Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Celebrity Diets

By Meredith Thompson




Female celebrities spend most of their lives dieting because they get the big bucks to look perfect. Of course, the majority of them are starving, but some smart celebrities find diets that they can live with and enjoy a fulfilling diet.


Of course, famous women are also lucky enough to afford personal chefs and shoppers, and that someone who sits with them at every meal in a restaurant and tells them what they can and cannot eat.

Unfortunately, if you want to follow any of these diets, you’re going to have to chop your own vegetables and fruits, cook your own food, clean up your mess, and rely on yourself for discipline. Not an easy task, I know.

Nevertheless, if you want to look like Jennifer Aniston, Madonna, Jessica Simpson, Kim Cattral, and other beautiful Hollywood women, here are the celebrity diets you might want to try.

Celebrity Diets #1
Hamptons Diet
Celebrity Devotees:
Sarah Jessica Parker, Renee Zellweger
Named after the high-end district in New York, this diet is much like the South Beach diet in that it banishes simple carbs like rice, potatoes, bread, and chips, and trans-fats like hydrogenated oils and processed foods from your diet.

The difference between South Beach and the Hamptons is that one is in Florida and the other is in New York. Kidding… the Hamptons Diet’s focus is on macadamia nut oil – an oil that is high in Omega-9 fats and has a high smoke point (in layman’s terms, cooking with this oil won’t transform it into trans-fatty acid).

Restrictions: White flour, refined carbs, processed foods, sugar, high-sugar fruit like bananas and dried fruit, trans-fatty acids, Omega-6 oils like corn, safflower and sunflower, and highly processed oils like canola and many olive oils.

Celebrity diets #2
The Zone
Celebrity Devotees:
Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford
Around about 1995, The Zone went against the grain and began touting the 40-30-30 rule – a diet composed of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat.

Somewhat complicated (this is where your chef comes in), The Zone was essentially designed to increase the performance of elite athletes. And due to all the complicated numbers you need to come up with in the form of your protein to fat ratios, lean body mass, and how many carbs, proteins and fats you’re eating at every sitting, this doesn’t seem like an easy diet to follow.

Restrictions: High-glycemic index carbs (white bread, baked goods, sugars) and bad fats (cold cuts and fatty red meats).

Celebrity diets #3
The Raw Food Diet
Celebrity Devotees:
Carol Alt, Donna Karan, Woody Harrelson
The Raw Food Diet touts exactly what it says – eating raw, unprocessed foods in order to keep all the food that you ingest full of its natural enzymes and vitamins.

It’s believed that if you heat food at a temperature higher than 116º F (47 º C), the enzymes that help you digest the food will be compromised, resulting in unwanted bloating, gas and a general discomfort.

Of course, not all the food is raw, but at least 75% of it must be in order for the diet to be effective. Health benefits of this diet are believed to be healthier skin, more energy, easier digestion, and, of course, weight loss.

Restrictions: Processed foods, baked goods, anything cooked above 116º F.

Celebrity diets #4
The Perricone Weight Loss Diet
Celebrity Devotees:
Kim Cattral, Julia Roberts, Heidi Klum
The Perricone Diet is not designed for weight loss (although that may be a default result), but rather as an anti-wrinkle treatment .

Dr. Nicholas Perricone concluded that it’s possible to look younger by eating right after he figured out that certain foods cause inflammation and water retention. The 28-day diet recommends eating wild salmon (it’s believed that farmed salmon contains chemicals), fresh berries, nuts, and drinking lots of water.

Restrictions: High glycemic index foods like bread, bagels, bananas, pizza, pasta, potatoes, saturated fats, and refined sugar.

Celebrity diets #5
Don’t Eat Crap Diet
Devotees:
Jessica Simpson
A strict diet to say the least, the “Don’t Eat Crap” diet, designed by personal trainer Michael Alexander, helped Jessica Simpson build the perfect body for her turn as Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard.

The diet allows whole wheat bread, plenty of fruits and veggies, and lean meats. But it doesn’t end at the diet alone; devotees are required to drink mass amounts of water and work out five or six times a week, for about 90 minutes a day.

Restrictions: Sugar, refined carbs, and fried foods.

Celebrity diets #6
Macrobiotic Diet
Celebrity Devotees:
Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore
If you’ve seen Madonna over the 2000s, you’d know that she is as fit as a woman can get. And she credits a macrobiotic diet and Ashtanga yoga for her amazing physique.

A macrobiotic diet consists of whole grains, plant-based proteins, and natural sweeteners like barley malt, rice and maple syrup. Essentially, the macrobiotic diet is a high-fiber, low-fat, predominantly vegetarian one.

Restrictions: Dairy products, meat, poultry, and eggs.

Celebrity diets secrets

There’s a reason why most celebrities look perfect; they diet and exercise, and they get the privilege of airbrushing in magazines. For those of us who can’t dedicate our lives to a strict diet and exercise regime, it’s probably best that we simply watch what we eat and get on the treadmill as often as we can.

You don’t have to suffer to look good, you just need to be logical – put down the muffins and French fries, and pick up an apple. Ultimately, having a great body doesn’t usually come naturally; you need to work at it. But you don’t need to starve to have one, either.

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