Celebrities and Diets

Ali Lohan Shows a Dangerous Trend

When a formerly adorable, normal weight (actually she was thin before) girl shows up looking ghastly thin in Hollywood, it’s always talked about, but what is never discussed is how this type of figure is promoted and coveted in the Land of Lost Angels.

Hollywood has long promoted women being thin, even dangerously thin. Women who are ultra thin are revered in Hollywood, and it’s definitely an epidemic in certain circles such as modeling and acting.  Ali Lohan appears to be the latest victim of this crazy ideal.

Lindsey Lohan’s adorable younger sister has landed a modeling contract with her sister’s own clothing line, and has been spotted and photographed looking dramatically thinner and suspected of also getting plastic surgery.

What most people don’t know is that just losing dramatic weight can make you look dramatically different, and it looks like to me that’s all that’s happened with her. She actually looks anorexic, and like a serious anorexic. I seriously hope that her family realizes this is a problem and is addressing it.

Anorexia can show up in anyone in any walk of life, but it tends to be more prominent in societies and circles of friends and family that are in a high profile business or where looks are everything. It’s a shame, but this is what we have taught our young women – that thin is in and you should get that thin frame no matter what your real body type is.

Anorexia is a dangerous disease. It usually strikes younger women who tend to also have a lot of perfectionist tendencies or have had body image issues in the past.  It can be treated successfully. However, the most serious cases are very hard to reverse and can take years to successfully treat on an emotional level.

Anorexia is a devastating disease that is heartbreaking to the family and loved ones of the sufferers who bear it.  Often times family and friends feel helpless, or that it isn’t their place to help, but they can ask a professional how they can best be of help and service to their loved one in need to help them recover.

Let’s hope Ali Lohan is getting the support she needs. It’s upsetting to see such a beautiful young girl turn up what seems overnight looking like skin and bones.

Ronald McDonald Will Be Around for a While

You know, I’m all for getting healthier, and educating the American public about how to eat healthier, and to make sure they raise their kids to appreciate healthy, whole foods. But let’s face it, we can’t force healthy eating down everyone’s throat, and not everyone is going to choose to eat the low carb diet way at Mickey D’s like me.

And hey, I remember how excited my sister and I got when my parents would head to McDonalds for any reason. We didn’t get it often, nor did we get treats like sugary breakfast cereals very often, but McDonalds is sort of a children’s right of passage, and not every kid who eats McDonalds is going to grow into an obese adult.

To think that is just crazy. But that’s what some in the government and consumer advocacy groups thought. They thought that McDonalds use of Ronald McDonald, the iconic clown they’ve used in their advertising campaigns since the company was in its infancy, is too much of an appeal to children.

Well, they are a business, and do they not have the right to appeal to their child audience? Remember, it’s the parents of the kids who ultimately make the decisions on what kids eat, not the kids still.

Many would have liked to have seen Ronald McDonald go the way of the dodo bird, because he just appeals too much to kids and makes them want McDonalds. I think that such radical censorship is not a good thing here in the US.

And to do something like censor an icon that’s been around for decades in the name of public health is dangerously teetering on the edge of socialism, which is the exact opposite of something I hold near and dear to my heart – capitalism.

Kids are going to like McDonalds, but that doesn’t mean their parents can’t also teach them to like healthy foods like fruits by cutting them up into little pieces and making them handy as snacks. Preventing overweight kids is in the parent’s hands, and they hold that power to make sure that the kid’s only sustenance is not Happy Meals.

They also can teach their children to like veggies by making sure they get them in their diet at a young age, so the children develop a taste for foods that are healthier and more wholesome.

McDonalds is but a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to childhood obesity and health. They are not THE problem. To label one fast food restaurant as a major part of the obesity epidemic would be akin to saying that all cars are an enemy of health because they prevent us from walking.

It’s ridiculous. It’s an individual choice, and to take away a component of that, even advertising, is a travesty where capitalism and freedom of speech is to reign free.

More on the Dukan Diet

There’s nothing like a diet plan being utilized by high profile celebrity figures to start a buzz going to see what it’s all about.  The Dukan diet has recently been used by Kate Middleton and J-Lo to successfully slim down.

The Dukan diet was designed by Dr. Pierre Dukan, from France, and he has been promoting his diet for over 30 years.  It is one of the most popular diets in France for people who want to lose weight.  The book, The Dukan Diet, after it was already well established in France, was released in the U.K. in 2010 and here, in the U.S. in April of 2011.

