learned he liked KFC. I really thought he was as he loved animals. He has always been slim but the rehearsal Mj was thinner than he had been since when he was a teenager, if you loook at photo's of him then he was very thin. My Mum says most people over 40 tend to put on weight- not lose it-"middle age spread" is the term used in the UK.
Just a thought but is it possible the really skinny MJ was a double?