Celebrity Diets: Fit or Fad

The wife of Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou tells PopEater that portion control is the regimen that helped her lose the weight and that she eats "leaner proteins and vegetables and stuff like that." About her new way of eating, she does share her idea of a good breakfast: spinach, turkey bacon, egg whites, and orange juice. And when she's not on the treadmill, her three children keep her running around. She's also working on two fashion lines, KLS and Kouture by Kimora, a Macy's exclusive, as well as a skincare line called Shinto Clinical.

January reportedly dropped two dress sizes on a "restrictive regime of fresh juices and raw vegetables," and may have endured the strict regime longer than just a weekend to lose weight for her role as Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. While the diet has been reported to help cleanse toxins from the body, it is a fad because its low daily calories and lack of balanced nutrition should only be done for detoxification and for just a few days.

Sara Rue has been rocking her slimmer figure since she lost over 50 pounds with Jenny Craig. With Consumer Reports using a two-year study of 332 people to rate this diet among six other popular weight loss programs including the Atkins, Ornish, and Weight Watchers, their seal of approval is significant. However Consumersearch.com points out the downside of expensive food as a problem. So consider the cost if you're thinking about trying Jenny. Sara Rue's weight loss led to her wearing a bikini for the first time in her life.

Fergie stays fergalicious with a meal delivery service. Though she admits struggling with discipline when passing Del Taco and Jack in the Box, she seems to like the meals she gets through her plan. She is on the cover of Allure's July issue which hits stands June 21st, and tells the mag this about her diet, "Diet Designs, they're amazing-they'll have butter lettuce and avocado and pink grapefruit. They do butternut-squash enchiladas, which are really good. I also get these pressed juices delivered to my house, so I get all these different and wonderful vegetables." The reason why Diet Designs may be a healthy way to eat is because  their meals provide a balanced level of macronutrients: 50% - 60% carbohydrates, 20% - 25% protein and 20% - 25% fat. The downside is that they can only be useful for as long as you use them and are not a long-term diet solution.

Given the many bikini-clad pictures of her and beau Enrique Iglesias, you wouldn't think Anna would admit to eating at McDonald's and Burger King, but she has. She says she eats small portions, but doesn't restrict certain food groups. The USDA's 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommends lean protein choices, consuming fewer calories from foods and beverages in addition to increased physical activity for losing weight. The Mayo Clinic staff demystifies portion control in their "Guide to Portion Control For Weight Loss." The slide show teaches how portions and serving sizes vary and gives suggestions on how to eat the right portions of fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats each day. 

David Kirsch's program may be the reason why Heidi Klum bounced back to her pre-pregnancy weight after giving birth multiple times. His program, the Ultimate New York Diet may not be healthy in the long run according to Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD, former spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. She says, "The diet lacks adequate calcium, fiber, (recommending a high-fiber meal replacement powder), folate and likely other vital micronutrients. Daily recommended menus average a dangerously low 900 calories, making complete nutrition from food nearly impossible."

Leading up to her wedding day with Kris Humphries, Kim K tweeted QuickTrim would help her lose weight. Well, just like her ill-fated marriage, her claims may not have been true. That according to a new lawsuit that claims Kim K and her sisters could not have lost weight with QuickTrim because it mostly contains caffeine. The QuickTrim® line includes a diet and weight loss system that has seven different products including the Burn & Cleanse, a 14-day diet system that according to their website "helps to burn calories by day and cleanse by night." So what's in it? The QuickTrim® Supplement Facts Label on the Extreme Burn bottle shows a suggested intake of 400 mg of caffeine in one day which may be of concern if you get caffeine from other food and drinks. The other ingredients in QuickTrim® appear to be vitamins, minerals, fruits and green tea including Vitamin C, Niacin, blueberry, and pomegranate.

After moving to California and reading the book Skinny Bitch, Lea Michele gave up animal products in her diet. Her dedication to animals goes beyond her plate, as she has a cat named Sheila and recently shot a PETA ad about the horse carriage ride industry in New York City. Being vegan means eating a plant-based diet, including fruits, vegetables, dried beans and peas, grains, seeds and nuts, with no animal products, including dairy. A vegan diet's health benefits, according to an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are "higher content of fiber, folic acid, vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, and many phytochemicals and a fat content that is more unsaturated." However, the same article shows that vegan diets may also have some negative aspects: "Micronutrients of special concern for the vegan include vitamins B-12 and D, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids."