The basis of the diet is that it is a high protein, low fat, low carb weight loss plan.  The Dukan diet consists of four phases.  In the first phase, called the Attack phase, the dieter loses weight quickly and is permitted to eat as much as they want of 72 protein rich foods.

In phase 2, called the Cruise phase, the dieter may still eat the protein rich foods and may add 28 specific vegetables.  Weight loss in this phase is more gradual. 

Phase 3 is named the Consolidation phase in which fruit, bread, cheese and starchy foods are brought back to the diet for 5 days of the week.  The other 2 days of the week allow for celebratory meals as permitted  within the plan.  This phase is designed to prevent future weight gain.

Phase 4 is called the Stabilization phase and it is designed for maintenance of weight for the rest of the dieter’s life.  In phase 4, the dieter can eat what they want but they must adhere to a few rules.  They need to include a protein day once a week and eat oat bran several days per week.

There are warnings, symptoms and side effects to watch out for from any high protein diet. 

Flu-like symptoms can occur as your body switches from carbohydrates to protein and it’s own fat reserves to fuel the body.  The high protein diet causes you to burn your own body fat for energy and that process is called ketosis.  Ketosis can put a strain on your liver and kidneys in some cases. 

A high protein diet is not recommended for people with kidney problems, adolescents, pregnant or breast feeding women or diabetics.  The Dukan diet is often compared to the Atkins diet.  They differ in the fact that the Dukan diet does not allow fats and oils as the Atkins diet does.

The Dukan diet has an online coaching support system to be used in conjunction with his book.  the Dukan diet has been effective for weight loss in France for many years and now, in the U.S. and the U.K., many more people have been helped to achieve their weight loss goals. 

 Consult with your physician before selecting this, or any other diet plan, to reach your personal ideal weight.

Zone or South Beach Still Being Followed?

I had to laugh when the SOuth Beach Diet became what seemed like an overnight sensation and was suddenly being followed by the latest starlets in Hollywood.  That’s because it was really largely a rehash of another popular diet that enjoyed a belated popularity in the late nineties called The Zone, which I actually tried out for a while and really liked.

I’ve actually found that following the basic portions of the different food groups recommended in the Zone have worked for me in general to keep at a weight that I find suits me best.  I also like the low carb diet, which is one of the easiest for me to stick to when I need to lose some weight because I still get to have one of my favorite weaknesses which is FAT.

I just talked about the whole fat and carb conundrum that I’m faced with in the last post.  The South Beach Diet generally has you follow about a 1200 calorie a day diet as well, and it carefully portions out healthy carbs, fruits veggies and protein so that you feel full after your meals, and you also do the several snacks per day thing so that you are never blood sugar bombing.

It’s just hard to stick to the portions they recommend if say, you go to a restaurant. Restaurants just don’t give you those neat little portions, and they’d be damned if they did because we’re americans dammit, and we demand large portions when we go out to eat!

Even Supermodels Have a Hard Time Dropping Pregnancy Pounds

I can’t help it. As a woman, it is actually relieving to find that women in the public eye who seemingly have it all – the perfect body, the perfect husband or partner, the perfect face, the perfect homes and the perfect children – have the same struggles that all of us women go through.

Women who are blessed with beauty and thin bodies that always seem to look toned and tanned seem to predominate the supermodel industry. DUH, of course they do, that’s why they made it to supermodel-dom to begin with – right!? 

Many supermodels, like Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima, too of the sultriest and sexiest supermodels for Victoria’s Secret, the mogul of the women’s lingerie world, have shared their struggles with losing baby weight after giving birth to their children.

Adriana Lima, the supermodel who is known for her Brazilian dark good looks and exotic blue eyes, recently shared with us that she was really stressed out about losing the baby weight she had gained from having her little daughter. 

She said that she was stressed out, not getting sleep, and worrying a lot about dropping the weight, but also about doing the right thing when it came to being a new mother with her daughter.  She said that once she stopped worrying and just knew that everything would be ok, that’s when the pounds started dropping off.

A lot of people believe that stress is related to obesity and the difficulty in dropping excess weight, which is why so many diet pills these days are focused on reducing stress and anxiety and a hormone called “cortisol” which has been labeled all but the holy grail in weight loss (lowering it, that is). 

Heidi Klum has had several children and has struggled to get her figure back every time, but as we know, she looks fabulous again. Supermodels like Tyra Banks have shared their weight struggles as well – and she has not even had any children yet. It just goes to show that as we age, it’s harder to lose weight and maintain a great figure to begin with.

