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.

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.

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.

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!

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!