While both say they splurge, Madonna on toast and strawberry jam, and Gwyneth on cheese and chocolate chip cookies, their usual is "basically about eating local, organic, seasonal food that isn't processed." Because of its focus on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, a macrobiotic diet is healthy and may lower the risk of several chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. WebMD expert Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD simplifies the diet as, "a mostly vegetarian diet that allows you to eat occasional meat or fish -- with rules governing eating, cooking, and lifestyle practices such as eating slowly and chewing food thoroughly."

Nine days before the Victoria Secret Fashion Show, Adriana Lima reportedly sticks to a liquid only diet of protein shakes partially made with powdered eggs and drinks a gallon of water. Twelve hours prior to showtime she stops eating all together. Because of the demands of working out twice a day during this time, and the fact that her diet may not provide the minimal daily amount of calories(around 1200 for women) the body needs to function, a diet like this, if done at all, is not advisable long term as it lacks the vitamins and minerals the body needs. Though Adriana admits celebrating with a large dinner, it doesn't make up for this extreme fad diet.

Formerly known for her Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, the all grown-up singer recently took to Twitter to talk about her new diet, “For everyone calling me anorexic I have a gluten and lactose allergy. It’s not about weight it’s about health. Gluten is crappp anyway.” Miley's gluten-free diet was less than expected just a few months after her famous pic eating an interestingly shaped birthday cake went viral. For the record, there's no such thing as an allergy to gluten. According to the Mayo Clinic, you either have celiac disease, which The View's Elizabeth Hasselbeck has revealed, or you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. We forgive Miley for the misstep, she probably needed to cut her tweet short before she ran out of 140 characters.

Pop diva Lady Gaga is reportedly eating five tiny meals a day. According to The Sun, Nutritionist Harley Pasternak's diet plan focuses on food like aubergines, fresh spinach and sugar snap peas. She apparently gets one day off a week to indulge in whatever she likes, which could include the best of the American diet. As the singer prepares for her Born This Way Ball Tour, she recently tweeted "Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger."

 

Scarlett Johansson's secret to fitting into her character Black Widow's skintight bodysuit wasn't the regular deadly spider's diet of small insects. During a press junket for Marvel's The Avengers, set to hit theaters April 25th, she admitted to resorting to a rabbit food diet saying, "How come I get the rabbit food question? Yes, surely. You're training and doing all that stunt work so you eat a lot of green things."

For talk show host Ellen DeGeneres the second time is a charm. Her first attempt at letting go of meat, dairy and eggs 15 years ago only lasted six months. She points to her southern upbringing in New Orleans and Texas for her love of sausage with red beans and rice and other meaty meals telling the Associated Press, “Until four years ago I would be driving past these cows on pastures, and think ‘What a lovely life that is,’ and I’d go and order a steak." She and wife Portia de Rossi now follow a strict vegan diet with the help of personal chef Roberto Martin, author of Vegan Cooking for Carnivores, a new book for which Ellen wrote the afterward. Though the change has been hard, she is happy with her switch, “I’ve always called myself an animal lover. And yet I ate them.” She watched films on the meat industry and read books to shore up her resolve. Eventually the message stuck. "It takes a click, just one light bulb, and you’re like ‘I can’t do that anymore."

We've been wondering what Alyssa Milano's got on her plate ever since Charmed ended. In addition to caring for nine-month-old son Milo and prepping for her new show, ABC's Mistresses, she's cooking. The married momma took to Twitter recently to announce she's hosting a vegetarian dinner in support of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day May 19th.

RELATED Alyssa Milano Ties the Knot

She had this to say about her recent move from vegetarian to pescatarian: "For a long time I was a vegetarian, but I have just started adding fish into my diet again." She adds that her kitchen is 100% organic saying, "As a mother, I am conscious about what Milo eats so I thought I would also share my menu for him and hope it inspires other mothers to prepare beautiful food for their little ones.”

RELATED Alyssa Milano Gives Birth

Her menu includes guacamole platter, vegetarian chili and clementine jelly. Baby Milo will have pureed papaya, zucchini with basil and pureed avocado.