Denizens of celebland are under ever increasing pressure to look good and keep fit. Well, at least, what they or their fitness gurus consider is “fit”. Often mortals like us may recoil at their definitions of “good looks” and “fitness” but that does not hinder our fascination with these paragons of ethereal beauty. It also has something to do with the bizarre extent to which the celebs will go to; their determination and often their naiveté a source of inspiration for some and amusement for others.

Celebrities are always stressed to maintain their brand image and in an age where image is everything, a body-image counts for a lot, a lot of dollars that is. The only reason they will endure fat is if its making them money, otherwise it’s off with the fat!

Here’s a look at what some of our favorite celebrities do to maintain their figures

Julia Roberts, she of the million watt smile, is for many the epitome of the yummy mummy. This 40 plus lady is a mother of three and one of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood. At 5’9” and a slender frame, Julia by her own admission is not a diet control freak, rather she is one who “eats like a cow and could eat all day”. However, she does have a personal trainer who performs the very important job of keeping “sinful foods” out of Julia’s fridge. Julia trusts BOSU for keeping her butt firm. BOSU, by the way, stands for Both Sides Up. It’s a fitness board cum exercise board. Julia follows the Perricone Prescription diet that stresses protein and prohibits carrots, bananas, watermelon, flour, raisins and corn.

Jessica Simpson, the one whose curves run endlessly but her acting abilities run the gamut from A to B, has managed to achieve what all women hope for. She has managed to lose weight without losing her curves. Jessica had earlier tried the South Beach Diet but this time round it was the 5 Factor Diet, which she decided to favor. Jessica had to make some tough decisions like foregoing the bread baskets bought to the breakfast table and refusing free desserts bought to her table. She had to make do with rudimentary food items like grilled chicken, seared fish, broccoli and asparagus. Apparently Jessica couldn’t sum up the will to do all this alone and so she had her personal trainer stay with her for three months so he could do the ordering at food time.

Janet Jackson, she who gave the English language a new phrase – wardrobe malfunction, went into a self-imposed hibernation after the infamous episode. During the period her weight increased to 180 pounds. However, Janet came back in shape by following what is now known as Janet Jackson diet. In a period of four months Janet lost around 60 pounds and her astonishing weight loss has given her the idea for a new weight loss book and video. Janet ate four to five portions of gourmet food especially thought out for her. She managed to maintain the required ratio of calorie deficiency by going on an only-liquid diet for some time and following a rigorous exercise regimen that included reverse lunges, good mornings, leg presses, push ups triceps super sets, later at raises, kick boxing, basket ball, etc.

The above mentioned celebs followed what the rest of us can identify with if we tried a little hard. However, there are others whose dieting regimens and ideas make us doubt their sanity and their gullibility in giving into these diets. Generally, most fad diets are exercises in silliness with quick results and quicker weight gains, however there are some diet ideas that truly take the cake or make that a wheat-bran cake with skimmed milk.

One would have to place the baby food diet at the very top of the list of bizarre diets. Top marquee names such as ReeseWitherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are devoted to this outlandish diet wherein you substitute good wholesome food or whatever else that you are eating with baby food. You can’t think of a more childish way to get malnourished. It’s as gimmicky as it can get. Feeding adults with a balanced diet, balanced for babies that is.

A great diet for those who are fat and fans of maple syrup. Beyonce has shown the way with the maple syrup diet albeit at a great risk to her body’s balance of potassium, sodium, and other vital elements. You cannot beat the maple syrup diet for simplicity. Beyonce apparently lived on maple syrup, water, and cayenne pepper for 14 straight days. She ended up losing around 13 kg or 2 stones for her role in Dreamgirls.

Another silly diet with a silly name – the one-hour TV diet has its own set of votaries including Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Aniston; however the most famous would have to be Jordan who lost around 2 stones of fat post delivery. The crux of the diet is that you cannot watch more than one hour of TV in a day.

Perhaps the most cruel and tortuous of all diets, this one has been famously endured by Geri Halliwell. Geri took vitamin injections to keep her weight down after her other attempts including the Atkins diet had failed. A desirable or perhaps not-so-desirable side effect of her vitamin shots was that Geri felt hornier than normal most of the time. At the height of her fame she was surviving on half a plate of noodles and some boiled carrots.

