Diet Dr. and board-certified Physician Nutrition Specialist, Marc Lawrence M.D., has taken it upon himself to rate the best and worst celebrity diets for 2007. According to Dr. Lawrence: “Diets full of fruits and veggies, coupled with healthy lifestyle activities including walking, hiking and biking have fueled some of Hollywood’s biggest makeovers.”
Best Celebrity Diets of the Year:
1. Ricki Lake. Ricki has been a yo-yo dieter for years but has finally found a system that fits. Ricki weighed 250 pounds in 1991 but has managed to reach 123 pounds. Ricki uses something we all wish we had the money for: a food delivery service. Ricki orders her low calorie meals from “Fresh Dining”, hikes daily and weighs herself frequently.
2. Lenny Clarke: Lenny lost 144 pounds through Weight Watchers. His diet consists mostly of salads, fresh fruit and fish but he also swims and bikes for exercise.
3. Andrea Baptiste: Andrea lost 56 pounds on The Biggest Loser but managed to prove herself a success by losing an additional eight pounds after leaving the show. Unfortunately, many weight loss reality TV contestants gain the weight back when they go back to their non-televised lives. Andrea either walks or runs daily for regular exercise and eats a low fat and low refined-carbohydrate diet.
4. Jessica Simpson: Jessica got into those Daisy Dukes by dropping 25 pounds on the 5 Factor Diet. The 5 Factor Diet consists of lean protein, good carbohydrates, healthy fats and fiber. She also did regular circuit and weight training.
Worst Celebrity Diets of the Year:
1. Britney Spears: Britney has proven that junk food, diet pills and energy drinks do not make a girl popular. Her abysmal performance at the Video Music Awards was lacking in everything, including energy. There are just some things Red Bull and Hoodia lollipops cannot cure.
2. Beyonce and Ashanti: Beyonce and Ashanti both used the Master Cleanse (also known as the Lemonade Diet). According to the Dr., detox diets wreak havoc on the metabolism and cause more calories to be stored as fat once you start eating again. The jury is actually out on this one for me because I’ve been reading recent research that leads one to believe that short term fasting can actually be very productive.
3. Dr. Phil McGraw: Oh, no! Not Dr. Phil? Yes, Dr. Lawrence is giving Dr. Phil a hard time over his recent weight gain. Sure, Dr. Phil wrote The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution but the guy has a pretty busy life. Does he really need to be a perfect example of perfection every day?
4. Kirstie Alley: What?! Yes, apparently Dr. Lawrence takes issue with Jenny Craig even though Kirstie Alley and Valerie Bertinelli seem to be doing just fine on the program.
If you ask me, we should take Dr. Lawrence the same way we take our broiled fish – with a grain of salt. Regardless of what the celebrities are doing or what some doctor thinks of them for doing it, every body is different and you know your body best. Find the program that works best for you and stick with it. We can all live healthy, active lifestyles without eating and doing the exact same things to get there.