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Few topics generate more headlines than the nitty-gritty details of how Hollywood celebs get and maintain their fabulous physiques. Some of their workout and diet programs aren’t for the weak of will, but all are sure to deliver results–for those can survive them, that is.
The workouts
Actress Ricki Lake, 39, has dropped an astonishing 127 pounds over the past few years, from 250 pounds to 123 pounds—all without surgery or pills, she says. Lake told Us she lost those last stubborn 20 pounds by following a strict 1,200-calorie-a-day diet. For exercise, Ricki now takes 90-minute hikes and does weight training three times a week.
Oscar winner Renee Zellweger, 40, is an avid swimmer and yoga enthusiast, but running is her true passion, reports Marie Claire. “That’s my alone time….my thinking time,” she has said. Zellweger jogs up to five miles per session several times a week, and when she hits the gym, she focuses on circuit training.
Dropping that baby weight
Few things are more mind-boggling than when celebs regain their pre-pregnancy figures in record time. Being a mom myself, I can affirm that it takes patience and consistent effort to get back in shape after nine months of pregnancy. These days, many Hollywood stars recapture their taut physiques almost immediately after birth—-some only a couple of months after delivery! Here are their secrets.
Brunette stunner Jessica Alba lost almost all of the 25 lbs. she gained during pregnancy just three months after giving birth to daughter, Honor Marie, in June 2008. “Jessica went from a size 8 to a size 4 pretty quickly,” Alba’s personal trainer, Ramona Braganza, told People.
Alba, 28, who has been a fitness fanatic for years, got back into shape by following a low-fat, low-carb diet and working out six times a week. Jessica’s exercise routine centers around cardio workouts using an elliptical machine and treadmill, as well as circuit training and core exercises. “[The workouts] were horrible,” Aba has said. “I cried.”
Few things can strike terror in the hearts of women more than having to strut down a catwalk in their underwear in front of millions of people. Well, that’s exactly what supermodel Heidi Klum had to do–not once, but twice! In Nov. 2008, the 36-year-old mother of three bared her superfit physique in her skivvies at the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Runway Show. Klum, who’s now pregnant with her fourth child (husband Seal is the proud dad), maintains her hot bod with rigorous strength training and cardiovascular exercise three to five times a week and consumes a moderate 1,700-2,000 calories a day.
Extreme eating
Defying age apparently isn’t a problem if you’re supermodel Carol Alt. Alt, who at 48 looks as radiant as she did in her modeling heyday in the 1980s, attributes her youthful good looks and fit body to a raw food diet. Basically, this means she feasts on lots of uncooked fruits and vegetables, limits processed foods and doesn’t heat food above 118 degrees. “This is guilt free eating. My body got younger and my face got younger,” Alt has said. While eating only raw foods isn’t a program most people can follow, it’s hard to argue with the results.
When pop star Beyonce Knowles needed to drop weight fast for her role in the 2006 musical Dream Girls, she turned to the controversial Master Cleanse diet. Knowles, 27, told reporters she lost 20 lbs in two weeks on the extreme diet. The cleanser, which is basically a juice fast where dieters drink only the prescribed blend of cayenne pepper, lemon, maple syrup and water several times a day, has been used by other celebs like Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and actor Billy Bob Thornton to drop the pounds quickly.
A saner approach
For those people who want to get in shape without resorting to exercise binges or extreme diets, it’s doable: Eat healthier and be more active on a consistent basis. Boring advice, but effective.
Written by Samantha Chang. Originally published on: www.examiner.com