Fad diets are like “get rich quick” schemes where the results achieved seldom match up to the promises made. The results are temporary at best. In a nutshell, one thing that you need to know about fad diets is that the positives of a fad diet regimen are outweighed by the negatives.

A brief look at the concept of fad diets, after reading this article you will have a clear understanding of what fad diets are and should you be going for one.

Fad diets work on the basis of the following three points:

* Promoting a food group as a panacea for losing weight

* Eliminating foods considered harmful

* Lifestyle-related diets

These premise are not scientifically verified though the diet promoters may have some anecdotal evidence to back it.

Food faddism can be taken to extremes, as in the case of Zen Macrobiotic diets that promised more than just weight loss, they offered a spiritual rebirth as well for the small price of giving up animal products including milk, fruits, and vegetables and living entirely off cereals.

Why are fad diets popular?

Given the fact that we are all intelligent folk, why do we fall for these fad diets? I guess for the same reason we buy a pack of cigarettes even though it has the Surgeon General’s warning printed on it.

Fad diet promoters prey on our gullibility, desperation, and vanity and do it quite successfully. Another reason why these diets sell is that they do show some temporary results. However, a lot of weight loss that occurs when following a fad diet is from losing water and lean muscle and not body fat.

How to recognize a fad diet?

If an advertisement for a diet has any of the following characteristics, it’s a fad diet.

* A promise of quick results

* Easy to follow

* No restrictions on what you eat

* No exercise required

* Strong marketing with tools like before and after photos

* Elimination of entire food groups from the diet plan

* No mention of any scientific backing but a lot of jargon used

Some (in)famous fad diets

3-Day diet – This diet restricts calorie intake to around a 1000 calories each day for 3 days in a week. For the rest of the week, you may follow your normal eating routine. This is one of the more extreme diets with severe calorie restrictions that lead to a breakdown of muscle. Also, plunging the body in and out of near-starvation routines can do more harm than good. The diet claims an ability to bring down weight by 10 pounds in a week or 40 pounds in a month.

Hollywood diet – What can be a better tool than adding “Hollywood” as a tag to your product? There is a strong chance that sad and down & out individuals will be willing to put reason aside and try out this extreme diet plan which promises rapid weight loss. The diet basically asks you to survive on a concentrate made of water and fructose, pineapple, orange, apple, prune, white grape, and lemon juices, and extracts of bilberry, green tea, ginkgo biloba, and grapeseed, along with a few preservatives and stabilizers. Good for cleansing the system once in a while but not recommended as a weight-loss diet.

Moon diet – It would be difficult to come up with a diet more gimmicky than the moon diet. The diet claims that the phases of the moon can help you lose around six pounds in one day. You need willpower, the ability to read an Almanac, and a suspension of belief before going in for this diet which is basically a form of scheduled fasting.

In conclusion, it would be fair to say that there is no gain without pain; the only real way to lose weight and stay healthy is diet control and exercise.

May 19, 2007 5:58 am | 2 Comments | Fad Diets, Weight Loss Products

Apple Cider Vinegar Tablet

by John Gibb

There is a lot of hype surrounding apple cider vinegar tablets these days. Many ads can be found promising weight loss and fat burning courtesy of this supplement.

There’s even an apple cider vinegar diet in the works! But is all the hearsay true? In this article, we will attempt to separate fact from fiction with regards to the apple cider vinegar tablets available on the market.
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The Super Slimming Power of Vinegar

by Roxanne Manning

Major U.S. university finds that vinegar aids weight loss even in non-dieters.

Arizona State University’s Carol S. Johnston Ph.D. and a team of scientist accidentally stumbled across the weight loss power of vinegar while conducting a study to determine whether vinegar would help lower cholesterol levels-it did not- but they did discover that study participants lost on average half a pound a week, even without dieting.

The participants were simply downing two tablespoons of vinegar before lunch and dinner. Johnston believes vinegar aids weight loss for two primary reasons. It blocks calories and carbohydrates, while controlling hunger.
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Lose Weight in One Week

By: A. McKain

It surprises many people how much weight they can lose in just one week if they start paying attention to exactly how they live their lives. Because most of us have such fast paced, busy lives we tend to do the things that are most convenient, but often this is not what is best for our bodies.

Fast food, frozen food, and very little exercise is what is usually most convenient. Luckily, there are ways to make eating healthier and to even fit in some exercise, even if you are one of the very busy! All you need is a one week diet to lose weight.