Courtney Cox, who is a beautiful woman and has always had a fabulous physique, was recently pictured frollicking in the surf with her little daughter, and she looks fabulous. Granted, she had her little girl Coco several years ago now, but it just goes to show that you can get back into great shape after having a baby – it just takes time, patience, relaxation, and a little bit of willpower!

Jennifer Hudson and WeightWatchers : Dynamic Duo

When I see pictures of how Jennifer Hudson looks, it’s actually just amazing. And no, I’m not getting paid for or endorsing WeightWatchers products or their programs, I’m just simply making a statement at how bowled over I am by her amazing transformation.  This is a great example of what healthy dieting can do for you. Notice I emphasize the word “healthy”.

Jennifer looks healthy, and she actually looks like she shouldn’t lose any more weight or she may actually start to look a little too thin for her frame. But wow, can you see what a difference some weight loss makes in some people?

Many times people who already have attractive faces just look plain weird when they drop some weight (like Randy Jackson, sorry my man, but he actually had a nicer looking face when he had more weight on, some people just look better with rounder faces for whatever reason).

However, Jennifer Hudson is a woman who always had a beautiful face, and now it’s just as beautiful as it was before. Sort of like Valerie Bertinelli and Kirsti Alley. Both of those women also had beautiful faces both before and after they lose a ton of weight.  I guess some people’s faces can just get away with anything!

Jennifer Hudson started being a spokesperson for WeightWatchers a few months back. We saw her go to smaller and smaller sizes, and now in her featured pictures both in stills and on the TV screen, we see that she looks vibrant and healthy, all while losing a substantial amount of weight.  That’s a pretty good thing for WeightWatchers, who has always had a pretty loyal following anyway.

But we all need a little extra willpower, even if we have a program to follow. That’s why I like to not only follow a prescribed diet of calorie reduction, less fat and increased fiber intake, I also like to make sure I supplement my diet with a good appetite suppressant like a Hoodia gum or some other type of natural appetite suppressant when I’m first dieting.

It’s hard enough to get your body used to eating blander, sometimes less appealing and smaller portioned food when it’s used to indulging in high fat, high salt and high sugar foods all the time.

Taking a natural hunger suppression supplement really has helped me through those first few grueling days as my tummy and my psyche are getting used to being on a regimen again.

Stars Speak Out on Healthy Eating, Not Over Doing Dieting

It’s been refreshing lately to see some of the stars of today and yesteryear speaking out about eating disorders, how they manage a healthy weight without over doing it and driving themselves to perfection, and basically keeping your head on straight about a very touchy subject for a lot of women.

I think it’s important for us women to really help eachother out when it comes to feeling healthy and good about our bodies. I’ve seen one too many friends, family members and aquaintences even taking things way too far when it comes to dieting and weight loss.

After a while, it becomes a very unhealthy obsession. Too much thought in what you eat can be isolating, painful and all-consuming, allowing you to only focus on what you look like in clothes, being a certain size, and judging yourself on how much you weigh, or how much you ate that day.

That being said, two women with now-healthy attitudes about keeping themselves fit and healthy without over doing it have spoken out about how they do it, and past problems with eating disorders.

First, Candace Bure, formerly Candace Cameron, known for her role in “Full House”, has recently admitted that she suffered from bulimia, the eating disorder where one binges and then purges using various methods.

She said that it was a dangerous obsession that quickly engulfed her life and defined her, but she did eventually beat it and is a healthy weight, and very health conscious now.  It’s a great thing she could beat it, but most people do need professional help to truly beat it for good, so hopefully she beat it with professional therapy.

Another fit and healthy star, Ginnifer Goodwin, who plays the flighty Margene on the HBO show about polygamy, has said that she relies on the WeightWatchers program, and has for over a decade, to help her be healthy and monitor her weight.

Hey, if that’s what works, that’s what works, and WeightWatchers is known for their balanced diet which allows you to have anything you want with their points system.

I know many people who’ve been going to WeightWatchers for years, and they really like that it helps to keep them in line, or get them back in line when they’ve gone off the deep end for a while. They also have a newer, more flexible points system that has a lot more food ideas and that is getting some pretty positive reviews so far.

Bill Clinton Reveals How He Lost Weight

Our former President Clinton has recently revealed how he got his svelte new figure, and it’s no surprise that he’s moved to a diet that is recommended for those that have had heart problems in the past, as he has had.  He revealed that he has moved to a mostly plant based diet to shed the last twenty something pounds, and he lost the weight for his daughter’s wedding at her request (I’m sure her ulterior motive was for a healthier dad).

