Celebrity Diets

[Julie]

Dec 22, 2010 14:47:23 GMT -4 @highondegrassi said:

"It's the only thing on the planet that doesn't dehydrate you or just make you miserable," she continues. "I've never had a dramatic weight problem, it's just that I tend to indulge, and then I need to get back on track so I can button my pants."

Isn't that more or less the definition of yo yo dieting? And what's this about WW being the only diet that doesn't dehydrate you? It's called water and you don't need to be on a special diet to drink it.

Setting aside the "dieting since age 9" issue, which is fucked up all by itself. I'm a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and maintaining that loss is something I will always have to work at. There are times I "do" WW (count points, journal food, etc) and times I don't "do" it. If I gain a few pounds, I can always go back to doing WW to take those pounds off safely. For me, though, a "few" pounds is like...5-8. Some people allow themselves to yo-yo much farther, which I view as unhealthy.

I think when she says it doesn't dehydrate you, she means it's not some crazy crash diet that requires you to do unreasonable things to lose weight. You drink water (there are checkboxes for that) and eat healthy foods in reasonable portions and the caloric intake is not crazy low. There are no weird juice cleanses or prohibitions against certain categories of food or whatever.

Speaking of WW, I can't get over how amazing Jennifer Hudson looks. I don't normally go for the whole celebrity spokesperson thing but she's been such a great representative for the WW program that I'm pleased she signed on. I like that she lost weight but doesn't look rail thin. (I'm looking at you, Sarah Rue.)

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2011 10:00:37 GMT -4 @highondegrassi said:

Regis and Kelly came back from Christmas break this morning. Kelly reported that she didn't gain any weight during the holidays.

Was she joking? I hope so. Most people gain at least a pound or two during the holidays and the only way to avoid that is to workout like a fiend and deny youself holiday treats. It's not worth it, though I suppose it's possible Kelly only treated herself on Christmas and stuck to her diet the rest of the days. Still not worth it IMO. I know this because I tried and failed that tactic. Life is too short to stress yourself about 2 pounds that you can work off later anyway!

I'm not sure this is true. I HATE the feeling of overeating. I get heartburn and indigestion really easily if I do it, so I never overeat, even during the holidays. If there are a lot of great treats to try, I have very small portions of what I want.

You don't need to have an eating disorder to maintain your weight over the holidays.

That said, KR definitely has some issues.

[Deleted]

It was the use of the word "indulge" what made me think of yo-yo dieting. I have to admit I don't like WW. I keep seeing ads for it where there is this big pile of chocolate chip cookies or something and see the snack cakes in the store. WW is basically the concept of moderation, which is great. It's their promotion of their nasty products and assigning points to fast food that bugs me about it. I hate pretend junk food like those 100 calorie packs of fake oreos, etc. in general, though. It's a peeve of mine.

Ginnifer Goodwin has responded to the criticism. LINK

I didn't know Weight Watchers had a children's program. It sounds like being with peers was what helped her the most. She didn't really specify how overweight she was. If she was really obese, then it's a good thing to get a handle on it before it's too late. At the age of 9, though, extra exercise as a family with stuff like bike riding or getting involved in a sport along with easy trade offs like a turkey burger instead of a hamburger, almonds with cinnamon instead of chips or cookies, and 1% milk instead of 2% could get results just as well and instill a sense of healthy eating without making a kid feel they have to be on some kind of specific weight loss program for the rest of their lives.

[Julie]

Jan 8, 2011 11:32:21 GMT -4 @highondegrassi said:

It was the use of the word "indulge" what made me think of yo-yo dieting. I have to admit I don't like WW. I keep seeing ads for it where there is this big pile of chocolate chip cookies or something and see the snack cakes in the store.

Not gonna lie, the constant product flogging is what drove me away from the meetings. I do the online program exclusively these days to get away from that. You don't learn how to eat properly by living out of bags and boxes.

I know WW has an age limit, but with a doctor's note they will allow members below that age limit. It does seem a little extreme, though.

[kostgard]

We've got a WW meeting at work, and I'm guessing that how crazy they get depends on who is running the meetings. They set the products out every meeting, but other than a push to buy the new calculator when they introduced Points Plus, the meeting leader doesn't push the products.

As for Jennifer Hudson, the leader said that she was put on the Points Plus system from the beginning, and clearly it has worked for her. She also said that Hudson is at a point where she has decided that she doesn't want to lose any more weight, which pleases me to no end. She looks fab, and I'm glad that she doesn't want to turn into a lollipop.

[MrsOldManBalls]

I HATE the feeling of overeating. I get heartburn and indigestion really easily if I do it, so I never overeat, even during the holidays. If there are a lot of great treats to try, I have very small portions of what I want.

I get heartburn and indigestion easily too and do the same small portion thing. Saves me from going to bed with an aching burning stomach.

I've never known anyone to have Jennifer Hudson like success with WW, but I'm glad it's working for her!

Is Sarah Rue WW or Jenny Craig?

[Deleted]

I think she's a Jenny Craig gal along with Valerie Bertinelli. One of the positives about WW is that it can be done within your existing budget. Jenny Craig is ridiculously expensive and Nutrisystem isn't much better.

[kostgard]

Exactly. On WW you can eat real food from the grocery store. You don't have to buy their products to follow the program. With Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem they suck even more money out of you by forcing you to eat their crappy packaged, processed foods. That also doesn't teach you how to make good food choices because they just hand it to you (making you even more dependent on them). That's why I think of all the big diet programs, WW is the best. It is true that they are all out to make money, but WW is again the least offensive.

[GoldenFleece]

Carrie Fisher is the new Jenny Craig spokesperson.

[nowyouseeme]

Celebrity body image has changed so much in the last 15 years. Remember Rose McGowan's 1998 VMA outfit? NSFW. I can't imagine someone wearing that today and not being told they were overweight.