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Beyonce swears by it: This program works for weight loss and Cleansing

by Foras Aje

It is gaining popularity in leaps and bounds and although I heard about this program way back in 2000, I never would have foreseen that it would one day be something that almost anyone in holistic and alternative living would know off AND actually use.

It’s known as the Master Cleanser (aka Lemonade diet) and even R&B singer; Beyonce, is in on the program as she reportedly used the Lemonade fasting recipe to shed weight while filming the movie: Dreamgirls.

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Do Fad Diets Work?

By: Chris Chenoweth

Fad diets are weight loss plans that promise amazingly fast results. They do not offer any sort of long-term plan for success and they are usually very unhealthy, sometimes actually dangerous, for your body.

Some of the more popular fad diets are listed below:

LIQUID DIETS:

You drink a nutrient-rich liquid twice a day in place of your regular meals and eat a well-balanced meal as the third meal of the day.

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The Negative Calorie Diet — Can This Be Real?

By: Steve Wayne

You have probably heard of the Negative Calorie Diet, sometimes referred to as the Catabolic Diet. On the surface, it sounds like a dieters dream. The more you eat, the more weight you lose. Can this be real?

Of course, there is no such thing as a food that contains negative calories. Every food contains calories.

The idea behind the Negative Calorie diet is to eat catabolic foods, or negative calorie foods that burn more calories to digest that what they put back.

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The Three Hour Diet sounds confusing at first. You diet for three hours? That’s it?

Actually, this diet sounds better when you keep reading! You’re supposed to eat every three hours!

How the Three Hour Diet Works

The premise for the three hour diet is keeping your blood sugar stable. If you eat the right foods every three hours, you don’t get hungry. When you are hungry, or starving like on other diets, you overeat and end up gaining weight! By stabilizing your food take and keeping it regular, with the correct foods, you can lose weight.

Created by Jorge Cruise, author of The Three-Hour Diet book, it is said that by following the diet you can easily lose 10 pounds in two weeks. Of course, the only way to find out the correct foods is to subscribe to their website or buy a book. The materials claim to have recipes, food eating guides and tips and tricks for success, (be prepared for a heavy dose of promotional pitches.)

There is an official website that lists celebrities who have supposedly used their method. Since you can’t click on actual articles to read, it’s hard to evaluate if the claims are accurate.

Membership is the only way to receive the full two weeks worth of menus. Several cookbooks and workout books are also available from the creator of the diet. If you don’t buy the book, an online club is available for a weekly or monthly fee. Recipes will be emailed to you for the upcoming day or week for planning.

Testimonials from the website come from people who have lost 40+, 80+ and over 100 pounds by staying on this diet for months at a time. Risks from The Three Hour Diet seem minimal.

Jorge gives you alot of optimistic energy to keep you going!

Three Hour Diet Resources

Get the 3-Hour Diet Book Here >>>

The 3-hour Diet Website >>>

The Fat Smash Diet - Smash Your Bad Eating Habits

The Fat Smash diet was created by Dr. Ian Smith just a few years ago. It’s meant to be a 90 day program, but promises you will see results in as little as 9 days. The Fat Smash was coined because the diet process he created smashes the bad eating habits and lack of exercise in your lifestyle.

How the Fat Smash Diet Works

The Fat Smash Diet believes you need healthy eating habits, exercise and moderation in your daily lifestyle. Dr. Smith’s 90 day process is filled with phases to follow as they gradually build on to the next. He believes how well or little you follow his phases determines how much weight you lose. If you fall off the diet bandwagon, this diet makes it easy to climb back on.

The Fat Smash Diet can be used by people who only want to lose 20 pounds or those who need to drop over 100 pounds. It really isn’t a diet as much as it is a lifestyle makeover. There are four different phases to move through during the initial 90 day process. After the 90 days, you will have learned how to control food consumption and any unhealthy eating tips you used to have.

By eating healthier and putting more activity in your life, you will see greater success with the Fat Smash Diet. If you only follow it half heartedly and don’t make the changes in your life, you won’t be as successful. Unlike a number of fad diets, this diet seems to be healthy since it promotes activity alongside of food moderation.

We’re wishing you a smashing success with this diet!

Fat Smash Diet Resources

Buy The Fat Smash Diet Book Here >>>