Gosh, why is it so hard to not like this guy?  It seems like everyone remembers his presidency so fondly, and I often wonder if it was just his natural southern charm or if he really did a great job as I remember. Part of me thinks I didn’t really know the difference, being younger and totally out of the loop with politics, but whatever.  Clinton is one of many in the public eye that has had to switch diets to ensure their health.

It really depends on the person and how their body responds to protein, to mostly carbs, or to mostly plant based foods.  No one diet is perfect for everyone, some people may need more protein than others, and some may totally get all their fuel from carbs, and operate very well that way.

I operate best when I eliminate refined carbs and sugars, and I look thinner when I do this, that’s just how my body is, but someone else may operate better and be thinner on a mostly carb and plant based diet, like Clinton converted to.

Clinton also said that he cut out desserts to lose the weight, and he cut back on overall calories as well.  So, he’s taken an all around approach to losing the weight, and it seems to have worked. He does look a bit gaunt though, so I hope that this is a healthy weight for him.

When Celebs Go to Extremes with Dieting

It’s unfortunate that all celebrities can’t be the perfect picture of a healthy attitude about their bodies and dieting. That would be, actually being happy with the body that God gave you, eating healthy but not going to extremes or avoiding eating all together to fit into some unattainable body ideal that is simply too thin to be healthy.

This is unfortunately rare in Hollywood, and the women who do portray this healthy attitude have all my respect, because it’s not easy to be anything other than a size two in Hollywood and be considered sexy or even be considered for some roles. I can’t imagine the unbearable pressure that these women are put under. After all, this is their profession, and I suppose it goes with the territory.

However, what’s way more unfortunate than these women themselves being made to feel inadequate if they’re an average weight is the fact that all of us normal women look to them as the standard of beauty and health. How can normal women with normal lives possibly hold up to these unrealistic standards?

Well, many movie stars have gone to dieting extremes, often getting so thin that they just look emaciated and unhealthy. Some of the names that come to mind are Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Aniston (although at times she looks health and filled out, she has gone through some very thin phases), Angelina Jolie at times look WAY too thin, and Renee Zelweger just looks like she needs to eat a damn cheeseburger all the time.

Not to mention the unhealthy workout regimens they have to put themselves through. I remember reading once that the body conscious and very thin Madonna works out several hours every day. I know that she followed a macrobiotic diet at one time, but now she’s probably on to the latest fad diet.

That’s the thing, these celebs can never even decide which diet is right for them. They jump on the vegan bandwagon, or the low carb one, or the gluten free one, whatever the latest one is that promises you will stay thin forever. It gets exhausting even just following this stuff on the news, I can’t imagine building your whole lifestyle around it.

I think that as long as you follow a common sense, calories sensible diet, you have nothing to worry about. Worry about the way the diet makes you feel, and how it makes you function, not how thin it will make you, and that’s probably the diet you should be on for the rest of your life.

Audrey Hepburns Bio Revels Possible Eating Disorder

I’ve recently become interested in the life and movies of an iconic beauty of a glamorous generation past, Audrey Hepburn.  I noticed, as I never had really before, looking through pictures of this beautiful legend, how thin she really was. I always just thought that was her body type, or that she was one of those miraculously blessed women who had the metabolism of a humming bird, or just happened to not like to eat much.

What I read about from her Bio though, is that she apparently admitted to consciously trying to stay at the weight of 103 pounds.  And apparently she did do this, with the exception of her pregnancies, where she reportedly only put on about the weight of the baby itself. Sheesh, do you know how hard this is to do, especially when you are pregnant? It made me wonder if she had struggled with anorexia, as some in the entertainment world now suspect.

I don’t think that back in her hey day anorexia was a really well known eating disorder, or even considered a disorder at all. Now, with all the attention focused on the prevalence of eating disorders, we know that anorexia is very prevalent now and started to really be a problem when excruciatingly thin women like Hepburn and Twiggie came en vogue. Curvy has always come and gone, and they will always have a niche market, but beware of the super thin envy with women who are perfectionists to begin with.

I can’t help but compare Hepburn with a celebrity today who has seemingly modeled her life after Hepburns, becoming, like Hepburn, an ambassador for the UN and do gooder, Angelina Jolie. Jolie also seems to be painfully thin at times, and apparently she and Hepburn are about the same height.  Also, Jolie has become somewhat of a legend for her looks in our age as well.

It startles me when I see so many women who others look to as role models seemingly starve and deprive themselves to stay so painfully thin. I want to scream that it’s ok to eat, just be healthy about it and try not to eat S&*@ all the time (I love that, I think Jennifer Aniston said that – I love her).